The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Published: January 2nd, 2018

Rating:

Summary: Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

So I’ve loved Holly Black’s work for a couple years and while I’ve read only a few of her novels, they’re really good and I enjoy them! And this book was up my alley from the start because it was about faeries! I love anything to do with faeries and magic! I enjoyed June, but it was obvious you weren’t supposed to like anybody!

And I didn’t!

I mean the only person I thought was likable was Oak! Lol!

But I did like Jude and Carden, even though he was pretty cruel and mean to Jude and her sister. Speaking of her sister Taryn, she was sneaky. I didn’t like her much but I could admit she was an interesting character and pretty sneaky. Honestly though I think that’s what made Taryn so interesting as a character. She definitely has me interested in her now. Seeing her in book two was interesting, and I cannot wait to see what she has up her sleeve in book three. That is what has me most interested!

He really added a much more interesting depth to his personality, but that also doesn’t mean I have to like his attitude. I think the person thought that I hated the most was Locke and Nicasia. Nacasia because she was just plain cruel to Jude and everyone else around her. But I hated that Locke strung Jude and her sister along and played with their relationship and emotions. He really enjoyed seeing them fight and argue over him, I think he got off on it, and I didn’t like that about him. It was also kinda sad that even though he did that to them, Taryn was willing to forgive him for it. She was so willing to forgive him and be accepted into this world that she double crossed her sister for it.

I think another interesting part in this novel is the relationship between Jude and Carden and how that develops over time. It’s not romantic, but it’s obvious that Carden has a shift in thew ay he sees Jude as a person. I thought that was the most interesting shift in this story. I think another part of the story that I enjoyed was the unique world of faerie. While there were High Courts and such they didn’t feel repetitive, and they weren’t something you saw in other novels as well. Like Nicasia is from the Undersea and that is a totally different world I haven’t seen before!

Also going back to Jude anther relationships with other people; I loved seeing Jude and her older sister Vivienne’s relationship grow; along side Jude and Taryn’s relationship fall apart. I thought it was nice thought that Jude had someone to go to with all that was happening to her in Faerie.

But overall I really enjoyed this novel! It was intense and full of secrets and interesting and I felt like I was always on edge trying to figure everything out and be surprised about everything! But I loved that and if you are really into fantasy novels, you’ll really love this novel and the word! Holly crafts beautiful novels and I highly recommend you check out her work!

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Ten Thousand Skies Above You & A Million Worlds With You

Ten Thousand Skies Above You & A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray

Published: November 3rd, 2015/November 1st, 2016

Publisher: HarperTeen

Rating:

Summary: Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents’ invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

So I love this series! I have been hooked on this book series since book one! It’s been a wild and fun ride and now that I am finished with this series, I cannot believe I thought about giving these books up! I mean I thought they weren’t going to be my style and I am so glad to be proved wrong! I just never wanted to put these books down and so I am happy in the end that I got the chance to read them! If you love science fiction and adventures, you’ll love this series! 

I thought the time travel was so fun in this novel! And the idea of multiple people was fun too! If you jumped into one dimension you jumped into your body in that dimension! Gah! 

I didn’t feel like the second book lagged or anything, like you found out so many secrets in this book and it was insane to see them all come to play! Like many things were revealed and it was crazy. I know second books tend to be slower than the first and third, but I didn’t feel that with this book. I felt that this book was just as strong as the first and last! I’m glad that I didn’t have to wait to read the third book, because that cliffhanger was insane! Wow! Wow! WOW! 

I did feel bad for Theo with what Bad Theo did to him. It was sad what his other self made him do, and now he is suffering for that in his life. It was sad that Paul was suffering for doing what he could for Theo, and he ended up getting in trouble, so now Marguerite is stuck trying to save both her friends! But wow Marguerite is strong! She is able to handle a lot! Seeing her romance with Paul in multiple time-lines was amazing! If seeing her with Paul in Russia was intense, seeing her with other Pauls, especially monk Paul was great! I mean Russia Paul is my favorite romance! 

Going into the third book, that one was also action packed! I had moments where I didn’t wanna read because I was nervous with how things were going to end but overall I’m glad I did read it! I loved following Marguerite and her journey to save herself and how many times she jumped was fun and seeing the other Marguerites were fun as well! I enjoyed them all! 

