Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Throne of Glass Series Reviews (So Far!)

Title: The Assassin's Blade
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass 0.1-0.5
Rating: 4/5 stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2015-reads, books-i-own, ending-destroyed-me, fantasy, favorites, love-the-cover, read
  
“She was fire, she was darkness, she was dust and blood and shadow.” 
 
The Assassin's Blade is a bind up of all five of the Throne of Glass series novellas. I personally wouldn't recommend reading this before Throne of Glass but what do I know. I thought that these five novellas really built on Celaena's character. I did enjoy some more then others though.

 “There was no way in hell she was going to move to the southern continent without all of her books.” 

The Assassin and The Pirate Lord - 4/5 stars:
I really enjoyed this novella and I thought it was a great start to Celaena's story. It shows us more about Celaena and Sam. You see behind Celaena's bad ass side of her character and right into the side that loves and stands for what is right.

The Assassin and The Healer - 4/5 stars:
This was the shortest novella in this bind up; it's only 40 pages! This novella again shows how much of a bad ass Celaena is but also how she has a soft side. It made me love Celaena even more!

The Assassin and The Desert - 5/5 stars:
This was my favorite novella. I have always thought of Celaena as the perfect character (not annoyingly perfect, she does have flaws, but just morally and physically good) but this shows Celaena struggle a bit to keep up with other assassins in the desert. I thought that this was really good for the story because it made Celaena seem more relatable and human.

The Assassin and The Underworld - 4/5 stars:
Celaena and Sam's relationship really starts to develop here and it gave me all the feels. I thought this novella was a great addition to this bind up.

The Assassin and The Empire - 5/5 stars:
All I really remember is that I was drenched in my own tears for hours and hours after this novella.


Title: Throne Of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Rating: 4/5 stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads:  2014-reads, books-i-own, fantasy, have-high-hopes-for, read, romance

 “My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me.”

For some reason I really didn't expect to like Throne of Glass. I had my hopes up, but I felt like I was going to be that one person that thought the book didn't live up to its hype. I think I was a little scared because I have never been a huge fantasy person. But it mostly did live up to its hype. I thought Throne of Glass was a really fun read and memorable.

This book is about an assassin named Celaena Sardothien. She was one of the greatest assassins, but she got sent to salt mines. She was tortured and punished there for a year. Then the Prince of Adarlan Dorian offers her freedom if she wins a competition to be the king's champion then serves him for a few years. She accepts and travels with Dorian and his men to the castle.

When she gets there she is trained by Captain of the Guard Chaol. The competition is intense and when people started getting murdered, she had even more to worry about then having to return to the salt mines if she loses.

I really enjoyed most of the characters. It did take me a while to like Celaena though because she had this self loving attitude that really bothered me. But she seemed to grow out of it as she went on. Dorian was okay, I mean he was charming and mysterious but I didn't think he had that much depth. I didn't really like Chaol at first but about half way though I loved him. He is so protective and he really believes in Celaena.

People say that this book has a Hunger Games feel to it, but it doesn't really. The only similar concept is that there is a competition and people die. But really this book wasn't anything like the Hunger Games. The competition in Throne of Glass was fun to read about. They had a bunch of different tests and training. It made it interesting that Celaena was competing against a bunch of murders and thieves.

So while Throne of Glass didn't blow me away, it was a really great book. I can't wait to read the next one!


Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2015-reads, book-boyfriends, books-i-own, fantasy, favorites, read, romance, witches-and-fairies

SPOILERS FOR THRONE OF GLASS 

 “I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn't, but I do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.” 

I'm obsessed. This series is brilliant. Also, I am not afraid to say that I ship Celaena and Chaol together. I really can't understand how someone can't ship them together. I mean I think Dorian is awesome but not awesome for Celaena, you feel me? Anyways, I liked Throne of Glass but Crown of Midnight was just better. There is a lot of world building and I feel like I got to know the characters a lot better, especially Celaena.

In Throne of Glass, Celaena wins the competition to become to king's champion. So basically she has to kill whoever he tells her too. Since the king is an ass (Sorry I try not to swear too much in my reviews but he really is an ass) she doesn't want to kill for him so she rebels secretly. But one night everything she has done leads to tragedy. She has to put herself back together and be true to who she is.

Sarah J. Maas exceeded my expectations for Crown of Midnight. I absolutely adore this series. It has magic, fantasy, romance, intense characters, and an unforgettable world. My favorite part of this series so far has been seeing how much Celaena grows as a character. She faces so much sadness and grief, but she rises up from it perfectly. Crown of Midnight is a must read.

Title: Heir of Fire
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #3
Rating: 5/5 stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2015-reads, books-i-own, fantasy, favorites, love-the-cover, read

SPOILERS FOR THRONE OF GLASS AND CROWN OF MIDNIGHT

“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.” 

If I could give this book 100 stars I would. This has definitely been my favorite Throne of Glass book yet! Celaena grows so so much in this book and has turned out to be one of my favorite ya heroines.

