Carry On Review

Warning! There will be a lot of spoilers!

Many of us know Rainbow Rowell as the writer of a lot of emotional books that deal with things not addressed by too many authors. This makes her a well loved author by many since she is always successful in talking about issues and making them relatable. My favorite book of hers was Fangirl. Which is why I was so excited when I heard about Carry On, the true story of the world that Cath wrote fanfiction about. Baz and Simon are roommates at Watford School of Magicks and also nemeses. It's Simon's duty to take down the Insidious Humdrum, but he is a little occupied dealing with his roommate who he thinks is a vampire.

I loved Fangirl because it reminded me a lot about Harry Potter and how it has inspired so many in being fangirls or fanboys of their own and into writing their own fanfiction. It was understandable to me in this book on how she replaced Harry Potter with her own version of a magical world. However, I ended up thinking that maybe Rainbow Rowell took it a little too far with the writing of Carry On.

Before I get to the Harry Potter aspect, I want to talk about the characters. I loved it as I was reading it, I thought the different story lines were great and how the characters had good and bad aspects of them. I also really liked the relationship between Baz and Simon, at first. I think it's great that Simon was bisexual, but it was also a very abrupt transition. Simon hated Baz for years and never showed an ounce of affection or attraction to him, except for an obsession on if he's up to something evil. As soon as they get together I love their relationship, but I also feel like it may have been used as a plot device to appeal to people. I just thought it was extremely fanfiction like, when people ship characters together that aren't together in canon. This might just be me, but I didn't think they would be together, until they were if that makes sense. To try and explain this thought process more (sorry if I'm rambling), as soon as they did get together, I loved them and thought they were great. In my opinion their relationship from before didn't flow perfectly into their relationship after. I also didn't realize this until I started looking back. Despite this, I still think it's really important to have gay characters in books, especially as main characters. So that is one reason I enjoyed this book, but I just feel like it could have been done a little better to make more sense. Now onto how Rainbow Rowell used Harry Potter!

After I finished the book, I ended up thinking there was a line that might have been crossed. Harry Potter is sacred in the world of books, at least to me. It's hard to express my feelings on this, because I'm sure Rainbow Rowell meant no disrespect. However, I enjoyed her incorporation of Harry Potter in Fangirl, because it was more respectful in my opinion. Except now Carry On kind of completely rewrote it into an entire book this time. I also felt like this was more for the profit. After seeing how much people loved Fangirl and the references to Harry Potter as Simon Snow, she decides to write a book all about it. I know she says she and many others wanted to know what happened to Simon and Baz, but the book also ended up very anti-climatic in my opinion. Baz and Simon end up together, as hinted by Cath's fanfiction. Then, the Insidious Humdrum ended up barely even doing anything. Looking back on the book, I don't see much of a point of it. It was great while I was reading it, but now I don't feel much of anything for it. This kind of makes me sad because I enjoyed it a lot while I was reading it. However, Harry Potter is a million times better to me and this book could never in a million years replace it for me. And to me, I see it as an attempt to replace Harry Potter. It may be a stand alone, but why was it necessary for her to make this into an entire book? I would have been fine with it being kept in Fangirl. Now, it's a little ruined to me. It may not be intended to be disrespectful, but that's how I see it.

Many people will say that means all fanfiction is disrespectful then. I don't agree with that. I see this as fanfiction turned into a book purely for profit. At least with Fifty Shades of Grey, it was nearly unrecognizable as Twilight fanfiction. But I saw way too much of Harry Potter and not enough originality in Carry On.

Don't get me wrong, I love the lgbtq representation and I feel bad that I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would, but all I see the now is the book having no real point. I always feel bad when I don't like a book because I know authors put in a lot of effort into their books, which I have loads of respect for. I also know a lot of people will disagree with my review, but this is just my opinion on it. I won't hate on people for loving all the things I didn't like.

College Update!

I am so sorry! I feel awful using it is an excuse but I started college this year and these first few months have been crazy busy trying to get used to this new routine! I am from the Chicago area and now go to school near Philadelphia so it's been an adjustment! While I will admit that I took a break from reading :/ I have been recently reading again and now I'm just trying to get back in the habit of reviewing! It also sucks that I only have so many books with me here and the vast majority of my books are back home :( I really miss them! I'm hoping to get some reviews up again soon! So try and stay tuned!

In the meantime here's a picture of my dorm room! My side is on the right!

