4 stars. Um, wow. Wow.
If You Find Me has been a relatively new book in YA, and one that has garnered a lot of high praise and attention. So, needless to say, this book held humongous expectations — and I wasn't disappointed.
If You Find Me follows the story of a fifteen-year-old Carey who only knows the workings of the woods. With a drug induced mother, Carey is left with taking care of her little sister, Jenessa. But when two strangers come and take them away from the only home they've ever known, Carey is forced realize the bitter truth of her mother and let go of her past.
Man, guys. Man. Great characterization, great relationship-building. My favorite, favorite part were probably the moments between father and daughter — the way their relationship and trust steadily grew into something like love. The only reason I rated it four stars was because the romance with Ryan was a bit off putting. I think I would've liked the story more if Carey developed her place at school — which she did, ultimately — and created lasting friendships.
But all in all, If You Find Me is a tender, heartbreaking story of a young Carey who discovers the truth that's been hidden from her her whole life and tries to fit into the world that will be her home for a long, long time.
She could be writing a book about how a llama and a panda fell in love and I'd still read it.MUST
HAVE
NOW.
And why is everybody freaking out over the love triangle issues? Guys, this the legendary Julie Kagawa. She can do this, and she can do this well. (Except ... if she does it too well, and I won't be able to choose between two characters ...)
"Though don't think I don't know what you're doing. If we all end up as llamas, I'm going to spend the rest of my life following you around saying 'I told you so' in llama-ese."
—Puck
I had to share that quote.
Julie Kagawa, you are a cruel woman.
I have no idea how an author can make me fall in love with characters so easily and so unconditionally. I might even go to such an extent and say Meghan, Ash, Puck, and Grimalkin are probably my favorite characters of all time.
This book has made me so excited for The Lost Prince! I'm ecstatic to see how Ethan's and Kierran's story will emerge, and what will happen.
4.5 stars. Second Chance Summer was a book I've been waiting for a long time to read. With this, obviously, the build-up was very suspenseful — as were my expectations. But fear not: Second Chance Summer was better than I had hoped.
In a course of three weeks, Taylor Edwards's life changed — and now, after five long years, as summer approaches, her family returns to their lake house in the Pocono Mountains to create everlasting memories. However, Pocono Mountains holds a painful reminder to everyone Taylor has hurt in the past. As a girl who has a tendency to run away from her troubles, how can Taylor overcome her fears and regain their forgiveness? How can she become stronger, in the face of trouble?
◦ Taylor Edwards, our heroine, is one I liked very much. I could very much connect and relate with her problems. Even in the beginning, Taylor manages to pep-talk herself into becoming a better, stronger person, and retains this through to the end of the book, in which her biggest emotional obstacle comes into play.
◦ Henry Crosby was a delicious character to read about! I found myself thumbing the pages until Taylor's next encounter with him. My only complaint is that I wish there were more scenes with him, but Henry was ultimately a very lovely guy. ♥
◦ I fell in love with Taylor's father. Man, there was such a paternal, fatherly feel to him that you couldn't help be encompassed by just the written sound of his laughter or his jokes or his personality. With a fairly predictable and inevitable ending, I ended up missing his character very much, and craved and loved and ended up appreciating the scenes between daughter and father.
◦ Warning: You might cry for no reason at all except for how awesome this book is. And for Taylor's father. Because he deserves to be cried over for long, long hours. Because I certainly did. Many times.
All in all, Second Chance Summer was a book about how second chances presented themselves, even when we didn't deserved them, but popped up anyway, and how we must grab them and hold on. The book was fairly predictable, but nevertheless engaging with a cute romance and a heartbreaking, nostalgic ending with such beautifully crafted characters.
3 stars. You see, any book in the Tiger Saga is very complicated to rate. Each of these books follow the same exact pattern, however — A quest given by Mr. Kadam, training and sexual tension/passionate confessions through most of the book, with voilà — an ending with confrontation from Lokesh that usually leaves you wanting the next book as soon as possible. For most people. Except for me.
This is how each of the books in this series so far have gone.
I kid you not. In Tiger's Quest — though I enjoyed that one a lot, dunno why — while Ren was "away," we were traveling with Kishan on one quest, instead.