Heir of Fire starts with Celaena in Wendlyn. She has been tasked to kill the royal family there but she won't. She finds a faerie camp and trains with a faerie royal named Rowan. Along the way she learns more about herself and starts to find the courage to take her kingdom of Terrasen back.

I absolutely loved the magic aspect in this book. I thought it was a lot of fun seeing people use their powers and reading about Celaena learn how to control hers. I also really loved the bond that formed between Celaena and Rowan. I don't ship them but I think that they are going to be great friends. I also really loved their sarcastic relationship.

In Heir of Fire there are some new characters introduced. Manon is a witch that starts working for the king. We get to see her point of view every few chapters. I didn't really like her point of view at first and I didn't see why it was necessary, but I grew to enjoy her chapters.

Overall I enjoyed every word in this book. I can't wait to read Queen of Shadows in September. 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) Book Review



Title: The Retribution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #3
Other Book Reviews from this Series: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Rating: 5/5 stars
Trigger Warning: mental illness, depression
Bookshelves on Goodreads: book-boyfriends, books-i-own, damaged-guys, favorites, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, mental-illness, my-emotions-i-cannot, romance, 2015-reads
 
“Do not find peace. Find passion.”

So basically this book is life. The Mara Dyer trilogy is one of my all time favorites. The way that this story captures me was just so intense. It was so mysterious, beautiful, and perfect in almost every way. I'm really sad that this series is done but I'm bitter sweet too.

So obviously because of spoiler reasons I can't really go into the plot. So I can tell you that this series is about a girl trying to find out who she is and why she can hurt and kill people with her thoughts. Along the way she finds herself in the middle of mystery, romance, friendship, and mental hospitals.

Two of my favorite aspects of this series in a whole are the romance and the comedy. Firstly, the main romantic interest Noah is to die for. Him and Mara go so great together and they give me all of the feels.

“This is a love story. Twisted and messy. Flawed and screwed up. But it's ours. It's us."

“As I was saying. He could never use you. You own him. You should’ve seen the way he was looking at you while you were out.”
I smiled a little. “How?”
“Like you’re the ocean and he’s desperate to drown.”


Secondly, the comedy and sense of humor in this trilogy is intense. Basically 75% of the good jokes happen between Mara and Jamie. It's the kind of self-depreciating humor that I can appreciate.

“I planted a kamikaze kiss on Jamie’s cheek.
“FUCK,” he shouted, wiping it off. “What if you killed me!” He threw a Skittle at my face. It hit my forehead.
“Ow!”
“Taste the rainbow bitch.”


“Names?' the receptionist asked us.
“Jesus,” Jamie answered.
“Mary,” said Stella.
“Satan,” I said as I walked past her and pushed open the door to Ira Ginsberg’s office.”


I could go on and on but I'm probably lucky if you are still reading this. To summarize: this book series is the bomb and if you haven't read it, how dare you. (Haha just kidding... kind of) I can't to read more from Michelle Hodkin!

Monday, March 16, 2015

The Selection Book Review



 Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #1
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2014-reads, books-i-own, dystopia, have-high-hopes-for, meh, read, romance, so-incredibly-cheesy, ugly-covers

“I hope you find someone you can't live without. I really do. And I hope you never have to know what it's like to have to try and live without them.”

My relationship with this book is neutral. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I guess I just plainly liked it. I had my issues with it, starting with that ugly cover. I don't understand how everyone loves this cover, I just don't understand. Who in there right mind would wear a blue dress made of ruffles? No thanks.

Anyway, this book is about America Singer's journey in the selection. The selection is a contest of 35 women, trying to win Prince Maxon's heart. America is in love with someone at home, Aspen, and she doesn't want to go into the selection, but her mother forces her.

So I found that the character's were either a hit or a miss for me. I didn't like Aspen at all. Just meh, no. I adored Prince Maxon. I kind of liked America most of the time, but thought that she did really stupid things. She was also kind of whinny and selfish. She was one of those perfect characters, that make me mad. Like she was supposedly amazing, beautiful, and talented, and she knew it. Also, what is wrong with these names. America? Maxon? Aspen? WHY?

This book was really captivating and an easy read. I really liked some things, and really didn't like others. So I went with a neutral 3 stars. Overall it was okay. I will probably continue on with this series at some point.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Raven Boys Book Review

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Boys #1
Rating: 4/5 stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: books-i-own, damaged-guys, have-high-hopes-for, mythology, romance

“My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.”

The Raven Boys is super fantastic and unique. I liked Stiefvater's Shiver series but The Raven Boys was better. I seriously loved the whole setting and atmosphere of it. Its southern without the annoying accent writing and has a boarding school without bad school drama. Gansey & his friends live in an abadoned building and has book stacked up high, it sounds like heaven. The whole book is mysterious and perfect.

The Raven Boys is about Blue Sargent, her mom is a physic and she lives with her physic family. Blue herself has the weird ability to lend energy to others, making things stronger and clearer. She goes to the church, like she does every year, and watches the dead pass. She isn't supposed to see them because she isn't physic, but she sees Gansey. She could see him either because she is either his true love or she will kill him. Blue gets dragged into the exciting world of the raven boys.