The Darkest Minds Review

When a mysterious disease kills the majority of America's children, it changes the ones who survive. Something that caused Ruby's parents to lock her in the garage and send her to a brutal government rehabilitation camp on the morning of her tenth birthday. The children who survive have strange abilities. There's the blues who are telekinetic, the yellows who control electricity, the greens who are more intelligent than average, and the oranges who can control minds. Now, Ruby is sixteen and finally escapes the camp. She joins a group of other kids who are trying to find East River, a safe haven for kids like them. There's Liam, who quickly falls for her, but she can't allow herself to get close to someone again. When they reach the camp, it is more than originally believed and they aren't safe yet.

The Darkest Minds is a really highly rated book on Goodreads and I'd been meaning to read it for so long and I finally got to it. I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was very well written and I was definitely left wanting the next book. However, I don't think it was incredible. A really common problem I have with books is love interests. I don't know why, but it's usually what holds me back in books. They're usually unconvincing in my mind and I was just never convinced in this book again. I think I have a thing for the darker guys and Liam was too optimistic for me and trying too hard to be the perfect guy in my opinion. I know loads of people who love him though so don't let my feelings turn you away!

While The Darkest Minds was written first, I had read The Young Elites first and so I was strongly reminded of this other book as I was reading. There was a widespread disease and the ones who survived gained powers. I enjoyed The Young Elites more, because of how much darker it was. I absolutely loved that book, so this one just wasn't as great in my opinion.

I found the ending to be fantastic though, and I hope the next books don't make the series too light and have too much of a happy ending. I honestly think the only really happy endings I can handle are ones in realistic fiction. That's when I enjoy the cutesy romance stuff. I'm trying to think about my feelings for Ruby, the main character, and I feel really bad for her. She's gone through a lot and was completely isolated from boys for so long, that I can see her falling for the first cute nice boy she sees. For once I'm kind of hoping for a love triangle in the next books, because I want her to realize there's more to the world than just Liam. A series that did this amazingly was Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

All in all, this book was really good, despite my problems. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars and I will read the sequel, but I hope it will be darker and better.

Ice Like Fire Review

Just a warning! You probably shouldn't read this review if you haven't read Snow Like Ashes! That book was awesome so you should definitely read that!!!!

Sara Raasch's Ice Like Fire is the sequel to Snow Like Ashes. A few months after the Winterians have been freed and back in their kingdom, Cordell has them mining to pay back their debts. This caused the lost chasm of magic, a powerful but dangerous source, to be discovered. Theron wants to use this magic to stand against threats such as Angra. However, Meira sees the immense dangers of it. When the king of Cordell orders Theron and Meira to go on a journey through the kingdoms to learn how to access the chasm, Meira is trying to find ways to get rid of it. During Meira's duties, Mather tries to secure their kingdom's survival as Cordell's oppression grows.

I didn't like this book as much as the first one. It was mostly a filler book in my opinion and I'm more excited for the third one now! I really appreciated the fact that the trauma the Winterians went through of being enslaved for years was not ignored. That definitely was a prevalent issue, which was awesome so the story wasn't like "We're home and now we're all better and happy again!" I thought that was really well done. It also became a lot more about the politics and Meira trying to learn how to politically protect her kingdom when Cordell has them so far into debt and is demanding immediate repayment. That was a really interesting new focus in this book, as the first one was all about freeing the Winterians. This one is saying how not everything can be solved so quickly, they still have problems.

Going off of that, Meira is awesome! I love how she's struggling to find a median (medium?) between her warrior self and being a queen. She's trying to do what is best for her people. I also love how she is considering what would be best for her kingdom with whoever she marries. Both Mather and Theron annoyed me, so Meira's independence was really great in my opinion. She didn't rely on either of them too much. She's the type of strong female character that I love.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure how this book ended, a lot happened super quickly which confused me a bit. This is probably part of why I'm more excited for the third because I want some things clarified for me.

I gave this book 4/5 stars, while it was a really good book it just didn't blow me away like the first one did. I'm excited for the next book because then I'll know if the ending is as good as I hope it will be!

Ice Like Fire comes out October 13th!