I do think that while I loved all the traveling, it did confuse me at times because they jumped to so many different places in a short amount of time! I would have to take a bit to orient myself in the certain dimension they jumped in. I did love every world they visited in this series, and obviously I have some that I love more *coughRussiacough* but yeah it was hard when some of the worlds were so similar I would have to remember which world was which. I was sad that we didn’t get to see more of certain worlds, like the Egypt world was really fascinating! I liked that one a lot! But sadly we didn’t really get to read much about it which was real bummer town. 

It was kind of sad seeing Paul going through the tough times after what happened to him in the second book. He kind of went through a phase where he was saying Marguerite was too good for him, and he wasn’t sure he was mentally stable enough to be with her. It was sad seeing him go through it and fight what he thought he was. 

I mean overall this series was really fun! I loved it! I am so sad it’s over and I wish we got more stories from these characters. The ending was tied up well, things were great, and I highly recommend this series for anyone interested in science fiction! This is a fun YA Sci-Fi novel! 

Have you read this series? What is your favorite Claudia Gray book? Which do you think I should read next? 

The Heir & The Crown

The Heir & The Crown by Kiera Cass

Published: May 5th, 2015/ May 3rd, 2016

Publisher: Harper Teen

Rating:

Summary: Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.

Honestly I liked Princess Eadlyn at the end. I mean I love America more, but I thought Eadlyn was a good character for the most part! I think what made me annoyed at times with her though was that every few paragraphs it felt like she was like “I don’t need no man!” I mean that isn’t a bad thing, but it was obvious that the author was trying to be feminist, which isn’t bad I appreciated it but at the same time it was a bit over the top. I understood it the first time she said it, there wasn’t a need to say it every page, especially since Eadlyn doesn’t want to get married, and tries to foil her family’s plans.

I think what also bothered me was her attitude towards the guys; she was rude and mean to them at times when they didn’t really deserve it. They came at the wishes of her father, having been picked to join the Selection. I didn’t see the need to be the way she was with them, they were people too with feelings. She shouldn’t have blamed them for coming. A lot of the men were nice guys, like Kile, Henri, and Hale. But I did like how in the Crown, she got closer to a lot of them and they were really friendly to each other. I think that’s what I liked about both America’s story, and Eadlyn’s. That in the end the chosen in the Selection had really great friendships and were able to be kind to each other during their time together. Like Hale and the others learning Henri’s language to better speak to him and include him in their conversations; having a fun cooking night together, and such things like that.

Overall out of all the men I think my favorites were Henri, Hale, and Fox; because they were always kind and friendly with everyone.

I also think a great show of companionship was when America ended up in the hospital after what happened at the end of The Heir. All the boys came to sit outside America’s room, and offer their comfort and strength to the family.

And I think at the end of The Crown, the ending was pretty convenient  for this series. I mean I was happy with who she ended up with, but I also knew that in the end she would end up with who she fell in love with. It was pretty predictable. But I loved it all anyways, you know? I do wish we got more of the ending, it just kind of ended and I wish we would have seen more of Eadlyn and her choice later on.

Overall I loved the representation we saw in the men, and I thought the characters were interesting. I think while I liked America better, I did like Eadlyn’s selection choices better. There was definitely more diversity with the men, one was gay, one liked to sew, one had an interest in architecture, and one cooked etc! I loved them all! I liked the growth that Eadlyn did in the storyline of both books and that in the end she learned to become a better leader of her people, even before she chose her Selection choice.

Highly recommend you read this series if you’re looking for an easy, fun romance series. Start with The Selection before you get to this series following Eadlyn. It spoils everything from the other series!

Which character was your favorite?

 

 

The Darkest Star

The Darkest Star by Jennifer L Armentrout

Publisher: Tor

Published: October 30th, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: When seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher is caught up in a raid at a notorious club known as one of the few places where humans and the surviving Luxen can mingle freely, she meets Luc, an unnaturally beautiful guy she initially assumes is a Luxen…but he is in fact something much more powerful. Her growing attraction for Luc will lead her deeper and deeper into a world she’d only heard about, a world where everything she thought she knew will be turned on its head…

#1 New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns to the universe of the Lux in this brand new series, featuring beloved characters both new and old.