The raven boys is a nickname that is given to students of an all boys boarding school. We get to met four: Gansey, Adam, Noah, and Ronan. Gansey is a boy with everything, on a quest for a mythical man on the lay lines. Adam has trouble at home with his dad, and often escapes to help Gansey with his quest. Noah is a quiet boy with a weird and dark past. Ronan watched his father his father die and is paying the price with anger and depression.

I loved all of the characters in this book. Blue was really independent and selfless. Out of all of the raven boys I liked Gansey best with Ronan being a close second. I also really liked Blue's mom, she was a bad ass.

Overall this was a great story. I'm happy with how it ended and also happy that I started it so late, so I don't have to wait for The Dream Theives. Doesn't title just sound awesome?! *running to the bookstore to buy the next book*  

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Succubus Blues Book Review

Title: Succubus Blues
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Georgina Kincaid #1
Rating: 4/5 stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: angels, books-i-own, book-boyfriends, have-high-hopes-for, immortals, other-supernatural, romance, vampires, adult

“Look, don’t get me wrong. I worship the ground this guy walks on. I’m excited to meet him tonight. I’m dying to meet him tonight. If he wanted to carry me off and make me his love slave, I’d do it, so long as I got advance copies of his books.”

Richelle Mead probably my favorite author of all time. First I read her Vampire Academy series and truly fell in love. Then I read the Bloodlines series and it redefined what I thought love was. So I was super super super hyped about finally getting to read this. I was a little weary because its an adult book and very umm.. adult? I mean the cover screams sex. Some authors really overdue it with that, and forget about a plot, but Mead didn't.

So I didn't love it as much for Vampire Academy or Bloodlines for sure, but Succubus Blues was pretty great. It took me a bit to actually get into it, then I couldn't stop reading. Georgina was just as much as a badass as Rose & Sydney. The men in this are adorable. There is Seth & Roman. Roman was typical- good looking, charming, confident. Seth was all of those things except for confident, and he is a writer. So I liked Seth more, not gonna lie.

Succubus Blues is about a succubus named Georgina Kincaid. Her life force comes from sexual acts. She doesn't really like what she is, but lives a more simple life. She works at a bookstore and loves to read and drink coffee. Her favorite author, Seth, moves to town and works at her book store. They develop a relationship but Georgina can't have physical contact with him, in fear that she will drain his life force. Kind weird, I know. Then murders of other supernaturals start to happen all around town and Georgina finds herself right in the middle of it.

I liked Georgina as a character but wasn't blown away or anything. The one character I really really loved was Seth. There again goes Mead's amazing talent at writing up the sexiest boys in the fictional world.

This was Mead's debut book and it shows that even from the beginning, she has a beautiful ability to write perfect books. I can't wait to go read the sequel!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Eleanor & Park Book Review

 Title: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 1900s, books-i-own, ending-destroyed-me, favorites, my-emotions-i-cannot, romance, pissed-me-off

"What I'm trying to say is, you're it. This is it for me."

When I started to hear everyone talk about Eleanor & Park like it was a god or something, I knew I was in for either disappointment or relief. When it comes to big books like this, you either like it or you feel like crap for being the only person who didn't like it. So I was really happy when I did like it. I understood what people meant: Eleanor & Park is a tragically beautiful story of two teens who make young love work.

Eleanor & Park is about two teens who fall in love. Eleanor has curly big red hair, dresses unusually, and is a little too big for her taste. She lives with her mom, step dad, and siblings. Her step dad is very abusive and she struggles to protect her siblings and herself from his wrath. Her mom just stands on the sidelines and basically just waits to be kicked. I liked her mom but that really made me upset. It was like she didn't care if her kids lived through fear and never did anything about it.

Eleanor has never been popular, so when she goes to a new school, she gets bullied. She gets a few friends but is constantly kicked around. Park is one of those few friends. He is half Asian and fit in, but it takes effort. He loves punk music and comics. He lives with his mom, dad, & brother.

Eleanor & Park is one of those books that doesn't trend on issues, it smacks right into it. We get to see parental/marriage abuse right up front and it is disgusting. It is the kind of thing that made me want to throw the book across the room. But we always get to see how strong Eleanor is. Just the way that she stands up for herself is so admirable.

This book was a unique spin on love stories, where everyone isn't perfect and beautiful on the outside. I loved it.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) Book Review

 Title: Unravel Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #2
Previous Reviews from this Series: Shatter Me
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: blood-everywhere, book-boyfriends, books-i-own, damaged-guys, favorites, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, my-emotions-i-cannot, dystopia, romance

"I want to know how to convince you to design a smile just for me. Yes, I do want to be your friend. I want to be your best friend in the entire world."

Well that was...amazing. How am I supposed to choose between Adam and Warner? At this point I'm team Juliette because I would okay with either boy she picks. Unravel Me was just perfection. As usual, I won't spoil Unravel Me, but I don't really have much a choice but to spoil some of Shatter Me. So if you haven't read the first book and don't want to be spoiled, stop here and go pick up Shatter me!

