Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

 Summary: The second book in the Rebel Belle series. Will include spoilers. In the aftermath of the Cotillion incident which left Harper's best friend missing and her ex boyfriend back in to her life Harper, David and Ryan are trying to get their life back to normal.



3.5/5

??? WHat was tHat???? That ending?? BUt thEre's gonna be another book?? How? WHy??

Okay, the plot leading up to the climax, I feel like, didn't really match the climax. There might've been what could've been called a climax but it didn't seem like that big of a deal and I didn't really care. It wasn't very exciting and not much happen, unlike the last one. It also wasn't as funny (and by as I mean it wasn't even funny at all)  as the last one. Character choices annoyed me and i'm just so confused right now and will be for the next while until a synopsis for the next book will come out.

Everyday by David Levithan

Summary: Everyday A wakes up in a new body. Everyday A is trying to get back to their love. 

3.5


Didn't really have many feelings on this book. It was an okay read but i seemed kind of repetitive after a while. It was interesting, the magical or whatever, elements and I may look up what happiness in the next book to fulfill my curiosity on the reason but I'm not sure yet. It was just there and although I enjoyed it I'm not sure I'll be reading the next one. 

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Summary: Kestrel is a general's daughter in stolen land and in a stolen house. In a few years she will have to choose between getting married and joining the army, neither road seeming ideal to her.When she stumbles upon a slave auction she feels compels to buy Arin , a blacksmith who she will soon begin to have feelings for.

4/5, 85%

Good book that i'm for some reason really invested into but I can't quite figure out why. My negatives outweigh the positives but I can't bring myself to put it any lower than four stars. I was entertaining and grabbed onto my emotions.

I think this should've been two books or some of it shortened, the first and second half two different stories. It was also too long and then end dragged on. The world building could've been better, but it's made up for in the second book. One of my biggest problems, which is also a big problem in the second book is the angst that's annoying and they need to get over with.

Overall, good book but real long and dragged on.

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Summary: The second novel in the Winner's trilogy. Will Give spoilers to the first novel, The Winner's Curse. Kestrel is now betrothed to the Prince of Valorian and in between party after party she wraps herself in a blanket of spying and treason. Arin keeps himself busy with trying to enlist allies for Herran and battling with his mind over his thoughts of Kestrel's true feelings.

3/5

This was a typical young adult YA second in a trilogy book. A filler book where the couple is fighting and not much happens. The only thing different, and the only thing that kept my attention was the ending. Me, getting angry at the main characters for not just telling each other that love each other and getting over with it. It was slow and angsty as well.

Although I wasn't very fond of this book I am still for some reason really invested in this couple and want the next book. like, now. The ending killed me. Very Brutally.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Rating: 4 Stars 


Summary: Laia is out on her own after the Masks set her house on fire, killing her grandparents and her brother ending up in jail. Elias is a day away from graduating and becoming a Mask, and the hopefully successfully running away. When Laia strucks up a deal to get her brother out of jail by being a spy as a slave at the Mask school their lives intertwine. 

This is what I needed. The can stop reading you look up and it 5 in the morning kind of read. The edge of your seat can't tear your eyes away read. The blinking through your tears and snatching them away quickly so you can read on. The hitch in your breath when you think predicted something bad will happens. The stop in your breath when something bad happened.  

Pros: Kept me engaged from the beginning, a great set up for the following books. Plot and storyline great. 

Cons: World building could've been better and the dialogue sometimes got long, speech and peachy and cheesy. I would find myself zoning out and skipping. Most characters weren't that fleshed out.

Great read. Great set up. Would recommend to people who liked the Legend Series by Marie Lu and The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas or just fans of dystopians. 

The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Summary: In a country where the young king marries a new girl everyday and then kills her the next morning Shahrzad wants revenge. After her best friend is victim to the king she volunteers herself as the next queen.
...

How am I suppose to go in with my life after that ending? 

How could Renee do this??? 

I'm so confused right now I have no idea what that ending was please send help. 

...

Okay, now with some sleep I may be able to piece together some thoughts. I liked The Wrath and The Dawn. I really, really, liked it. It was a 3rd person narration with switching focus of the character. After a while the sub plots would get annoying because I would just want Shazi's and I didn't care about anything else. The writing was beautiful and Shazi would tell stories, which were also great. The world building and magical elements in the book were really good too. Every character was so complex and great and wonderful and ohmigosh I love Khalid so much I might cry. My opinions and feelings of the King were so up and down it hurt, as was Shazi.

