Review: As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

This was a cute and quick read. Perfect for some light summer reading by the pool. Nothing too heavy. The parts that were supposed to be dramatic and heartbreaking were very lightly written so they weren't overly emotional to read at all. If I had been in the mood for something heavier or more emotionally charged this would have been a disappointment, but since it is summer and I tend to lean more toward fluffy contemporary during this time of year, this was perfect.

In this cute romance we follow Viola, who has had her heart broken by her best friend when he revealed he was gay two years into their relationship. They are still the best of friends, but it killed something inside of her when they broke up and she hasn't recovered. One day she makes a wish to belong again that is so strong it gets a jinn assigned to her to grant three wishes. Jinn very much does not want to be on Earth and wants to grant the wishes as quickly as possible so he can get back home. Viola isn't his typical master though and refuses to make her wishes, thus forcing Jinn to stay until she does. Over time she and Jinn get closer and closer and he finally realizes he is in love with her. This breaks all the protocol for a jinn and he knows there will be a hefty price to pay when he gets home. If he gets home. They try very hard for Viola not to make her last wish because once she does, Jinn will have to return home and she will forget she ever met him. Will their romance be able to survive with such obstacles standing in their way?

Overall, this was a nice whimsical read and a great beach book. I would recommend this if you're in the mood for some light-hearted romance that will make you smile.

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I wish I could give this more than five stars. I was just in a reading slump that lasted for several weeks. It was awful! Luckily, I had a secret weapon...Sarah J. Maas. Any book this woman writes instantly sucks me in and I cannot put it down. Sure enough, I started reading it and as soon as I turned the first page my reading slump was history.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sarah J. Maas is a master at world building. The images she creates are so vivid that I felt like I was right there next to Feyre in the Night Court and Velaris. She also writes such heartbreaking scenes that I found myself sobbing at several points in the book. It's a rare person who can write emotion in such a raw and vulnerable way.

This is a story I feel is empowering for young women too. All too often in stories centered around romance, you get the hero like Tamlin, who is the strong, stereotypically masculine character who tells the woman he will take care of everything and she can just sit around looking pretty for him. I appreciate the fact that Feyre, who has always been the strong one for her family, was not ok with sitting around being kept in the dark and locked up like a possession. I am so happy that her relationship with Rhys was painted to show a healthy and trusting friendship first. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was so refreshing to see that Feyre felt comfortable and safe enough with him that she could disagree with him and they would work things out together. Unlike her relationship with Tamlin, where every time she disagreed with him he was growling or breaking things. In particular, the argument with Tamlin in the study was very disturbing to read because he became so violent that had Feyre not been able to protect herself, she could have been hurt. He followed up his violent outburst by physically blocking her from leaving the house while he went off on another of his unexplained errands. Once she was freed from the spelled house by Rhys and his cousin, Mor, we got to witness her long and slow healing process. She took a long time to begin to trust Rhys, not only because of the false image he created of himself, but also because she was so badly treated by Tamlin. The patience, understanding and kindness she was shown slowly healed her and we got to see her learn what a healthy relationship really was. Rhys treated Feyre like a person and not a possession. He understood that she would not always agree with him, that she could make up her own mind, form her own opinions and make her own decisions. He encouraged her at all times and supported her decisions. I love that Sarah wrote such flawed and scarred characters who were healing and dealing with their trauma in their own way, but also showing what real and healthy love has the power to do for a person's soul.

In addition to the romance, we also saw Feyre learning to trust Rhys's friends and growing to love them as her own family. One of my favorite scenes in the entire book was when she was training with Cassian and he got her to finally open up. When she finally started to cry and let out all her bottled emotion she accidentally burned through the padding on his hands and burned him, but he could see she had more to get out so he told her she could keep going. He was willing to take it just to help her get it out. I was in tears reading this because even her own family never treated her kindly or showed her that no matter what she could lean on them too. She had touching moments of friendship with Mor, Azriel, and Amren as well. It was so nice to read about not only the romantic relationship, but also Feyre developing real friendships too. The jury is still out on how I feel about Lucien at this point, but I hope he can redeem himself in the next book because he did try to be a good friend to Feyre, he just fell a little short due to his loyalty to Tamlin.

Overall, this book was amazing for so many reasons and if Sarah J. Maas is not on your auto-buy list, she should be. I don't know how I'm going to wait another year for the third book. Good thing I have Queen of Shadows sitting in my TBR pile. I have a feeling I'm going to need it to get over the hangover this book is giving me. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

How To Get Over a Reading Slump

We've all been there...the dreaded reading slump. You've been reading the same sentence for ten minutes and it's not making any sense. You try to force your way through it, but your mind starts to wander so you put the book down. Then you find that you can't seem to pick up a book for days or even weeks on end. If you're an avid reader you know the pain of being separated from your dear old friends. These are a few of the tips I use to get over the slump:

1. Re-read an old favorite. Sometimes the books on your TBR aren't appealing because you never know if you will love them or not. I find that going back to one of the books that got me into reading in the first place helps. I know I love it and it's just as comfortable as slipping on my favorite sweater.
2. Reorganize your shelves. I know this one is a bit out there, but when my shelves look good and my books are aesthetically pleasing, it inspires me to pick them up.
3. Allow yourself a break. Reading takes a lot of imagination and sometimes your mind just needs to rest. My go to is a good old fashioned Netflix binge. You can do anything that relaxes you though like coloring or listening to music. Whatever you do that helps you loosen up and unwind.
4. Listen to an audiobook. If you really can't take a break from reading this is a great alternative. It allows you the experience of the story without having to struggle to focus on the page.
5. Set the stage. When you think you're finally ready to pick up a book again, make it as appealing as possible. Light some candles, get a warm cup of tea or coffee, have a snack nearby, put on something comfy and curl up in your favorite reading nook with a blanket. Is there anything better than this place? I think not.