Legacy of Kings Review

In Eleanor Herman’s Legacy of Kings the age of the gods is about to end. The book takes place in the time of Alexander the Great, when he’s sixteen. He begins to be drawn to Katerina, a guest in the palace. However, she has a certain mission: to kill the Queen. Her childhood friend, Jacob, though will do anything to win her. He’ll even fight Hephaestion, Alex’s best friend and a murderer, in a contest. Cyn, the prince’s half-sister, is working to weaken the throne. Across the sea, Sofia, a Persian princess and Alex’s fiancée, goes on a journey to change her fate.

This book was good... Nothing spectacular but I found Alexander the Great to be extremely interesting. My sister is obsessed with him but this is definitely not a historical account of him. There's magic and gods. I predicted the twist in the story but I thought it was a good twist, sorry I can't say what it was. There were actually a lot of twists that I enjoyed because I found myself enjoying the story with each one. It would get darker or more mysterious. This also led me to feeling so unsure as to what direction the next book will go. I might have predictions but I know they could also be very wrong. I also found the magic abilities to be really cool and I really wish I could communicate with animals. It would make my onesided conversations with my dog a lot easier.

Kat and Cyn were both really strong female characters while I thought Hephaestion was kind of stupid at times. Literally all he had to do was learn to communicate with Alex! There seemed to be hints at a lot of different relationships which I'm not too sure about for the next book because love triangles have to be done well or else they're way too cliché and annoying. Something that bothered me was that this is taking place in the Middle East in Macedonia and Persia, yet I'm pretty sure somebody was blond and there were some blue eyes going on. That bothered me a lot. The point of view changes a lot with each chapter which got a little annoying, but only because there'd be a cliffhanger with one character and then I'd have to wait multiple chapters to get back to their storyline.

Legacy of Kings comes out August 18th! While I didn't love it, I don't really love a series until I read the next books, I highly recommend it!!

The Martian Review

When a freak accident happens on a mission to Mars occurs, Mark Watney is believed to be dead as the rest of his crew abandons the mission. Instead, he survives. Now he must find a way to survive on a barren wasteland of a planet.

AWESOME BOOK!!!! Loved it so much! It's super sciencey at times and that got confusing. However, the book had a ton of humor in it. One of my favorite parts of the book was the people at NASA after they realize he's alive, "'He's stuck out there. He thinks he's totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man's psychology?' He turned back to Venkat. 'I wonder what he's thinking right now.'" Then it goes to Watney's log: "How come Aquaman can control whales? They're mammals! Makes no sense." There are just awesome jokes throughout the book to make the situation a bit lighter. Because let's be honest a man abandoned on Mars is kind of dark. However, all the characters bring their own humor to the story. I fell in love with all of them because of this.

The story was very extreme and some of what happened just seemed to be a little too much drama at times. However, Watney would also that kind of stuff was inevitable and he would expect something dangerous that he probably shouldn't have survived from and then make jokes about it. This also kept me engrossed in the book, as I would always be kept on the edge a little as to what kind of near death experience he'd have next.

The book is a little more mature, just a warning! It does have the f word a bunch. I'm pretty sure the movie (I'm so excited for it!) is going to be rated R for this reason too. Also, Matt Damon is going to be playing Watney in the movie. More exciting though, in my opinion at least, Sebastian Stan is going to be in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely one of my top celebrity crushes. He's going to be playing Chris Beck, one of the astronauts originally on the Mars mission. He doesn't have much of a role in the beginning, but he is more important towards the end! Hopefully the movie will be good and the humor will be able to transfer!

This book was an amazing Sci-Fi book, definitely one of my favorites now. I think everybody should read it!

June Book Haul!

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. Loved the first book and I've heard great things about this one! I can't wait to read it.

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of my favorite authors, so it's high on my to read list!

The Return by Jennifer L. Armentrout. First, I have to read the Covenant series though cause this is a spin off of that series!

A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. I love me some Mark Twain!

The Martian by Andy Weir. Looking forward to the movie for this one! Sebastian Stan is going to be in it! He is definitely one of my celebrity crushes.

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. Love the show and my sister read the book and said it's great! I'm only on season 2 though!

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. Got it with Owl Crate actually!

Scribbler of Dreams by Mary E. Pearson. Went to a signing for her and bought a couple of her other books since I love Kiss of Deception so much!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson.

Throne of Glass #1-3 UK versions. My favorite series, so I had to have Sasha get the UK editions when she was in London!