And in Tiger's Voyage, we have them all. Nilima, Kadam, Kishan, Ren, Kelsey.
Facts:
◦ The sexual tension is useless. USELESS. We all know who Kelsey is going to end up with in the end. IT'S SO OBVIOUS. WHY DELAY THE INEVITABLE WITH MINDLESS SEXUAL TENSION?
◦ There is little to no "action" sequences from the beginning to the end, with the confrontation with Lokesh. Except the dragon quests, but I don't count those because I did not feel the "rush" as I do when one of my heroes/heroines either a) get bitten or b) go badass on me.
◦ But Kelsey has much improved from Tiger's Curse. I didn't really much like her then. Now I like her. Ish.
All in all, Tiger's Voyage is an okay installment, but with the same straightforward plot as its predecessors. It certainly moves forward plot-wise, but not great imagination-and-something-new-wise.
3.5 stars. The Shadow Society was much better than I expected. The plot and idea behind the book reminded me a lot of [b:The Gathering Dark|11040554|The Gathering Dark|Christine Johnson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340051843s/11040554.jpg|15961061] and [b:Unraveling|12157365|Unraveling (Unraveling, #1)|Elizabeth Norris|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337474732s/12157365.jpg|17128227], so it wasn't necessarily "refreshing," but I still enjoyed it. Short, nice heroine, nice hero, nothing very memorable — what else can you ask for? So basically, a one-time-read-and-never-look-back type of book.
OH MAN OH MAN OH MANLivie's story is probably my most favorite New Adult story in the history of New Adult books. If anything wants to try to win my utmost affections, it's going to have to bypass One Tiny Lie with creativity, originality, sweet moments along with the sex lololol, and awesomesauceness.
I think the problem with New Adult books is that they're all the same. Messed up heroine, slight-messed-up-but-willing-to-help guy, sweet and sexy romance, same-follow-the-pattern conflict.
So that's why One Tiny Lie was so refreshing — Livie wasn't "messed up" by an accident, but instead was much too focused on things her deceased parents wanted for her, instead of what she wanted for herself. So for battling this, she had to balance Connor, the Irish boy her parents would've approved heartily of, or Ashton, a sweet, yet sexy, amazing boy who she can't help being attracted to, despite his philandering. (Note: I love the word philandering now. Thank you, Tucker.)
I loved everything about this book. Everything.
And I'm not normally the type to do this, but I'm saying screw it all, because I want to. So, without further ado ....
Meet Livie! (This picture seems pretty accurate!)
Meet Our Philandering Ashton!
And let your imagination do the rest.
But, honest to God, read this book. This book is so sweet, sexy, and amazing on so many levels.
P.S. I love my fancast. Damn right, my fancast is better than yours ...
"My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl."
For the record: there are probably no words, no gifs, no alskdjflaksjdfkjsd to describe how much this book was the perfect, most brilliant, amazing ending to the Iron Fey series. But I'll try.
Nope. No words.
But there's also the fact that leaving The Iron Knight reviewless and only a merely, generic five stars in its place that seems a bit heartless, and therefore, here I am, attempting a review. Keyword: attempting.
To get you started, this is how I felt internally when I closed the back cover to the Iron Fey series:
.... Buuuut since it was about 2 AM and my whole house was sleeping and if I started wailing in the middle of the night I'd probably get spanked and laughed at, I was more or less like this externally:
And continued to walk around in a zombie-like space for the remainder of the ... morning? night.
The Iron Knight follows the story of tragic hero Ash, whose love of his life is now the Iron Queen. Desperate and determined to be with Meghan, he travels with his trusty comrades Robin Goodfellow and Grimalkin (and Wolf and Ariella .. but more on that later) to what leads them to the End of the World and into the River of Dreams, in which Ash must complete three, impossible tasks garnered on three different concepts to achieve a soul: strength, conscious, and mortality.
Okay.
◦ The test of strength is, in retrospect, probably the easier concept to accept and understand. In short: (≠ means "will no longer apply")
Human ≠ Faerie ≠ Glamour ≠ Inhumanely Fast = Will not be as fast/dangerous/lethal as before
And I admit, Ash being no longer able to draw glamour towards himself in a fight was hard to comprehend. I mean, in a fight, the faerie strength is what makes Ash Ash. And to have that taken away ... it was defo bittersweet.
