Publisher: Macmillan

Book Buddies Review: Ruby Red

Posted March 31, 2016 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Book Buddies is a discussion-style review that takes place with one of my two buddies. (Learn more and see past reviews here) We both read the book and then have a private discussion about it. We post our discussion as a review on the last Wednesday of each month. You’ll be able to see our similar/different opinions on the overall book, characters, writing style, etc. – just like a regular review. The first half our discussion will take place right here, and the second half will be on Kaitlin’s blog! (Link below) View Kaitlin’s part of the discussion here. What did you think about Gwen? Is she the kind of main character you can relate to? Do you feel like she was characterized enough so far? Kaitlin: I think she was a great character! I mean, I really liked how she reacted to the situation she was put in and I do really look forward to reading more about her because Gwen definitely seems like she has had an interesting past. She is kind of the main character that one could relate to. I mean, I know what it’s like to have that one crazy friend but I see her as someone who has kind of always been overlooked and I honestly have not been through that struggle but I do like that though, how people who do feel overlooked get to relate to her and see how it is when an overlooked character finally get’s the attention. I am excited for Gwen’s character development […]

Comic Reviews: Saga #3 and This One Summer

Posted March 14, 2016 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

It had been a little while since I finished the second volume in this series, so I was admittedly a little lost when it got started. Luckily, the narrator does a pretty good job of rehashing what previously happened without being super repetitive. I was quickly back in the crazy world of Saga, and this is definitely one of my favorites so far. The action really picked up after the halfway point and I even loved before the action when they were just hanging around the house. It ended with a few crazy events and, as usual, I’m eager to see what happens next! It’s extremely difficult to review these without giving major spoilers for the previous books, so I won’t try to give you more info! 😉 If you aren’t reading this series yet and you have an interest in graphic novels, get going! I wish I had a dollar for every time I went to the bookstore and thumbed through this book. It was on my wishlist forever and I always resisted the urge to buy it. I wish I hadn’t waited so long, but I ended up getting it from the library. I finished it in a couple of hours – reading almost 100 pages one night before bed, and then reading the following 250 pages the next morning in the bathtub (soaking my muscles after skiing, lol). I couldn’t stop. There were some super realistic plot points that I loved. The book follows around two “summer best friends” as […]

Mini Novella Reviews: Fairest and Stars Above

Posted March 2, 2016 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

I don’t have a lot to say about this one overall. I liked it and am glad it exists, because Levana’s point of view is fucking crazy, but it wasn’t at the same level of the rest of the books. Obviously the entire series is ridiculously epic and twisty and turny. This book was really just a summary of Levana’s life before Cinder technically takes place. I think this would make more sense as a 0.5 instead of 3.5, but what are ya gonna do? My Goodreads review successfully sums up my feelings on this book: I’ve been looking forward to this epilogue foreeeeever. Oh yeah, and the rest of the novellas in there 😉 I actually hadn’t read any of the existing novellas for this series yet, so the whole book was new to me. It was an absolutely great way to wrap up the series. Here are some very mini reviews on each novella included: The Keeper: I loved seeing Michelle and Scarlet’s relationship develop! Getting a little background about how everyone came together pre-Cinder was awesome. And I loved seeing her become Cinder (and why that name!) Glitches: I’m pretty sure this one was previously released, but I’m reading all of these novellas for the first time! It was heartwarming to see how Garan and Peony really did care for her, unlike the rest of them. Made me sad/happy. Also IKO! The Queen’s Army: Really interesting (and terrible) to learn about how the queen acquired her army. I felt […]

Review: Firsts

Posted January 4, 2016 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments

This book was definitely one of the ones I was most looking forward to for 2016. I saw countless early reviews of people who said “this book doesn’t sound like something I’d normally like,” but it sounded right up my alley. I like tougher topics in YA, especially if it tackles sex and slut-shaming and all that other realistic stuff. So, when I went to The Strand last week and saw an early copy on the shelf, I bought it immediately! And, of course, I read it immediately. I wanted to post this review also immediately because I figured I may as well treat it like an ARC and try to beef up the buzz for it right before it actually comes out this week. This book was everything I was hoping it would be, and more. The concept itself was really refreshing and different, and the execution was nearly perfect. A lot of things could have gone wrong with this plotline, but Flynn made it so easy to relate to this girl (that most people usually wouldn’t relate to). Mercedes’s actions made you feel more sympathetic to her than judgmental. There was definitely a sense of foreboding throughout – a sticky feeling that made you uncomfortable and nervous for when everyone inevitably finds out what she’s been doing. There were really a lot of different factors that probably impacted Mercedes into making this choice – a teaching service for virgins, to make sure their girlfriends have way better first times […]

ARC Review: Truthwitch

Posted December 24, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

PHEW. That was quite a read. I honestly had no idea what to expect with this one, but whatever my expectations were – they were definitely exceeded. I should definitely preface this review with: I don’t read high fantasy. Like, ever. I’ve come to realize that I tell people I like fantasy, but have really read a small amount of the genre. I prefer lighter fantasy or paranormal reads. This book, which is definitely a high fantasy, was kind of a stretch for my brain. The world-building was very complicated. I was confused at the beginning, but some things started to click into place within the first 70-100 pages. I think that hardcore fantasy readers won’t have a problem with this. I liked being thrown into the action though; it was interesting to see the two girls kicking ass but wondering why they were on the run. The whole premise of the book was just too cool. Essentially, there are people in their world who have powers and people who don’t. Some powers are more valuable than others, so Safi, the Truthwitch, is hiding hers. There are so many twists involving people wanting her, chasing her, or trying to kidnap her. She’s best friends with Iseult, a Threadwitch (meaning she can see the threads that tie people together or make up their feelings). Again, it took me a while to figure out what certain powers were and how everyone came together. I don’t think I could even describe anything else about […]

Review: First & Then

Posted December 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

THIS BOOK WAS THE CUTEST. It took me a little while to get settled into the plot and the characters for some reason, but once I did… oh boy. So perfect. This is definitely one of my favorite books this year based on sheer cuteness and readability. I read this in basically just a couple of sittings over the course of two days because I was determined to finish and feel all the things. Devon’s annoying younger cousin, Foster, moves in with her family after basically being abandoned by his mom. Come to find out, he’s a great kicker and is invited onto the football team. Their family feels progress and grow slowly throughout the book, as does the romance between Devon and SOMEONE. I’m keeping this sentence spoiler-free but you may be able to guess by the end of the review. Sorry, not sorry. I will also totally reread this book, and that’s a big honor. So far the only books I’ve reread are Sarah Dessen (duh), the Harry Potter series (double duh), and books I read a long time ago because I wanted to finish the series. To have a random YA contemporary (non-Dessen) be thrown in as a worthy reread is kind of big deal. Perfect things are perfect THE FEELSSSS between Devon + Foster (seriously, the way they warmed up to each other killed me) between Foster + Ezra (what a fucking adorable friendship. I can’t) between Ezra + Devon (mmmm what a slow burn, with a […]

Review: Winter

Posted November 26, 2015 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

Well well well, Marissa Meyer. I see what you did there. You made each book get increasingly better than the last until I finally said holy SHIT this is one of my favorite series. When I finished Cinder, I wasn’t totally convinced. When I finished Scarlet, I said “that was very good, not fantastic” yet again. When I finished Cress, I thought she was headed towards something excellent. I loved being introduced to more and more characters who were special and important in their own ways. With the introduction of the ultimate bae Carswell Thorne, I was pretty sold in general… but I knew that the final book would have to blow me away to make up for my this-is-great-but-not-a-favorite feelings that I was working with from the first two books. AND THEN SHE DID IT. There are so many wonderful things about this book and about the whole series that come to a head in this finale. I would venture to say that it’s my favorite series-ender ever. (This may be because I haven’t finished a lot of series like this, but seriously it’s gotta be top three at least!) How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… 1. SQUAD GOALS Has there ever been a group of people this perfect before? Prob not. As each book progressed, we were introduced to more and more characters to make up the final crew of saviors. Book one brought us Cinder and Kai, the smart cyborg and the emperor. Book […]