Just One Day Review

Note: I feel like I have been apologizing for my slacking so much lately. I'm currently working on the Game of Thrones books which is a heck of a project. I'm nearly done with the fourth book though and then I'll take a break and read two shorter books. Then, I'm going to read the fifth book and I'll be done! I'll probably be able to go quicker through books then. Anyways, here starts the actual review now.

In Gayle Forman's Just One Day, Allyson is traveling through Europe on a post-graduation tour when on her last day she meets Willem. A boy obsessed with traveling accidents, he invites her to Paris. This leads to just one day together in Paris.

Alrighty, while I enjoyed Gayle Forman's If I Stay a lot, this book kind of annoyed me. However, I believe there's a reason for this. I had just finished the third Game of Thrones, a very mature book, and I felt like I needed something light and easy. I've had Just One Day for a while now, so I thought it'd be the perfect book. However, this was much too easy and light. I felt like it was too immature. I was used to the intenseness of Game of Thrones. There were quite a few things that annoyed me about this book though.

This is actually probably going to have some spoilers, sorry! I just need to describe what I disliked about the book.

So I could not understand how this girl could hate traveling through Europe! This was an insane gift from her parents and even though it may be a little too structured to truly experience where they were visiting, Allyson still hated the trip. Like what??? And then she decides to go to Paris with a guy she just met. While he might not have been a serial killer, he could have been!!!! That is so stupid. Then, they do random stupid stuff in Paris (in my opinion), they don't really see much of the city. They go on a canal ride (which is actually really cool, I did it in France as well), they go to a park, fall asleep on the grass, fight some guys, go to dinner, and then have sex in this art house thing. I'm sorry but if I had only one day in Paris, I would see as much of it as possible instead of napping in a park with a guy I just met. I don't care if you don't go to the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre or the other touristy places, but walk around and see as much as you can and observe the culture of this incredible city!

Okay then, when she wakes up alone in that art house thing and waits quite a while for Willem, her freakout is perfectly understandable. However, then when she goes to college (months later!!!) she is still so broken hearted and has no will power to do anything. She is so self absorbed about this guy she knew for a freaking day!!!!! I'm sorry but you need to get over yourself at one point. Boys aren't the end of the world. Your happiness should not solely rely on this guy, you once again knew for only a day. I understand her parents were insane and controlling, but I felt like she seriously needed to grow some backbone and actually stand up for her own desires for once.

I liked the ending of the book a little more because she did start taking classes she actually wanted to and made a friend. She also stood up to her mom and got this really great job to save up money to get a trip back to Paris. I thought she was really independent finally and acting more grownup. Then, when she went to Paris she started to actually enjoy the culture (finally!). However, another thing that bothered me: everybody was WAY too helpful and nice to her. Everybody she met and she told her story to was like "OMG you poor darling let me help you with your quest with this convenient knowledge I have!" Literally every person she met was perfectly nice to her and willing to help her even though they'd just met. A doctor even released a patient's address. I don't care how star-crossed and beautiful your story sounds, that is ILLEGAL! They should not be giving out personal information like that! Also, Allyson claiming she fell in love with Willem?? I'm sorry, but you barely know this boy. You don't know his likes or dislikes, his moral views, he might have an STD with the amount of girls he's had! Their day together did not seem enough to me to fall in love. I'm sorry but their relationship, if you can call it that, didn't do a single thing for me.

Sorry if I sound like I completely despised this book and you enjoyed it. I really do think it was just a way too cheesy book for me after I finished such a mature one. I will never be the type of person though who is offended if somebody enjoyed a book I didn't, so no judging if you enjoyed Just One Day!

May Book Haul!

A list of the wonderful books I purchased in the month of May! I bought a lot, so I probably won't do summaries for them but I'll briefly talk about my interest for some of them!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Already read it, but I got the hardcover this month! I also got to meet her for a second time. She is my favorite author so check out her books if you haven't read them yet! Throne of Glass is her first series and A Court of Thorns and Roses is a new series she's doing.

The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simons.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. There's a review for this book already on my blog if you wanna check that out!

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Absolutely adored this book. I had an ARC of it, but the hardcover came out in May. Probably some of the best character development I've seen done in a book.

Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire. I actually kind of hated the first book, Beautiful Disaster, but this was on sale for $1 so I figured why not!

Harry Potter 1-5 and 7 by J.K. Rowling. I already own them but my copies are a newer edition and I really wanted the soft cover ones that I grew up reading. Except I borrowed my older sister's so I never actually owned them! Now I'm working on finding all of them.

