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Showing posts with label book series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book series. Show all posts

Sunday, March 29, 2015

10 Books I Procrastinate Reading

Hello bookworms! 

I know, I haven't been posting for the most of this month.. It was my birthday on the 21st (I turned eighteen), and I was at my grandma's, therefore no internet. Sorry about that lovies! 

I was inspired to write this post by Cait @ Paper Fury, check her out! She's one of my favorites <3 
These books I've been meaning to read for the longest time and I KNOW I'll love them, but I have been pushing them off .. I just get distracted, but it will happen soon. I promise. 

1. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven


The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

2. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (# 1) 

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can. 

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. 
There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. 
She's wrong.





3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (HP #6)


I won't write a synposis for this one so I don't spoil it since it isn't the first in the series, but I'm probably the only one who isn't done with this series yet. SOON though! 
















4. Cinder by Marissa Meyer 


Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 


Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. 





5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson #1)



Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.


6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas


After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 


Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. 

7. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Grey

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure. 

8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called "Le Cirque des Reves," and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway--a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per-formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

9. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doehrr 


Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When Marie-Laure is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.


In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge. 

10. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover 


When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.

Love gets ugly. 


Those are all the books! If you have read any of them (I'm sure you have) leave your opinions down below, I'd love to read through them :) 

Update: I have read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and currently reading Ugly Love. 

Have an amazing day everybody! 



Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Book Review | Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard




Goodreads Summary: 

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?



4.75 stars


Ha, yet another favorite so early in the year. This wondrous beauty was very hard to put down, I found myself reading it on my way to school, in school and on my way from school. It was extremely gripping from the first page and it was a clear indication that I was going to love it. Victoria's writing was beyond amazing, she has this way of throwing information at you without confusing you. It was the first fantasy or second (after HP) that didn't completely confuse me with all the details. 

On the downside, speaking of fantasy, I had a strong urge to call that book a dystopia. It felt like a dystopia most of the time, but still a fantasy. Relating to that point, it is basically The Hunger Games meets Shatter Me in a book. I personally didn't mind that, but if you do, then this book isn't for you. Some people found similarities between Red Queen and other books like Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.. which I still have not read (unfortunately, soon), so this book was original to me and I haven't read anything like it before. 

The thing that bothered a lot of people, but me slightly was the world-building. It was confusing at first and I didn't know if it was me or the book, but I was watching Shasha (abookutopia on youtube)'s review for this and she has met the author. She said that the world-building was confusing to her as well and that Victoria mentioned how the world building will evolve in the second book and we'll have everything cleared out later on in the trilogy. I honestly cannot wait, this is torturous. 




This book killed my idea of trust (which was already dead), not going to say why though because this belongs in the spoiler section. I didn't realize I was spoiled for this book up until the very last chapter, so TAKE CARE. Again, another indication of a great book is that I knew the ending and I loved every second of it, I was still surprised by it though because it was executed perfectly. 

I loved the family aspect in this one, it reminded me of Katniss and her family. Mare was a strong, kick-ass character that I admired. She is now one of my all time favorite female protagonists, because she always kept a straight head, meaning she didn't let love and other trivial things fog her vision or stand in the way of her survival along with her family's. She was just like Katniss and I LOVED that, some people may not though.. It depends.. 




Disclaimer: I will not mention the male protagonists in this spoiler free review, I'll discuss them with you down below so GO READ THE BOOK and come back for the discussion. Mostly, I loved every single character in this except for a few. 


NOW ONTO THE SPOILERS.
(highlight to view)


My dearest Mare, oh how I love you and Cal together. I cannot lie though, I liked her with Kilorn at first.. but (Mal?) made me fangirl. I was waiting for them to be together
 and rebel against the queen and king the whole time, but wow, what a strange turn of events.

I liked the name "The Scarlet Guard" so much, and when I realized Shade was with them, my mouth dropped to the ground. When we read about Shade's death, I was almost 100% positive that he was alive. AND HE WAS, in the epilogue I actually patted my own back hahaha and dude, his power is super amazing! I love it and cannot wait for more Shade in the other books.

Firstly, let me state that I was spoiled for the Maven betrayal and it killed me when I realized that I was spoiled for the ending, so dear whoever spoiled me on goodreads, SCREW YOU. I still enjoyed the book nonetheless, the way that Victoria laid everything out took me by surprise; I didn't expect that the king would die.. and to be killed by his own son under the influence of his wife, BRUTAL




Now let's talk about Maven.. Maven, Maven, Maven. Due to the stupid spoiler, I was extremely wary of his actions throughout the whole book, so I didn't fall for his lies. I didn't believe him when he was sweet with Mare, I didn't believe him when he joined TSG. It was fishy to me all along, but I'm not Sherlock Holmes, I was fucking spoiled. 