My only complaint was, even though I love the couple so so so much, it did seem a little insta-love-y but even by the end of the book, to me, it seemed they still didn't really know each other. I did love how they fought like a real couples (and more than once) , something most YA couples do. 

Read this now. Do yourself this favor. Please.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater: Re-read series review

Series Rating: 4.5

Series Summary: Blue Sargent is cursed to kill her true love if she kisses him. When Blue meets the Raven Boys, whom one of she is destined to fall in love with or kill, she becomes entranced. Both engulfed with the boys and the mission they are set on.  An urban fantasy which 


I did not plan this. Right now I should not be re-reading books, my slight reading slump does not need this. I had planned to re-read a couple book this summer and this series was no where near this list. Then, someone on my tumblr dash went on a Raven Cycle reblogging spree and  I got sucked in. 



This series is so much better than I remember. And I really liked it before. I guess this rereading was slightly good for me, as the final book comes out in September, I didn't really remember a lot of thing (especially major points in the last book like WoAh how did I not remember that man) and there's some things I think I missed reading the first time around. 



Steifvater's writing is beautiful but I can sometimes get lost in it. I can't really describe her writing, but you probably know what I mean if you've read it. She makes you fall hard for the characters, every single one, from the minor ones to even the villains. The romance(s) are so good, yet not even close to the main plot, it makes my heart melt ans eyes water. The subplots rarely feel like distraction or filler and fall into the main plot beautifully.  Each keep me at the edge of my seat. 


My favorite out of the three is the last one, Blue Lily, Lily Blue (which I have a review on) . After reading it for the first time, it was my least favorite but I think that is because I read it too fast. Each book is better than the last and I am highly anticipating the final book, The Raven King, which come out in September. This is a great series which I would recommend to anyone.  

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Rating: 4 Stars
Summary: Years after a sickness kills many adults but leaves some children with special powers. The main character, Adelina, has just joined The Young Elites, a group of kids with powers who wish to take back the oppressing crown.


Overall this was a good books. I am really excited for the next one, the set up looks really good. I think the reason I gave it four stars instead of five won't be a problem in the next one too. Since it is a first book of a fantasy series it wasn't the best, but it still was really good.

Some things I especially liked: The secondary characters were really fascinating, I wish I  got to know them better, and I hope they are in the next books. I also really enjoyed the world and the premise of the book. The romance was another highlight, it not being too focused on, but still satisfying.


However, the main character was annoying. She had secrets that didn't have to be secrets and could've been totally fine if she just asked for help.  But, also that trope always annoys me. I think that's not going to be a problem in the next book. That and some things that happened in the ending made it a 4 star book rather than a 5.

I would definitely recommend this and I am looking forward to the next one. I wouldn't say this was as good as her Legend series, but it was still good.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: A prequel of The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet..), featuring the evil queen, Levana.

I didn't expect it to be this good. I assumed it was going to be some quickly written, boring prequel that was just to sell another book. However, this one is actually worth the read. I didn't really reveal anything (as of yet) crucial to the overall story but I would recommend reading it along with the rest of the story.

My emotions from start to finish of this book were running high. At points it almost felt like my heart was going to slam out of my chest it was beating so fast. I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the book, not believing what I thought Levana was going to do. One main thing I liked about this book was it didn't really make me feel bad for Levana, which is usually the intention 

I wished it had more world building, especially with stuff dealing with powers, when it didn't really have any. The ending felt a little rushed but the preview of Winter was really good and just makes me more excited for the finale book. Also, what's with the cover??? It doesn't match!!! It makes me so angry. At first I thought this was going to just be a ebook and I was okay with it but now having the book on my shelf it angers me so much. 

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

Summary: Glory O' Brien doesn't care about her future. When Glory drinks a dead bat's ashes she begins to see the history of the future and her viewpoint begins to change.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I've been meaning to read a A.S. King book for ages. I dont think I've ever seen anyone not like any of her books. This did not disappoint. It's so much different from anything else I've ever read. I've read magical realism before, but not this extreme. It was great, flipping the pages so fast and being shocked when realizing I was almost done.

