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...

The Girl at Midnight Review

Melissa Grey's The Girl at Midnight is about a human girl adopted by the Avicen, a secret magical race that has feathers for hair. Echo is a thief and when she finds a map hinting at the existence of the Firebird, which is prophesized to end the war against the Drakharin, she sets out on a journey. Old friends and new friends will collide in dangerous ways, as Echo sets out to steal the most important thing yet.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very entertaining and it didn't take me long to read it. However, it also strongly reminded me of Daughter of Smoke & Bone and The Mortal Instruments at times. There were some very similar themes I noticed between them and I saw on Goodreads that some other people who reviewed the book could see the same similarities. I also didn't really like Daughter of Smoke & Bone though, so I thought The Girl at Midnight did some things better. Putting the similarities aside, here is what I enjoyed about this book.

Echo is a very loyal character and I definitely saw in her something everybody wants, the desire to belong. Since she is human, a lot of the Avicen refuse to accept Echo. This causes Echo to want to prove that she does belong and sets her on a quest that questions everything she thought she believed. Echo's best friend, Ivy, is an Avicen. I think she might be my favorite character because she is a healer and is probably the most kind person in the book. I don't remember the exact quote but she even said the world needed no more evil which is why she is so kind. I just wanted to protect her from anything and everything. I also really loved the development of her relationship with one character which I hope continues to grow.

The Avicen are in a ceasefire with the Drakharin, but both sides want to finish the war. In the book you can see from both sides' perspectives, which was awesome as you can see the good and evil in each side. I also saw some character development into the dark side, which I really hope is addressed more in the sequel, as I hate when main characters are still made out to be the perfect protagonist (The Vampire Diaries).

Random thing I couldn't visualize that annoyed me was how the Avicen had their feathers... At times I pictured the feathers looking like dreadlocks, but I think they're also on their faces and hands? I had no idea how to picture this. It was easier to picture the Drakharin cause they have scales, but I just could not for the life of me figure out the feather placements.

The Girl at Midnight officially comes out on April 28th. I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the sequel to see if it branches away from Daughter of Smoke & Bone and The Mortal Instrument themes.