Bloodrose

Title: Bloodrose (Nightshade #3)
Author: Andrea Cremer

Initial Thoughts: That was really good.

I've heard other people complain about books where none of the main characters die. I've read some of those books. I usually really enjoyed them and didn't think too much about the fact that everyone has this ridiculous character shield protecting them. It's easier to get through that way. I read books to enjoy them, I don't want everyone to die, even if that is more realistic. I will admit, with Kingdom of Ash, I did think about the fact that everyone made it through (minus the Thirteen, may they rest in peace and their sacrifice never be forgotten), but I just knew that killing even one of those characters would mess things up and there'd be readers out for blood. How do you choose who lives and who dies? Everyone in that series had a love story and a place in the new world. Offing any of them would have just been tasteless after all the build-up she did. I get used to reading YA fic with happy endings where all the main characters survive to enjoy it. Andrea Cremer did an amazing job of giving you a happy ending, but she was willing and able to sacrifice characters along the way without turning the reader off of the series. I mourned Silas. I think he was supposed to be annoying, but I honestly found him a little entertaining and a good balance against the rest of the Searchers. I wasn't expecting him to die. She killed him, but she let them mourn him correctly (they were sad and they remembered him but yeah, they had found him annoying and were able to move on and not let it devastate them but they didn't forget him or just brush it off). It was a surprising enough death that I got a little worried about the other characters every time they would go into any dangerous situation. Would they all make it out alive? I also wondered if she was going to clear up the whole romance issue by just killing Ren or Shay. It's the easiest solution, though a little tasteless and cliche. The first chapter, when Calla started kissing Ren after having slept with Shay only a day or two before had me nearly putting the book down. The second chapter had me nearly giddy with relief and laughter because she wasn't going to have Calla try and juggle two boys and put off decision making until later and pretend that's not a terrible idea. I mean, yeah, she did kind of juggle two boys and put off making the decision, but they were pretty much kept in the loop about it, which really does make it better. She wasn't trying to play them and they knew how she felt about both of them. Also, she chose Shay before and Ren pretty much knew it and Ren didn't die because he lost to Shay, he died well and Shay wasn't just the last option because she made her decision first and let him know so props to Andrea Cremer for writing a love triangle that didn't totally sicken me. (Okay, most of them don't but I think I'm getting a bit more critical as I get older and read more and some of the scenarios are just getting old). So yeah, people died and some people didn't get the happy ending they wanted, but in general everything worked out and everyone can move on and find new happiness and I really, really enjoyed it (after chapter 1, that is - she seriously had me worried). It's not the magical happy ending that some might write where things somehow work out in everyone's favor, despite the original rules of the world, but it was a good ending.

Rating: 5. Well done, Andrea Cremer, well done.

The Heart of Betrayal

Title: The Heart of Betrayal
Author: Mary E. Pearson

Initial Thoughts: she did it again.

Not the same plot twist as the first time; that would be nearly impossible to repeat in a sequel. Last time we didn't know who was the prince and who the assassin (though I thought I had it figured out and turned out to be totally wrong). This time is was the twist that Sven comes into play and I never saw it coming. Like, I should have expected something like this, but it totally hit me out of the blue. "You're Sven!?!?!?!?!?!" Oh, it was great. She does so well with these plot twists and yanking the rug out from under you.

I'm starting to wonder who she'll end up with. Kaden isn't a bad guy, I rather like him, but she's got this whole epic romance thing going with Rafe. But then Kaden says he saw a vision of him with her holding a kid (doesn't necessarily mean that it's their kid) and the fact that we've still got two suitors vying for her attention reminds me of any other story with a girl and two suitors and the tables usually turn about halfway through so they end up with the original second option, but in a way so that you totally approve because the first option stopped being such a prince charming and the second option became a real person on the same level as the heroine. The only example I can think of right away that didn't go in this direction is Twilight where she actually ended up staying with Edward throughout the entire series and Jacob got his happy ending as well, just in a different way. I'm just getting worried because I like Kaden and I want him to be happy, but Lia and Rafe have been through so much and fought so hard and they seem totally in love and I think it's super cute (hopeless romantic here).

Anyway, to the story, I see Lia becoming the connecting point between all the major civilizations. Princess of Morrighan, betrothed of Dalbreck, Queen and Komizar to Venda. She's started to really care about Vendens, she will always care about the Morrighese (Morrighans?), and she's set to be the future queen of the Dalbreckians (?). She's really learning to grow into who she'll become, a savior to all lands, standing up for anyone in need.

I tend to take magic too far (which is why I could never write a story that includes magic - I would go way overboard), but I think it would be so much fun if it was revealed to everyone else that Kaden also had the gift by him and Lia having the same vision at the same time, like Venda talking to them or something and they both talk back (but Kaden doesn't realize who she is or that she isn't visible to everyone else) and then she disappears and everyone is staring at them because they were holding half a conversation with thin air, but together so their companions couldn't really discount the gift anymore. Or both of them getting the same warning and starting to yell to pack up and leave at the same time with no prompting so it's obvious that whatever alerted Lia also alerted Kaden. Not likely to happen, these are just the daydreams that go through my head.

Rating: 5/5. It was so fun, with such a strong heroine, and I freaking love that she pulled another sneaky plot twist on me that I never saw coming.

Tempests and Slaughter

Title: Tempests and Slaughter (Numair Chronicles #1)
Author: Tamora Pierce

Initial Thoughts: I felt like I had come home.

This is likely just me because she is one of my favorite authors and I've been reading her works for so long, but in the middle of reading, I realized that, even though I had never read this story before and it was set in Carthak rather than in Tortall, everything was just so familiar. The feel of the characters, the imagined setting, everything. This is really weird and probably only other hardcore bookworms could even understand this, but as I was reading, I was picturing everything in my head. I get a general idea of a place and that infuses everything I read in that setting. I probably couldn't tell you exact details because I don't actually have any, just a general sense of things. It's like a ghost or afterimage of something, the idea of it without any details. That's how I picture my worlds. Some I can give a very slight description (Wheel of Time is bright, colorful, busy and bustling, full of life and adventure and magic; Sword of Truth is natural, actually rather empty of life, but where there is life, it's on a large scale, so it's either empty flatlands or capital cities, all in shades of brown and green and just little hints of magic; etc.). Tortall is busy cities, knights, castles, mages, the smell of road dust and taverns. As I was reading, I realized it smelled familiar (in any way that an imagined scent that I wasn't even consciously imagining could smell) and it was like I was home. It smelled and felt like Tortall. To explain how much that means, I first picked up Wild Magic over 13 years ago after we had just moved to a new state (the one I'm living in now and have lived in for over half my life). The copy I had got sold at a yard sale (it was actually my sister's), but I never forgot it. A few years down the road I came across it at the library and found out that there were more books in the series, both before and after it. Since then I have reread all her books but the newest multiple times and her books are one of only two author's whose books I've listened to as audiobooks. I never get tired of rereading her works and I always look forward to anything new by her. So yeah, reading this new book by her was like returning to a favorite place with my oldest and longest friends and discovering something new about it.

Even though he's just a child and he goes by a different name, it is so easy to see that this is Numair. He's still struggling and growing, still becoming who he will be, but it's him. Conversing with crocodile gods and raising sunbirds, no wonder he's so good with Daine. It's really interesting also to see Ozorne and Varice when they were all young and inseparable. I don't think I'll be reading Emperor Mage the same way again. The book is just a lot of fun and epicness wrapped together, such is Pierce's style. I really enjoyed it, meeting and remeeting the characters you know so much later in life and getting their background stories. (I really like background stories.)