I received an eArc off Netgalley for review. These thoughts are my own.

So I freaked out when I got approved for this arc and I immediately started reading it! I finished it so fast and sadly school got in the way so I wasn’t able to really post my review last week, but here it is!

I don’t know if any of you really know but the Lux series is one of my all time favorite series ever. It’s in my top three, that’s how much I love it! So reading this and seeing it feature a character I adored from the Lux series made me so excited! And Luc is a very interesting character, and you really didn’t know much about him in the Lux series. He was a very mysterious character when you first meet him, and he had so many secrets that you want to unravel and feel like it wasn’t really solved at the end.

I felt that a good chunk of the mysteries were solved in this book, or revealed. You got to know more about him and his past and what’s really happening as their lives go on. They face more issues as people really are starting to not like the Luxen and want to seclude them from the world and segregate their lives.

We are introduced to Evie, who is the daughter of Srgt Dashner from the Lux series, and we follow her as she deals with being who she is, and also fighting her urge to get closer to Luc. I enjoyed her as a character, but I will admit that I liked Katy better. But I thought Evie was unique, and interesting, and a very tough character. Her backstory was interesting and I liked what she had to say.

And when something is revealed about a certain character, I freaked out! I had no idea! And I was shook! Like really shook! I flipped out! I did not expect that and I thought it was really clever of JLA to do. She really got me!

I do wish we got more of Daemon and Kat, or like anything with Kat in general, but I know at the same time it isn’t their story anymore. But yes, I want more of them in this story because I fell in love with them in the previous series. But I am glad we got to see Archer and Daemon!

Overall a great start to a series, hopefully it’s a series. Can’t wait for more from Jennifer!! Highly recommend you check out the Lux series and then The Darkest Star! You’ll love it!

Shadow and Ice Review

Shadow and Ice by Gena Showalter

Publisher: HQN

Published: October 23rd, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: Knox of Iviland has spent his life competing in the All Wars, where vicious warriors with supernatural powers fight to the death to claim new realms. One winner takes everything—and all losers die. Enslaved as a child for his ability to control shadows, the most ruthless champion in history will stop at nothing to kill his king. But first he must win the battle for Earth. When a fearsome weapon imprisons every combatant in ice, centuries pass without progress…until she walks in.

Vale London craves a fun arctic getaway with her foster sister before settling down to open a bakery. Street-tough but vulnerable, she is unprepared to find ancient gods escaping a frozen cave—merciless beings who target her when she inadvertently enters their war.

Though Vale is now his enemy, Knox is consumed with lust and a fierce need to protect her. But only one combatant can prove victorious, and he will have to choose: live for freedom, or die for love.

This is the first novel by Gena Showalter that I have read in the romance adult section. I have read one of her YA novels before and really enjoyed it. And I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well! It was awesome and I loved the vibe from this book! She just brought this intense and well rounded world to life and really liked what it brought to the table. Her world building is just fantastic, nothing was too complicated and you could really get an idea of where you were at during this story. She also really made me interested in getting back into paranormal romance because I haven’t been reading much of it in the past few months. It was one of my favorite genres and I miss it after reading this book. Thank you Gena!

This was just so sexy and wow! I am a sucker for sexy times in novels, like legit sexy times. This had plenty of that and heck yah I loved it! I won’t deny that! Lol! This was also dark and broody and yes I loved that as well! I love dark novels like this and I’m trash for them. I’ll admit it. I’m total trash for these types of novels. I get hooked like nobody’s business and can’t put it down for nothing!

I did think this was a bit gory at times, but it didn’t bother me that much that I couldn’t just enjoy the novel. It almost felt like a better version of the Hunger Games in my opinion. Having this novel be about gods of war was hot! So many men acting like alpha males alongside alpha females and having them all battling each other! It was just hot! *fans self* I mean it isn’t exactly like the Hunger Games, it’s definitely more intense, but it is a battle to come out on top; just grittier, and better.

I also was surprised to find this had some humor in it. I’ve heard from friends that she normally has a sense of humor in her novels, and I hadn’t really caught that except in this one and I loved it! It was great! After all the gritty and sexy times in this novel, having humor as an undercurrent was nice to find!