Unravel me picks up about 2 weeks after Shatter Me ends. Juliette, Adam, and Kenji are at Omega Point: a place for people like Juliette, with powers and abilities. Of course most of them have easier powers then Juliette; healing, invisibility, etc... But Juliette is the most powerful. There she starts to discover just how powerful she is.

While they are preparing for war again the Reestablishment, they slowly discover why Adam and Warner can touch Juliette.

So I really liked Juliette in this book. She had a lot of character growth and finally saw that she needed to get stronger and grow up. While I didn't think that she was bad at first, she really turned into a more powerful person and character. You get to see a more selfless side of her that I really liked.

Warner and Adam? God. Why did Mafi have to do this is me. I had it chosen: I was team Adam. And now? What the fuck, I have no clue. I love them both but I think I might actually like Warner more. We get to see a whole new side of him in Unravel Me that I just love.

“I want you,” he says. He says “I want all of you. I want you inside and out and catching your breath and aching for me like I ache for you.” He says it like it’s a lit cigarette lodged in his throat, like he wants to dip me in warm honey and he says “It’s never been a secret. I’ve never tried to hide that from you. I’ve never pretended I wanted anything less.”

But one of the best parts? Kenji. Kenji is so freaking hilarious and just a great guy. He is super nice to Juliette even when she is being a bitch. He is Adam's best friend. He is more damaged then what people think. Most of the times I laughed was because of him.

“The man is moody as hell.”

“I am not moody—”

“Yeah, bro.” Kenji puts his utensils down. “You are moody. It’s always ‘Shut up, Kenji.’ ‘Go to sleep, Kenji.’ ‘No one wants to see you naked, Kenji.’ When I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who would love to see me naked—”


This book is perfect and I can't wait until I get my hands on the last one.

Friday, October 10, 2014

The Evolution of Mara Dyer Book Review

Title: The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #2
Previous Reviews from this Series: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: book-boyfriends, books-i-own, damaged-guys, ending-destroyed-me, favorites, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, mental-illness, my-emotions-i-cannot, romance

“I’ll walk forever with stories inside me that the people I love the most can never hear.”

This book blew me away. I loved the first book, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, but this one raised the bar. It is going to be hard to review it without spoilers, but there will be spoilers from the first book, I can't really help that.

This book continues off from where the first one left off. Mara is in a hospital after she saw Jude in the police station and her dad got shot. She gets out of the hospital, quits school, and goes to a out-treatment facility for mental health. Noah and her are together but their relationship is really rocky. They spend a lot of time trying to find Jude and finding out who they are.

The number one best things that came out of this book was character development. Mara grows a ton and starts to find out more about herself. Her mental health/supernatural situation still gets to her, driving her insane. But I saw a lot more fight and responsibility in her.

Noah has so much character development, we start to find out who he really is. We get to see past his sarcastic, pretty face and learn how hurt he really is. Noah & Mara's relationship also develops a lot through out the book. They get really serious.

“If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one.”

I also really enjoyed Mara's brothers in this one. We really get to know Daniel and learn what a great brother he is.

“My brother cleared his throat. "I wish she knew that I think she is the most hilarious person on Earth. And that whenever she's not home, I feel like I'm missing my partner in crime."
My throat tightened. Do not cry. Do not cry.
"I wish she knew that she's really Mom's favorite--"
I shook my head here.
"--the princess she always wanted. That Mom used to dress her up like a little doll and parade her around like Mara was her greatest achievement. I wish Mara knew that I never minded, because she's my favorite too.”


This series is mysterious and beautiful. Hodkin has a way of making me feel exactly what the characters feel. I felt Mara's confusion and doubt in whether she was insane or had powers or both. She actually made me question my earlier assumptions about the book, which I loved. The book has a seriously awful cliff hanger and I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Throne of Glass Book Review

  Title: Throne of Glass
  Author: Sarah J. Mass
  Series: Throne of Glass #1
  Rating: 4/5 Stars
  Bookshelves on Goodreads: blood-everywhere, books-i-own, have-high-hopes-for, other-supernatural, read, romance

“My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me.”

For some reason I really didn't expect to like Throne of Glass. I had my hopes up, but I felt like I was going to be that one person that thought the book didn't live up to its hype. I think I was a little scared because I have never been a huge fantasy person. But it mostly did live up to its hype. I thought Throne of Glass was a really fun read and memorable.

This book is about an assassin named Celaena Sardothien. She was one of the greatest assassins, but she got sent to salt mines. She was tortured and punished there for a year. Then the Prince of Adarlan Dorian offers her freedom if she wins a competition to be the king's champion then serves him for a few years. She accepts and travels with Dorian and his men to the castle.

When she gets there she is trained by Captain of the Guard Chaol. The competition is intense and when people started getting murdered, she had even more to worry about then having to return to the salt mines if she loses.

I really enjoyed most of the characters. It did take me a while to like Celaena though because she had this self loving attitude that really bothered me. But she seemed to grow out of it as she went on. Dorian was okay, I mean he was charming and mysterious but I didn't think he had that much depth. I didn't really like Chaol at first but about half way though I loved him. He is so protective and he really believes in Celaena.