Rating: 5 In all honesty, with it being just the beginning book for the series and not as much happening as I'm sure it will later on, it should probably actually be a 4, but that sense of familiarity bumped it up to a 5.

Kingdom of Ash

Title: Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7)
Author: Sarah J. Maas

Initial Thoughts: If I was ever going to get a book hangover, it would be from this book. And I never get book hangovers.

First: was that a hint of something to come in the ACOTAR series?!?!?! I swear, when Aelin was falling through the worlds, the winged male with a dark power and the pregnant female fae sounded an awfully lot like Rhys and Feyre, at least to me. Though last time we saw them, Feyre was not pregnant. Is it a hint of things to come? Or am I just reading too much into it?

As a friend pointed out to me, Nox Owen didn't show up again. We never got to see him and Aelin reunited. My friend thinks he might have died. I think he had just gone off to deliver messages asking for help and either didn't return yet or he did and Maas just decided that that reunion wasn't important enough to make the book any longer than it already was. After she mentioned it, though, I started keeping an eye out for other loose ends. I thought there might be one with the last of the cadre who had gone north to look for Lorcan, but they mentioned him at the end. So yeah, she didn't a pretty darn good job of wrapping up all her loose ends. And I totally called the field of kingsflame blooming, though it took a bit longer than I expected (mostly because I didn't keep the seasons in mind and wanted it to bloom as soon as she was crowned, not even thinking about the fact that it was winter). Halfway through, I would have rated this book at a contented 4, glad that we were finally getting the ending, that everything was coming together, characters were starting to reunite. By the end, all the feels, the ups and downs, the heartbreak and laughter, the tense moments and the joyous reunions, I can't do anything but give it a resounding 5. If anyone had been around as I read the last hundred or so pages, they would have seen a distinct shine in my eyes, from both unshed tears and the sparkle of pure joy all at the same time as I read about the triumphs and losses of that final battle. Years ago when I finished Breaking Dawn, I thought that was one of the best endings I had ever read. It wrapped things up but left the promise of the future. If I wanted, I could imagine for myself how their lives went on, and every imagining was full of joy. Maas topped that. By a long shot. She wrapped up everything, found all the happy endings, we see the future stretched out before them all and we know it will be a better future, a better world. What started as questionable alliances came through the war as friends, as lovers and brothers and sisters, and they will only make sure that continues and that those relationships grow. While everyone returns home, they will no longer be three separate continents, but three neighboring kingdoms who fought and bled together to ensure a future for them all and that will not soon be forgotten. Hope. That most important dream. Hope for a better world. Hope for a better future for us all. Maybe that's why I love her books so much, because I have always believed in hope, just as Aelin does, and dreams, like Feyre. I believe that we can imagine better, and as long as we don't lose that, we will make progress towards that bright future, one day at a time. Breaking Dawn left me with a contented smile. Kingdom of Ash leaves me with a heart full of joy, a head full of dreams, and a longing to do my part to make a difference, to bring us closer to our better world, our promise of a brighter tomorrow.

Rating: 5. Like I could ever actually give it anything less.

A Map of Days

Title: A Map of Days (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #4)
Author: Ransom Riggs

Initial thoughts: Much anticipated and it did not disappoint. I'm excited to see where it goes.

So, the last book ended well. Like, things were mostly wrapped up, we had a fairly happy ending. We didn't know where things might go from here but everything looked hopeful. Then we get into this book and we have issues with his parents and his relationship with Emma is falling apart and things are going downhill rather quickly and the bright future/happy ending we were picturing for all of them is suddenly a distant light, lost in the fog of their immediate lives. So disappointing to see that fading away, but so much excitement to see where we're going. We get to explore America, we're dealing with racial issues because America's past is bloody and harsh. New Peculiars, new loops, new organizations and governments, clans, even a prophecy apparently. If Noor is one of the ones foretold to emancipate peculiardom, who are the others? Could Jacob be one? Or was his defeat of the Hollows and Wights unrelated, despite that it was potentially the catalyst to allow all this to start going. Though maybe America was so far distant from Europe that anything he did or didn't do over there had little to no effect on what will or won't happen in America. Yeah, he got rid of most of the hollows and wights, but they had been practically done terrorizing America by that point already. Reading throughout the book, I couldn't help but think, Jacob is such an American. While the others may rebel now and then, especially after their taste of freedom in the last few books, they always default back to following their Ymbryne. Jacob, on the other hand, can't accept that. He wants to be an individual, he wants independence and freedom. And he wants that for others as well. He is such an American, refusing to follow the rules or be told what to do. Our country was founded on rebellion; we're raised on the ideas of liberty and justice, built for independence. Red, white, and blue run through our veins and even if it's a monumentally idiotic idea to act out against authority, we're practically programmed to do so. Yep, he's such an American. Some points of this did get me worried, such as his rocky relationship with Emma (they had been doing so well), overall, I'm just really excited to see where Ransom Riggs takes us next.

Rating: 5/5 Nothing more to be said.

The Mortal Instruments 1-4

Titles: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1), City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2), City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3), City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)
Author: Cassandra Clare

Initial Thoughts: I loved this series, and then the fourth book happened.

So, I absolutely love the first three books. There's a reason I'm doing them all together in one post and that reason is that I couldn't be bothered to stop long enough between the books to write anything down. That love of the series led me to read the fourth one right away as well, but then I just had to pause. And now I'm here.

Some Characters:
Alec: I'm definitely not a fan in the first three books. He is just so angsty and angry and dude either fess up to your feelings or stop mooning after people you'll never allow yourself to have and get on with your life. If you're not going to admit that you're gay, then I'm sorry but stop taking it out on other people. If you really love someone enough that you want to be with them, then you're going to have to tell your parents. Deal with it. Thank you for finally kissing Magnus in front of them. That took way too long. I'm happy. Alec and Magnus make a cute couple. Alec is definitely better in the fourth book. Less angsty (though Camille does set him back a bit), more sure of himself, more kind and generous and we can see what Magnus fell in love with. High hopes for him for the next couple books.

Simon: Poor Simon. He loved Clary and that wasn't going to happen. He gets dissed for being a mundane, then he gets turned into a vampire and he gets dissed for being a downworlder. I liked him with Maia and I also liked him with Isabelle (though please, not both together, I can't believe you did that, dude). Maia was sweet and appreciated him for him. Izzy...it would be good for Simon to be accepted by the Shadowhunters, but I'm not sure there's much else Simon gets out of that relationship. On the other hand, I think Simon would be good for Izzy, would help show her how to love, that she can be loved, that love isn't a joke or a curse but something great and I think Simon could make her better. Maybe she can help Simon accept who he is and not feel like a worthless downworlder amongst Shadowhunters, but I'm not totally sure yet. She is rather selfish (Slytherin primary - looks our for herself and her own (her family) above all else). I like Simon in the third book where he's gaining confidence as a vampire and is becoming at least a little accepted by Jace and Izzy, maybe even Alec. The fourth book, though, he starts getting all angsty and feeling alone and misunderstood and it gets a bit whiny and annoying. He needs to start figuring out who he is/wants to be and just embrace the love of the people who care about him rather than worrying about the people who don't. I know, harder said than done and we all struggle with these things but I just want him to get it together already.

