Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish! 

The topic is top ten books I've read so far in 2015! 

Here they are in no particular order! :)

1. In The Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

Goodreads

The Darkest Minds is my all time favorite book series! I was really sad to see it end! Can't wait til the short stories come out in hardcover in October! :)

2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Goodreads

Can't wait for Glass Sword to come out in February! I felt so betrayed by the end of this book! I need to know what happens next! 

3. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Goodreads

4. Legend by Marie Lu

Goodreads

This book was so good that I had to binge the other 2 immediately. I read them all in about three days! The end kind of broke me.

5. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Goodreads

6. All The Rage by Courtney Summers

Goodreads

7. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Goodreads

8. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Goodreads

9. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Goodreads

10. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads

Review: The Death Code by Lindsay Cummings

The Murder Complex #2

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication Date: May 26, 2015

Rating: 2 Stars

Source: Purchase

Summary (from the back of the book): “My little sister Peri, stolen. My brother Koi and my father, gone. 

Suddenly the truth comes back to me. I remember exactly where I am. What I am.

I am a prisoner of the Initiative, with a connection to the Murder Complex in my brain. I came here to destroy the Motherboard, shut the system down for good.

I am the only one who can end The Murder Complex. If I die, the system dies along with me.

That is the only way.”

This book picks up like three weeks after the end of the first book. Zephyr is out searching for Lark, Meadow's mother, so he can kill her and destroy the Initiative. Meadow is locked up by the Initiative being tortured for information on her mother and the resistance. After the resistance finds a successful way to get Meadow to cooperate with them, they release her to lure her mother out of hiding. She manages to accomplish that and then Zephyr comes along and kills Lark. Then all the Patients attack the Initiative and in the chaos Zephyr, Sketch, and Meadow all escape the Shallows. Now they're setting off on Meadow's mission to find and rescue her family.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I liked the first one. But I can't remember why. I can't remember really anything about the first one. I feel like I could have liked this one better if I could remember anything. But I just couldn't get into this book. It felt like a chore to finish this book. I kept hoping it would get better.

I did not like Meadow. I found her to be incredibly unlikable throughout the whole book. She doesn't care about anyone around her or the fact that they were sacrificing everything to help her find her family. She doesn't act grateful at all. There was not one single point in this book where I can remember feeling anything for her at all. Or even thinking anything nice.

Zephyr, I just felt bad for him. He follows Meadow around like a lost puppy, waiting for her to give him a second glance. And he acts like he’s only there because he has to be, not because he wants to help the girl he supposedly loves to find her missing family. 

Sketch, I just found her to be annoying. And her and Zephyr’s constant childish arguments. 

Something I noticed about both of these books is things are always described the same way. In the first book, there are seemingly constant mentions of how silver Meadow’s hair is. And in this one, every single time Zephyr and Sketch started arguing, it was said that they were arguing like children. 

Something that I liked about this book would be that the chapters were short so it was always easy to find a stopping spot when I had to put the book down for any reason.

I mostly gave this book two stars because of how badly I wanted to like it. I would probably not ever re-read this book. However, I did like the first one quite a bit and I liked the first book that’s out in the author’s other series. This book just was not for me.

Stacking the Shelves (#2)

Stacking the shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to highlight books received each week!

For the week of June 21st through June 27th, I got...

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard! 

This was a trade from @valesbookshelf on Twitter!

Crewel by Gennifer Albin!

This one was also a trade! It's from @BSweetReads! It's signed and so is one piece of the extra goodies she sent! So awesome! :):)

What awesome books are you stacking your shelves with this week?

Books Everyone Seemed to Love Except Me.

Today I'm gonna write about some of the books that I've read that everyone absolutely raves about that just did not do it for me. At all.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

This is the #1 book that I can think of that I just did not like. And EVERYONE on the face of the planet seems to love it! I SERIOUSLY do not understand. It was so highly recommended by everyone and it sounded so interesting, so I bought this and Destroy Me when they were both super cheap for my Nook.

I am honestly unsure of how I even finished these. I hated all the strikethroughs. I hated the parts that were repeated three times all over the place in this book. I hated all the metaphors that made literally no sense whatsoever. I hated Warner.

I read a lot of spoilers on these books after finishing this to see if it would be worth continuing and as soon as I saw that Warner was going to be the love interest, I decided NAH. Warner is AWFUL! He's mean! He's just plain gross!!!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This one... I just read my review for it on goodreads and I just wrote, "I finished this book and I'm just so confused about the whole thing. I don't even know." 