Mark Twain's Best by Mark Twain. I couldn't really find a picture of the cover of this book, but I have a slight obsession with the novella, The Mysterious Stranger, by Mark Twain. It's such an interesting read. It might seem a bit slow at first, but by the end your mind is just completely blown. I am so in love with it. I didn't like Huck Finn all that much, but The Mysterious Stranger is so different from it, I could talk for ages how much I adore this novella.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins. I've just seen this book so much that I finally decided it was time for me to buy it.

Openly Straight by Bill Koningsberg.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. There's a movie of this book coming out soon and while it looks incredibly sad, I know I have to read it first.

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh. This book's concept sounds so fascinating so I'm looking forward to reading it!

Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres. I love Ellen and this was a birthday gift (I turned 18 on May 14!).

Vicious by V.E. Schwab. Another birthday gift, but I've heard some really great things about Vicious! My sister absolutely loved it too!

Mosquitoland by David Arnold. I've heard so much about this book and seen it in so many places that I'd been meaning to buy it for a while, but I ended up getting it for my birthday!

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. Loved this book when I was younger, so I want to reread it at one point to see if it's actually as good as I remember.

Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan.

Vango by Timothée de Fombelle. I think this book was translated from French? I'm not sure, but it seems really interesting! A little obscure though.

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. Another birthday gift! I loved this book, go read my review on it!

Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout. What I am currently reading. Jennifer L. Armentrout is an incredible writer and I'm really enjoying it thus far!

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The third book in a series, I've only read the first book so far but I got this one for free so yay!

Okay! Book haul over! I hope to post a new review soon, I've just been crazy busy and lazy! I graduated a couple days ago though so hopefully I'll get into a good routine this summer with reading and writing reviews.

A Book of Spirits and Thieves Review

Morgan Rhodes’ A Book of Spirits and Thieves is a spin-off prequel to her other series, Falling Kingdoms. This series combines the fantasy world of Mytica and modern day Toronto. A mysterious and old book that’s written in an unknown language is delivered to the Hatcher family’s bookstore in Toronto. When Becca opens it, she’s sent into a coma and her sister Crys is left to discover the truth. Wealthy Farrell Grayson, in Toronto, is given the opportunity to prove himself when he’s taken in by the leader of a secret society. In Mytica, Maddox encounters a pretty girl that only he can see. Together they must try to take down the merciless goddess leader of Mytica to get this girl home.

To be perfectly honest I was a little skeptical as I began this book. I really enjoyed the first Falling Kingdoms but I don't really like the direction that series is going in. I also thought this book was a little cheesy in the beginning. Crys was making fun of her sister for reading, which I got a little offended by, and I didn't like their relationship. However, I was quickly wowed by some of the mature scenes in the book. It may not be one of my favorite books or one of the best I've ever read but I ended up really enjoying it. I also became wrapped up in the story and its characters.

I especially loved how when Crys and Becca are separated they realize they should have gotten to know each other better and that all they want is to see their sister again. I also became really interested in Farrell's character. He has this huge thirst to prove himself and it just leads him into a darker path. However, I still really like him and I'm curious as to if I'll continue to like him in the next book and how his character will continue to develop.

While you don't have to read Falling Kingdoms before this series, it's really interesting because there will be little hints and foreshadowing that I would always freak out about. I'm a big fan of when minor details end up becoming something bigger, so I loved that I could find them in A Book of Spirits and Thieves. The world building may not be the best I've ever seen but Mytica does seem very real to me. I'm not sure if that's from reading the first three Falling Kingdoms that I have enough detail to picture the world or if this book is also able to vividly portray their world. However, I definitely did feel like I was in Toronto in this book.

A Book of Spirits and Thieves comes out June 23rd so I hope you all give it a chance! I know I was pleasantly surprised by it. 

Ugly Love Review

Collen Hoover's Ugly Love is about Tate, too busy for love, and Miles, not interested in love. However, they are both extremely attracted to each other and come up with what seems to be the perfect no-strings arrangement. Miles only has two rules: never ask about the past and don't expect a future. Love will get ugly between these two.