So, something I noticed. Throughout the books, Cassandra Clare makes it obvious that, in her opinion, same sex relationships are fine as we watch the kids accepting Alec's preferences, but she admits that it's hard for them and there are challenges, such as the older generation. We get cross-species relationships with Simon and Maia getting close (after she gets over the prejudice of werewolves vs vampires) and with Luke and Jocelyn because we totally want those two to be together. Then we get to the potential incest of Clary and Jace (thank you that that didn't end up being a thing because I was getting seriously annoyed) where it's like, no, this is not right, not at all, not acceptable, but we almost want it to be so that Jace and Clary can be together because they are sickeningly in love with each other but that is the one line we do not cross. I just thought it was interesting. "This is acceptable, and even this is acceptable, but this just isn't ever going to be acceptable. People need to learn to accept that everything else is okay, up to this line. This is where we draw the line and do not cross. As long as it doesn't cross this line, get over it."

The fourth book is definitely starting to annoy me. The third one ended so well, and now the fourth one is just introducing so many problems. Ugh! I just hope the series gets better because the first three were great and I couldn't put them down and now the fourth one is just ruining it all.

Rating: 5/5 (because 1, 2, and 3, weighed against 4 make it great. 4 itself would have just been a 4/5)

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors

Title: Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors (Children of the Red King #4)
Author: Jenny Nimmo

Initial Thoughts: mischief :)

I love mischief. Bringing Olivia into the endowed will bring much mischief. Why are there so many talented pianists who seem to have lost their memories? Lyell Bone, Mr. Pilgrim, Albert Tuccini...Do they do it just to throw Charlie off the trial? Mr. Pilgrim and Lyell are both missing and need to be found by the end of the series. Charlie has a good heart, but he is only 11 so I think it's understandable if he's a little selfish and wants to find his dad. Why do they have to keep picking on his impulsiveness and make his one little semi-selfish act into such a terrible thing? Okay, yes, you should think before you act, but usually impulsive decisions from children don't have such terrible consequences unless they're bad decisions. Charlie lets his heart lead him in the right direction, the problem is that everyone is putting the weight of the world on his shoulders so suddenly his actions have serious consequences for everyone else as well. Usually his decisions are based on helping others. This one decision was to help Billy and to help himself and the one time he tries to do something for himself he ends up screwing things up. People do need to be allowed to be a little selfish sometimes, and this wasn't even totally selfish because it was also for Billy and also to hopefully save his dad, yet they make it into such a bad thing. "No, you're never allowed to do anything for yourself, it always has to be for someone else. If you do anything to make your own life better than it was completely selfish and terrible and everything falls to ruin." Like, no, that is not right. He should be able to do something good for himself once in a while without everything falling apart. Anyway, yet again we find Charlie being the focus of everything. He stands up for Billy. He leaves for a couple days and the balance is lost. He has to be the one to convince Olivia to accept her endowment and restore balance. It's always on him. The only one of them younger than him is Billy so why do we rely on the youngest of the bunch to make all the world-altering decisions? Lysander and Tancred have a falling out and it's on Charlie to fix it. That really shouldn't be his relationship to mend. Ta'veren. Seriously. Things just don't make sense around them. Allons-y! On to other things: we seem to slowly be getting a history of the Red King and his children. Now we want to know exactly what happened with Amoret and her descendants. Why was she referred to as the girl no one could protect? What exactly happened? I'm curious.

Rating: 4.5/5 Fun, but little bits annoyed me (see rant above)

Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy

Title: Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy (Children of the Red King #3)
Author: Jenny Nimmo

Initial Thoughts: that was fun.

So, I totally love Paton. But seriously, how did he never stand up to his sisters before? If he is as powerful as he seems to be, why has he just let them get away with everything? And what is it about Charlie that makes people take action? I forget if it was Tancred or Lysander in the previous book who mentioned it, but they said that when Charlie gets it in his head to do something, they find themselves following along. There's probably a slight protectiveness since they're older and Charlie is younger and they want to look out for him, but I think there's something else as well. Like, Charlie has been around the school for a bit, he knows how things work, he's getting a handle on his endowment, he doesn't need that much protecting anymore. But still, when he decides to do something, the others are inevitably going to drop what they're doing to help him out. He's a natural leader when he knows which direction to go in. Before Bloor's, he didn't need to lead anyone, but now that he's here and there have been things to stand up for, he's gotten a following. Before, he had Benjamin. Now, he has Benjamin, and Fidelio, and Olivia, and Emma, and Billy, and Gabriel, and Lysander, and Tancred, and Paton, and Cook, and Orville all following where he leads. Paton didn't stand up against his sisters until Charlie needed him to. Tancred, Lysander, and Gabriel didn't make waves amongst the endowed until Charlie needed their help. Fidelio kept his nose clean until Charlie came along. To borrow from another series (Wheel of Time), Charlie is Ta'veren. The world shapes itself around him and to his will. He draws others to him and they can't help but follow along. For right now, he is the center of everything that is happening. Even he can't help it. Trouble finds him, not the other way around.

They don't give many ages in the book. We know Manfred is a senior, as is Zelda. Charlie was 10 when we started, I believe. 5th or 6th grade, then. Billy was 7, now he's 8. Tanc, Sander, and Gabriel are older than Charlie, but we don't know by how much. Charlie thought he was about the youngest there until he met Billy, so assumingly Fidelio is a bit older, though not much. Olivia is close to their age, and Emma is right around Charlie's age as well. I don't remember how old Charlie was when his dad disappeared, but Emma was 1, I believe. I really just want to know how old Tanc, Sander, and Gabriel are. The others are close enough to Charlie's age that I'm not going to worry about it.

So, anyway, to the actual plot of the book, it was fun. We're meeting new characters (mostly enemy Yewbeams), and exploring new places such as Yewbeam Castle, Sparkling Castle, and Darkly Wynd. Charlie is learning more about his magical roots and getting the hang of the wand. The night of wind and spirits was rather entertaining. I'm curious what the rest of the normal children think of the endowed. Like, they know they can do these things, and they usually know exactly what most of them can do. They don't seem to mix much with the endowed, but neither do they seem scared of them (except maybe Manfred and his hypnotic gaze). I like that we're getting a bit of the anxiety from the guardians. Poor Amy Bone just listens to Charlie describe these crazy things and has no idea what to do so she just lets him do whatever. Oh, you're going to do something to antagonize these really powerful people but it has to do with your endowment so I don't totally get what's going on though it sounds dangerous but I'm going to trust you to do what you need to do because I can't do anything else to help you and though I'll worry for you I'm not going to stop you because how can I do anything against these people? I worry. Please be safe. Do what you need to do. Or Julia Ingledew who got dragged into this because she decided to do the right and kind thing and adopt her niece. Now she has strange children in and out of her shop all the time, is dealing with invisible boys, has her life put in danger, has fallen for someone who keeps her on her toes and for whom she would need to change her lifestyle a bit (no electric lamps, etc) and like Amy, she's a little confused and befuddled by it all, and she's worried for her child, but she doesn't really know what else to do because the endowed are kind of a world apart and she just does the best she can to support her child and hope everything turns out alright.

We get little teasers about Charlie's dad now and then. I remember the last time I read this series I was convinced that Mr. Pilgrim was Charlie's dad, but then those little bits about someone else being in his aunt's house confuse me because why would Mr. Pilgrim be at their house? I think it turned out that I was wrong, but I don't remember exactly. We'll see as I continue the series. Who is Mr. Pilgrim? Is he Charlie's dad or is he someone else? I think he might have been a friend of Charlie's dad from the cathedral so he kind of recognizes Charlie and he was there that day but he's not actually his dad. I could be wrong, though.