I never once disliked Cal, even when he was a black-hearted monster in the arena, he is the future king (supposedly), he should be this good and have no mercy for the opponents. It's ABC war tactics (I believe). I loved Julian and Lucas, they gave me hope for the silvers, they were sweet to Mare, even though she was a red. Julian in specific, I'm so interested in his back story with -Sarah? that's her name?- and his sister, Cal's mom. A NOVELLA PLEASE. On that note, Victoria talked about a novella in the works on twitter, fingers crossed. 

Evangeline, we shall not speak of that evil bitch. Throughout this whole novel I was like..




The ending bugged me, Maven convincing Mare that Cal loves her and to put everything at stake like that.. NO, just NO!! The only time that Mare was naive.. I admired Cal even more for not sacrificing his freaking country for love, he would've been an amazing king. 


Now with The Hunger Games similarities that I personally found.. but wasn't bothered all that much about: 

  • Gisa = Primrose Everdeen
  • Kilorn = Gale
  • Using Mare to be the face of the rebellion/revolution  = Katniss being the mockingjay
  • The kingdom using her as a distraction = The Capitol using Katniss as a distraction
  • Kilorn joining The Scarlet Guard against Mare's will = Gale joining the revolution against Katniss's will 
  • Silvers in training = Tributes in training 
  • Silvers fighting in arenas = THE ARENA 
  • Maven being good with words = Peeta making people believe everything he says and his ability to speak to a crowd. 

Again these similarities didn't bother me one bit, but whenever I was reading, I was reminded of THG. 



Have you read Red Queen?! If not, are you excited? :) Comment down below and tell me!

Have a great day everyone <3


Saturday, March 7, 2015

TBR | March 2015



Hello lovelies! 

So March is actually my favorite month of the year, solely because it's my birthday month (March the 21st). These are the books I'll be reading for March.. I won't be putting my hopes up for reading because my finals are in a month and I need to get my crap together with studying and stuff so.. 







Books mentioned: 
  1. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (I've already read this one and be on the look out for a review so very soon)
  2. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
  3. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
  4. The Duff by Kody Keplinger
If you've read any of these books, please let me know :) 

Have a great day everyone!


Friday, February 27, 2015

Book Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #2)




If you haven't read Shatter Me, don't read this review as it contains spoilers for it. Check out my review of Shatter Me here


Goodreads Synopsis:

tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.



This series is slowly climbing it's way up to my all-time favorites. I cannot talk about this without spoiling it so... GO READ IT. It's better than Shatter Me, a million times. One thing that I say is a must is that you read the novella Destroy Me before reading this book! It will change everything and I couldn't put it down! I've read it in like an hour or two.. (thank you Yvonne if you're reading this <3)

Can we also just admire the covers of these series? I can't stop staring!! They get better as the series goes.

SPOILERS 
(highlight to view)


Once again, this book starts with Juliette being a whiny bitch! She doesn't even try to cope with the kick-ass people who are exactly like her and who are clearly trying to help her. Nothing frustrates me more than a main character who has a potential to be strong and doesn't cease the opportunity to do so, she was acting like a baby all the time .

In chapter 21, Kenji scolds Juliette for being a kid and I literally put down the book and applauded him. 



I'm team Warner now. Obviously. Does anybody watch the Vampire Diaries? It's kind of similar; Elena makes Damon a better person and so does Juliette with Warner. Whenever Juliette's with Adam, she leans on him and he weakens her.. he always wants to help her and step in for her and same goes with Juliette. Whenever she's with Adam, she literally drains him out of his powers. One of the main reasons that I'm team Warnette is that Warner actually sees Juliette in a new light, he doesn't see her as a threat but as something great. He doesn't want to hone her powers so she would become his little weapon, but for her own good. He sees the great in her and he wants to genuinely help her because he loves her. Which makes my heart warm up with fuzzies. 

Speaking of Vampire Diaries and The Originals, does anyone else imagine Warner as a more muscular version of Joesph Morgan? (Klaus from TVD). Warner keeps calling Juliette "love" and that reminds me of Klaus.. P.S. I have a ginormous crush on Joseph Morgan so yay, more points to Warner. Haha

My favorite scene in the book is when Warner and Juliette meet for the first time after she shot him and after the dog incident (which actually made me smile like an idiot). Warner reciting the contents of Juliette's notebook .. their tension and their natural chemistry is AMAZING!! More points to Warner there too.