The sub plot of the book she was writing was almost more interesting than the main story. I would love a whole book of just that story.  It was also the first time I've read a book where they talk about feminism and it not be the focus of the book. It's good to see it be mentioned as easily as saying you're favorite color is blue (and I have a shirt that says the same thing Glory's dad's bumper sticker which made me happy). There is romance in this, but it's a sub-sub-sub plot which I enjoyed.

The story was incredibly interesting. original, and entertaining. There was never a time where I got bored or thought the story was going slow. I would definitely recommend and plan on reading more of King's books.

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Rating:4.5
Summary: The third and final book in the Mara Dyer trilogy There will be small spoilers, beware.

    Overall I thought it was a satisfying wrap up to the story, even if I thought the problems from the last two books could've have been more surprising and twisted. It was funny, even with the lack of Noah in most of the book. It was really good at the suspense and keeping me engaged for the entire book. It was action packed as well and I loved the dual perspective.

 However I did not think this was the best of the series. Mostly, because of the story, which I though could've been better. Some smaller things that bother me were also the reason for taking it down half a point. The pop culture references were weird. They made me uncomfortable and seemed out of place. Also, they've been stuck in that compound for who knows how long and before that they were in a mental hospital, How do they know about ebola? I also wish Mara acknowledged the visions/dreams whatever (the other POV) more.

All together this was a really good final book, better than most I've read. Would definitely recommend this series.

In the Afterlight and Sparks Rise by Alexandra Bracken

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken is the third and final book in the Darkest Minds trilogy There will be spoilers for both the first two books, The Darkest Minds and Never Fade.


I loved the first two books, but didn't enjoy this one just as much. And it's a hundred percent my fault. I didn't remember who a lot of people were (Like Cate and Nico) or what they did. (It took me about 150 pages to get into the book but once I did I pretty much finished it in one sitting. Like, staying up until the sun comes up to finish it type of thing, which I haven't done in a while. A lot of the characters annoyed me, like Ruby, Liam and Cole. Definitely Cole.

I really liked how it went full circle at the end. Ruby started at Thurmond in The Darkest Minds and ending there in this books. It was one of my favorite parts when they were telling the story at night and Ruby revealed her plan. I wish after they escaped Ruby found them again, especially Sam, and...I don't know they all thanked Ruby or something. However, I haven't read the Sam novella yet, Sparks Rise.

Edit: I just read Sparks Rise and I should've known to read it before hand, like you have to read In Time before Never Fade. Why was I so stupid? (Spoilers coming) I'm crying. I'm crying more from those 100 pages than the 500+ in In the Afterlight. It's so sad, my whole body feels it. I fell like I could throw up from the sadness. I went back and reread the parts with Sam in In the Afterlight and now I'm 10x more sadder. I want to throw up. I need a glass of water. My hopes were so high in the beginning I was overcome with happiness. But once they started to escape and I realized Lucas was the guy Ruby noticed in In the Afterlight I was so struck with sadness I had to put my kindl down. I sat it down, walked away and didn't think I could finish it.  It hurt me so much knowing what would happen next I couldn't finish it. I, of course, did and now I regret picking up Sparks Rise.

Another one of my favorite parts was when they found Zu. My heart grew three sizes, and then some. I gasped out loud when Zu started talking in the interview, even though I kind of guessed she would talk eventually. When Ruby and Liam found Vida and Chubs, even though I've been calling this since the first time they met, was shocking. I think it was how they found them. I laughed so hard when it happened.

I can't really finish this review anymore, for I am crying over Sparks Rise. I can't believe a novella can do this to me. Reading In Time I was like this is the best novella I've ever read, but it was outranked. In Time was really good, but it didn't leave me with this sick feeling like I feel now. Alexandra Bracken, you are one cruel mistress. This has become more of a Sparks Rise review than In the Afterlight review. I should change the title. All in all, I can't really sum up my feeling for In the Afterlight right now cause it's being overshadowed by its novella. Is that a bad thing?

Graphic Novel Reviews and A Beth Revis Giveaway

   I don't think I've ever reviewed a graphic novel, like ever, so I thought that could change. I been in a terrible reading slump since school started, then NaNoWriMo killed me, and these helped. A little. Over the past week I read two graphic novels, Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, and Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona. They were both really good but I did definitely like Saga more. I'll also be talking about this huge giveaway, one of my favorite authors, Beth Revis (Across the Universe) is doing.