First of all, the back of the book claims this to be about an epic duel between two magicians... An epic duel that's supposed to be to the death I think. This 'epic' duel lasts like 16 years and neither one of them dies (I don't think?) and they work together with their magic to make attractions for this circus... 

And it's supposed to be a love story? But it's like the most boring love story on the face of the entire planet... 

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

I really liked the first three books in this series. Well, maybe I didn't REALLY like them, but I liked them well enough to keep reading. They should have ended after the third one. That would have been a good ending. And the whole brother/sister thing could have been cut out, but whatever.

I absolutely hated the last three books in this series though. I don't even really remember what happens, I just remember that I bought these all on my Nook and one of them was more expensive on there than the hardcover was on Amazon... Anyway, City of Heavenly Fire was by far my least favorite. By that point I was only still reading because I had already put so much time and effort into the rest of them. I hated all the new characters that were in there only because they were the characters the next Shadowhunter disaster is going to revolve around. They really didn't add anything terribly important to this story as far as I can remember. I didn't give a crap about them, I barely gave a crap about the characters I'd been reading about for six books.

And as much as the other Shadowhunter series is talked up, I don't think that I'll be diving into that adventure anytime soon. Or ever. I'm over Shadowhunters. 

Also, this is the book that started my pet peeve of characters having like a thousand different names. WHO ARE YOU REALLY?

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

This actually isn't a book that everyone seemed to love. It's just one that I didn't like. I'd never heard anything about this book from anyone ever. I just saw it at the bookstore and thought it was pretty and sounded good... Naaaah.

I didn't like the main character. I didn't like the town this was set in. I didn't like the people of that town. I didn't like all the super lengthy, repetitive descriptions of EVERYTHING! I mean, at first I thought they were nice and sounded super pretty, but when every single thing was described like that, I just was over it.

The only thing I liked about this book was the parts about Amelia and what happened to her. She was literally the only character I liked. And she's obviously dead and gone. 

I just got sick of reading this book...

Anyway, what are some books that everyone seems to love that you just couldn't stand?! :)

Also, does anyone else go through and read all the negative reviews on a book they don't like? I always do this. If I hate it, I read all the negative comments.

Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #0.1-0.5

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Summary (from the back of the book): “Discover where Celaena Sardothien’s thrilling saga began. 

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin’s Guild, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. When Celaena’s scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance. She will have to risk it all if she hopes to escape Arobynn’s clutches — and if she fails, she’ll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

A prequel to THRONE OF GLASS, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling — and deadly — world."

First of all, I think that this was my favorite book of the series to read so far. It doesn't read like a bunch of novellas to me. It felt like a real book. Everything was in order of how it happened and everything. I found it to be really interesting to read the full stories behind Celaena's adventures that get briefly mentioned in the rest of the series. I loved reading this book!

Buuuuut I also hated it because I knew the tragedies that befall my new and old favorite characters. And I didn't want to read it! I think I like Celaena even more than I did before. I loved seeing her being shaped into the character that we read about in the rest of the series. And ahhhh, I loved Sam for the brief moment that we got to hear his story! :( I really hope that Celaena gives Arobynn what's coming to him... Sloooooowly. I also hope that we get to see more of a lot of these characters in the rest of the books!

In the first story, Celaena finds herself amongst the pirates with Sam to collect a debt owed by them for the deaths of several assassins. But that was a lie from Arobynn and the real reason they are there doesn’t sit well with Celaena or Sam and they disobey their orders and end up making an enemy of the pirate lord, Rolfe. This story basically sets everything in motion for what happens in the rest of them.

In the second one, on her way to the Red Desert to train with the Silent Assassin’s as her punishment, Celaena meets a young healer in a dump of a town while waiting for a ship. She ends up saving her from something awful and helping her to get back on her journey to learn from the best healers. This was probably the slowest and most boring of the five novellas, but it was still good. 

When she arrives at the Red Desert, she has to prove herself worthy of being trained by the master of the Silent Assassins and earn a letter of approval from him to bring back to Arobynn. She makes friends there and finds that she doesn’t really want to leave. But there is betrayal and she saves the day earns the master’s approval and she is on her way back to Rifthold with her head held high.

Back in Rifthold, Arobynn is apologizing profusely for his punishments for her disobedience. He gives her a mission which will pay VERY well and she gets help from Sam to complete it. The mission ends up being the opposite of what she was expecting and she pays off hers and Sam’s debt to Arobynn so they can leave because they’ve had enough of his crap. Sam and Celaena move into her apartment and are finally together and of course it can’t just end there, with them being happy. Nooooooo.