HA! When I found out that "Aaron" - Warner- and Adam were brothers my Delena/Stelena theory made me laugh. It was a good resemblance on my part and it actually is an interesting revelation. My jaw dropped. That definitely means that Anderson has powers as well.. AND CAN MAYBE EVEN TOUCH JULIETTE. (I mean James does too, that kid is adorable.) Who knows? It'll take me a while to get to Ignite Me and Fracture Me unfortunately.

The fact that Warner has a 'harnessing' gift was kind of expected for me. It would take this trilogy into a new direction, I'm quite sure he'll join Juliette and the others to go against his dad? But what will Adam do though? He'll FLIP. 

I also can't wait till Warner finds out that Adam is his BROTHER. So much I need to know and I will not accept being spoiled for.. 

Have you read Unravel Me? Tell me down below what you thought! :) 

Have a great day everybody! 




Saturday, January 31, 2015

January WRAP UP & February TBR

Hello beautiful people! 

So.. remember when I told you in my January TBR that I'll be reading 2 or 3 books? Yeah.. double the amount of that and that's the number of books I've read this month. 7 books in total. YAY

Here are the books that I've read in January:


   
 
 

  1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #1) -- Click to check out my review.
  4. Destory Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #1.5)
  5. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #2)
  6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan -- Click to check out my review
  7. Love Hurts by Malorie Blackman


Review book:


This would probably be a huge mistake, but I need to review a ton of books, here are the options that I will be most probably reading. 

February TBR:





Non - review books:



Which books should I start with? Especially review books. Please tell me down below :) 

Have a great day everyone! 



Saturday, January 24, 2015

Book Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #1)

 Synopsis: 

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.



Man oh man did I miss dystopias! I for one, fell in love with Tahereh Mafi's writing. She has this poetic flow of words and it's beautiful! I love the aspect of sentences or words being strikethrough, I haven't read anything like that before and it's the first thing that I took notice of in this book. 

As always, I'm late to the party. I'm really late to reading this book and it didn't live up to the hype surrounding it; I flew threw this and I feel like it could have been shorter or some action could've been squeezed in there to fill out this book more. Also, I feel like at first, I loved the writing, but as I was almost more than half-way through, I got sick of Juliette and I wanted to strangle her. She was too weak and vulnerable and dramatic.. she got on my nerves!! 

There weren't any characters to stand out in this one, I don't trust Kenji and I sure as hell DON'T trust Adam. Warner is a jerk and James is by far the only tolerable character. Witty humor is my thing, I love me a levity! In Shatter Me, there wasn't one character to lighten things up with some humor (such as Ron in Harry Potter, ah I love Ron). 

My feelings are jumbled up about this book, but the writing throws it all away. Tahereh Mafi is absolutely eloquent and although this lacked world-building and some plot lines, I liked the metaphors and the deep thinking and repetition. I would say that it is either a hit or miss for some people and for me it was a total hit! 

One thing that made me regret reading this too late is the fact that I didn't like Warner, not at all. It pisses me off that everyone is "Team Warner" for two reasons. One, I was searching for reasons to hate Adam and like Warner and I found none. Two, I don't want to revisit the Twilight drama all over again.. I'm not fond of love triangles and they make me hate the female protagonist. 

Overall, I really did like this book. If you are awed by beautiful writing that hits you right in the gut then this book is for you, if not, then you'll be incredibly displeased. I would also recommend going into this with really low expectations and you'll be met with higher ones, I can guarantee you that. 

Now for the spoilers.. 
(Highlight to view)

ADAM AND JULIETTE. This love story I didn't like.. I don't know whether it is because of the hype or because I just don't trust Adam. He gave me a lot of reasons not to trust him, he conveniently comes in as a cellmate and pretends not to know her, then he hands her on a silver platter to The Reestablishment?! No way.. if he loved her, he wouldn't do this to her. He wouldn't hand her to Warner!! I don't understand this.. It seems like Warner is right, she is his only way out of this place. I trust Warner, he is a jerk, but he is an honest jerk.. 

Now for the touching theories, how can both Warner and Adam touch Juliette? Is this something she can control or do they both have abilities too? It doesn't make sense to me, I want a solid reasoning to the fact that they both can touch her! And if they have abilities and can touch her, why doesn't everyone else with abilities touch her? Like Kenji, Winston and Castle? 

I'm starting the second book straight away, I need ANSWERS! So frustrated.. Also, this would make a great movie! Right?!! .. 

Share your thoughts down below, I'd love to read them! 

Have a great day everyone.





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