People say that this book has a Hunger Games feel to it, but it doesn't really. The only similar concept is that there is a competition and people die. But really this book wasn't anything like the Hunger Games. The competition in Throne of Glass was fun to read about. They had a bunch of different tests and training. It made it interesting that Celaena was competing against a bunch of murders and thieves.

So while Throne of Glass didn't blow me away, it was a really great book. I can't wait to read the next one!

Sunday, September 21, 2014

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Book Review



 Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Rating: 5/5 Stars

“You want me as much as I want you. And all I want is you."
My tongue warred with my mind. "Today," I whispered.
Noah stood slowly, his body skimming mine as he rose. "Today. Tonight. Tomorrow. Forever.”

When I went into this book, I didn’t really know much about it. I only had the very vague summary on the back to go from. I figured that since everybody seemed to like it, it would be good. But it was better than good, this book was perfect. It is so mysterious and intriguing that I had a really hard time trying to put it down. I loved most of the characters and loved the romance aspect to it. It was really unforgettable.

Since when I went into it, I didn’t know much and I feel like it might be better that way, so my summary is going to be very vague. The main character is Mara Dyer and she has no clue what is happening to her. She is in a really awful accident in her old home town, where her best friend and boy friend are killed. A building clasped on them and Mara was the only was to survive.

Her family moves to Florida to get away from all of the trauma. Mara starts seeing things that can’t be there and starts to really freak out. At her new school she doesn’t have many friends except for unique, nerdy Jamie. She meets Noah, a mysterious beautiful boy who seems to have a thing for her. All while, Mara is really losing her mind.

Mara is a really great heroine. She is smart, nice, and really strong based on her situation. I absolutely love Noah. He is just so amazing and a great character. Jamie is super funny and nice. Mara’s brother Daniel seems like the best brother ever. But I do have to say that I really didn’t like her parents at all. They are just over protective and they think that they are helping Mara but they really aren’t. They are just annoying.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is in my favorites for sure.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Program Book Review

Title: The Program
Author: Suzanne Young
Series: The Program #1
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: books-i-own, dystopia, have-high-hopes-for, mental-illness, my-emotions-i-cannot, romance

  “I think that sometimes the only real thing is now.”

The Program was beautiful, heartbreaking, and scary. Really if you think about it, the whole concept of this book is scary as hell. What is suicide was contagious? What if you did have to hide your feelings? What if you could get sent to the mental ward just for crying or having a bad day? As a person who has had depression and anxiety her whole life, it is just a concept that seems to freighting and possible.

The concept of this book is that more and more teens are getting depressed and commiting suicide. The suicide rate is at an all time high and the Program has stepped in. If they find you depressed or even upset, they will send you to the Program. They drug you into not remembering your life and the people you love most. Then you get sent back into the real world and everything is blank.

This is Sloane's world. She lost her brother to suicide. The only reason she got through it was because of James, she brother's best friend and her boyfriend. Then their friend Miller dies and they both got depression and try to hide it so they don't go into the Program. But the Program is coming for them.

So I loved a lot about this book. I really liked how emotional it was and how real it seemed. I liked Sloane and felt for her situation. But while I liked James, I couldn't really love his character as much as I wanted to. But I didn't like the concept of the program or how close it hit to home. It was almost too emotional in the fact that reading it just made me upset. But overall I enjoyed it and can't wait to read The Treatment!

Friday, September 5, 2014

Shatter Me Book Review



 Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: books-i-own, book-boyfriends, dystopia, favorite-series, favorites, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, other-supernatural, pissed-me-off, romance
 
“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.
In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.”


So I was going to shorten that quote, I swear, but I just couldn't. That is probably the most perfect, relatable quote that I have ever read. So your welcome. Saying that, I was scared going into this book. Really scared. I have heard so much good and bad about it and I was scared that I was just falling into a hype, but I wasn't. Shatter Me heard such a unique writing style that I think that it will be either a hit or a miss with people. But it was a huge hit with me.

I loved and felt for most of the characters. I thought that the writing style was perfect and beautiful. I literally couldn't put it down, it was just so gripping and unforgetable. It was really great seeing the main character, Juliette, come into herself and become brave. I loved the romance. I just have so much praise for this book.

Shatter Me is about a girl named Juliette who has a fatal touch. She doesn't have any clue why or how. Then she almost kills someone, by accident, and The Reestablishment (basically their government) locked her up in an asylum for murder. Her parents hate her, she has never had any friends, and her life just sucks until Adam comes along.

Juliette is in her dark cell when she meets her new roommate, Adam. She knows Adam from somewhere, but she doesn't know where. Adam is instantly nice and charming. She constantly fights the urge to touch him and they go crazy together. Then Warner takes Juliette and Adam to a government building and she discovers that they want to use her as a weapon.