When you love reading as much as we do, it's hard when the slump hits. I hope these tips help and if you have any not listed here, please leave me a comment so I can try them the next time I hit the reading wall.

Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This book is so richly written that you will be immersed in the Scottish Highlands in every way. The writing style is simply breathtaking in it's lush descriptions. I also rather enjoyed that Diana Gabaldon writes in the way that the Scottish words are pronounced making it easier to really "hear" the characters' voices. She paints the world for you and wraps you up in it completely.

When we begin to follow Claire in 1945 on her second honeymoon with her husband, Frank, you almost immediately get the sense that she is a force to be reckoned with. I felt like Frank didn't realize her strength though. I got rather a demure vibe of her in his presence and that perhaps since they were apart during her time as a nurse in the war, that he didn't really understand how tough she was. It seemed an odd match for me from the beginning. Frank is this quiet, scholarly type who's off in his head thinking a lot of the time while Claire is this fireball who stays quiet and does her own thing away from him a lot. Maybe when they met they balanced each other, but after so many years apart they seem mismatched in personality. There is one particular scene that hints at Frank's possible infidelity to Claire while they were separated when he more or less accuses her of the same. The whole first few chapters where we are with Claire and Frank just feel forced to me. Not the writing, but their relationship.

When Claire goes off on her own again to search for some flowers while Frank has his nose in the books, it's almost a relief when she accidentally gets transported through the standing stones to 1743 Scotland. We find Claire suddenly thrust into the center of a battle between some highlanders and the British red coats. She runs into a man who looks exactly like Frank and for a moment thinks it's a movie set, until she realizes it isn't Frank, but his ancestor who looks almost exactly like him, Black Jack Randall. Still not quite convinced until he gets violent with her it takes her a few minutes to understand that she is in danger. She is suddenly rescued by one of the highlanders and taken back to their hideout where she meets Jamie. This is the first time we get a true sense of her strength of character. She is alone and afraid and not entirely sure of what is going on or if she is in extreme danger, but when she sees this group of men attempt to set Jamie's dislocated shoulder in a way that would injure him further, she jumps in and tells them off and completely domineers them to help this man she doesn't even know. They don't know what to make of this tough, foul mouthed woman who is dressed strangely so they take her with them. Thus begins her adventure in the past.

When Jamie and Claire meet you can see that they are both stubborn and have very strong personalities. They immediately feel more compatible as a potential couple. I do like that they don't fall in love at first sight though. At first Claire even thinks he is a suitable match for a young girl in the castle and never even considers him for herself since she is still married to Frank and plotting how to get back to him. The first few hundred pages do move a bit slower because there is so much set up and Claire getting her bearings and trying to figure out what she needs to do. After she accepts what has happened though and begins to plan, there is no stopping the momentum of their journey. We are taken on this whirlwind of misadventures that will keep you turning the pages long into the night. This is quite a long book and there is so much that happens in it that it can't be summed up shortly, but to say you will thoroughly enjoy it is an understatement. Due to a series of events Jamie and Claire are forced to marry in order to protect Claire, but this is when they really begin to get to know each other. They take their time and don't reveal every part of themselves to one another all at once. In the end we are still watching them open up to each other. It is much more real feeling and almost gritty than her whirlwind wartime romance with Frank. There are certain scenes that are difficult to read such as the attempted rape and the punishment scenes. They may be historically accurate as to how women were treated in that time, but to a modern day female reader, it was tough to stomach at certain points. The good thing is that it taught Jamie a lesson as well as teaching Claire what she can and cannot stand for. There is a lot of graphic violence as well as very descriptive love scenes so I wouldn't recommend this for younger readers, but for an advanced or mature reader even the ugly bits were well written.

I could not get enough of Claire and Jamie and can't wait to pick up the next book. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves romance, historical fiction, action adventure, political intrigue, time travel, or just a really beautifully written piece of fiction.

Review: Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen

This was my second foray into Sarah Dessen's writing and it was a vast improvement over the first one. I'm still not overly fond of her writing style with the jumping timeline. It was a bit disconcerting to be in the middle of a scene and then suddenly in another scene from the past or future then back again with no real explanation that you were changing timelines or going back. The first time I noticed it our characters were getting into a car and then in the next paragraph they were crossing a parking lot to a truck that they hadn't gotten into yet and the conversation seemed to still be related so I couldn't understand what was happening until they were back in the car again. I know that made no sense, so imagine reading it that way. This happened a few more times throughout the book and at first I wondered if the changing scenes midway and back was an error in editing, but then I realized it was done on purpose, just not smoothly. Beyond that, which was my main issue with this book, the story was much better and seemed to make a lot more sense. We had a beginning, a middle, and an end that wrapped things up nicely. Unlike my first Dessen experience, this story had a point and a lesson that made the whole thing worthwhile to read. Overall, I was much more impressed with this one and am now looking forward to reading another. To be fair, contemporary isn't my favorite genre, but I do have some authors that I can depend on to always give me a good read when I'm in the mood for it. I'm not convinced Sarah is one of them yet, but I'm still willing to read more which speaks volumes. I'd recommend this one if you are looking for a fluffy summer, beach book.