Good lord I hate doing summaries because I try to make them sound mysterious and not give much away, but they always sound weird to me. Anyways, I LOVED this book! It blew me away so much. Sometimes new adult books can go in two different ways: either a really good relationship or an unhealthy one. Yes, there were times where I thought Tate and Miles were a little unhealthy but that was because Miles had some serious issues he needed to figure out. He also always did his best to never hurt Tate and he was always very clear about what he could and could not do. This book was also not about a relationship continuing to be unhealthy, it was about learning to conquer emotional issues and move on from them to become healthy.

This book is definitely more mature than YA books because the characters are in their early/mid twenties and there is some very vivid mature action that occurs. If you're not interested in reading that, it's fine, I just wanted to warn you guys. For those who think this is just a steamy and sexy new adult novel, you are wrong. There is so much more to it. It was interesting too because I would call out Tate for doing something and then she would realize it herself and scold herself for it. So the characters weren't entirely oblivious to their issues. It also brings to the front that even ugly love is love and it is so easy to get addicted to it. Tate says herself that she believes addiction is an illness and it can be so hard to pull yourself out of something messy. But Tate does stand up for herself and I won't talk about the circumstances because of spoilers, but I really liked her. She was so caring to everybody, especially Cap, who is my all time favorite character and I want him to be my best friend.

Also the cover of the book has a much deeper meaning that I just got and you can only get when you finish the book. However, it just made me want to cry.

So Ugly Love will be made into a movie soon! The man playing Miles, Nick Bateman, is extremely attractive if I must say so. His instagram is nick_bateman and I strongly suggest checking him out because this is just a taste of him:

The Stars Never Rise Review

Rachel Vincent's The Stars Never Rise is about a world torn apart by demons. The population is greatly decreased and closed off into cities ruled by the Church, with exorcists protecting them and fighting the war. The people must follow the Church's teachings or risk severe punishments. Nina Kane is a sixteen year old trying to provide for her younger sister, Mellie, as their mother is a deadbeat. However, when Nina finds out a secret Mellie has been keeping, all of her plans change. When Nina encounters an exorcist not allied with the Church, she must rely on him and his group for help.

So that is probably a super vague summary, but there are parts that are difficult to explain without giving spoilers. This book was different from what I expected though... First, I don't know what genre to put it in, is it high fantasy if it has religion and demons? Or is that bad to call that fantasy? I'll put it in its own genre I guess. Also, the cover makes the book a lot more dramatic than it is. Especially the "They will try to destroy us, but we are made to fly." Also there was some kind of butterfly theme going on that I don't fully understand. The cover has a butterfly and then each chapter title had a small butterfly. I think it's meant to symbolize the exorcists' transformations but when the book is about demons and stuff, I didn't feel like the butterfly symbolism really fit.

Now for the characters, I did enjoy the main character Nina. She put her sister first which I really appreciated because family should come first. She would do anything for her younger sister and I admired that. Slight spoiler but I think we all know the romance will occur... So I'm extremely picky about romances and I didn't really feel this one. I didn't think it fit in this book. I would probably be fine with it in a sequel, but this book was a lot about Nina and her sister and I wish the book kept that as the main focus. Instead, I felt like the romance was thrown in because every single YA book needs to have a love story. It occurred way too quickly and all of a sudden they were giving each other kisses goodbye and were acting too much like a couple. I'm a big fan of a slow build where characters can get to know each other and fall in love that way and I wish authors did that more often. In The Stars Never Rise, I'm pretty sure the book took place in two or three days. That is not enough time for me to get into a relationship, as I don't think that is very realistic.

Okay, sorry about my rant about romances. I did enjoy this book, it was different and more mature and darker than I expected and I really liked that, as I think some of the themes were more realistic. It is also easier for me to talk about the parts that I don't like, but I'm also a really easy going reader. I can read practically anything and I'll go with the flow. This also really helps me to see both the good and bad parts. I will read the sequel, as I am curious as to how the series will continue. Hopefully, I can get into the relationship more in the upcoming books.

The Stars Never Rise comes out June 9th!

Seraphina Review

I am so sorry I have not reviewed a book in so long! I have been in the worst reading slump. I also had a couple AP exams and I got addicted to The Mindy Project (curse you Fox for canceling it!) I have been reading this book so slowly and I finally finished it Saturday. However, yesterday was Mothers Day and both of my sisters came home from college so it was a little busy! Hopefully my reading slump is over and I can get back to reading and reviewing!