   Saga is about this couple, and their newborn baby running away from the man. During a war with different planets against each other. Alana, a broken winged, former-solider, with a wicked hair cut and her husband, Marko, a horn-bearing, magic wielder with a vow against violence try to find a safe place for their new family.

    First off, Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples was a fantastic book. The story is like nothing I've read before and the drawing style is amazing. I laughed out loud at multiple points but the story was still touching and substantial. It's different for me, where I mostly read YA, and the main characters delivered their baby on the first page. It was however, very much a set up book, but I like those (I love myself a origin story). I think my favorite thing about Saga was the illustration. Every character was so distinctive and detailed, and everything looked real, like I could see them walking down the street, despite their wings and radio heads.  I will definitely be reading Saga Volume 2. Like, as fast as I can get my hands on it.

    Kamala, a Muslim,  New Jerseyite sneaks out to go to a party one night. After running home in embarrassment she gets caught in this fog, the Terrigan bomb, and recognized as a Inhuman is granted a wish by her role model, Captain Marvel. 

     Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona I didn't like as much for a couple reasons. I think the biggest reason was I had just finished Saga and my standards hadn't lowered yet. I wasn't a big fan of the style, it had a cartoony, lanky people, type of feel. I like usually either all the way cartoony (like Scott Pilgrim) or all the way realistic (like Saga). It did make me laugh too, but I didn't enjoy the characters as much. Okay, the more I write the less I like Ms. Marvel. I need to stop. Go read it, make a opinion for yourself.

   Finally, the giveaway. Beth Revis, author of one of my favorite series (if not my favorite), Across the Universe, is ding a giveaway that has over 20 books. There's three winners, with prizes for both American and International residents. And, they're good books. Not like those ones you'd find in the clearance section and has a bunch of ads in the back (no offense meant to those, authors got to get paid). I've read some of the ones being given out and they're really good. Revis' new book, The Body Electric, looks really good but i still haven't gotten my hands on it (Damn you empty wallet).  Anyway, enter the giveaway here. Thanks!

         

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             This is the third book in The Raven Cycle, but there will not be spoilers, but a synopsis will probably have ones.  Rating: 4 Stars                      

   I really enjoyed this book. I love the characters, the plot is interesting, the villains complex. However, like the rest of the series I would always feel myself drifting off. I think it's the writing style as I heard other people have this problem. Like always, I loved the switching POVs. I think Piper, the main antagonist's wife, was my favorite character in this book. She made me laugh and loud and was very relateable. Another compliant I had with Blu Lily, Lily Blue is I feel like not much happened. I was really short, I finished it in a few hours and other than the last 50 pages nothing much happened. It still kept me entertained, but it makes me angry  have to wait another year for the next one. I'm not satisfied enough during this wait, unlike the last time, after The Dream Thieves.

  Overall, I think you should really check out The Raven Boys, the first book in The Raven Cycle. This series is very good and very original.

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Two stories, one about a girl who drops out of college to publish and rewrite her novel in NYC, the other story, the novel she's writing

     Rating: 4 stars

     After hearing about this books months ago, I was hooked. Even though I HATED Uglies, another book by Westerfeld, I knew a lot of people loved it and wanted to give him another chance, especially with this plot. This won't be a long review as even though I really liked it, I don't have many strong feelings.

  I really enjoyed Darcy's POV, the realistic one. I thought I was really real, relateable, and funny. Lizzie's however, i didn't like. It was kind of confusing and felt rushed. I think I missed something because the couple met and then their next meeting they were making out. Insta love on steroids. Although, the novel did have one of the best first chapters.

  Overall, even though one story was a lot better than the other, I still really enjoyed it, thought it was really cool and would recommend it.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 4 Stars
The third book in the Throne of Glass series.

     I was really really really excited for this book. But, then it mailed a couple weeks late and school got in the way and I was reading the first half kind of slow, which once I really got in it I was confused and it was a whole mess. I read Crown Of Midnight a couple months ago and I didn't quite remember what happened which made me confused but I hope to re-read the whole story again which will probably make me like it more. Overall it was really good, it was my own fault for not liking it as much. Okay from now on, SPOILERS.
 