ARC Reviews: Rules for 50/50 Chances and Just Visiting

Posted November 19, 2015 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

This was a pleasant surprise! I have a tendency of signing up for ARC tours for books I’m kind of in the mood for, but never really want to read them when I have to. Struggles of being a mood reader, I suppose. Regardless, I was able to knock this one out in pretty much three sittings over the course of two days. I think this story is really unique overall, and I would definitely recommend it to people who aren’t familiar with Huntington’s Disease. Oddly enough, I read one other book series where this rare disease made an appearance, so I already knew a little bit about it. Rose’s mother has Huntington’s, a degenerative disease that is slowly killing her. The biggest problem is: there’s a 50/50 chance that Rose has it too. Her father is incredibly supportive, helpful, and loving towards his deteriorating wife. He was easily my favorite part of this story. This book deals with alllll of Rose’s struggles. She is a ballet dancer trying to decide where to go to college, if she can allow herself to fall in love, and if she should take the test for the Huntington’s gene. Lots going on for this girl. I felt bad for her because of all of these things, but my sympathy for her dried up surprisingly quickly. She had a “why me” attitude about everything, which is understandable, but she was constantly comparing her family’s issues to everyone else’s. No one else was allowed to have […]

ARC Review: Six of Crows

Posted November 13, 2015 / Book Reviews / 9 Comments

I personally didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. I can absolutely, unequivocally say that (objectively) this is an amazing story written by a talented author that I generally love… but the heist aspect was just not for me. It is genuinely the most stereotypical case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” I started reading my ARC from BEA in September and seriously struggled for the first 30 pages. It was interesting but confusing. I liked the writing (DUH) but wasn’t sure the heist aspect would keep me engaged. I decided to put the book aside after continuing to struggle through 100 pages, because at this point the book was being released. I decided to use an Audible credit to see if that helped. It kind of did, but not really. Here’s my progress through this book: Like honestly it took way too much effort and time to read this book. I barely feel like I even know what happened. I just could not focus for the life of me. However, all of that negative aside – I can truly appreciate this story and am really interested to see where Bardugo takes us next! Great things I can appreciate: Super character-driven, even when they’re essentially a ragtag crew of criminals MULTIPLE SHIPS SETTING SAIL, oh god Leigh Bardugo’s amazing, gorgeous writing style The end (last 20-40% or so) of the book moved faster and was more enjoyable in general Things that didn’t work for me: The pacing […]

Reviews: Scarlet and Cress

Posted November 5, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

I think my feelings for this book can be summed up in my Goodreads review, which is usually just a quick snapshot of my gut reaction: Okay yeah, so I am really enjoying this series so far! It’s not what I was expecting (in a good way) but somehow I’m not in LOVE with it like most people. I’m sad about that. I’ve heard that a lot of people count Cress as their favorite, though, so I’m feeling really good about the next book. As for Scarlet, I feel like I didn’t get enough of SCARLET! I love that these books alternate around between some of the main characters, but Cinder’s story from this book is sticking more in my mind than Scarlet’s chapters. I don’t know if it’s because I was more interested in Thorne than Wolf – or something similar – but damn. I kept itching for Cinder’s chapters. I loved the end of the book, when all of the stories connected and everyone came together. I can’t wait to see how they mix in Cress and other new characters in the next couple of books! Stories that have characters whose lives are connected (usually without them personally know each other) are always fun for me. These books, so far, feature a decent amount of action throughout, and then a little uptick towards the end. Usually that climax is what keeps me interested and prepares me for the next book. I’m really glad that I started Scarlet late in the readalong, so […]