This book just branded itself into my brain and wouldn't let go. I just bought the next book and I am so excited to start it.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Silver Shadows (Bloodlines # 5) Book Review

Title: Bloodlines
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #5
Rating: 5/5 stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: book-boyfriends, books-i-own, damaged-guys, favorites, have-high-hopes-for, my-emotions-i-cannot, pissed-me-off, read, romance, vampires

“Everything I’d fought for, every challenge, every victory … all of it was empty if anything happened to him. Without him, I wouldn’t have had the courage to become the person I was. Without him, I wouldn’t have realized what it truly was to live and love life. Centrum permanebit. He was my center, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do, nothing I wouldn’t give up, to keep him safe.”  

Holy. Crap. I read this in early August but thinking about it/ writing this review makes me want to cry with tears of joy. This is my favorite book ever, no exceptions. In my opinion, it was also the best of the series. It was intense, heart breaking, and stunning beautiful and perfect. Like really after I read this, I couldn't do anything properly. PS. As always there will be spoilers now for the rest of the series. 

After the crushing thing that was the ending of The Fiery Heart, Sydney is in re-education and Adrian is destroyed. He looks for her through dreams every night and day, when he is sober anyways. Everybody is looking for Sydney but she is no where to be found. Adrian basically falls apart: he barely passes his classes at art school, he drinks all the time, and is spirit is driving his crazy. And god, I felt for him. Really, I mean it was so emotionally awful to read about him like that. 

Sydney is in re-education and it is just as awful as thought it would be. They keep her in a pitch black room for almost 3 months before she earns the right to be around people, people who have done wrong by the alchemists like her. She meets friends and tries to find any way to get out of there. While I didn't feel for Sydney as much as Adrian, I was more just angry at the alchemists. And her dad and sister, gahh. 

So overall I have no clue what to say about this book because it was just so perfect in every way. The ending was shocking and perfect and unbelievable. People who read the book probably know what I'm talking about. But anyways, there was a bad cliffhanger as always. Classic bloodlines. But even without the cliffhanger I absoluetly can't wait until February 10th. Its just too far away.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Vampire Diaries Unmasked Book Review



 Title: Unmasked
Author: Aubrey Clark/L.J. Smith
Series: The Vampire Diaries #13
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads:  book-boyfriends, books-i-own, damaged-guys, ending-destroyed-me, favorites, have-high-hopes-for, my-emotions-i-cannot, romance, vampires

“There’s no happy ending in this for either of us. I hope you know that.” she said. “I’ve lived this once already. I know what it’s like to love them both, and to lose them.”

Unmasked is so conflicting for me. I feel like I naturally need to give 5 stars to anything Vampire Diaries related, and I do. I do feel like this one deserved it, maybe unlike the other two written by the ghost writer. But I'm so happy that I read this one because it broke my heart then put it back together again. I was satisfied with how it ended. 



Unmasked picked up basically a week or so after Unseen. Spoiler time if you haven't read the rest of the series. Elena is dying and Damon is feeling at fault. He killed Stefan's killer and he thought it wouldn't apply to the deal that Elena and Damon made, but it did. But before Elena dies, a guardian offers her a chance. She goes back to the beginning to make Damon good. But doing it means she can't love Stefan.

But I loved every page. I feel bitter sweet that the series has ended (maybe? *smshhh*). But I still have the TV show to fix my TVD love.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Where She Went Book Review

Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #2
Previous Reviews: If I Stay
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads:
read, based-on-music, book-boyfriends, books-i-own, contemporary, damaged-guys, romance

 “And then Adam Wilde shows up at Carnegie Hall on the biggest night of my career, and it felt like more than a coincidence. It felt like a gift. From them. For my first recital ever, they gave me a cello. And for this one, they gave me you.” 

*Huge spoilers if you haven't read If I Stay*

So if you read my review of If I Stay, you know that it is one of my favorite books of all time. In If I Stay, Mia and her family has a huge car accident that kills her whole family but her. She is in this coma and is outside of her body, so she can see everyone like grief over her and beg her to stay and fight. So she gets this huge choice, to stay or to go. Here is the big spoiler: she stays after her boyfriend Adam begs her to stay.

“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.” 

So Mia lives and leaves Adam. Where She Went is in Adam's POV and shows how destroyed he is. He band is huge, he is the rock star he always wanted to be. But he is also depressed, fighting with the band, and hating his life as a rock star. Then one day he meets Mia again in New York and they go on a day trip to see if they can reconnect.

I really did enjoy this book a lot. It was romantic, emotional, and beautiful. I did go into this with huge HUGE expections from If I Stay and they weren't quite meet. Where She Went was a little boring in the beginning and took a bit to get into. I also feel like the ending was some what rushed but it was so perfect that it wasn't a big problem for me.

Overall Where She Went was amazing. I look forward to reading more from Gayle Forman!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Dangerous Creatures Book Review


Title: Dangerous Creatures
Author(s): Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: Dangerous Creatures #1
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: books-i-own, damaged-guys, have-high-hopes-for, look-at-that-cover-i-want-to-vomit, meh, read, romance, witches-and-fairies

   “Ridley Duchannes. Is there even one stupid tiny little part of you that loves one stupid tiny little part of me?”