◦ The test of a conscious, oh dear ... this ... this was very hard. Not only did it test your boundaries for your love for Ash, but Ash cried.
ASH
CRIED.
CRIED!
The fact that he broke down made me break down and — I swear I felt like this — if it were fundamentally possible, I would've gladly offered up my life force for Ash to be appeased and lead a life with Meghan.
◦ The test of mortality was the hardest concept for me to merely accept. I couldn't. In the preview, fast forwarding to a life with Meghan, where Ash grows old while everyone else around him appears young and healthy as ever before?
NO. NU UH. I mean, okay yes — mortality is better than not having a life with Meghan and their kid, Kierran, at all, I agree. BUT ASH CANNOT GROW OLD! AFTER WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH? I mean, come on, Kagawa!
So, I was so totally, irrevocably relieved when Ash somehow still retained his glamour. YOU CANNOT IMAGINE MY JOY.
Moving onto other points:
◦ I didn't expect Ariella. Did you? DID YOU? I did not. I totally did not even think about Ariella.
◦ Man, while I am still The Biggest Fan Ever of Ash, Puck will always be the king of my heart. I love his sense of humor, his sense of righteousness, and most of all, his love for both Ash and Meghan. He is just ... ♥ I hope he's happy, but can you seriously imagine him as someone other than a bachelor? I can't. (And the scene where Ash and Puck part ways? HEARTBREAKING. FCKING HEARTBREAKING.)
◦ Okay, so Grimalkin obviously has some boredom issues, but it's fairly obvious that he hold some sort of affection for Ash and Meghan. (Puck I'm not sure about, lol.) I love this cait sith. He's helped them so much on their journey and deserves a fcking round of applause.
Because, after all, he is a cat.
And the last part of my review includes some of my most favorite quotes ... EVER.
"I have come from the End of the World.... From the River of Dreams, through the gauntlet and the Briar and the Deep Wyld, in order to stand before you today. I have but one request — to take my place at your side. To resume my duty as your knight, and to protect you and your kingdom for as long as I draw breath."
"... it means putting up with my fiercest and most annoying rival, Robin Goodfellow, who - despite all his attempts to hide it - is in love with my queen as well. I don't know why I haven't killed him yet. Maybe because Puck is Meghan's closest friend and she would mourn him terribly if he were gone (though I can't imagine why)."
“Geez, you guys. I know I'm popular and all, but seriously, you're a bit too co-dependent for me. I'm going to need you to step away from my personal bubble." A wispy vine-woman curled ivy tendrils around his arm, and he sliced through them with his dagger. "No! Bad Wraith! No touchie!”
And God knows there were so many others. But all in all, The Iron Knight is a finale to a series I will never, ever forget. Thank you for an amazing journey, Julie Kagawa. Meghan, Ash, Puck, and Grimalkin will be in my heart for years to come. ♥
PHILIP AND HENRY?PHILIP AND HENRY?
The two most perfect names in the world. I must read this. I MUST.
3.5 stars. Buddy-read with Kaede! even though she ditched me after half the book Check out her review here.
When I first knew about Of Poseidon, I wasn't very interested in it—but the book definitely captured my attention after the fluctuating reviews came in. For me, I think this book was a type of hit-or-miss. And if I'm being truthfully honest here, I don't understand much of the one star reviews. Because it wasn't really that bad.
But this, for me, was a three star, and I'll tell you why:
◦ Chloe. Emma's stereotypical, fake-nails-and-weave-in-her-hair black friend. Now, what are the recurring patterns of all blacks in the culture of YA (perhaps all) literature? I also didn't like Emma's lack of response to what happened.
◦ First Person Emma & Third Person Galen. I, personally, have understood the significance of adding a Galen POV after the ending. It makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me is the fact that Emma's POV is FP, and Galen's TP? I DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS LOGIC.
◦ Much more of Galen's story. As all other readers, when we have an insight into the main love interest's mind, it makes us sa-wooon. But, for me, I wanted Of Poseidon to focus much more on the humorous voice of Emma, rather than Galen. But I feel this is what it focused more on.