I really thought that Gena’s writing was fantastic! I enjoyed her writing in her other novel that I read, and I was glad to see that her writing was something I still enjoyed. She tends to hook you into her storyline and you cannot help but be dragged along. Once you pick up her work, you don’t want to put it down and those are the types of novels that I tend to enjoy myself the most with. I want you to take me on a fun adventure, and I like being hooked into a storyline or romance, and I was happy that Gena did that for me. I read it almost in one day and I know if you’re into paranormal romance, you’ll get sucked in to!

Overall I highly recommend this novel, it’s a fun read! You won’t want to put it down, and you’ll find yourself falling for Knox and Vale and wanting the best for me during this novel. I’m excited for the next novel! I enjoyed the other characters and I want to read more about them and have them get their stories told! I need it! Badly!

Have you read Gena’s work? Which novel or novels did you read from her?? Which do you recommend me reading from her next??

 

 

 

 

Dear Jane Release Day Launch

 

 

 

 

 

I broke her heart ten years ago and left town.

She hates me, and rightly so. It doesn’t matter that the rest of the country loves me, that I’m a starting quarterback with a multimillion-dollar contract. Because when I look in the mirror, all I see is a failure who was too young—and too afraid—to fight for what I wanted.

But I’m not that guy anymore, and all I need is one shot to convince her.

***
He has no idea what happened after he left. And now I’m supposed to work alongside him like we don’t have this huge, messy history?

But I’m older now, wiser, and I won’t let anything stand in my way of doing a good job for this league. Not even one overpaid, arrogant player who thinks we’re going to kiss and make up.

News flash, buddy: I am over you.

 

SHORT REVIEW

I loved this book so much! It’s a wonderful second chance romance between a NFL player and his first love (aka his high school sweetheart)! Who doesn’t love that???! It was so great! I honestly haven’t read that many sports romances but I can tell you that this will be one of my all time favorites! My heart swooned reading about their romance! I think it was one of those things where you can’t help but fall in love with him and his softer side when he only shows that to her. That was my favorite part!

Their chemistry was through the roof! I loved it!!! Love them and the romance and how you could really tell they clicked! That insane chemistry also came with tension and I think that added to their romance!

I think what I also enjoyed reading was their history! It was obvious they had history and you couldn’t help but love them for both their past and their potential future!

But also I think the characters were really well written! They were very well developed characters and I appreciated what Kendall brought to the table with them.

Highly highly recommend this romance! It has sports, tension, romance, and a wonderful storyline! I loved this and I think everyone will when they check it out!

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | APPLE BOOKS | Kobo | Nook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 1.5 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. She’s a traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins UK, as well as an independently published author. Since she first began self-publishing in 2012, she’s appeared at #1 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than three dozen times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine.

Visit her at: www.kendallryanbooks.com for the latest book news, and fun extras

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Prodigy

Prodigy by Marie Lu

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Published: January 23rd, 2013

Rating: 

Summary: Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic’s most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots – a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

So I powered through this novel and I died when I finished. I wanted more! I thought this book was filled with action and twists and turns that I was not expecting. I was shocked at what was revealed and just what happened in the end.

Like wow I did not expect a certain character to do or be a certain way. I know that’s really vague but again I don’t want to spoil anything. But know it involved Razor! He is intense and wow…things just happened I didn’t expect with him…

And seeing June and Day I just love them. I was sad they had so much heartbreak but at the same time it made it more interesting for me. I just wanted them to be happy together and for Day to find his brother. But again I enjoyed reading about their relationship and the hardships they faced. I normally don’t but their romance felt different to me from different people in other books and I loved it. The ending of this book broke me. You know what I am talking about if you’ve read this book. Not just the romance part, but the other parts dealing with Day…

If you’ve read this book, you’ll understand why I was obsessed with reading Champion and seeing what happened!

I felt like there wasn’t any slow moments in this novel, and I felt like the writing was really well done. And that it all kept me engaged and I didn’t wanna put the book down, I was taken along on this journey by this amazing fast paced book. I feel like Marie writes novels that you never are able to put down, and you are pushing through and trying to find a way to get through to the end because you have this need to read more.