Review: That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Where to begin...I was so very disappointed in this book. This is the first time I've read anything by Sarah Dessen and I'd heard so many good things about her books that I was looking forward to reading them all. Maybe this was the wrong one to start with, I'm not sure. I had to force myself to finish this one and I kept hoping it would get better at some point, but it never did. The characters were so whiny and unlikeable it was nearly impossible for me to keep reading. They were flawed, but not in a good way where there was some redeeming quality or where you could even relate to them. They were just annoying. The father who abandoned his family for the local weather girl and then didn't even tell his daughters about them having a new baby, but announced it on the local news first. The mother who moved on by staying out late nights dancing with middle aged men at a local bar and planning a trip to Europe with her friends which would leave her fifteen year old daughter on her own for a month. The sister who steamrolled her way across everyone and everything in her path and made everyone around her jumpy and miserable while they dealt with her "moods". The boy crazy best friend who came home from summer camp smoking, drinking, planning to run away with her new boyfriend and acted like she was worldly now that she had a boyfriend while her friend was so childish. I mean, I could keep going, but I don't really want to have them in my head anymore. Their voices in my head were so grating I understood why our main character finally cracked toward the end in one long and very bad day. I understood why she idealized the past and the one boy who seemed to make everything better. But even his plotline fell flat for me. We idealized him throughout the book through Haven's eyes and then in the last few pages made him out to be a bad guy? I mean, this entire story was so pointless to me. No real lessons learned, no real focus of the story other than one girl's endless summer of dealing with annoying family members and friends with no resolution to anything other than that she just had to deal with it. I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that I got through this book. I very rarely dislike a book this much so this is new for me, but I feel like this was such a waste of good reading time. I might try another of her more popular books just to give her one more chance, but honestly, I'm feeling a little burned by the hype right now.

Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes smolders and burns it's way into your soul in the best way possible. It's told from the dual perspectives of Elias and Laia. Elias is a Mask, one of the most highly trained and effective soldiers of the Empire, who is feared across the land as an enforcer of the violent rule of the evil Emperor. Laia is a Scholar girl, who are the people that were conquered by the Empire and treated as the lowest of the low. Laia is on a mission to save her brother, Darin, before he is tortured and killed in prison. Elias wants nothing more than to escape his life of violence. Their journeys interweave in such a beautiful way that leaves you breathless and on the edge of your seat. Their revolving chapters each end on cliffhangers and just when you have this bursting need to see what happens next with one of them, your perspective changes to the other. It's both maddening and genius in how its written. Their struggles are so heartbreaking, each in their own way, but give them such empathy for each other, even when they should despise each other simply for what they are. These two are so determined to break out of the lives they are expected to lead that they really are able to look past what they are supposed to see in each other. They instead form a strong bond because they each find solace in knowing that at least one person truly understands who they are inside, not just what they were born to be. It's so fast paced and action packed that you will be completely immersed in this world from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. I, for one, cannot wait for the second book to see where their journey takes them next. This is a wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed and think you will to. If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading this amazing book.

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas is a master at world building. There, I said it. This is a fairytale retelling loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, heavy on the beauty. The lush descriptions of everything draw you in from the very beginning and you feel like you can see, taste and smell everything Sarah describes in such a fantastically vivid way.

The first two thirds of the book do move at a slower pace, but it helps with the slow burn of the relationship development between our heroine, Feyre, and our beast character, Tamlin. And once it develops, holy moly. The love scenes are pretty darn steamy. We also have the development of the friendship between Feyre and Tamlin's emissary, Lucien. Lucien is a wonderfully sassy character and provides humor and at all the right moments. The friendship he develops with Feyre takes it's time as well, which is nice. There is no kind of insta-love to be found in this entire book.

The final third of the book is action packed and more than makes up for the first part moving slowly. We get tons of intrigue, fairy politics, violence and emotion in such a short burst that you will not be able to put the book down. We also get a pretty dreamy anti-hero with the High Lord of the Night Court, Rhysand. Look out future love triangle since both of these High Lords are completely shippable. If you're a fan of the Vampire Diaries, I'd compare Tamlin and Rhysand to Stefan and Damon. You  have the good guy with a dark side and also the bad guy with a heart of gold. You really can't go wrong either way.

I highly recommend this book as one of the best fairytale retellings out there as it is creative and turns the story on it's head just enough that you don't know where the next book will take it. I for one can't wait to find out!

Review: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

This was just ok for me. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It was an easy read and followed a Prince from a fairy tale trying to escape his story and get out of the book. The characters could act much younger than their ages at times and a lot of their actions were a bit silly. The premise had a lot of potential to be great since its every readers dream to have their book crush come to life and fall in love with the reader. But, it was executed poorly and played to a  much younger audience than I think it was aiming for. I can imagine a pre-teen girl loving this, but not much older than that. Even though our main characters are supposed to be fifteen and sixteen years old, they acted like they were in middle school and there was definitely a degree of insta-love that wasn't believable at all. Overall, I would say for a middle school girl this is the perfect book, but if you're looking for a gratifying or even interesting love story, this is not the book for you. I have a bit of hope left for the companion novel to this, Off the Page, since it's supposed to follow our characters once the prince has escaped the fairytale. Maybe once it's no longer set in a children's storybook we might get a bit more of an age appropriate tale. Fingers crossed.

SPOILERY Book Review/Discussion: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

If you haven't read The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices yet, I highly suggest you do before you start The Dark Artifices. There will be so many interconnecting stories and plots you won't fully appreciate unless you have. I haven't read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy yet and wish I had before reading this because I hear there are some storylines that would have also connected into Lady Midnight. I plan to rectify this immediately. Slight spoilers ahead for all the Shadowhunter books that have come before this.

Where to begin...

I'll start with Emma and Julian and their forbidden parabatai love. We saw it coming in City of Heavenly Fire. Like a car crash that you just can't look away from. I adore Julian and how strong he is. He is so young, but from the age of twelve became a parent to his four younger siblings. He was forced to grow up way too fast, but he did it to keep what was left of his family together after the Dark War ripped them apart. We also find out that since Uncle Arthur is a lunatic (per Shadowhunter terms) that Julian has also been running the Los Angeles Institute since he was twelve. That is a lot of stress on a person so young. His only outlet has been his secret love for Emma. Emma is a kick ass shadowhunter who reminds me of Buffy merged with Jace. She's strong and snarky and I just love her confidence in her own skills. She has finally developed the same feelings for Julian, but per the parabatai curse, since it is true love and they are parabatai they will develop warlock powers? Become super, power hungry shadowhunters who will destroy everyone around them? This is not looking good. The only thing this makes me think of is when Jace had the mark on him tying him to Sebastian and Clary cut through it. We know that Cortana can cut through anything. So I have this image in my head of Emma using Cortana, which is one of the Great Swords, to cut their parabatai runes so they can be romantically involved. I don't know if that is possible, but it's what I picture happening in my head.