Rating: 5/5 Invisible boys and blue feathered boas (lol) and Billy finally coming to our side (yay!). All in all, it was a fun one.

Wolfsbane

Title: Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2)
Author: Andrea Cremer

Initial Thoughts: not a lot happened.

Okay, so we met the Searchers. We've decided to ally with the Searchers. We learned a bit about the Scion. We lost friends. We rescued friends. We lost one base. We moved bases. We decided we love Shay. We still won't take off the Ren's ring. Kind of annoyed with that. Like, seriously, you need to decide on one of them or let them know that you are having a hard time making a decision and take a break from both while you do, don't keep leading them both on. That's just not right or fair. We learned that Ren is Monroe's son and thus Adne's brother. Ansel is no longer a Guardian. Ansel betrayed us. Poor kid. Don't totally blame him. He lost a big part of himself and he's struggling. Anything to restore it. Not good, but understandable. Logan is maybe on our side. Logan is a Keeper and could he maybe restore Ansel? It'd be a show of good faith. Yeah, nothing super memorable. It happened and it's moving us along in the series. Next!

Rating: 4/5.

The Kiss of Deception

Title: The Kiss of Deception (Remnant Chronicles #1)
Author: Mary E. Pearson

Initial Thoughts: too much romance.

So, I was kind of hyped for this to be some epic story of a girl fighting the system to gain her freedom but she got through that rather quickly and then over half the book is taken up by her slowly getting to know and falling for Rafe while Kadan looks on and starts falling for her, too, which was kind of disappointing. I was so happy with the fact that Kadan seemed friendly and protective, but for the most part didn't actually seem interested in her romantically. I didn't want a love triangle. I enjoyed the little contests and one-upmanship things they had going on (the log fight was brilliant), but I enjoyed them more because I thought it was Kadan being somewhat protective of Lia and Rafe showing-off for her and making it known that he'll fight for her but it didn't seem to have the animosity of two boys battling over the same girl; rather, they were both fighting for her so rather than a tug-of-war, it was more like friendly competition working towards the same goal of protecting her. Also, HOW DID I HAVE THEIR ROLES REVERSED THE ENTIRE TIME!!!!!!!!!! I thought I had caught onto a little detail that told me which one was the prince and which was the assassin and then when they made it official, I was caught totally off guard. I seriously had to go back and reread their chapters to check that they hadn't given something away and that they still made sense in the opposite roles. Honestly, I hadn't even realized that some chapters used their names while others only used their roles because I was so set on who was who that it didn't matter. I guess everything said in their chapters could have been either of them in those roles, but there are a couple points. Why was Rafe so offended when she mentioned Barbarians? Generally, Barbarian refers to the Vendans, not the Dalbreckians (?). Also, he was annoyed by her royal manner a couple times, which is strange because, he, too, is royalty. Really, it should have been Kadan who was annoyed by these things. I think that was what really threw me off. I was set in who they were and those little facts cemented it for me and then it turned out I was wrong and it just totally blew my mind. Well-played, Mary Pearson, well-played. There were a couple other details, and if I had been paying more attention I might have used those to find out the truth, but they were so small I just overlooked them until the reveal, like the thorn scratches on Rafe (pretty sure it was the prince who mentioned those in his search) and the fact that Kadan was apparently sending missives while the prince had said he wasn't planning on writing home at all. Aw well. I love a good romance, but honestly, in the first half of the book, it was all fluff and nothing really happened. I'll keep reading because the end has me curious about what will happen next but it was a bit too much fluff for my current mood. Not badly written and the world and its history seem interesting, but I was looking for a bit more action and adventure, not a princess prancing around as a barmaid in a quiet little town with two men fawning over her for half the book. Hopefully the other books in the series pick up a bit more.

Rating: 4/5 It was good, just not great.

Nightshade

Title: Nightshade (Nightshade #1)
Author: Andrea Cremer

Initial Thoughts: so much better than I was expecting

So, I definitely thought this was just going to be some paranormal romance and I'm a little tired of those just at the moment. I should have known better. I grabbed this book because it kept popping up in a Facebook bookworm group. I should have more faith in my fellow readers to know that it would only continue getting posted about if it's actually a really good read. And it definitely is. Yes, it has romance, and seriously, I have to feel bad for Ren. Definitely see the Shay romance coming from page 1, but Ren is actually not a bad guy. I mean, he definitely has some alpha wolf tendencies, a little overprotective and bossy, but he's also got a good heart to help balance as long as someone is there to point out when he's taking things too far. Sadly, I don't think he and Calla would have worked out well. They would have made it work, but neither of them would have ended up happy. Ren would eventually get annoyed with her constantly questioning his orders and she would either become extremely rebellious or would lose her spirit and become a shadow of her former self and he would probably get annoyed with her for that as well. The problem is that they are both alphas, both used to giving the orders and taking care of their own, both used to being on top. Ren wants to treat her as an equal because she is an alpha, but he is, too, and that would be hard for him. He would really have to work for it and it would wear on him over time. She would have to learn to let him lead sometimes and that would nag at her. They would have tried oh so hard to make it work because they could understand each other, they are both good people, they both just want to take care of their own, but you can't really put two alphas together and expect it to work. I am really glad that Ren isn't the terrible monster I figured he would turn out to be. I mean, isn't that the usual, the guy you're supposed to marry seems nice and you think it can work and then you get to know him and you see what he's really like and you despair because you don't know how to get out of it until your true love comes along and somehow whisks you away into the sunset? Except, this time, you start out thinking Ren is pretty terrible and once you get to know him you find out he's actually kind of great and maybe there is hope for this marriage, except that Shay comes into the picture and Calla can't seem to decide (though you just have to know it's going to be Shay, duh) and now I'm feeling totally sorry for Ren because now he doesn't know what to do to protect her and he had definitely started caring about her and aarrrgh! Love triangles definitely annoy me. Moving on to the actual story, it was pretty great. I love a good mystery (and yet I don't ever try reading mystery novels...) and the secrets surrounding this site and Shay and everything are so interesting. Who exactly are the Searchers, how do they know about these sites, what do they need with Shay, who exactly is Shay and why is he so important, who are the Keepers and what is their grand plan and what is going to happen to her pack with her gone? I trust Ren to take care of them, but, unless he wants to disobey, there is only so much he can do and I'm worried about what they will do to her brother and friends. I kind of love Ansel, he's adorable. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next one once my TBR list goes down a bit (meaning only that I finish the books currently checked out, then I am grabbing the next one of these :) )

Rating: 5/5. Very good. Did not disappoint.

The Reader

Title: The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1)
Author: Traci Chee

Initial Thoughts: I love Easter Eggs in books!!!!!