   Heir of Fire was definitely a transition book. It was all about getting Celaena to accept her crown, and along with it her powers. It had A LOT of world building and i'm soo excited for the next ones, Maas has set up something great. It had intertwining story lines, which I love, and here's my thoughts on  each one.

   Celaena: I love her, and all her badass assassin skills. And now her magic skills. It was obviously my favorite  She overcame so much and has embraced her role as future queen. My heart broke over and over for her, when Rowan calls he a coward, when the king kills all the slaves, when Sam and Nehemia whip her. The last two especially, they teared me up.

   Speaking of Rowan, I heard people loved him so I knew he would eventually warm up, but it didn't stop me from from hating him. His complete loyalty to her aunt and he was so cruel and oblivious to her past. I did eventually start to like him and I loved their relationship. It was such a great example of a platonic relationship and i really hope they dont get together. I can't deal with a Celeana-Rowan-Chaol-Dorian-Aedion love pentagon thing.

  Aedion: I really liked him, I wish we got more of Adarlan then how much of Manon we got. I was never fooled by his asshole persona, or a loyalty to the king. His complete worship of Aelin and how he was shameful of himself, and him she later revealed to be shameful. It broke my heart. AND how he would rather be imprisoned and maybe die than tell Celaena her lover was dead. Next book, I need a Aelin/Aedion reunion.

  Chaol: Okay. I've been "Team Chaol" since the beginning but Chaol really annoyed me in this book. He could never make up his mind between the King and Dorian and Celaena, when the answer was obvious. He also distanced himself so much from Dorian, which annoyed me. I don't have much else to say since he wasn't in it much.

  Dorian: Got the shortest end of Heir of Fire stick. We got little of his storyline, which wasn't that interesting. Instead of learning to use his powers he was just shutting it down, which wasn't anything super inciting. I didn't hate Sorsha, she was nice and I thought was good for Dorian. Although, I am "Team Chaol" I still like Dorian and want him to be happy. I did accidentally see Sorsha get decapitated but did not expect her to be a spy, which I thought was kinda out of the blue, useless, and then swept under the rug. But, Dorian's now a slave or something? I was a little confused and thought he was one of the prince thing Celaena defeated, until I heard differently. I just am very scared for Dorian.

  Manon: I liked her story line, it did a lot to make me hate the King more, which everyone needs, and did a lot for world building. I though she was really interested except she took her up way tooo much space. I thought that story-line would be the antagonist of the story, but no. Or that she would somehow intertwine with something in this book, but no. All she did was take away time from the Adarlan boys.

  Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was a great set up for the next on, I just read it wrong.


 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Rating:5 stars

An Iliad retelling, Patroclus is exiled from his kingdom and soon finds Achilles as a best friend and then lover. In the backdrop of the Trojan War you can hear my tears.

I loved, loved, loved this. I loved everything. The characters, the writing style, the setting of war. I don't even want you to read this, I want you to go read this book now and then come back and cry with me.

The Song Of Achilles made me very emotional. Going in I knew basic Greek mythology, including the ending, which only made it that much sadder. So even during the cute parts I was crying about how the ending. I loved the writing style and the description, it was almost lyrical and felt like I was dreaming. Patroclus descriptions of Achilles were amazing and perfect and heartbreaking. Achilles character development, the way Patroculs realized he was slowly turning into a complex person, was so good. The war backdrop made the story so much more epic and much more deep (and heartbreaking).

The few unfavorable things were the lack of structure of time, but I think it's like that in the Iliad too and sometimes I got the minor characters confused.

  I've been meaning to pick The Iliad up as I love Greek mythology and I think this is the motivation I needed. It drew me in from the first chapter with the beautiful writing and had gotten me out of a reading slump that was sufocating me.This also isn't my usual get-out-of-a-slump book. I usually read cute contemporary romance things. It wasn't as I expected either, I thought it was a young adult romance and it was so much more and so much more complex, which made it so much more great.

If you love Greek mythology read it. If you don't, still read it. If you don't even know who Zeus is, still read it. It was good at explaining the more obscure and not common knowledge myths and there was a glossary at the back, but I didn't know about untill I finished the book.  

P. S. I started to cry in the middle of class when I read the ending, not a good idea. I was also disappointed I didn't get the full crying effect.