Next, the younger siblings. I love that even though there are a ton of Blackthorn kids they are all so unique and have such different personalities that they each are interesting to read about in their own right. You never find yourself bored with their side stories or hoping to get back to the more main characters. You grow to love them and want to know what's going on with them too. Livvy and Ty are the twins who are just two years younger than Julian, but he treats them like children and acts like he's an adult. They are fifteen and he's just seventeen. Livvy is so fiercely protective of all her siblings, especially Ty, that it's hard not to picture her growing up to be a total badass herself. Ty, who is described as different, reminds me of someone who may have high functioning autism. He is so capable though and throughout the story he tries to prove himself to Julian, who only wants to protect him, but in fact is keeping him too sheltered. Then we have Dru, who is thirteen, but looks older than she is and has curves she shouldn't have yet. This presents a different kind of worry for Julian and rightfully so. Side note with Dru...did anyone else get vibes from Perfect Diego like he might be a possible romantic interest for her down the road? Lastly, we have the baby, Tavvy. He is seven and mostly quiet, but when he does speak he drops bombs on you. It's like they all forget he's there most of the time because he's always quietly playing or sleeping in a corner, but he is listening to everything they say and absorbs it all. Then all of a sudden he's like I know some important stuff and they are all just shocked. I love them all and can't wait to see their side stories continue in the series.

Cristina and Perfect Diego. Well, once we learned about the betrayal of Diego's brother, Jamie, who was meant to Cristina's parabatai, it makes sense why she ran away. I think Diego will end up being a stand up guy and part of Cristina's love triangle with Mark. More on that later. I just love Cristina's BFF vibe with Emma and how they can confide in each other. She has this calm, cool, and collected demeanor that nicely balances Emma's quickness and snark. I love when she says she wishes she could be parabatai with Emma and I feel like this is foreshadowing what will eventually happen. I think if Simon could go from mundane to vampire to Shadowhunter to Clary's parabatai...then these two will end up parabatai later on down the road as well.

Mark...I love Mark! Initially I thought Mark was gay as we learned of his relationship with Kieran. Then we learn that he also likes girls. I just love the diversity we get in Cassandra Clare's books. We have several gay characters, we have different races, different abilities (See Ty), etc. Now we have a bisexual character who is going to cause so much chaos and I can't wait. He is so wild and he really connects with Emma in a way even Julian can't. Her free spirit recognizes the same wildness in his and you can see how they have genuine understanding of that aspect of each other. I don't think it's true love like she has with Julian, but I do see them developing real feelings for each other. This is another love triangle involving Mark I need to talk about...with Emma! So after learning about the parabatai curse, Emma decides that she has to end it with Julian so they don't hurt those they love. She tries, but he's so determined to make it work that the only solution she can think of that she knows will hurt him enough to make him stop trying to pursue her is to date Mark. She know he said that was the one thing he couldn't come back from. But, when Emma proposed this to Mark as a favor and he shuts the door and says why lie? I literally could not wipe the stupid smile off my face for ten minutes. I know he will likely end up with Cristina (and maybe in some brother husband situation with Kieran and Cristina? She did say she felt desire in seeing them kiss. Just saying), but in the meantime, this is one I ship hard.

Moving on to Malcolm Fade. I saw this coming when Magnus first showed up at Malcolm's house and made the comment about how Malcolm and Catarina Loss had experimented with fault lines and then made the side comment to Emma about the convergence. That was the first inkling I had that he was going to end up being the Guardian. Then when he showed up at the Institute to help the kids against the Followers, it all seemed a little convenient how Sterling just randomly died when no one was touching him. Sounded like warlock magic to me. It does make me sad for him, but also afraid of what Annabel is going to be like now that she's back from the dead. Is she going to try to avenge him now? Will she hate her extended family like he did because her immediate relatives, who are long since dead, killed her. Will she want to take it out on the current generation of Blackthorns? So many questions are left with this. I am glad that Jem and Tessa are looking for his body and the Black Book, but shouldn't they be enjoying their lives together now? I know that's not exactly Malcolm related, but that's where that train of thought took me so I went with it.

Kit...the lost Herondale! I had a feeling in the prologue that he would end up a shadowhunter by the end, but I had no idea he already was one. I want to know if Johnny Rook was the Herondale or if it was his mother since we still don't know who she is. Will she end up being someone we already know? It is going to be interesting watching him try to learn to be a shadowhunter at fifteen just like Clary had to. I like that Ty is sitting by his door and feel like maybe having another boy his own age around will be good for Ty instead of just having Livvy all the time. I can't wait to see how his story plays into the rest in the way that only Cassandra Clare can weave different storylines together. It's a beautiful talent of hers. I'm thrilled that we get to see little snippets of our beloved characters from TMI and TID in this series as well. Again, hats off to the master of story weaving!

Diana, while she wasn't such a huge part of this book, has something she's hiding. I for one am really intrigued to find out what exactly she isn't telling the kids. There has to be some big plot twist associated with her and her secret that is going to play into the rest of the story. She seems to genuinely care about the Blackthorn/Carstairs kids so it has to be major for her not to have taken over the institute to help them.

I think that about covers my thoughts on this book. I know this was long, but there was just so much greatness that I needed to gush over. This was a fantastic first book in a series. I admit it did take me a while to get into it, but by the second half I flew through it. I felt like in the very beginning I would find myself wondering about the characters from TMI and TID every time they were mentioned and want to know what was going on with them instead of being able to really invest in Emma's story. However, maybe 100 pages in I was fully invested and caring about our new(ish) cast of characters. The bottom line is that I can't wait for the next book!

