TOP 6 FANTASY SERIES I AM DYING TO START!

Hello hello!

So today I'll post another top 5 but actually 6 because I couldn't narrow it down to 5. These are the top 6 fantasy series I'm dying to start. If these have a creator please tell me down below! I'd love to credit them. 

1. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

2. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

4. A Wrath in the Dawn by Renee Adieh

5. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

6. The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta

Did you read any of these? I'm SURE you did because I'm always too late to the party haha, so comment down below your favorites so I can read them sooner!

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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

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!

Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Goodreads:

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories.

4.5 stars out of 5

 I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 


I was super excited to get into this book, a lot of people resembled it to Gone Girl and don't get me wrong, I LOVED this book.. but Gone Girl cannot be topped. 

This follows Rachel, a woman with too many troubles of her own and discovers an escape everyday on the train. She watches a couple on the terrace of their house and fantasizes about their relationship - their names, their jobs and their personalities. One day, crisis strikes and disrupts her already messed up life. Rachel finds herself involved in stuff that she cannot get out of. She was an unreliable narrator, one of many characters that I strongly disliked. All of the characters in this one were faulty characters and they were just terrible. 

I must say that this book was kind of boring at the start, it took me some time to get into it. Once I did, I was trying to crack the mysteries and figure out where on earth did the missing person go. I was juggling possibilities and honestly, I didn't see the ending coming AT ALL. I didn't see ANYTHING coming and that's why my rating was that high. 

The writing was phenomenal. Paula Hawkins made me visualize everything so perfectly and she had this ability of incorporating random clues throughout the book that tie in perfectly in the end. A mystery/thriller genius, I must say. 

All in all, this book was a fantastic ride, it had me thinking to this very day and I feel like it did stick with me. I remember every detail vividly and I'm writing this review a month or so after reading the book, that's an indication of how good it was! 

On the other hand, this book was a bit graphic, I would NOT recommend it to young readers. 

SPOILERS

(highlight to view)

I HATED RACHEL TOO MUCH!!! Her clinging to Tom after clearly moving on bothered me to a huge extent. Her stalking and creeping as well, like come on Rachel!! Put your shit together. Her weakness to alcohol and her drinking problem bothered me as well, her recollections were extremely unreliable and no one was taking her seriously because of that. She put herself in terrible situations, but in the end, she made up for everything by killing Tom! I was rooting for her and Megan to end that motherfucker's life haha. Way to go!

I never suspected Tom except for when he took Rachel to "talk" and didn't tell Anna about it. I thought he was cornering her somewhere private so he can end her life without anyone noticing. Ironically enough, he did that to Megan. 

Okay, now with Anna's POV incorporation. I knew that something was bound to happen with her POV being thrown into the mix. I hated her nonetheless, the only character that was likable was her daughter haha

Scott, you have some serious anger management issues and that just fucked you over as a husband of a missing person/a dead woman. (Why did they say that she was dead in the synopsis? I just noticed that and hey, THAT'S A SPOILER. Thank God I didn't pay much attention to it while reading this.) - I suspected him all along, but I figured it'd be too cliche if he really was the killer. The husband is never the killer (thanks Gone Girl). 

Have you read The Girl on the Train?! What did you think? If not, are you excited? :) 

Have a great day! 

Book Review: Love Hurts by Malorie Blackman

Goodreads:

Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness, and with a brand-new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak. 

2.75 Stars 

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I requested this book in hopes of it being a light contemporary that is a collection of short stories tied in together to form something beautiful in the end, and to my disappointment, it wasn't like that AT ALL.

This book is a collection of excerpts of previously published books like If I Stay, We Were Liars, More Than This et cetera..  I skipped most of the stories to avoid spoilers and the stories that I have read, I also skipped. 

To be honest, this book did have its perks. It added a ton of books to my TBR (Not sure whether this is a pro or a con, because my TBR pile is overflowing.), it was also so very refreshing to read a book by so many authors. The writing style of some of these authors captivated me and it pushed me into putting their books higher on my TBR list, it was beautiful how a 30 page excerpt totally lured me into the story and I needed more of it, especially that I didn't know the characters and I didn't connect to them on any level.

In theory, I disliked the fact that I was thrown into a part of the novel and having to be oblivious to who the characters are, but I'm guessing that is was a method of pushing the reader into buying and reading the whole book.

Some of my favorite "excerpts" that I remember I liked were: 

• The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
• Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
• You Against Me by Jenny Downham
• More Than This by Patrick Ness 
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman (I MUST read this book)

One of the things that I highly recommend is NOT reading anthologies back to back, it should be read over a long period of time. I also learned that anthologies is not my thing, but that's besides the point. 

I have to mention that I ADMIRED the diversity in this one, there are LGBT, characters of color and different ethnicities. 

I usually NEVER give books 2 stars, but this one really wasn't for me. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a good one, it just means that this isn't for me and maybe it is for YOU. I was simply just disappointed by it.

Have you read Love Hurts? I'm curious to know your thoughts, leave them in the comments down below! :) 

Have a great day everybody!

PREVIEW Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Goodreads: 

From V.E. Schwab, the critically acclaimed author of Vicious, comes a new universe of daring adventure, thrilling power, and parallel Londons, beginning with A Darker Shade of Magic.

Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes—as such, he can choose where he lands.

There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there’s Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see—a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.


But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Reading this book, I felt super confused and overwhelmed with emotions, I blamed myself for not focusing and kept rereading the sentences but to no avail. The information of the 3 Londons was thrown at me like daggers from everywhere and I couldn't quite keep up.. 

About 20 pages in, I got the hang of the action and I was immersed into the world. I was hooked from the very first page though, and it was my first time ever reading anything by the eloquent Victoria Schwab and she fascinated me in every way possible. Her writing is addictive, beautiful and you just cannot not admire it. 

This whole preview is mostly from Kell's point of view; Kell is a great protagonist, he is kick-ass and witty with a smart sense of humor. We also get to see a sneak peek of Lila's life. A thief who dresses up like a man and is an aspiring pirate. I also loved the idea of different Londons (Black, Gray, White and Red.) The idea that the inhabitants of Grey London don't even admit to the presence of magic contrasting with Red London's lively use of magic just blew me away. 

I loved the details of which the author added of Kell and his many sided coat (also added to the synopsis). The aspect of parallel Londons intertwined with magic and awesomeness is unique and completely new to me! 

About Prince Rhy, I can't wait to see more of him, I also want to know more about Lila and her life. I need to get my hands on the whole book so I can conquer it. It's definitely high on my TBR list in 2015. 

Let's just admire the cover for a bit now, it blends in with the story and I love covers that do that!! It's not just random, it actually makes you guess what the story is about. 

Overall, I gave this 150 page preview a 4/5 stars solely because I was a bit confused..  I'm super pumped for this one. 

Are you excited to read this book? Tell me in the comments below! 

-Jay