Yes, I was the girl who, halfway through the Artemis Fowl series, no longer needed a key to read what was written along the bottom of the page in Gnomish. I will say, Traci Chee was sneaky with hers. I wondered about the smudges, but didn't do anything until I found the ones by the page numbers, which I didn't notice until nearly 100 pages in (as I said, sneaky). Then I had to go all the way back to the beginning and check each page, and this time I did actually make note of which words the smudges were next to. Though, the first smudge didn't seem to be next to anything important (it seemed to be the word "through"). The rest made sense (and were a little predictable - the smudges, not the page number ones - those were fun to find). It took me a while to get into the book, mostly because I didn't actually pick it up right away. I actually renewed it once before I ever opened it. Once I started, though, it didn't take me long to get invested. I love the idea of words having power and how we only live as long as our stories are told. It actually reminds me of a quote from another book, "Stories are as immortal as the gods" (The Tree of Avalon series by T.A. Barron). Stories live on as long as they are told and gods live in the stories. Once you stop telling a story, it's forgotten, it dies. The gods of old only live as long as we remember their stories. Once those stories are forgotten, those gods no longer exist. Like in Coco: you only exist in the afterlife as long as there is someone alive who remembers you. Once you are forgotten, you cease to exist. Honestly, it's fascinating because stories are how we live and how we communicate. it used to be that stories were told orally and passed on as such, changed and embellished with each retelling and each storyteller, and that was how people learned about their history. Now, with the written word, we can write things down so they can last longer and stay closer to the truth than was possible so long ago, but stories are still how we communicate. Think about your day-to-day interactions. "How was your day?" "Oh, it was terrible! This happened...." "What's your opinion on this?" "Oh, it's great! I had this experience once..." (Most people don't talk exactly like that, but you get my point.) We know people through the stories of their lives. If you want to know why someone thinks or acts a certain way, you need to know the story behind their reasoning. There's always a story. Even our social media world is focused on story. On Facebook you can "Add to your story" with pictures of what you're doing. You post about how "this one thing" happened to you today, or how so-and-so did this or that. Gossip is passing along stories. Twitter is the tl;dr version of storytelling: you get to the basic facts to sum up your story. "When such-and-such happens to you #life#storytelling". Instragram is storytelling through pictures. Telling stories is what we do. It's how we communicate. It's how we live. So in a world where stories cannot be written down and preserved for years on end, of course you want to live a life full enough to be remembered, for your stories to be told years after you die, because that's the only way the world will remember you. You don't think much about how the written word has changed our society, but it really has. Through writing our stories down, our lives can be remembered by people hundreds of years later and across the globe. Think of the historical characters you learn about in school, the scientists and philosophers, the inventors, leaders, and warriors, writers and artists that have shaped our society today. We only know about them and what they did because their stories were written down. We share our stories on social media with people all across the world so we can be remembered by people we've never even met face-to-face. Well, I guess I should actually get to the book (I tend to get off on tangents a lot, if you haven't noticed). I enjoyed the characters. The plot is good. Captain Reed is fun and I enjoyed learning that he was a real person still living and fighting and exploring and that we actually got to meet him. Lon and the Second turning out to be her parents was a surprise. Fun. I liked Archer and Sefia was good, too. No complaints on any of the characters (except maybe that one army dude you meet for all of three pages - what was with that?). I think maybe I got a little too caught up with the Easter Eggs and the idea of stories that I didn't focus so much on the characters, but I did really like the book and I can't wait to read more.

Rating: 5/5 (okay, so I gave it a 4 on Goodreads, but that's just because I likely won't reread it in the future unless it's many years down the road, which usually takes one star off the rating for me, but I did really like the story so here I'm going to go ahead and give it a 5)

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

Title: Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (Children of the Red King #2)
Author: Jenny Nimmo

Initial Thoughts: better than the first as far as rereading goes.

The first book in a series has to have all the intro stuff, which can be very dull when you're rereading it for the umpteenth time. Luckily, you can skip a lot of that with the later books. This one was fun. I feel a little sorry for Billy sometimes, and others definitely not. Like, okay, he's only 7, he just wants to be adopted, you can't totally blame him for doing what Ezekiel Bloor says, especially when his best friend is a dog who seems to like Ezekiel Bloor well enough so there's a recommendation, I guess. Other times it's like, okay, you may be young, but even you should know that that isn't right, or he's just got a really bad attitude at points. To other topics, I like the Pets' Cafe, especially that little scene of Paton with a gerbil in his pocket. Lol. I like that Charlie and Henry will get to have a relationship and that Henry and his brother were reunited. Sadly, I don't think we see Henry again during the series, but I imagine that he and Charlie probably have a lot of fun together, teaching each other about their respective times, playing marbles, wandering the beach, etc. Plus, those visits are a great excuse for Charlie to get away from Grandma Bone and his evil aunts. They are seriously annoying. I don't think I really have a lot else to say about this one. Oh, except that I do wonder exactly what happened to poor Mrs. Bloor. What kind of time travel do they believe in? Would going back restore her hand or would there just suddenly be two of her? I mean, they didn't let Henry go back because that would change what had already happened, but if Mrs. Bloor went back, wouldn't that have changed things as well? They seemed to imply that going back would restore her hand, but I only see that happening if she takes the place of her old self, but then she would change things. If you want to avoid changing things, there could just be two of her and the second one just makes sure to avoid running into herself or her family, but then that wouldn't restore her hand. I don't really know. Now I'm finished. On to the next one!

Rating: 4 (it's fun and I've reread it multiple times so it kind of keeps a higher score than if I was reading it for the first time at this age)

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertalli

Initial Thoughts: Good read. Really fast.

I started it, and then I had a really hard time putting it down. Like, I was up a couple hours later than I meant to be when I knew I had to get up for work early the next day. So, I ended up actually going to sleep around 3 a.m. and getting up at 7 a.m. Yeah, that's how I roll. I'm a night owl and a bookworm. It was definitely an enjoyable book. I believe I've said it before, but I am a hopeless romantic so the whole emails-with-Blue thing was really cute. Honestly, my very early guess was that it was going to turn out to be Nick (I decided that the longing looks at pretty girls were a cover-up) but that was squashed at the Halloween party because he was there and Blue wasn't. I had Bram pegged about a third of the way in and was almost certain of it because initials. I didn't remember at that point if they had said his last name earlier in the book, but I was like, "His last name must start with a G." bluegreen = B.G. = Bram Greenfeld. So, yeah, I called that one. (Honestly, it probably wasn't really all that hard to do, I just like to make myself feel good by getting to claim that I figured something out before it was officially revealed.) I like them together, they're super cute. Like, I like imagining that they do cute couples things together. Like, maybe Simon actually goes to the Homecoming dance next year because he just wants the excuse to see Bram dressed in a tux and to dance with him. I'm not sure what I personally think of double dates, but they could double date with Nick and Abby if they wanted. And Bram starts hanging out at Simon's house a lot. And joins their little group of Simon, Nick, Abby, and Leah. And Bram introducing Simon to his mom. And his dad. Etc. Just cutesy couples things. (I did say I'm a hopeless romantic, right?) Ooh! Couples Halloween costumes! Lol. Making each other mixed CDs. Definitely going to a concert together. I should stop. I totally felt sorry for Simon at the one point where Leah was made at him and Abby was annoyed and Blue wasn't emailing and since Nick was dating Abby he wasn't around either so poor Simon was kind of left all alone for a time and that would suck. And what Martin did was absolutely terrible, but I liked in his explanation email that he said how Simon actually has a lot of friends and is really lucky. Like, we don't always realize how blessed we are by the people around us. Yeah, he has a select group of best friends, but he gets along well with a lot of their friends and other people as well. There are a lot of people around him who enjoy his company. We tend to be so focused on our select best friends that we miss the people in the periphery. Like, when I make plans, I invite by close friend-group, but I'm also surrounded by coworkers and church family, and others, who, while I'm not super close to them, do accept me for who I am and would be great to get to know better. Martin doesn't seem like he has any close friends, and he probably has a hard time getting close to anyone, but there are a lot of kids at his school who know him and like him and if he really needed to talk or get away or something, at least a few of them would be there for him. I don't think he realizes this. He just sees the lack of best friends in his immediate vicinity and completely misses the opportunities surrounding him. Like, when he just tried hanging out with Abby and Simon, they could have become pretty good friends and it was definitely going in that direction (if only he hadn't blackmailed Simon). He couldn't see the forest for the trees, I guess. How many missed opportunities because he only focused on what he lacked rather than trying to build something new? I'm not sure if that totally made sense. I think I wandered away from my original point, but anyway, I enjoyed the book and the characters. I felt bad for Leah too because I know how she felt. Like, your friends are telling each other secrets and going off to do things but leaving you behind. It's not that they didn't like her, or want her along, but sometimes it's just easier to leave someone behind when you know that it's not really their thing. I know what it is to be left out, and I'm sure I've made plans and left other people out before. Life is hard. We need to learn to let the hurts slide off or confront them. All the reading I've done, one of the most important lessons I've learned is that communication is key. People aren't going to know what you're feeling unless you tell them. Sometimes they just don't realize what they're doing and they need someone to point it out. If you don't say anything, though, you can't blame someone else for not understanding you. If after you talk to them they continue to mistreat you, then it's on them and they're maybe someone that needs to be cut from your life. If they're a true friend, they just need help seeing the world the way you do. Okay, this got kind of ranty. I don't usually read contemporary so I don't usually get to get up on my soap box and talk about these issues because they are much more subtle if included in fantasy. I'm done now.