Do any of you have any predictions for the books to come? Did you see any of the plot twists coming? Let me know in the comments.

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

 

This was another adorable Stephanie Perkins book. I didn't love it as much as I loved Anna and the French Kiss, but I still could not put it down. Another fast and entertaining read that made me smile. The only problem I had with this one was Lola. She was frustrating in that she knew she was flawed and was making mistakes throughout the story, but then she just kept making them. I liked that she was at least aware of what she was doing and not trying to justify her mistakes to herself. It was like she was compelled the keep spiraling though. Cricket Bell is just the sweetest and most endearing boy next door you could ever imagine. He was the best part of this book for me. All his quirks and his sincerity just made him shine as a character. Stephanie Perkins is a master at creating these love stories with one really likeable character falling for one really flawed character and somehow making it work so that in the end we are completely satisfied. If you are in the mood for a quirky and colorful romance, this is the book for you.

 

 

 



Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna knows nothing about France. Her newly wealthy father has decided she needs to spend her senior year at the School of America in Paris and she doesn't want to leave her life in Atlanta behind. Anna is abruptly dropped off and left on her own at her new boarding school and doesn't know what to do. Her next door neighbor, Meredith, comes to her rescue and immediately welcomes her into her small group of friends. Slowly, Anna begins to learn the ropes of life in Paris and also begins to grow closer to one member of the group in particular, the handsome and charismatic Etienne St. Clair.

This book was both absolutely adorable and also completely frustrating. The way Etienne helps Anna really come into her own and she helps him through his difficult family situation is so sweet and the friendship they develop warms your heart. Anna is written as a very realistic teenage girl, who is self conscious and awkward, but also incredibly caring and loyal to her friends. Etienne was the frustrating factor of this book for me. He showed interest in Anna from the very beginning, but refused to break up with his long term girlfriend for so long. Anna was also very open and showed her interest in him several times too, but these two could never be on the same page at the same time and it was like a year of torture watching these two dance around what they both felt. I was on Anna's side the entire time no matter how Etienne justified his refusal to break up with his girlfriend or how he tried to show it was Anna who had given him the signals she wasn't interested. He had a girlfriend! Of course she wasn't going to throw herself at him. When they finally do come together, it's in the cutest way possible when Etienne overcomes his fears to go after her. It was definitely a swoon worthy moment and Anna finally got her happy ending.

This is one of those books that you would want to read outside or at the beach enjoying a beautiful day with a smile on your face. The images created of the French landmarks are so vivid you can easily picture being there and the characters are written so beautifully that you are routing for them the entire time. When they finally get to their romantic climax you will be thrilled and completely satisfied. I highly recommend this one if you are in the mood for love.

Top Five Thursday: Worst Series Endings

The top five for this week are your least favorite series endings. Now for me these range from just disappointing to wanting to throw the book across the room status. What are your least favorite series endings?

1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I was just left depressed and unsatisfied. I felt like there should have been one more book to really wrap things up in a less rushed way.
2. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo. I felt like there was so much character growth for Alina that where she ended up was a complete let down in the end.
3. Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This series was a whirlwind right from the start that was so action packed and intense. The ending was just...meh...for me, anyway.
4. Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I mean...do I need to say anything more? *book throwing level*
5. Delirium by Lauren Oliver. This series right here...this was not an ending! I was so mad when I turned the last page & realized NOTHING was resolved. Not. one. single. thing!!! *book throwing level 10*

If you loved these endings, please feel free to tell me what you loved or if you have different series that you were disappointed with, comment and let me know. Lets all vent together! Have a great Fri-day Eve, everyone.

My Life Next Door Review

Samantha Reed has just ended her junior year of high school and is planning out every minute of her summer trying to schedule all her time wisely. Sam has very little down time, but her escape for the last ten years has been to climb out onto her roof and watch the large, noisy and happily chaotic family next door, who her local politician mother loathes. One summer evening, one of the many Garrett kids, Jase, comes over and changes everything. During the height of her mother's re-election campaign, tragedy strikes and it's up to Samantha to sort things out for herself for once. Will she make the right choice?

It turns out Jase has known Sam watched his family for years and he was watching her back. Their relationship developed in such a way that it felt real. They hung out and formed a friendship and she met his family and bonded with them as well before they really started to develop into anything more. It moved at a pace that you'd expect any teenage summer romance to realistically move. I especially loved that they were very responsible when it came to their physical relationship and really talked about it together beforehand. It's not often that teenagers are written as being anything more than hormone addled fiends. I also enjoyed Sam's relationships with all his siblings, especially George. He was such an adorable character to read.

Everything about Jase's family is such a stark contrast to Sam's family dynamic with her rebellious sister running off to spend the summer with her boyfriend and leaving Sam home alone to deal with their selfish mother and her creepy new political advisor boyfriend. Every scene with Sam's mother and Clay (the boyfriend) was painfully uncomfortable to read. I wanted to shake some common sense into her mother and tell her to set a good example for Sam of how a strong woman handled a relationship. Her mother was so unlikeable and Clay was so rude but smooth in his southern style. Then we would see Sam escape next door and see what a really close knit family was like and she blended so seamlessly with them it was refreshing. You feel like you can breathe after being under water in Sam's own quietly smothering home situation.

Sam's oldest friends, twins Nan and Tim, are interesting as well since you form fast opinions about them only to later find out that appearances can be deceiving. We see huge character growth in Tim throughout the story and it's really nice to see him reclaim his lost friendship with Sam. Nan, who had been closer to Sam while her brother spiraled, turns out to be a jealous and bitter person and we never really get any closure with her. Tim's storyline was very satisfying though because he's one of those characters you just want to route for.