Dangerous Creatures is the start of a spin off series of Beautiful Creatures. I loved Beautiful Creatures and gave every book 5/5 stars. I even like the crappy movie that every one hates. So you can see that I really wanted to like Dangerous Creatures and I tried, I really did. I'm not saying that it was horrible because it wasn't, it was just so boring. It did finally start to pick up about 3/4 of the way through. I would have given the book a 2/5 if it wasn't for the decent ending. But Dangerous Creatures just left me wanting more.

Dangerous Creatures is about Ridley Duchannes (a dark siren caster that is always up to no good) and Wesley Lincoln (Link) (a hybrid incubus who plays music, even if he sucks at it). To fully understand this book, I think you would have to read the Beautiful Creatures series first, which gives you a run down on casters and such. But you can read this without spoiling too much of the Beautiful Creatures series. So Ridley and Link graduate and go to New York. They both have their own reasons, Link wants to get into the music business and Ridley has a debt to pay. So they end up dorming with a caster band and getting themselves into trouble.

My main problem with this book was that it just didn't keep my interest until the end. It moved at a slow pace and had little to no action till the end. It also pissed me off because Ridley treats Link like crap for most of the book. I like them as a couple but really? She has an awesome sweet guy, and she lies to him and pushes him around. It also made me mad because no one like even gave Ridley a chance to be good. Its a sterotype, that all Sirens are bad, so everyone in the band is mean to her. No wonder why she doesn't like them.

If you read the Beautiful Creatures series and are wondering if you should bother to read this, you should. I feel like my mildly negative review might just be my opinion.

Friday, June 20, 2014

City of Heavenly Fire Book Review




 Title: City of Heavenly Fire
 Author: Cassandra Clare
 Series: Mortal Instruments #6
 Rating: 5/5 Stars
 Bookshelves on Goodreads: have-high-hopes-for, books-i-own, favorites, book-boyfriends, blood-everywhere, damaged-guys, angels, werewolves, romance, my-emotions-i-cannot, vampires, love-the-cover, witches-and-fairies

“Freely we serve
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall.”


(slight spoilers if you haven't read the rest of the series)
There is no amount of words that can sum up my feels right now. It's so bitter sweet because I LOVED this but the SERIES IS OVER! The Mortal Instruments is so far my third favorite series of all time behind VA and Bloodlines. Saying this, COHF was also my favorite book of the series. It had so much action, romance, funny moments, drama, and tears. It took me two weeks to read, just because it was so overwhelming to read.

COHF starts right after COLS ends. Sebastian stars to turn more shadow hunters into dark shadow hunters, in his persuit to rule the world. And the Clave isn't doing shit about it. Jace gets it.

"The Clave has a collective intelligence of a pineapple."

So shadow hunters are made to come to Alicante to prepare for war. When a great betrayal takes place against the Clave, Clary and her friends take it into their hands to stop the destruction of the world.

Can we just take about how far Clary has come? She has always been a brave character but in COHF she showed a huge amount of strength. She was taking the shots and even got her own sword. May I just say that she was BA.


“There are a hundred trillion cells in the human body, and every single one of the cells of my body loves you. We shed cells, and grow new ones, and my new cells love you more than the old ones, which is why I love you more every day than I did the day before. It’s science. And when I die and they burn my body and I become ashes that mix with the air, and part of the ground and the trees and the stars, everyone who breathes that air or sees the flowers that grow out of the ground or looks up at the stars will remember you and love you, because I love you that much.”

Clary and Jace's relationship got deeper and deeper. They are just so damn cute together. (Even though Jace is MINE, back off Clary)The rest of the relationships were adorable as well (Simon & Isabelle and Magnus & Alec)

I think that the best part of this book was that it was so fucking funny. Proof:

“I did not make a pie,” Alec repeated, gesturing expressively with one hand, “for three reasons. One, because I do not have any pie ingredients. Two, because I don’t actually
know how to make a pie.”
He paused, clearly waiting.
Removing his sword and leaning it against the cave wall, Jace said warily, “And three?”
“Because I am not your bitch,” Alec said, clearly pleased with himself.”


oh and..

“I think they’ll probably put that on my gravestone. ‘He Was Heterosexual and Had Low Expectations." Jace said.

And we can't forget this..

“You're pining," said Jace.
Alec shrugged. "Look who's talking. 'oh I love her. Oh, she's my sister. Oh why, why, why—”


This was the perfect end to a brilliant series. I am sad to see the end of it, but look forward to more of Cassandra Clare's books.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Requiem Book Review



“And you can't love, not fully, unless you are loved in return.”

*Spoilers if you haven’t read the first two books, Delirium and Pandemonium* You can find the reviews here and here
I am so confused. I read this a few weeks ago and I still can’t get over that ending. It was just awful. I was seriously expecting to turn the page and find another chapter or two, but no that was it. But really, besides the ending, this book was a step up from Pandemonium. First it didn’t have the “now” and “then” part, which was great. You finally get to see Alex, which made the book a hundred times better. But the ending was kind of a “wtf moment”.