Rating: 4/5 (sorry, but while I may be a hopeless romantic, I tend to prefer longer stories and series so standalones get points off, just how I rate things) Good book. Thought provoking. May or may not read again someday.

Midnight for Charlie Bone

Title: Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children of the Red King #1)
Author: Jenny Nimmo

Initial Thoughts: Umm...honestly, I've read this too many times to have initial thoughts.

This is a fun series. Definitely Juvenile Fiction, and a little strange, but a fun read nonetheless. I started reading it when only about four of the books were out so I ended up reading it a few times throughout the years as new books came out. I've only ever actually finished the series once, which is kind of why I'm reading it again now, because I want to remember how it all ends. It's a very interesting world in which a few families have these powers and no one else around them thinks it's really all that strange. Like, usually you'd have some sort of discrimination, but instead the other students and families in the area are just like, "Oh, you're one of the endowed. You can do weird things and weird things happen around you. Okay, then. Are you staying for tea?" They're really not surprised or anything. Manfred can hypnotize people. That is understood. Such is life. Moving on. If you're not close friends with one of the endowed and strange things start happening, you just wait to see what the consequences are for you, and leave all the action for the endowed children to handle. "Got nothing to do with me. Let the endowed do what they will. Oh, cool, they saved a kid. Party!" Also, it took me too long to figure out where they lived, America or England. When I first started reading the series, I was young enough to just assume that everything I read happened in America unless they made it blatantly obvious that it was somewhere else. (I made that assumption with Artemis Fowl, too.) A couple rereadings later, I started questioning it because it didn't totally sound like America but the language wasn't obviously British and I could never quite figure it out. Apparently I was just not reading carefully enough because at one point, Uncle Paton definitely says that some of the descendants of the Red King "came here to the British Isles". Yeah, and I still thought it was in America for years. Though to be fair, they use the word "soccer" which is technically only called that in America, I believe. The rest of the world calls it football. So that threw me. And she never writes it "mum", always "mom" (unless that's just the US editions). Pretty much, there were a few conflicting and confusing details that made it way too hard for me to figure out if it was America or England when I was a kid (because I somehow always seemed to miss that little British Isles bit...). It should be a  quick reread, then I can move on with my life.

Rating: 4/5 (when I was younger, this probably would have been a 5, but now when I read it, the writing is just a bit too JFIC for me to fully appreciate it)

The Raven Boys

Title: The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Initial thoughts: better the second time around.

This book has a certain strange air to it, and I think the later books are even more so. Rereading it means that you already know what strange things are coming so they don't blindside you and you can watch them develop. It's much easier to understand the second time around and I'm glad I'm rereading it. Actually, the air of strangeness kind of reminds me of when I read Charlie Bone when I was younger (I actually decided to reread that as well so I checked it out from the library alongside this book. Coincidence. Of course. ;P ). Anyway, I rather enjoyed rereading this. The characters are fun. For all that he's a ghost, Noah might actually be my favorite, I don't know why. Noah is dead. Blue grew up among psychics. Ronan is a little crazy. Gansey is obsessed. Adam is the only one with a life that resembles normal (not good, what with his father, but, sadly, it could still be counted as normal), but he "wants to believe". He's probably got the most to gain, and the most to lose, from this venture. Noah is already dead, so he's kind of on borrowed time here. Blue just wanted to touch magic to feel more like the rest of her family. Ronan just wants to understand what happened with his dad, which he might get to on his own eventually, what with his dreams. Gansey just wants to pay Glendower back for his second chance at life. Adam, though, wants a different life entirely. He's not in it to satisfy some little part of himself, he wants to escape everything that makes up his life right now: his father, the trailer, lack of money, working 3 jobs, wearing secondhand clothes. If he doesn't escape, he'll slowly fade away until he loses his spirit completely or decided to just end it. He's proud and logical and sometimes that combination limits his options and actually keeps him in the very life he doesn't want. To Adam, he NEEDS to find Glendower or he'll have no life to speak of because he can't see any other way out now, which is a little sad, but it's also how a lot of people trap themselves in their own lives, because they can't see, or refuse to accept, other options, all because they are too proud or too narrow-minded. Blue, for all that she works so hard to stand out, actually just wants to fit in, it's just that she wants to fit in with her family rather than the rest of the world. Noah just wants to exist as long as he can since his life was ended too early and he wants to help those who allow him to do so. Gansey, having been given a second chance at life, wants to make sure it means something. Being grateful to Glendower, he has decided that that is how he can make a difference, by waking Glendower. Glendower or no Glendower, Gansey is going to do something with his life, find a passion to follow. For now, it's Glendower so that he can thank him or repay him for the life he was given. Eventually, though, he'll either find Glendower and move on to a new goal, or he'll have to set his search for Glendower aside if he wants to actually do something. He's so focused on Glendower that he's going to miss other opportunities to make something of himself and change the world. I'll analyze Ronan after one of the other books.

Rating: 4.5/5 Definitely rereading material.

Illuminae

Title: Illuminae (Illuminae Files #1)
Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Initial Thoughts: That was....brilliant.

Intense. Love and action and rogue AI, spaceships and bio-warfare, thousands of lives lost but still hundreds saved. It was epic and awesome and why did I wait so long to read it? Honestly, I only picked this one up because it kept cropping up in a bookish fb group I'm in and I wanted to know what all the hype was about. I get it now. I don't actually even know what to say other than that it was brilliant and awesome and amazing and I absolutely cannot wait to read the next one (though I will have to wait because I already have a number of other books from the library that need reading before they are due back :P). The one thing I will say pertaining to an actual specific part of the story and not just it's overall epicness (I need to find more synonyms for awesome...) is that I was definitely blindsided by AIDAN saying that Ezra had died. I had not figured that. With it, though, I figured Kady was for sure going to die as well. Most books I read don't actually kill off the main character (supporting characters, yes, but not your narrator) but I was fully expecting this one to do so and to actually be okay with it. I couldn't see Kady being happy with her life once Ez had died. I don't condone going and killing yourself if someone you loves dies, that is actually a terrible thing to do, but I totally could have seen her doing it and I wouldn't have been annoyed at the authors for writing it in. I don't like killing off characters (even nameless ones, like seriously, that was over 2,000 characters that died just on the Alexander alone and they all had lives and families and I know they're just characters but loss of life is never acceptable - inevitable, yes, but not acceptable), and I actually might have cried had Kady died, but I wouldn't have railed against it. It would have been a little beautiful, even. Romantic in that she was going to join the only person she had left. (That probably still sounds kind of terrible, but even though I say I hate characters dying because of loss of life, I do know that they're characters and I can appreciate the necessity and beauty in their deaths because I do know that they aren't actually real.) Anyway, yay for them both being alive! Another thing I did catch on to was that her mother was on the Copernicus because Kady never mentioned her and avoided talking about her and would just continue the conversation or change the subject when Ezra would bring her up. That I did catch, though I was a bit confused because I knew she had started out on the Hypatia with Kady. It was explained and I'm all good. I loved the format of the book with the different files and everything. Genius. Also, for anyone reading it later, that pulse in binary code does actually say something if you have to patience to type it into a converter and figure it out.