I feel over all like the characters were all so well written and were well developed. This is a very sweet contemporary romance and is a perfect spring/summer read. If you are looking for something to brighten you day, this is the book for you. You will immediately be pulled in and fall in love with this story. I recommend giving this one a go any time you need a light and fast read that will make you smile.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight Review

Hadley Sullivan is having a really bad day. She just missed her flight to London to attend her father's wedding and now may not make it in time, which she might not actually mind. She's been angry with him ever since he left her and her mother for another woman in he met while teaching at Oxford. As fate would have it, she is now on the same flight as London native,Oliver, who is returning home for an event of his own. The two of them strike up conversation while waiting for their flight, then end up sitting together on the plane as well. They seem to understand each other and help each other work through their feelings on what they are heading towards on their separate journeys. The story takes place during one long day in which both of their lives are dramatically changed.

I found the love story to be cute, but the most emotional parts of this book for me were the scenes in which Hadley was opening up to her father finally. I liked that the main focus wasn't just on the love connection, but also on these two working through difficult family issues. Those were the more poignant parts for me personally because they were written in such a way that you felt the awkwardness and pain, but also the possibility of moving beyond and letting go.

This was a really fast read and if you're in the mood for a cute and fluffy romance, this is the book for you. If you've been in a reading slump or have just finished an epic fantasy and need something on the lighter side to get you back reading again, I would highly recommend this one.

Me Before You Review

Let me start by saying this has just gone to the top of my list of all time favorite books.

This is the story of a girl named Louisa, who is desperately looking for a new job to help support her family, who have fallen on hard times. She is set up with a position as a caretaker for a young man named Will, who is quadriplegic. Will used to live a very big life. He was an adventurer, a successful businessman, always on the move until he was involved in an accident that took away all his freedom. Now confined to his chair, Will needs 24 hour care and Louisa has been hired by his mother. Louisa quickly discovers that Will is a very unhappy man who takes his frustrations out on those around him. She also learns that Will is suicidal and has granted his family a period of 6 months before he follows through on his plans to end his own life. Louisa is determined to change his mind by showing him how good life can be. Over the course of those 6 months she and Will grow increasingly closer and end up falling in love. Will it be enough to stop him?

This book is so heartbreakingly beautiful. The writing style is wonderful and pulls you into Will and Louisa's world immediately. You will laugh and you will cry. Your emotions will be raw by the end, but in the best way possible. This is an absolute must read.

Top Five Thursday: Favorite Book Boyfriends/Girlfriends

Sorry this is being posted on Friday again, life got a little busy and I forgot to post it yesterday. This week's top five are your favorite book boyfriends/girlfriends. You know you develop very real feelings for your favorite fictional characters. This is your safe place to share your love! Who are your favorite fictional crushes? These are a FEW of mine.

1. Jace (The Mortal Instruments)
2. Will Herondale (The Infernal Devices)
3. Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
4. Daemon Black (Lux Series)
5. Chaol Westfall (Throne of Glass)

The Infinite Sea Review

 

 

 

This is the 2nd installment in The 5th Wave trilogy in which we continue following our group of survivors. This was not a strong follow up to the first book. The beginning was a little jarring to me because in The 5th Wave we mostly read through Cassie's perspective and this book starts from Ringer's perspective, but it takes you a while to figure that out. You are left wondering why Cassie sounds so off for many pages before it's revealed who's POV you're reading. We start off with Ringer, then jump to Cassie and the exact same conversation from her POV, but the conversation is different in her version of it, which was a bit odd. Then we get a brief bit from Poundcake's POV before the entire second half of the book switches back to Ringer. In my opinion there was not nearly enough Cassie or Evan in this book. They were the best parts to read in the first book, but those scenes were few and far between in this one. We did get some insight through Ringer and even a love connection with a new character named Razor, who was a nice balance to Ringer's flat personality. Overall, it was a very short follow up where not a lot happens. It covers a very short time span and lacked the excitement and spunk of the first book. I also found the story line to be very confusing. With the first book we understood there were aliens invading and they were methodical in what they were doing, however by the end of this book I wasn't even sure if there was an invasion at all or if it was the government or if there were other possibilities. The writing of this one was a bit all over the place for me and wasn't laid out very well. It got a bit repetitive at times as though scenes were repeated from multiple POV's just to stretch the length and not to add anything to the plot. Overall, I gave this 3 stars, but it may really be more of a 2.5. I'm giving it a little extra love since I enjoyed The 5th Wave so much. I am still invested in the series though and can't wait to get my hands on the third book. Hopefully it can regain some of the luster it once had.

Top Five Thursday (Friday Edition): Favorite Female Protagonists

This week I'm doing the Friday edition of Top Five Thursday since I was sick and happily knocked out on cold medicine hehehe. This week's top five is your favorite female protagonist list. These are subject to change as I discover new characters, of course. But, this is my current list.

1. Celaena Sardothien (Throne of Glass Series)
2. Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre)
3. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles)
4. Tessa Gray (The Infernal Devices)
5. Katy Swartz (Lux Series)

These ladies all overcome incredible odds and kick butt through it all, which is why they come to the top of my list. Please comment and let me know who your favorites are!

The 5th Wave Review/Discussion

 

 

In The 5th Wave we followed Cassie (short for Cassiopeia) Sullivan through the alien apocalypse. The aliens, or the "Others", arrived in the mother ship and sat silent for 10 days before the waves started to wipe out humanity.

 

1st Wave: Lights Out. In the first wave the Others destroyed human technology with an EMP that knocked out all power on the planet.

 

2nd Wave: Surf's Up. The second wave was literally a wave. The Others caused an earthquake so big the resulting tsunami killed everyone who lived near any shore.

 

3rd Wave: Pestilence. The third wave was a genetically modified plague that killed 97% of those who survived the first two waves.

 

4th Wave: Silencer. The 4th wave was when the Others revealed they had been among us for years and were now hunting the survivors in human bodies. This meant the human survivors couldn't trust anyone because they couldn't tell friend from foe.

