June Wrap-Up and July TBR

I'm going to start doing monthly wrap-ups and kick-offs so I can keep track of how many books I've read/plan to read each month.

So here we go.

BOOKS READ IN JUNE: 12

• Unbreakable (Unraveling #2) by Elizabeth Norris: 5/5
• Of Triton (Of Poseidon #2) by Anna Banks: 5/5
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: 5/5
• The Tailor (Grisha #1.5) by Leigh Bardugo: 5/5
• Siege and Storm (Grisha #2) by Leigh Bardugo: 5/5 
• Faerie After (Bones of Faerie #3) by Janni Lee Simner: 5/5
• Icons by Margaret Stohl: 2/5
• The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke: 1/5
• The Gathering Storm (Katerina Trilogy #1) by Robin Bridges: 5/5
• The Unfailing Light (Katerina Trilogy #2) by Robin Bridges: 5/5

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

REVIEWS:

• Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
• Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
• The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
• Icons by Margaret Stohl
• Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
• The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

CURRENTLY READING:

• Terminal by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
• Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes
• I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

JULY TBR:

• Goddess by Josephine Angelini
• Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards
• Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer
• Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
• Glitch by Heather Anastasiu
• Override by Heather Anastasiu
• Shutdown by Heather Anastasiu
• No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz
• No Easy Way Out by Dayna Lorentz
• Magic or Madness by Justine Larbelestier



The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke: Review

RATING: 1/5

SUMMARY:

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

REVIEW:

I got 136 pages into this and gave up. It was bad. The writing was AWFUL. It was choppy, childish, and just...annoying. The characters were pretty bad too. Ananna was a little brat, and Naji was to mysterious for his own good. The story itself wasn't bad; it just had very poor execution. DNF CONTENT: For the first 136 pages, lots of violence and moderate searing. This was a DNF, so I'm not sure about the rest.

Waiting on Wednesday (2)- Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) by Alexandra Bracken

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

 

This week's "waiting on" is...

 

Never Fade

by Alexandra Bracken

 

Summary:

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?



Top Ten Books I've read so far in 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

 

This week I'm talking about the top 10 books I've read so far in 2013!

 



 

1. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

 

 

This one is pretty obvious. One of the best books I have read ever! The story is phenomenal, the characters are real and relatable,  and Mal <3

My review

 

2. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

 

Alien invasion, kick-ass female heroine, and non-stop action/suspense. Need I say more?

My review

 

 

3. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

 

This was so not what I was expecting. It was fast-paced, intriguing, and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

My review

 

4. Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

 

 

THIS BOOK WAS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! I have never read anything like it. So good!

My review

 

 5. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

 

 

Such a unique fairytale retelling. I've never read anything like it!

My review

 

6. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

 

It's Cassandra Clare. How can it not be on this list?

 

7. Pulse by Patrick Carman

 



 

Patrick Carman is one of my favorite authors ever. I have loved everything I have read of his.

 My review

 

8. Asunder by Jodi Meadows

 

 

It's utopian with dragons and reincarnation. How can I not love this book?!

My review 

 



9. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

 

A fabulous dystopian. Well written and original. Definitely a new favorite.

My review

 

10. Everbound by Brodi Ashton

 

 

 

A modern retelling of the Persephone myth. It's just plain awesome.

 My review 



 

 



 

 



"Waiting on Wednesday" #1 - The Bitter Kingdom (Fire and Thorns Trilogy #3) by Rae Carson

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

 

This week's "Waiting On" is...

 

 

The Bitter Kingdom

by Rae Carson

 

 

Summary:

 

The epic and deeply satisfying conclusion to Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy. The seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen will travel into the unknown realm of the enemy to win back her true love, save her country, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny.

Elisa is a fugitive in her own country. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves in order to lure her to the gate of darkness. As she and her daring companions take one last quest into unknown enemy territory to save Hector, Elisa will face hardships she's never imagined. And she will discover secrets about herself and her world that could change the course of history. She must rise up as champion-a champion to those who have hated her most. Riveting, surprising, and achingly romantic, Rae Carson has spun a bold and powerful conclusion to her extraordinary trilogy.

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Trilogy #2): Review

RATING: 5/5

SUMMARY:

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

REVIEW:

I absolutely devoured this book. I got home from Barnes and Noble, sat down to read it at 4pm, and finished the book at 9pm.

It was just that good.

It starts off where Shadow and Bone left off. Mal and Alina are making their way across the true sea to try to make a life together. But the Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power. With the help of Sturmhond, a dangerous privateer, Alina is forced to return to the home she abandoned to fight the forces the Darkling is gathering.