Rating: 5/5. Loved it, will continue the series, may even reread someday. Probably want to own.

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black

Initial Thoughts: That was really good.

I wasn't really sure what to expect. I like books with the fae, but the last book by Holly Black I read did not leave me with a great impression of her work. She had mixed modern day and the fae and it just seemed strange to me. This book sounded interesting, but I was a little worried that it would have that same strange mix. And yeah, it mixed modern day and fae, but in a different way that worked beautifully. The characters were fun and totally human (figuratively, at least). They had problems and doubts and hopes and dreams, they wanted to change things but didn't know how or were too scared, they made mistakes and stupid decisions, but they were so real. The only character I didn't quite connect with or understand or figure out (I'm not quite sure of the correct phrase for how I dealt with the characters) was Severin. I'm not sure that I fully grasped his motives or feelings or thoughts or whatnot, but he is fae, so I guess that is actually rather fitting and thus his character was well-written. I do like how the relationships all worked out. I was a little confused by a little piece of the ending. So, Jack's dad is mortal, right? That's why his mom hid him away was because the Alderking had taken a fancy to her but then she went off and dallied with a mortal and he was angry and she wanted to spare Jack from the Alderking's wrath. But near the end when Hazel is eavesdropping, his mom starts to imply something about who his father is, but he wouldn't let her finish. Was she trying to say that it was actually the Alderking after all? That with both the king and Severin out of the way, Jack would be next in line? I was a little confused and they didn't give a full explanation, though it did say that Severin embraced a changeling like a brother, which seems almost to imply that yes, the Alderking was maybe Jack's father. If anyone has an actual answer, I would love to know it. I hate not knowing things.

Rating: 5/5. I really enjoyed reading it and stayed up much later than I should have because it was just so hard to put down. I don't reread standalones a lot, but if I did, this would potentially be one of them.

Ascend

Title: Ascend (Trylle #3)
Author: Amanda Hocking

Initial thoughts: I'm just imagining any time that Duncan walks into their room to get them now, he has his hand over his eyes.

So, I really enjoyed it. All the romances worked out about as I figured they would, maybe even better. Honestly, I even called the pregnancy. The bonus stories included in the editions I read were really enjoyable and I'm glad they were included. The climax was a little short, and maybe even a little anti-climatic. To me, I think maybe that's because it was never really about killing Oren, but about following your heart and working to enact change. Elora finally told Wendy that she had loved her this whole time and that Elora thought Wendy should actually work to find happiness and not completely give herself over for the kingdom. This frees Wendy so she is no longer trapped feeling that she has to please her mother by following all the old ways. Her and Tove are able to admit that their marriage isn't going to work. She wants to be with Loki. Once she makes up her mind to make a move, Oren is barely an obstacle. Yeah, it has to be a challenge otherwise someone would have done it long before, but he represented the old ways and she was already making advances in moving forward by making Markis and Marksinnas help out with Oslinna and by taking the fight to the Vittra. He was already defeated as soon as she decided to change the game. So the real point of that scene was that she held Loki as he nearly died in her arms, she gave him her life energy to bring him back, and they both fully admitted to loving each other and didn't care who knew it. I will fully admit that the scene with Duncan's legs scared me a bit. He wasn't important to any of the romance so she could kill him off if she wanted to and I was worried it was going to be like, they would honor his memory, use him and the fact that he gave his life to ending this war as a way to get more equality for the other trackers. He was such a genuinely good soul, though, that his death would have been absolutely terrible. It'd be like killing off Jack in House of Night, but worse because there was a reason for killing him off but killing Duncan would have just been getting an extra character out of the way and not actually accomplishing anything with it. I was genuinely worried. Huge sigh of relief when he wasn't dead and they kept him from becoming so. Also, I really enjoyed how much Wendy grew up throughout the books. In the first one, she was all whiny and "I don't want to do any of this." Get to this one and she's being a responsible adult, making decisions based on more than her own selfish desires. Don't get me wrong, you should do things that make you happy and you shouldn't sacrifice your entire life to doing what others want you to do, but you do need to keep in mind that there are consequences to your decisions and those affect other people. Wendy learned this and I think by the end she found a good balance of following her heart and doing what she believed to be right, but basing it on what was right for the kingdom, not just for herself and not just what others told her would be right.

Side note: why do they wait until the glossary, located at the very back of the book and only located in the final novel of the series, to give me the correct pronunciation for Trylle? I've been going back and forth between a couple pronunciations this whole time and I finally learn how to say it correctly only after I've finished the series. Someone needs to rethink that.

Rating: I'd give this series 4/5. It was very enjoyable, fairly predictable, but I'm always a sucker for a good romance. I probably won't read it again, but maybe some day when I'm bored I'll find another book by this author to read.

Torn

Title: Torn (Trylle #2)
Author: Amanda Hocking

Initial thoughts: I'm team Loki.

I feel like there's not a lot to these books.You get very quick descriptions and explanations, nothing really in-depth. I guess if you're trying to keep it within a certain number of pages, that makes sense, but I would love to get to know so much more about the Trylle community and the people in it. It works well as a YA fantasy; better even than many newer YA books that are coming out that are less for a YA audience and more for an adult audience but are written with characters and plots that put them into YA. Those kinds of books include more adult scenes that the YA audience doesn't really need to be introduced to unless you want to encourage teen pregnancies and such things. I don't mean to be a prude, but sex scenes really should be limited to adult books. You can make it obvious that two characters are together or even that they're sleeping together without going into details. When you describe it in such magical terms, of course teens are going to want to do it even more. Anyway, these books happily haven't included any such scenes and thus are fully appropriate for a YA audience. They do have romance, and the love triangle (square?) is forming. Out of the three potential boys, I definitely am rooting for Loki. Yes, Finn loves her and she loves him, but he doesn't give her the respect she's due. Oh, he honors her as the princess, but he puts her status above who she actually is. He won't allow himself to love her because she isn't allowed to love him back, despite what they both feel. When she tries talking to him, he retreats and tells her that it can't happen, and then he shows up and does things that contradict his words. If he truly believes it's his duty to stay away from her, then he just needs to do that and stop leading her on. If he would rather follow his heart then he needs to stop running away all the time. Finn's problem is that he is torn between the two and won't fully commit himself to one. Tove is a lot of fun, and they make good friends, and he would make a good king to her queen, but she doesn't love him and he doesn't love her. It's just going to make things super awkward between them and could even ruin the great friendship thing they've got going on. Then you have Loki. She likes him, though she won't admit it because she knows she can't be with him because he is from a rival tribe and she wants to do right by her kingdom. He likes her, though he has a hard time truly showing it because he prefers to act the clown than be serious, though he's more honest than he lets on. I figure he is at least Tove's equivalent status-wise in the Vittra society so he is high enough to marry a princess as well as plenty powerful (those two things are nearly interchangeable here). They want peace between the two kingdoms, which is why Elora married Oren in the first place, but that didn't work because they didn't love each other; honestly, they practically hated each other. Wendy and Loki actually do care about each other so a marriage between them might be able to accomplish what Elora and Oren couldn't and unite their two tribes. That's what I want to see in book 3.