 

5th Wave: Child Soldiers. The Others had now gathered up human children from refugee camps while pretending to be human soldiers. They then trained the children to become soldiers themselves and brainwashed them into thinking they were killing aliens, when in fact they were being groomed to kill other humans.

 

The best part about this book were the relationships. Cassie and her brother, Sam, who was kidnapped by the Others and taken to become one of their soldiers, were so loyal to each other and never gave up the hope of finding each other again. Ben Parish, who went to high school with Cassie and was her unrequited football jock crush, also ended up at boot camp with Sam (who was nicknamed Nugget) and the two of them formed a touching bond as Sam was missing his big sister and Ben was missing his little sister. Cassie was injured on her hunt for Sam and was rescued by the mysterious Evan Walker who had his own interesting backstory. But, we got to see Evan taking such care to nurse Cassie back to health and become really protective of her. And, possibly my favorite relationship of all, was Cassie and Bear, who was Sam's stuffed animal that she carried with her on all her travels in the hopes of returning it to her brother when she was reunited with him. Cassie took him everywhere and talked to him while she was all alone in the world. It was very sweet and somewhat comical since Cassie could be very snarky and sarcastic (in a good way!). We got to read through all the main characters POV, but my favorite was Cassie's because she was so quick witted and entertaining in the face of the world ending around her.

 

I gave this book 4 stars because, while I loved the relationships, some of the plot wasn't adding up for me. Perhaps some of the questions I have will be answered in the next book so I'm holding onto that hope. This is definitely a fast paced, edge of your seat ride that will leave you wanting more. I highly recommend checking this one out.

 



Top Five Thursday: Favorite Villains

This week's top five is your favorite villains list. Who doesn't love a good bad guy? You know you love to hate them. This is my current list. Leave me a comment below & let me know who are your favorites.

1. Sebastian Morgenstern (The Mortal Instruments)
2. The Darkling (The Grisha Trilogy)
3. Queen Levana (The Lunar Chronicles)
4. President Coriolanus Snow (The Hunger Games)
5. The Others (The 5th Wave...aliens freak me out!)

Who are your favorites?

The Shadow Society Review

In Darcy Jones's world, she is a foster kid who's been bounced around from home to home since she was five years old. She has finally managed to stay in one home for over a year and she's so excited to be able to start the new school year with familiar friends. Until, she meets the new boy, Conn, who is inexplicably hostile toward her. Through a series of events, Darcy discovers that she isn't human or from this dimension. She is a Shade, which is a different species that exists in an alternate dimension where her home town of Chicago never had the great fire. Conn, after pretending to befriend her at school, is revealed to be an inter dimensional police officer of sorts, who was on a mission to arrest her and bring her back. The story then continues to follow their exploits in the alternate  dimension to try to bring together humans and Shades in a world where they would just assume wipe each other out.

The idea of this new paranormal creature was like a breath of fresh air when so often these types of books fall back on vampires, werewolves, ghosts, etc... The Shades are able to "ghost" or disappear and manifest whenever they like. This story had so much potential, but it fell flat for me. The basic story line, when stripped bear, is good. But the writing style was a bit disjointed to me. It jumped ahead to move the story forward rather quickly, but without any of the details about how we got there. There were several instances where I felt like I had whiplash, but no organic growth of the story. It was like, here we are now, this and this has changed, but no conversation between the characters to get the reader there.

Perhaps, if the story had been fleshed out a bit more, it could have lived up to it's potential. Again, I didn't put it down, so it kept my attention. The story got a bit slow in some spots, but I did keep reading. I only wish it had been more. More plot development, more dialogue to make the relationships seem real and not so many flash forward moments. The story was entertaining, I only wish it had been executed better. Three stars.

Top Five Thursday: Favorite Series

This week's top five is your top five favorite series. Mine of course change with time and taste, but at this time these are my current favorites, in no particular order:

1. The Infernal Devices

2. Twilight Saga

3. Throne of Glass Series

4. The Lunar Chronicles

5. The Mortal Instruments

What are your top five favorite series?

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares Review

Do you dare?

In this cute contemporary, we met Dash and Lily, two smart and quirky characters who communicated primarily through a red notebook. Lily's older brother had the idea to create a notebook with clues to follow and leave it in the stacks of the Strand bookstore. Dash, stumbled across it in his favorite haunt and was intrigued. He followed the clues and left some for Lily to follow as well. Over the course of a few weeks they communicated this way and seemed to form a bond in that they were both outcasts, each in their own way. The story was good but, could have been better had the situations been more realistic and the characters not been so pretentious. We get it, they're both really smart kids. They didn't need to spend pages of this rather short book quoting other books to show how well read they were. We could have used that time to form more realistic bonding between these two. By the end they still barely knew each other. They did have a cute young romance blooming, but then the book ended before we ever really got to see it come to fruition. By the time these two actually got together we were at the last page and left wanting more. I gave this three stars, if only because it ended too soon.

Heir of Fire Review *SPOILERS*

The third installment of the Throne of Glass series was epic to say the least. There was such a rapid expansion of the world that we really got to see how much more is yet to come in the next three books. In this continuation we got three main story lines to follow so I will break this down into three parts from my least favorite plotline to my favorite. ***SPOILERS AHEAD***

My least favorite, if only because they were new characters and I wasn't as emotionally invested in them, were the Ironteeth witches. In these chapters we were introduced to Manon and her coven who were sent for by the king to participate in a war game to determine who would be the Wing Leader in his plans to attack whoever he perceived as a threat to his power. There were three main clans of the Ironteeth witches and all were equally unlikeable in the beginning as we saw them gather and fight amongst themselves. Through Manon's perspective we got to see just how ruthless they were, but this drew a sharp parallel for me back to Throne of Glass when Celaena was forced to compete to be the king's champion. As we followed Manon to the mountain and she eventually claimed her mount, Abraxos, we started to see a subtle change in her point of view. Manon was initially a very hard perspective to read through until she claimed Abraxos, her wyvern, who was a very loveable pet like character who again drew the parallel to Celaena's hound, Fleetfoot, for me. As they began to form a bond we started to see that tough exterior was a mask and even if she didn't admit it to herself, she did begin to soften. As we finally got to the war games and Manon's coven was about to win, one of the other coven leaders was attacked and began to fall to her death, we saw her make the choice to give up the certain win to save the other coven leader. And again, I drew the parallel back to Celaena climbing the wall in Throne of Glass and jumping to save Nox when he was pushed off the wall. I wonder if these two will end up on the same side by the next book as they have such a similar arc that they seem to be following as far as character development.