In the final, and most heartbreaking, story, Sam and Celaena have plans to leave Rifthold forever to be completely free of Arobynn. They have to pay him and ungodly amount of money to be free of the Guild and leave and so Sam finds them one last job to do so they have enough money to go. And it ends poorly and they are completely betrayed and that’s how Celaena ended up in Endovier with her heart completely shattered.. And that’s when I cried forever. And ever. And ever. Ugh. I didn’t think that I’d think Chaol wasn’t the best for her, but maaaaan, Sam was the one!

I just kind of want to hug Celaena forever. 

Waiting on Wednesday (#2)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I am anxiously awaiting...

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #4

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Pages: 672

Summary (from Goodreads):

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world. 

I just started reading this series about a month ago or so ago. And I can't believe it took me so long to pick up the first book! This is an amazing series and I am DYING to get my hands on this book! 

What book are you waiting for this week? :)

The Book That Really Got Me Into Reading!

I had decided that I was going to start doing the Top Ten Tuesday thing today.. But since the topic is top ten top ten tuesday topics, I guess I'll wait til next week.

So instead I am going to write about the book that got me really into reading!

I have always liked to read really. But it was mostly a book here and a book there. But the book that got me feeling like I constantly needed to have a book in my hand was definitely Delirium by Lauren Oliver!

I had heard a lot about this book on Tumblr and I had mixed feelings about it. I thought that it sounded pretty much awesome, but at the same time, I wasn't sure because a lot of the reviews I read said that it was kinda slow and they never gave it the best rating.

But I spotted it at Walmart one day and I went for it! And I am so glad that I did! I devoured that book in one sitting! And it was like the middle of the night when I finished it and I almost drove back to the nearest shopping town (like a half hour drive) just to buy Pandemonium. Buuut I refrained. I don't know how I managed, but I did. Probably because I was tired and it was dark and I probably couldn't have seen through my tears to make the drive anyway. That cliffhanger nearly killed me!

I read Pandemonium equally fast. And then I had the long, miserable wait for Requiem to come out. It was torture, but I did it. I think Requiem was my least favorite of the books. Mostly because Alex was in there and there wasn't hardly any Alex/Lena love going on and that disappointed me terribly. And you don't even get a solid answer at the end of the book as to what happens! You kinda get the jist of what probably happened, but I wanted concrete evidence. But I still LOOOVED them! And my amazon preorder of the book came a day early so you can bet that I ran home from work an immediately powered through it.

Anyway, what would you all do if you lived in a world where they believed love was a disease? Would you pull a Lena and hop the fence? Or take a needle to the brain and get the cure? I would most definitely be hopping the fence, especially if my love prospect was Alex Sheathes! I love me some Alex.

Did anyone watch the pilot episode for the tv show that never got picked up? I watched it when it was out on Hulu for however long it was on there for. I was really excited for that show, but I think I'm glad it didn't get picked up because I thought the pilot was kind of awful. But I was tweeting at Fox to pick it up and I used a quote from the book and Lauren retweeted me and I nearly expired.

Also, around the time that I read these books, Epic Reads had a contest going on for these books! You had to prove that you were the biggest fan and you could win a prize pack of all of Lauren's favorite things. I had a totally badass post (which I am currently searching for to post here). I basically made a collage of pictures recreating the story. But instead of love being illegal, reading was and everyone watched tv and I made my sister chase me with a cardboard box over her head painted like an angry television while I tried to leap over a fence... It's pretty awesome. I got first runner up, but I never got my prize! Oh well, I just wanted the glory of winning and everyone thinking I was awesome and I did get that.

*update* Found my contest entry!!! 

If you can't read it, it says:

1) 2013, a time where people would rather watch a story unfold on a television screen than let it unfold in their minds with a book. Reading is unheard of!

3) I hope no one catches me reading this!

4) My sign says 37 books. Like 37 brooks in the story? I'm so clever. And I built that fort with 37 books included. Several of them I bought specifically for this because they're mentioned! Also the running shoes and the orange are there because they have a significance in the story! I'm so awesome.

5) This book makes me deliriously happy!

6) *my sister in the evil TV hat* What are you doing?! Watch me!

*me* I'd rather die reading than live in front of the TV!

7) We must get to the Wilds!

8) MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

9) I love you! Remember, they cannot take it!