In general, these books are fairly simplistic, but they are fun. Set in more of a modern society, they would be easier for general readers to understand while still getting their dose of fantasy (similar to Harry Potter). I'm waiting to see if there's a good take-away message or if I'm going to dislike how things end.

The Last Namsara

Title: The Last Namsara (Iskara #1)
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

(I apologize in advance for any mistaken details. I already returned the book to the library so I cannot check anything at this point.)

Initial thoughts after reading: It was enjoyable. A little slow at points, and somewhat predictable at others, but overall a good story. Will read the sequel.

So, it had a predictable love story, but I'm a hopeless romantic, so that's not so bad. It had dragons. I like dragons. I will say that anytime Jarek grabbed Asha, I felt slightly uncomfortable. When I was younger, I wouldn't even have noticed anything other than that he was a jerk, but as I'm older, I can understand that it's him being possessive, domineering, that even though she is some kick-butt feared killer, she still isn't always strong enough to pull away from his unwanted advances. Sometimes it's because of his strength and sometimes it's because of the situation. She may be a fierce heroine, but he is a male who is physically stronger than her who believes he has the right to force her, that he owns her. At other points she is forced to comply because she is the daughter of the king, because she has a reputation to uphold, because she believes that as the King and as her father, he has the right to dictate her life, especially because she believes she owes him. It makes me uncomfortable to read about these things because now I can see the reality of them. I wouldn't want someone forcing me to do anything, but I am also rather weak physically so if they were to hold me down or hold me back from something, I likely wouldn't be able to get away. Including something like this in the story, something that may make readers uncomfortable, isn't wrong. We should be made aware of these realities so that we can work to change them. So yeah, it made me a little uncomfortable, but I wouldn't dislike the book just for that. I wish we had gotten to know some of the other characters better, like Dax or Safire. I really wanted to know more about their stories. Maybe in a later book, eh? I didn't predict everything, but the overall outcome? Yeah, that wasn't hard. You read enough books, things become predictable, even in unique stories. Everything's been done in some form or other. What matters is how you tell it. The Last Namsara was good. I'm sure middle or high schoolers will enjoy it a lot. I think, though, being a tad older, I'm looking for something a bit more complex. I did enjoy the little stories interspersed throughout. That was a fun, clever way of doing that.

Rating (out of 5): 4. I enjoyed it. Not my favorite. Could reread it a few years down the road, but not likely.

The Required (and Clichéd) Intro

I'll try to make this brief, but the first post to any blog should probably be some sort of introduction about who is blogging and what they're blogging about.

I don't really expect anyone to read this, as I'm not doing it for any professional reasons and I don't plan on sharing it around. I am addicted to stories, mostly in the form of books, and having recently joined a Facebook group full of more avid readers than I could have imagined, I have been inspired by their posts to try to connect more with what I'm reading. Maybe someday I'll try to do more, but for now, I just want to try blogging about the books I read. And maybe some of the shows I watch, as well.

I've read a lot of books already in my life. Some books on here will be rereads and will probably get more in-depth thoughts than those I'm only reading for the first time. Some may be part of a series which I have already started and which I may never reread so I might never make a post on the earlier books. Sorry, but to go back and do the books I've already read months or even years after I finished them would just be too much work. I'll try to sum up whether I liked a book and why, as well as any thought-provoking things I came across. WARNING: there will be spoilers. I don't have enough bookworms in my life with whom I can discuss these things, so this will be my way of getting my thoughts out in the open and working through them. If you don't want spoilers, don't read.

Anyway, a quick bit about myself: I'm a young adult (over 18, younger than 30), a college grad with no real aspirations in life at the moment so I'm biding my time earning some cash and enjoying life as it is. I mostly read YA fantasy, high fantasy, and science fiction. I usually prefer series because I love the story and the length of a series allows you to truly delve into the story and the world therein. I'm a Ravenclaw through and through. (I base my sorting off of the Sorting Hat Chats blog, which is not some silly quiz that you take in which you can't ask questions about the meanings of questions or give reasons for your answers and in which you're stuck with only certain options, but it is a comprehensive blog post that you read through and it explains how you can sort yourself based on your beliefs/goals and you're means of achieving those things and it is flexible enough for everyone to fit themselves into it perfectly. I promise, I am not affiliated with them, I was just introduced to it a few years ago by a friend and once I looked into it I decided it was the best way I've seen for sorting. It's not for everyone because you need to actually sit down and think about who you are, what you care about, and why you do the things you do. Many people prefer to just take a quiz and get an answer. I like explanations and reasoning (I did say I was a Ravenclaw) so this is my preferred. Anyway, that got rather long. Back on topic.) I'm a dreamer, a thinker, I'm creative and artistic, I love creative problem solving and riddles (though I'm not always very good at them), and I find joy in the little things and just try to live each day as it comes.

Favorite book (because this is a book blog): I have three series that are all vying for first place because I love them each for different reasons. They are:

1) Harry Potter (classic, almost cliché, but it's got to be included): I grew up with these books. They are what first got me interested in reading. HP and the Sorcerer's Stone is one of only two books my sister read to me when we were growing up (if my parents read to me, I was too little to remember it). They've got a fun story, very entertaining, but they also make a lot of great points about friendship, courage, good vs evil (and the gray area in-between), etc. There's so much more to them, probably even more than JK Rowling ever realized as she wrote them or even as they became so popular over the years. I collect inspirational quotes. No other book or series comes even close to having as many quotes in my collection as HP does.

2) How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell: written for a younger audience, but so well-written that I never hesitate to recommend them to friends my age and they all end up loving the series as well. Similar to HP, HTTYD is a fun story with a lot of great lessons but being written for a younger audience, you get more goofiness and less of the intense things like characters dying, torture by cruciatus curse, witchcraft, you know, the things that make parents question whether their child should be reading these books. HTTYD is lighthearted but still chock-full of wonderful lessons, inspiration to stand up for what's right, etc. As soon as I read it, it couldn't not be one of my favorites. (Side note: HTTYD is also my favorite movie. Yes, I'm an adult and my favorite movie is a cartoon. The books and movies have completely different stories, but they are both just so amazing.)

3) Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson): very, very long but so rich in detail. Robert Jordan wrote and entire world into existence, including various cultures and a rather comprehensive history. There are parts of it I don't agree with (one character falls for three women and they all decide that they can share him if that's the only way they can get him; also, most of the women in the book annoy me to no end - definitely written by a man) but I don't read because I want happy fluffy comfort pieces that are going to agree with everything I believe, I read to learn about life, about different world-views, to be inspired, to be provoked to ask questions and really think about what's truth. Anyway, Robert Jordan did such an amazing job of building this world and its myriad characters, it's one of the most vibrant, colorful, richest worlds I have ever imagined. And it's not a simple, predictable story-arc where you get beginning to end, but rather a description of what's going on with different characters and in different parts of the world over the span of fourteen books as everything is shifting and leading to that last final conclusion.

I have so much more to say and so many more books I could write about, but this has already gone on much longer than I mean for it to, so I'll end it here.