My summary does this book no justice. Siege and Storm starts with a bang and doesn't let you go until the last page. For almost the whole book I was like this:

Then this:

Then this happened:

"Then I’d be alone, too," he said, and he stayed the whole night through, till the lamps burned down to nothing.”

The story progresses so well, and the characters, new and old, are absolutely great. I loved Alina and Mal, Sturmhond was the best, and the Darkling was just...the Darkling. 
 
And then I finished the book and this happened.

But, no, I won't tell you the ending. Just be prepared.
  
And then I saw Ruin and Rising doesn't come out until summer 2014.

 

Overall, Siege and Storm did not disappoint. I highly recommend starting this series if you haven't done so!

CONTENT: No worse than Shadow and Bone.

 

Icons by Margaret Stohl: Review

RATING: 2/5

 

SUMMARY:

 

Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol's family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn't know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside -- safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can't avoid.

She's different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador's privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn't a coincidence. It's a conspiracy.

Within the Icon's reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions -- which they've always thought to be their greatest weaknesses -- may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts -- in order to save the future.

 

REVIEW:

 

This book had such a promising start. It was great, intriguing, and full of action.

 

Then after the first hundred pages, everything stopped. The characters didn't do ANYTHING. They just talked about what they were going to do, and got angry and fought about it. That was it. FOR 200 PAGES!

 

The ending was predictable and anticlimactic. I was really hoping after no action for almost the whole book, it would at least end with a bang. But no.

 

And I absolutely HATED Dol. And Ro. And Lucas. Tima was the only one that I didn't mind. Dol was an emotional mess, Ro wanted to kill someone every other paragraph, and Lucas was so infuriating, I don't even want to go into it.

 

I'm sad that I didn't enjoy this book more, but others might. So if you enjoy dystopians, you might want to give this book a try.

 

CONTENT: Kissing, and mild swearing.



The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: Review

RATING: 5/5

 

 

--------------The 1st Wave: Lights Out
-------------------The 2nd Wave: Surf's Up
----------------------The 3rd Wave: Pestilence
--------------------------The 4th Wave: Silencer

 

This is the 5th wave.

 

This book was an absolute thrill ride from the first page to the last! It was compelling, intriguing, heartbreaking, and amazing.

 

Cassie was a great main character. She's not very strong or special in any way, which makes it easy to relate to her. She was very real, and I loved that!

 

I had read nothing about this book before I read it, and boy did it have some pretty amazing surprises! I hardly saw any of them coming. I was on the edge of my seat the whole entire time!

 

That ending killed me. Just killed me.

 

I'm not going to tell you any more. You just have to read the book and find everything out yourself.

 

I highly recommend this novel!

 

CONTENT: Kissing, moderate profanity, and lots of violence. Let's face it; you can't have an alien invasion without some violence. :)

 



Poison Princess by Kresley Cole: Review

RATING: 3/5

My feelings about this book are so mixed.

THINGS I LIKED:
1. The story was absolutely fantastic. So interesting and unique.
2. The Arcana mythology. The whole mythology about the cards and the people was great. It really made the book for me.
3. The writing was fluid and kept the story going. There was something really awesome about it.
4. All of the characters besides Evie and Jack were great. Matthew was adorable, Finn was hilarious, and Selena was badass, although a bit impulsive.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
1. Evie. She was so stupid! All of this stuff is happening to her, and she thinks she's just having hallucinations. She never comes to the conclusion that maybe she's not crazy and her visions mean something?
2. Jack. He may have been hot in appearance, but NOT with personality. He is such an arrogant ass. He repeatedly calls Evie selfish and self-centered, but has he ever looked in a mirror? Gosh.

Overall, a decent read. If the main characters had been different, this book would have been perfect.

CONTENT: Kissing, one kissing scene that almost led to sex, and various innuendoes. Swearing was very heavy, and so was violence.

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa: Review

RATING: 5/5

Why does Julie Kagawa torture us so?! That ending was so infuriating.

Allie has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who has been kidnapped and is being tortured by the psychotic vampire, Sarren. In times of great suffering, blood calls to blood; Allie can't help but feel her sire's pain. Her quest to save him leads her to a place she never thought she'd see again; New Covington, the vampire city where she grew up. But it is not the same New Covington. A new strain of the Red Lung virus has erupted in the city, but now it's target is not only humans...

This book was great. Julie Kagawa effortlessly pulls you into the story and doesn't let you go until you have read the last page. This was a very worthy sequel to The Immortal Rules. It's just as good, if not better!