The next plotline continued to follow Dorian and Chaol back in Adarlan with the introduction of a few new characters as well. I'll start with Dorian who seemed a bit lost at the beginning. He had lost Celaena, who had been sent to Wendlyn. Thanks to the love triangle aspect as well as Chaol keeping things from him he was also experiencing a rift with his best friend. He was dealing with his newfound magic basically on his own until he started to develop feelings for the healer, Sorscha. While I was not a huge fan of her as a love interest for Dorian, I did really like that he at least had someone to help him through this time. Chaol, on the other hand developed a new found friendship (sort of) with Celaena's childhood friend/cousin, Aedion. When we first met Aedion, we were lead to believe he was working for the king and had turned on his own people. We later found out he was working with the rebels against the king all along. He was so loyal to Aelin/Celaena that he was really hard not to like. All these new relationships culminated in the most heartbreaking way for all involved. The king rounded them all up in an elaborate trap. Just as Chaol was about to give himself up to save the others, Aedion threw himself on his sword instead and admitted to treason to save Chaol for Celaena's sake. Dorian, to his credit, did not betray his friends even as a sword was held to Sorscha's neck. The king had her beheaded anyway despite Dorian's plea to spare her and this was where your heart really breaks for Dorian, who had finally found some small bit of happiness with her. Now this was the most frustrating part of the book for me because after Aedion sacrificed himself to save Chaol, and Sorscha had already been killed, but he could still have gotten out of the situation safely, this was the moment when Chaol finally decided what side he was on. His stand against the king could not have come at a worse moment because of course the king tried to have him killed and Dorian outed himself and his magic to his father to save his friend. We end with Dorian telling Chaol to run and then being collared by his father. So I anticipate in the next book we will have an evil version of Dorian for our heroine to deal with.

The last and best storyline (in my opinion) followed Celaena to Wendlyn where she seemed to be completely adrift. She had just lost Nehemia and thanks to his minor role in her death, she had split from Chaol as well. She was completely broken when we first met back up with her. Then she met Rowan, the Fae prince who had been assigned by her Aunt Maeve to train her to use her gifts in order to be admitted to the Fae kingdom of Doranelle. Rowan was initially very tough on her and even a bit cruel at times. They had a very rocky relationship in the beginning until he finally went so far that she lost her grip on who she was and fell completely into the abyss of sadness and loneliness she had been heading for since Nehemia died. Rowan realized that his initial assumption that she was a spoiled princess was false and all the information about her past that Maeve had withheld from him had lead him to the wrong conclusion. He finally began to figure her out and slowly pulled her back from the abyss. Once they got to this point, she really began to grow by leaps and bounds in her character development. She learned to shift into her Fae form and to use her magic. She realized how much power she really had and to not be afraid of it. I loved most of all how, despite their growing bond, these two remained platonic.  I really enjoyed it when they realized they were carranam and he helped her defeat the Valg princes. Once they finally made it to Doranelle and Aelin/Celaena faced off with Maeve, we got to see just how much she truly cared for Rowan when she took the gamble to free him from his blood oath, only for him immediately swear the same oath to Celaena. This was just such a refreshing relationship to see develop as they both had so much tragedy to overcome, but they were helping to heal each other and they did it in a non-romantic way. You rarely see a platonic male/female friendship where they just lift each other up anymore.

Overall, my initial prediction when I read Throne of Glass has been correct as each book is getting progressively better. With each book this series is building into one of my favorite fantasy series of all time.

Crown of Midnight Review

Wow! This was an amazing and fast paced sequel to Throne of Glass. The world building and story telling don't compete in this beautifully written follow up. The political intrigue continues to brew into a truly dark plot line and it begins to become clear just how far the king will go for total domination. The changing dynamic of the love story keeps the love triangle from getting stale. You really feel for both Dorian and Chaol as feelings shift on all sides. It is refreshing to see a strong female friendship between Celaena and Princess Nehemia, despite all the secrets being kept from one another. The heartbreaking climax is written so emotionally and brutally you will not be able to stop turning the pages. The cliffhanger was pretty shocking and I cannot wait to finish Heir of Fire now. This series and definite must read!

 

Book Outlet Haul

Throne of Glass Review

This was a fantastic first book in a series. I really enjoyed the world building and the plot is rather intriguing. The main character, Celaena, is a really nice departure from the typical YA female lead who always needs rescuing from the dashing male love interest(s). No, instead she kicks ass. She isn't hardened by what she's seen and done as an assassin and her love of all things girly make her relatable. Her ability to show kindness after being Adarlan's Assassin and being forced to participate in a rather brutal contest to be the King's Champion is commendable. I also loved that she is a serious book worm (I did not see that coming). The main love interests are both really great characters so I cannot wait to see which one she ends up with by the end of the series. Her relationship with Dorian, the handsome prince with a heart of gold, progresses rather quickly, but it seems as though their feelings for one another may be because they have very similar personalities. Despite a slower burn, her relationship with the strong, never yielding Captain of the Guard, Chaol, seems a bit more in line with what she really needs. They seem to understand each other and have more in common so it's more believable. The magical creatures and dark elements of the king and his court really add to the intrigue and I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. A solid 4 Stars only because I have a feeling each book will get even better. Definitely recommend this!