Rachel Hartman's Seraphina is about a world where dragons and humans live peacefully alongside each other. The dragons can become human and live in the human world. Except, the peace is an illusion. While the treaty is about forty years old, there are still a lot of tensions and hostile attacks against the dragons. Seraphina is a part of both worlds and has a lot to hide, she is an unusually talented musician in the court but does her best to stay out of the limelight. When a member of the royal family is murdered, she is drawn into the investigation with Prince Lucian. She has to constantly lie to keep herself alive and uncover the details of the larger mystery.

I'm not sure if it was just my reading slump, but I could not get into this book very much. I wasn't pulled into the world and I could only read a few chapters at a time without getting bored. I did not feel the romance at all either. Don't get me wrong, I know people who loved this book, I just did not love it that much. I've always loved dragons, Eragon helped with that obsession and this book interested me, but it was also a bit weird in my opinion. Seraphina was an alright character, but I never connected with her. I thought everything worked out too neat and nicely. In all of the minor and major climaxes, I blinked and it would be over. What was supposed to be an intense moment ended too soon with not much actually happening.

I thought it was also really confusing at times because it would use their world's terminology and not explain what a word meant. At one point I did not understand that one word was a title and the other was a name so I thought there were two different characters when there was really just one. I did not catch on to this until 300 pages into the book! I understand in high fantasy books there will be a different vocabulary, but I won't know what any of the words mean if they're not explained!

To be perfectly honest, this book will quickly fade in my memory. It was not memorable and while I will probably eventually read the second book, it will not be for awhile. Also, while I did not enjoy this book I know others do, it just wasn't a book that I liked. I am not against anybody who did like it, we all have different opinions which I like to keep in mind!

Nil Unlocked Review

Alright so I won Lynne Matson's Nil Unlocked in a Goodreads giveaway which I never thought would happen but was awesome. It was really exciting because it is the sequel to Nil, a book I read during the summer and actually really enjoyed. Nil Unlocked is from the point of view of a different set of characters than the first book so technically you don't have to read Nil, but I strongly suggest it. The setting and characters will make a lot more sense.

Nil Unlocked is from the joint point of view of Rives, a character from the first book, and Skye, a new character. Nil is an island where mysterious gates take only teenagers to. They have a year to find a gate back or they die. When Skye's uncle was young, he ended up on Nil and wrote in a journal about it upon his return, until he died. While everybody thinks he was delusional, Skye's father believed him and dedicated his life to finding Nil and rescuing the kids. Skye is trained by her father to essentially be a survivalist and is roped into her father's adventure. Rives is the leader on the island and is trying to keep the City together and alive. When they come together they must race to save everybody and uncover Nil's secrets.

I really liked this sequel, I thought it was extremely well done. While I loved the first book, it was more focused on the romance and the two main characters. This book made Nil the main character. It is dark and mysterious and I was unable to put the book down multiple times. The island was a beautiful, but deadly place. I loved this balance. Especially because throughout the book there was such an emphasis on keeping the balance. I thought that was an awesome continued theme. Skye was an awesome new character because it does show that some people did believe in this island. I thought it answered so many questions from the first book in this way. It goes more into what Nil is and how it came to be. However, I was also left with more questions! I seriously hope there will be another book because I need to know why something happened and what it means! I can't even say what my question is because it's at the very end of the book!!!! Sometimes I thought that the relationships moved a little fast, especially in the first book, but that is kind of the point. They have a year on this island or they die. They have to seize each day and have "no regrets".

The one thing that kind of bothered me though was that there were these occasional time skips that had stuff happen within them. For example, one character died in a time skip. I just wanted more detail I guess. Maybe I just didn't want to miss anything about this book, I wanted to read each part. That's probably why I want a sequel so badly!!!

Nil Unlocked comes out May 12 and I will definitely be buying a copy so you should too! You should also read Nil though because it's awesome too!

Awesome Bookstore!!!!

This weekend I was in Washington DC visiting my older sister and we went to this amazing bookstore called Capitol Hill Books. Outside the store they have a table that is free books and then it has three levels just filled with books, even the bathroom had shelves in it! The basement was a little confining though because the ceiling is really low and the shelves are pretty close together, but I had to go because that was where Outlander was! Every shelf was packed with books it was incredible, there were also cards in some of the books with funny little comments on them.

Here are some photos I took while there:

Here was a shelf in the bathroom:

SOKY Book Fest Haul!

While some of these I brought with me to Kentucky last week, this was what I had to haul back home! Needless to say, my bag was quite heavy...