June I enjoyed reading about. I like her and her character a lot. She is a tough character, but she’s also smart. She knows when to fight, and knows when to use her brain. And she’s able to think for herself. I just appreciate her and how she is able to make herself useful and fight to get what she needs to get done. And while she has seen a lot of stuff going on she is able to open her mind and listen to Anden.

Day was great as well. I liked seeing his determination to get his brother back and what he had to face for his happiness. Reading about his struggles was really great, I mean I’m sad he had to struggle, but he overcame them and did what he could about them and….I’m not making sense but basically him facing all these hardships really added to his character and gave him a lot of character depth.

Overall I just felt like this was an amazing book, and I never wanted to put it down and I felt like it had none of that sequel slag a lot of people complain second books have. I get it too because sometimes the sequel isn’t that great compared to the first or the third, but I felt that this one was great and had a lot of action and kept me moving forward. It was a great sequel and I loved it!

Have you read this series? If so, what were your thought on this book compared to the first or the third?

The Midnight Star

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Published: October 11th 2016

Rating: 

Summary: Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained.

When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.

So ummm I cried once this book ended…if you’ve read it you might know when I’m talking about. But that ending broke me!

I cannot!

I can’t!

I lost the ability to can.

Just like the tale of what happened to a certain character and how another character tried to find them and what people said about them made me cry!!!!

This book was an amazing conclusion to an amazing series! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! And it was insane because I wanted the audiobook to go faster, and since I got the audiobook CD from the library I couldn’t make it go faster since I was listening to it during my car rides. I did love the time that I spent with this novel!

It’s just an insane novel, and I loved seeing the characters develop, and seeing relationships be tested and such! I might get into spoiler territory but I love Magiano and Adelina and seeing their relationship develop! I love seeing him help her and calm her and be there for her. She feels like there is no one she can trust, and after the life she had before she started the Roses, and seeing her sister turn her back on her and such; she really needs Magiano. And I loved seeing him be the one person she could turn to when she feels alone. I just thought they had an addicting romance!

It was interesting seeing Adelina struggle with her illusions, like seeing people she killed and such through out her day to day time. I thought it added an interesting twist and at the same time I felt badly for her because it seemed to be tortured. I just wanted things to be better for her, and I knew that she struggled a lot and it was hard for her to focus on anything at times.

And I liked the new drama going on with the Daggers and their stories as well. They weren’t my favorite characters in the storyline, but I did feel they were important, and relevant, and they were interesting! I liked reading about them and seeing things from them, especially when signs were going against them and their powers seemed to be doing things to them they were not expecting! That was interesting and I thought it was totally different to what I thought would happen!

Also seeing Violetta suffer was so sad, but I liked her relationship with Raffaele and how he took care of her. I just though it was nice for her to meet new people besides her sister and I felt like Violetta was a key to helping Adelina and the Daggers come back to each other and help each other save the world.

Overall this book was filled with action, secrets being revealed, and I just loved this! I felt it was a solid ending, and while I cried my heart was full with this book! Highly recommend checking this out! This series is just one of a kind! I’m sad it’s over but I am so happy I have read it!

Have you read this series? Which book in the trilogy is your favorite? Which character is your favorite? Mine is both Adelina and Magiano!

 

The Rose Society

The Rose Society by Marie Lu

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Published: October 13th 2015

Rating: 

Summary: Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good when her very existence depends on darkness?

Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to The Young Elites.

This series really made me feel that Marie Lu is one of the best YA fantasy writers out there. I love this series so much and it’s just so fun and full of crazy action and intense moments where you’re on the edge of your seat just freaking out!

Basically I was dying as I was reading this….

That’s what I mean to say.

And since I read this book (this review is way late) I have finished the series and wow…I have no words! I can’t speak! I am shooketh!

Adelina is just a very intense character, and you can’t help but feel bad for her and want the best for her. She had a hard life since she got the sickness. She has been tortured by her father, while her sister did nothing to stop it. Honestly I know people feel like its wasn’t Violetta’s fault but I feel like she could have done more for her sister. It made me mad reading about how much Adelina suffered while Violetta didn’t, she still cares about her father and in a way still loves her father. It’s just sad that Adelina put up with that without any help.