The strong point in this book was definitely the storyline. These are not your sparkly Twilight vampires. These vamps are hardcore and ruthless. It is so different from all of the other vampire books out there. The characters struggles are so real, the story progresses so nicely, and there are so many twists and turns I didn't see coming. And the ending! I was so far on the edge of my seat I almost fell out of my chair! 

Allie was great as well. She was strong and snarky; I couldn't help but love her! Her struggle with transitioning from a human to a vampire is so real. I've read this transition dozens of times, and no one has written it like Julie Kagawa has!

Now for the romance. Yes, Zeke is in this book; and yes, he is still as sexy and caring as ever; and yes, he is still human. But that's all I'm telling you :)

Overall, a fantastic take on the vampire story. I highly recommend picking this up if you have not already!

CONTENT: Kissing, heavy swearing (some f words, a few s words, and other, more mild ones), and lots of blood, guts, and gore. This is NOT for the weak stomach.

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger: Review

RATING: 5/5

 

Vane Weston should not be alive. His home was hit with a category five tornado, and his parents were ripped to shreds. But he came out relatively unscathed. He has no idea hoe he survived. And he doesn't know who the dark-haired girl in his dreams is; or if she's even real.

Audra is a wind sylph; an air elemental that can control the winds. She is Vane's guardian, and is assigned to protect him at all costs. For he is a Weston; the last elemental that knows the language of the west wind. There are other, not so nice people that want this knowledge for themselves; for knowledge of the four winds would make anyone extremely powerful. They will do anything to get it.

When their location is revealed, Audra is forced to help make Vane remember his heritage; both of their lives count on it.

This book was insanely good. One of the best books of the year by far.

The best thing about this was the story. I've never read anything like it before. The sylph mythology was clever and interesting and the way the story progressed was phenomenal. Very unique and awesome!

Vane and Audra are some of my favorite YA characters of all time. They're cute, well-developed, and their dialogue was hilarious. The constant banter back and forth made the book so wonderful! I loved it!

The writing was rich and poetic. It was flawless; I was absolutely blown away! (Haha :) wind pun) It pulls you in from the first page and doesn't let you go until the end.

In short, one of the best books of the year. I highly recommend picking this up!

CONTENT: One kiss, some innuendo, little to no swearing, and some sort of graphic violence.

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris: Review





RATING: 5/5

 

I had no interest in reading this book at first. The cover was weird and I had too many other books I wanted to read. So I didn't read it.

Then I won an ARC of UNBREAKABLE, the second book in the series. Now I had to read UNRAVELING or else I wouldn't be able to read UNBREAKABLE.

I went to the library and checked out UNRAVELING and let it sit for about a month. The due date was rapidly approaching, and I couldn't renew it again. So I finally sat down and started to read it.

I'm so glad I did.

UNRAVELING was not your typical YA novel. It had a perfect balance of action, intrigue, suspense, and romance. Not a lot of YA novels today can say that.

The thing I liked best about this book was the characters. Janelle was a strong heroine, Alex was a great sidekick, and Jared provided comic relief. But the best out of all of these is Ben, Janelle's love interest. He is kind, caring, smart, and adorable. He seemed a little stalkerish in the beginning, but he turned out to be one of the best love interests in YA.

And the best thing about the romance is: no insta-love! Ben loved Janelle from the start, but it took Janelle a while to even notice Ben. She had to die before she even talked to him. But even after Ben brought her back to life, she isn't all "Oh, I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even though I've only known you for 5 minutes." She's just intrigued by him. It takes a while for the romance to develop, but it's so refreshing to read a book that doesn't have insta-love!

But the romance takes a back seat to everything else. The main focus of this book is the mystery revolving around the people who show up out of nowhere with radiation burns. No one knows how they get there, or where they come from. Janelle and her best friend Alex make it their priority to solve this mystery. It does help too, that Janelle's father is an FBI agent and has all of the records of these mysterious people on file. It makes for a great mystery, and really moves the book along.

The ending was full of so many twists and turns, I never saw it coming! But it was perfect. It was satisfying, but set up UNBREAKABLE perfectly.

Overall, a fabulous book. I highly recommend it!

 

 

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to my blog.

First, a little bit about myself. My name is Marie and I am 16 years old. I have loved to read ever since I was small, and my love has grown throughout the years.

On this blog I will review books. I read mostly YA, but every once in a while I read a middle grade or adult, just to spice things up.

I am very new at this, so please bear with me for a while until I figure everything out.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy my blog!