◦ Galen himself. After about the first few chapters, I really liked Galen. Yet as the story moved on, we discovered a different part to him: his jealous and anger side, which resulted in hurting people around him. I am actually neutral about the subject of Galen—don't love him, don't hate him. But I've lost respect for him.
These reasons were a lot of why I rated Of Poseidon a three star; however, it had many redeeming qualities, too.
◦ Emma. Man, Emma was probably the most enjoyable aspect of this book! She was headstrong, feisty, and didn't listen to Galen—all of which I liked. She was very independent and loved to make fun of Galen's Royalness and get under his skin.
◦ Toraf & Rayna. I want a story about them. I WANT A STORY ABOUT THEM SO BAD.
◦ Toraf. While I didn't much like Galen, Toraf was my hunk-a-munk. Loved, loved, loved Toraf.
◦ Awesome but cruel cliffhanger. I totally didn't expect that coming, even though there was great foreshadowing from the author.
All in all, Of Poseidon was a delectable read, with a great sense of humour and a feisty heroine. Want a great book about mermaids? You've got one.
"I wonder what you will do with your wings once you have found them. I wonder how far away they will take you. And I fear them, for my sake, at the same time that I hope for them, for yours." †
infinite stars. How is it possible, that among millions of books ever published, I have found the one that butchers my heart? Stabs my chest? Takes out my lungs? And pieces my broken self back together again with skillful, deft fingers, leaving no crevice unfilled, and no crater unfulfilled?
Okay, you may be thinking I'm being melodramatic.
And were this another instance I'd say yes, you are completely, positively, miserably right.
But this is Blackmoore I'm talking about, about a young lady named Kate Worthington who desires with all her heart the freedom to come out of her restrictive cage, to explore everything the world has to offer her, and so in this case, I am going to say you are wrong.
I read Blackmoore weeks ago, and still the love of Kate and Henry leave a haunting impression on my mind. How can we connect with a character? How can we feel their love, their emotions, their anguish? These are questions that an author has to accomplish, to connect the mind of a reader and the voice of the writer. Julianne Donaldson may be The Best Historical Romantic Fluff Writer — as I've officially dubbed her — but be aware: If Julianne Donaldson decides to write a tragedy, she will butcher us all. She is that good.
I felt the anguish of Kate's restrictiveness, the hate for her mother, the hopelessness of her fear of never reaching freedom. I felt Henry's struggle, to balance what the girl he loves wants for herself, rather than keeping her with him and taking what is rightfully his — Blackmoore. I felt the incredible, deep longing these two characters had for each other, despite their differences and the disapproval around them all.
In the end, I read Blackmoore in four hours, but those will be the most controversial, fickle, and capricious four hours of my life. How can I go from elated to depressed to anguished to ecstatic to heartbrokenly broken and delighted in as little as four hours? I don't know, but I achieved it. And no one will regret ever picking up this book. Well done, Donaldson. Yet another amazing book.
An ARC of this book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
† Quote taken from ARC. Subject to change.
2.5 stars. If I have to be honest, a lot of Orleans was a flat two star for me, and I was even considering giving the book up just because I thought a lot of it was boring. I didn't particularly enjoy any parts, though, but I was struck with Fen's attitude — meaning, I loved her character. Tough, fearless, determined. Loyal, brutal, passionate — all sorts of qualities that are so hard to find in a heroine, much less executed correctly.When Fen's tribal leader dies during birth, her last, dying wish is for Fen to take care of her Baby Girl, to give her a better life than whatever Orleans offers. Fen then decides that she must be taken over the Wall, and journeys throughout the whole book until she meets Daniel, in which a deal is struck — I'll take you to the Institute, in exchange for taking my baby over the wall. Except nothing is as it seems, years after Hurricane Jesus, and everything will be met with sacrifices.
Hint: when I say sacrifice, I mean exactly that.
So truth be told, I loved the idea that the Fever ran through blood, so the tribes of Orleans were divided into groups rather than face, race, or body type, but into blood type. Another sort of form of racism, but still a creative way to divide tribes.
And last but not least, the ending stuck with me. When Daniel went over the wall, but in exchange for Fen's life. Or so we're assumed to think.
All in all, an okay story — kind of boring, kind of lame — but with a memorable ending.
One word: Wow.Never will read a plagiarised book, or by an author who refuses to own up by using a stock photo rather than his/herself.