And seeing her at the end of The Young Elites and seeing how she was treated by The Daggers really didn’t help her with how she felt towards the world. It was interesting seeing her anger towards everyone and how that drove her and pushed her to do the things she did. Seeing her do the things she did was actually impressive.

Her power is what I like the most about her in all honesty. She had a power to make illusions and she really showcased them in this novel and I think they made her so much cooler to me! She was strong, and it was insane how her powers worked and how they could do what they could do! But it made me sad with what they were doing to her as time wore on.

I adored Magiano and I was so happy that we got to meet him! I loved him so much and I thought he was a great character! Reading about him and Adelina and their banter, and their relationship thought out the series was awesome! I didn’t even realize that he was in the first book until later and I was like “woah!” hahaha I just adore him! He’s one of the best characters in the trilogy!

I felt this was a very action packed, fast paced novel, and I never had trouble picking this up and zooming through it. I never wanted to put it down and I love that about Marie Lu’s writing! I haven’t found a book of her’s that I want to put down. I think she’s an amazing writer, who creates amazing characters that you get attached to, and fight for! While Adelina is vicious and can be cruel, you can’t help but feel for her and the horrors she experienced in her journey to getting where she was. Both with her father and with the Daggers. I know she was content because she had Enzo but the other Daggers didn’t exactly make her feel welcome besides him and one other Dagger. I knew what she was doing to people was cruel, but again seeing how horrible she was treated by many different people I can’t imagine her leaving all of that unscathed.

But overall I highly recommend you all to read this series! It just gets better and better honestly. I love this series so much! I want to reread it all again because I want to experience this world again!

Highly recommend Marie Lu to you! She’s amazing!

Have you read her books? Which is your favorite?

 

Leah on the Offbeat

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Publisher: HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray

Published: April 24th 2018

Rating: 

Summary: Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst.

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

So, I read Simon a few months ago and then right after Leah on the offbeat came out and so I picked it up. And in Simon, I didn’t really care for Leah that much, I just felt like she rubbed me the wrong way. I think it mainly had to do with her attitude.

I did not like her attitude at all!

It’s weird, because I understand to a certain extent why she is the way she is. But I just felt like the whole book both in Simon and in Leah on the offbeat that she just needed to tone down her attitude a lot. I know I’m going off on a tangent about it but I just can’t help it.

In this book she would get angry at people for the littlest things, and would get angry when they wouldn’t really take her along places but at the same time it seems like she didn’t even want to go. I mean I get it because I kind of feel the same way at times when even though I might not want to go it’s still nice to get an invitation but I just fell at times she kind of blew it out of proportion. I do agree with her and the comments that she made about bisexuality, because it is true. People like to think that because they’re attracted to someone that that automatically makes them bisexual or automatically lets them mess with other peoples feelings. That’s what I felt like one person was doing, I’m not gonna say who but if you read the book you’ll know who I might be talking about. Just for some reason I didn’t like the vibe I would get from this person regarding this romance a relationship. And speaking of romance, this romance wasn’t my favorite and I just felt like it was too convenient and I felt like the feelings were not what they could have been.

I don’t know…I hope that what I said above made sense. Basically I didn’t like a certain character and what I thought felt like the hold she had over someone else and how it was super convenient that she felt a certain way towards someone. I just didn’t agree with that and it didn’t feel real and such. I didn’t believe that.

But I liked Leah and her dynamic with her mother. I appreciated that the author made her mother more present in her life. As someone who’s mother is very much in her life, I love seeing family dynamics between mothers and daughters. They were great with each other, and it was sweet seeing her mother react to her friends and her life choices and everything else. I just thought her mother was amazing and I loved her so much! I felt the same with with Simon and his family. This book has really fantastic family relationships.

Also I liked seeing some people from The Upside of Unrequited being mentioned and such in this one too! I loved that book as well, and I enjoyed seeing them come back into this world.

But Leah and Simon are prolly my favorite interactions besides Leah and her mother. They are great with each other! And I liked seeing Simon and his man form Leah’s eyes. It was so sweet… I loved it.

And it was super sweet and amazing seeing the kids from Simon grow up and make adult decisions about college. And I loved that they followed their heart without all following their significant others.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and I will read more from this world. But Simon will always be my favorite book….but if you loved Simon, you will enjoy this book very much! Highly recommend checking it out!