Anyway, this post is probably super dull and boring, but I gotta make blog posts of something, right? :)

Review: Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Snow Like Ashes #2

Publisher: Balzer and Bray

Publication Date: October 13, 2015

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: ARC acquired as a gift

Summary (from the back of the book): “It’s been three months since Winter was freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared. 

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth Primoria’s powerful — and possibly dangerous — lost chasm of magic. The last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay — so when the king of Cordell orders Meira and Theron on a trip across Primoria to learn the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to get support to keep the chasm shut. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Jannuari — leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception is woven tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom — and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter but for the world.”

I thought that this was a really good sequel. It was a little bit slow, but not in a bad way. Meira is forced to reopen Winter's mines to repay Cordell for their part in freeing Winter, and also to search for the lost chasm of magic which is quickly found. King Noam then forces Meira and Theron to go search for a way to open it. Theron wants to use the trip as a way to create peace between all the kingdoms and Meira wants to gain allies for Winter. 

This book is told in two points of view, Meira and Mather. I was firmly team Theron in Snow Like Ashes, but I think I've switched teams after hearing Mather's point of view. He's not such a bad dude.

I like Meira. She is trying really hard to do what she feels is best for Winter. She's trying to hold herself to the highest standards of queens that she can (if that makes any sense? I couldn't think of a better way to word that). She doesn't think that she can be both Queen Meira and Meira the orphaned soldier girl. She's struggling to find a balance between who she was and who she needs to be.

I quite liked Mather in this book as well. He seems to be struggling to find his new place in Winter now that he is no longer the king. Also, he seems to struggle to accept his parents and his feelings of betrayal after they made him believe he was the orphaned king of Winter for his whole life. He tries to help in little ways that no one really notices. When Theron and Meira leave on their journey, he stays behind and kind of does his own thing to help Winter against the orders of Cordell.

Now for Theron... I don't know. You can't really help but kinda like him because he seems like he's probably just totally adorable and he's so optimistic, but for most of this book I really just wanted to punch him in the throat. He kind of acts like he thinks his cause is more important than Meira's. He kind of uses Meira's search for allies to help his cause without consulting with her and it kind of undermines what she's trying to do for Winter and what he's doing doesn't really leave the impression that she would like with the kingdoms they are visiting... If that makes any sense either... He's just basically a pain in the butt.

I also thought that it was really interesting that you get to see so much of some of the other kingdoms. I feel like this is where the book felt the slowest. You get to meet Summer, Yakim, and Ventralli and learn about their conduits, rulers, ways, and other people of interest within the kingdoms. So after going through that three times, it did get kind of slow, but no less interesting. 

The ending isn't really a cliffhanger, but it leaves you NEEDING to know what happens next! I certainly was not expecting the betrayal and twist at the end!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it. And I plan on purchasing this book when it comes out in October (I have had it pre-ordered FOREVER)!

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to highlight books received each week!

So between June 14th to June 20th I got...

I am really excited to read this one because I saw a tweet saying that it is Beauty and the Beast meets something or other, I don't remember what.. But they had me at Beauty and the Beast. That is my favorite Disney movie!!

Not really gonna stack my shelves with this one, but it's a book.. It counts, right? I'm super duper excited about this!!!

I got this one from @miss_print on Twitter in #booksfortrade! 

I don't know man, I really think I'm the most excited about the coloring book. I am a five year old at heart.. What did you get this week that you're most excited about? :)

Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #3

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Publication Date: September 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Bought off Amazon

Summary (from the back of the book): “She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak — but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth… a truth about her heritage that could change her life — and her future — forever. 

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength not only to fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

The king’s assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling CROWN OF MIDNIGHT.”

This book follows Celaena to the kingdom of Wendlyn where she was sent by Chaol who wanted to keep her safe from the king after discovering that she is Fae. The king believes that she is there to assassinate the king and prince of Wendlyn, but she has her own agenda. 

After spending weeks doing not much of anything, she is approached by Rowan, a Fae prince sworn to serve the Fae Queen, Maeve. He takes her to meet Maeve who she believes has all the answers she needs to her questions about the Wyrdkeys. But before she can get them, she must master her Fae powers so she can enter Doranelle.

Likes: 

I liked this book a lot. I liked all the new characters that we met (except the witches). I liked the relationship that Rowan and Celaena developed and how he helped her to master her powers even though he was just kind of nasty at first. I liked all the demi-Fae that you meet from Mistward. Because Celaena was basically awful to everyone a lot of the time, but they all were so understanding and forgave her for it. They knew she was struggling. 