Requiem was split into two povs: Lena and Hana. Hana is cured and about to be married to the governer. But she soon releases that the cure didn’t work on her. Well it kind of did, but it wears off throughout the book. She displays this by bringing food to Lena’s family, which is homeless after Lena escaped. It was really nice to see her point of view in the story.  

So this book picks up right after Pandemonium. Alex is different, hard, cold, and wrong after seeing Lena with Julian. So basically they both picked people to make the other one jealous. Lena has Julian and Alex has Coral. It is so freaking annoying. There is a shit load of tension between the three, I mean really. There are punches thrown. It is all madness. The whole time I was just like “KISS ALREADY” to Lena and Alex.

The rebellion is in full swing and they are fully fitting back again the government. I loved seeing this intense version of Lena. She is no longer the sweetheart from Delirium or the grieving person from Pandemonium. She is bad ass.

"But maybe happiness isn't in the choosing. Maybe it's in the fiction, in the pretending: that wherever we have ended up is where we intended to be all along."

So out in the Wilds, the government is now hunting them down. They didn’t even say they were real in the first two books, and in the third they are hunting them down. The Wilds are a mess. They are constantly moving around to try to find a save place. But there is no safe place, and they soon learn that.

So while I had some problems with this book, I can’t deny that Lauren Oliver’s writing is incredibly perfect and beautiful in every way. It is just so amazing. I do think that this was a great book, while it wasn’t perfect, it was a good read.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Delirium Book Review


"It's so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it's taking forever to come. Then it happens and it's over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed."
 
The whole idea behind this trilogy just shouldn't work, but it does. It was beautiful, romantic, and action packed. The writing style was great, for me at least. I think that it might not work for some people though. Lauren Oliver writes with a lot of metaphors, and some people might find that annoying, and I do a little bit. But they are such beautiful metaphors that I had a problem hating them.

"Love: a single word, a wispy thing, a word no bigger or longer than an edge. That's what it is: an edge, a razor. It draws up through the center of you life, cutting everything in two. Before and after. The rest of the world falls away on either side."

See, don't you think that is just beautiful? So for me, the writing style was a big plus. I also felt for the characters. When they hurt, I hurt, it was really emotional. It was just a great start to the trilogy.

Our main character is Lena. She lives in Portland, where love is considered the most deadly of all diseases. They have borders around the cities, curfews, and cures to protect them from the "deliria". You can only get the cure once you are 18, or it has bad side effects. Well really it has bad side effects anyways. It makes it so you can't love, can't feel, and the sick thing is that everyone believes in the cure. They believe that being in love will kill you and that the government is just trying to protect them by beating people for going to parties and killing them for getting the deliria.

They have different schools for boys and girls and lots of scary stories to make them believe they will get sick if they kiss someone and what not. Lena always believed their stories until Alex makes her change her mind. Alex is an "invalid" that meets Lena and they fall in love. Invalids are people that live outside of the protected cities and rebel from the idea that love is a disease. They live in the Wilds and barely survive every day, but they are free.

Lena has a best friend named Hana. Her and Hana run together and later on Hana shows her that their is another way to live your life. She was actually one of my favorite characters, besides Alex, because she was a rebel and was a free thinker. But Alex was my favorite. He was so romantic and selfless, basically your dream guy. He read poetry to her for crying out load.

This book was great for me. It is a romantic thriller that you can't miss.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

What Happened To Goodbye book review


“Two a.m.' He swallowed, then said, "You know. The person you can call at two a.m. and, no matter what, you can count on them. Even if they're asleep or it's cold or you need to be bailed out of jail...they'll come for you. It's like, the highest level of friendship.” 

I had to read this for my english class. You know those projects where you pick a book and do projects on it. Well I picked this one. It was only 400 pages, an easy read, and romantic. I figured that I wouldn't have a problem with it because I have always loved Sarah Dessen. While I did enjoy this book, it had a few problems. I'll get to them after my summary of the book.

Mclean Sweet doesn't know who she really is. Her parents had a bloody awful divorce and she basically hates her mom for cheating on her dad. Espically because the dude is the coach of Mclean's Dad's favorite basketball team. It was really a low blow. Now the coach and her mom are married and they have two kids. Mclean travels with her dad for his work. He works at the company FOOD INC. They like fix restruants and such and help them get on their feet.

So Mclean changes herself every time she moves. Her name and her personality. But when her dad and her go to the new town and the Luna Blu, everything changes for her. She uses her real name and is her real self, even though she doesn't really know who that is. She meets Dave, the boy next door, and they get attached. He kind of helps her find out who she is. She makes friends and they work on a community project together. But things are about to get really bad with her mom and she doesn't know what to do.

Okay, so I did like this book. It was light and fun and easy to read. I read through about 200 pages in one day, which isn't normal. But that was after the beginning. God, the beginning was bad. It was really hard to get through. It was just boring and had like no talking. It was all explaining about her life and meh. So I took a star off for that.

Then I took a star off because I didn't really feel or connect with the characters. While I liked them, I never connected to them in anyway. But other then that, it was a good book. If you are looking for light summer read, this is for you!
Copyright © 2014 A Polished Bookworm