I liked the flashbacks that we got, back to when Terrasen fell and you got to see how it all happened and how Celaena ended up where she did. It was tragic, but interesting. And you learn what her inner demons really are and why she can’t bring herself to get past it.

I was really happy when she did finally get past those inner demons and forgave herself for not being able to help those that she loved and felt like she had failed and decided that she was deserving of her title as Queen of Terrasen. The path to that forgiveness was a tough one and the end of it was almost really awful, but she pulled through because she’s tough!!

I was ECSTATIC when she finally got back on the boat to go back to Adarlan because I need her and Chaol to kiss and make up and be cute and in love again. 

Dislikes:

I really dislike when a book has chapters from many different points of view. It wasn’t hard to distinguish between the characters or anything, I just don’t care what so many of the characters are doing. I just wanted to know what was going on with Celaena, Chaol, and a little bit of Dorian!

I didn’t like the Ironteeth witches. I thought they were just kind of icky. And it was really hard for me to imagine them as being beautiful. I did start to kind of like Manon at the end when she kind of started to have a heart, but for the most part, I really didn’t want to read about them and kind of felt like those chapters were unnecessary, but maybe in the next book I’ll see why they were. I was kind of expecting them to be out trying to exact revenge on Celaena for killing Baba Yellowlegs, but nah, they were just playing war games in the sky on their new wyverns (whatever a wyvern is, is it a dragon? I think it’s like a dragon) for the king. I liked the wyverns. I liked how they were training vicious beasts in the mountains that somehow had more of a heart than any of those witches.

Another thing I dislike is when a character has a ton of different names. I don’t know. I just don’t like that.

Overall, I was really happy with the book and am DYING for  QUEEN OF SHADOWS to come out! I already have it pre-ordered and am impatiently waiting for it!! 

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

For my first waiting on Wednesday post, I'm going to feature...

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger #1

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: January 5th, 2015

Pages: 464

Summary (from Goodreads):

Violin prodigy Etta Spencer had big plans for her future, but a tragedy has put her once-bright career at risk. Closely tied to her musical skill, however, is a mysterious power she doesn't even know she has. When her two talents collide during a stressful performance, Etta is drawn back hundreds of years through time.

Etta wakes, confused and terrified, in 1776, in the midst a fierce sea battle. Nicholas Carter, the handsome young prize master of a privateering ship, has been hired to retrieve Etta and deliver her unharmed to the Ironwoods, a powerful family in the Colonies--the very same one that orchestrated her jump back, and one Nicholas himself has ties to. But discovering she can time travel is nothing compared to the shock of discovering the true reason the Ironwoods have ensnared her in their web.

Another traveler has stolen an object of untold value from them, and, if Etta can find it, they will return her to her own time. Out of options, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the mysterious traveler. But as they draw closer to each other and the end of their search, the true nature of the object, and the dangerous game the Ironwoods are playing, comes to light -- threatening to separate her not only from Nicholas, but her path home... forever. 

Add it on Goodreads!

I am super excited for this book! The Darkest Minds is my favorite series ever and I absolutely cannot wait to read this book! January is way too far away!

E-Readers

So, what are everyone's thoughts on e-readers? I personally really like mine. It took me like 6 months to decide on one... I don't like to make decisions. I went back and forth between a tablet or just a plain old thing just for reading. Then I went back and forth between a nook and a kindle. Then I gave up. Then I revisited the idea and decided on a plain old nook simple touch.

I came to that decision for several reasons:

1. It was on sale for Father's Day.

2. You can put your own photo as the screensaver!

3. It doesn't have advertisements they try to make you pay to get rid of.

4. Most importantly, the piece that plugs the cord into the wall was only $10 rather than $20 for the kindle one. But seriously why do all these companies make you buy chargers separately?! Insane.

I love having one for the fact that I live in the absolute middle of nowhere. The nearest book store is a 2 hour drive. So if I finish a book and NEED the next one, I can just hop on my nook and stop the suffering. And it's good for those novellas that don't always necessarily make it into book form.

I dislike it because all the reviews I saw in my intense research said that it will pay for itself eventually in the fact that books are cheaper... But in my experience that is not true. One book I bought on my nook was actually more expensive than the actual physical book. Maybe if you only shop in the free and 99 cent books, but I'm not about that life. I wanna get all the fun new books!! 

Also I would personally just rather have a physical book, but sometimes ebooks are more convenient.

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #2

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Publication Date: January 1, 2013

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Bought from BAM

Summary (from the back of the book): "An assassin's loyalties are always in doubt, but her heart never wavers.

Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she hides her secret vigilantly, her deadly charade becomes difficult when she realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. No one is above questioning her allegiance -- not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... And whom she is willing to fight for."

Now that Celaena has become the King's Champion, she is back to being an assassin as the King gives her name after name of people that he wants dead. But Celaena doesn't carry out the assassinations, instead she helps the King's enemies fake their deaths and flee. The the King gives her the name Archer Finn, someone Celaena knows from her days with the assassins. The King believes that he is involved in a rebel group. So Celaena finds him and gives him one month to get his affairs in order and in exchange he gives her information regarding possible rebels. Celaena gets approached, once again, by Elena, who asks her to find the source of the king's power. So you know he's definitely up to no good. Then the events build up until a terribly heartbreaking event comes up and her world falls apart. 

Likes: 

I loved that Celaena and Chaol finally got together! I wanted them to be a thing from the very beginning! And that scene at one of the King's events where he asks her to dance on the balcony... Just yes. I loved it. I want Chaol all to myself. All the more reason why I want to be Celaena.

I liked that you finally got to see Celaena being her badass assassin self. I had been waiting to see her more deadly side. I liked that she only used her skills to defend and protect the people she loved and to get revenge against the people who hurt her loved ones. Basically I like that she's not just a monster. 

Dislikes:

I didn't like Archer Finn. He tried to be all smooth, but deep down he's just a coward. He seemed okay at first, but he definitely proved me wrong.

I really can't even think of anything else that I actually disliked about this book. Granted, I didn't write this in as timely a fashion as I should have and I struggled to remember a lot of what happened.. But it was a really good sequel and I usually am not a huge fan of sequels!

I gave this book 4 stars just because my mind wandered while I read it (not even because of the book or anything, just life). I promise my review for HEIR OF FIRE will be better! 

What are you currently reading? :)

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #1

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Publication Date: August 7th, 2012

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Bought off Amazon

Summary (from the back of the book): "Two men love her. The whole land fears her. Only she can save them all. 

In a world without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway land will befriend her. But something evil dwells in the castle — and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival — and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.”

Okay, so this will be one of my first ever reviews, so I’m not positive on how I want to go about this. Also, I tend to be long-winded and ramble a lot, so please bare with me!

We meet Celaena Sardothien in the salt mines of Endovier where she has spent the last year after being caught and enslaved for being the most notorious assassin in Adarlan. She is being taken to a meeting with the Crown Prince who is requesting that she join in the king’s competition to find a Champion. If she wins, she will serve the king for so many years and then she will be free. 

Soon after the competition begins, something evil in the castle begins killing the potential champions. And she is asked by someone unexpected to find the source of evil and stop it and become the Champion. So with the help of her new friends Dorian (the Crown Prince), Chaol (the Captain of the Guard), and Nehemia (Princess of Ellywe) she does just that.

Likes:

I really liked this book in general. I have heard a lot about how good this book is, so I was kind of expecting to be disappointed because that’s usually how I feel about books I’ve heard nothing but good things about. 

I loved Celaena. I loved how much she seemed to love herself! She deserved it after being stuck in that death camp for so long. I love how much she loved clothes and sweets and books. I kind of just want to be her. 

I really liked Chaol. Team Chaol. I liked that he was so protective of Celaena and did everything he could to help her train and help her be the best so she could win.

I don’t know, I just really liked this book. I’m finding it hard to just pick out certain things that I liked about this book. I’ve been getting really into fantasy books lately so I think that definitely helped that it’s fantasy!

Dislikes:

One thing that I was a bit disappointed about was the competition. I was kind of expecting it to be more Hunger Games-y. Like a fight to the death between all of them. But that wasn’t what it was at all. Basically just different trials to test their skills in different things. I wanted there to be more blood. There were some of the competitors that I kinda liked that I didn’t want to see die, but I wanted there to be blood.

I wished we could have seen more of Celaena doing assassin stuff. Show off her skills a bit.

I didn’t like that there was a bit of a love triangle going on. I liked both of them and I didn’t want to feel bad for one of them when they didn’t get the girl!! 

You don’t get to know much about any of the other potential Champions. Celaena gets sort of close to two of them, but you don’t know much about them. Cain just basically strikes me as the bully on the playground and most of the other Champions are like the other kids who go along with it just to stay on his good side. 

Overall, this book was really good and I would definitely recommend it! 

Also, I got that super adorable little Celaena bookmark from HappyHelloCo on Etsy! Check them out! So cute!