Waiting on Wednesday (120)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on A Court Of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (5/5/15)

Description on Goodreads:

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Why I’m Waiting:

Because I’m human…No, really. Why would anyone not be waiting for this one? I love this author’s other series. I know she can seriously write great characters, insanely interesting worlds, hilarious sarcasm, and lots of great action/adventure to boot! Plus, this one is also supposed to be like Beauty and the Beast? Does anything not sound fantastic here? The cover kind of reminds me of the Pretty Little Liars covers for some reason. But, I don’t care. I would want this book if the cover was the worst cover of all time.  May is an awfully long way away though.

What are you waiting on this week?

Atlantia by Ally Condie

Summary (from Goodreads):

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

Review:

So, I’m probably not the first reviewer to say this, but I was expecting something a little more Little Mermaid and a little less dystopia. I am a fan of Condie’s early dystopia trilogy and I was kind of looking forward to a more fantasy/fairytale-esque book. And I’m not even totally sure why that was what I expected. The summary doesn’t quite scream Little Mermaid. Maybe it’s the whole wanting to live above, “Wish I could be part your world” connection I was making, but that’s kind of where the comparison ends.

Like with her other books, Condie’s writing style is very poetic. I can totally see why she has people drooling over her writing and why she has also has people not liking it. You either like it or you don’t; I don’t see many in-betweens. I happen to be one of the readers who loves it. The way she writes about this world is mesmerizing. She legit had me seeing the surreal underwater city. From the races to the black market, to the strange/mythological temple, I saw it all. This is definitely a book for those who like their world-building. Condie nailed this.

It was also slightly a twin story. And you know I love those. But more than that, what it really was, was a story of escape. There was the whole, typical dystopia theme of realizing that everything you thought you knew was most likely a lie. And there’s a lot about learning who to trust, what to believe, and doing what you need to do to survive. I found the siren aspect to be different. I liked that the sirens were both powerful and submissive. I liked how strong the ladies of this world are (even the ones who seem to be incarcerated).

There was a little bit of romance, and I liked it. The love interest (for the first time in a long time) was not a jerk! He was super nice and worked with machines, but was also an artist. All the scenes that took place with the romantic interest helping the main character with the races and the extreme sports type scenarios was just so much fun to read about. I liked the role seashells played in the story. And I also liked all the twists and turns the author kept throwing in.

I think the book is a standalone too (so yay!). It wasn’t perfect. It did read a little bit slowly and it did take me a week to read (though, it was also during the week I was finishing up with NaNoWriMo, which I’m finished with now!). But still, it was a bit descriptive heavy for YA. And I can see not everyone being into this. I did enjoy it though.

I also think the main character could have been a little bit more interesting. She was smart and strong and willing to do whatever it took to go above and find her sister again. But, I never really loved her like I do other characters. And I really wanted to love her.

All in all, the writing was beautiful, and the world-building top-notch. It was descriptive heavy and a little slow at times.  But, the twists and turns, and classic dystopian elements mostly made up for this. I do wish I felt more for the main character, but I’m not really 100% sure why I felt such a disconnect; I just did. I give it an 8/10.

Waiting on Wednesday (119)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on Tonight the Streets are Ours by Leila Sales (4/7/15)

Description on Goodreads:

Tonight the Streets Are Ours is a YA novel about a teen girl living in the suburbs who becomes obsessed with a blogger in New York City, and sets out to track him down in real life.

Why I’m Waiting:

So, I realize that isn’t much of a description, and I also realize there is almost a year to wait on this book. However, I absolutely loved This Song Will Save Your Life, and hopefully a year will be plenty of time to read her other YA that she wrote earlier. Also, it’s about finding a blogger! Can there be a hotter topic right now? And, what a gorgeous cover! I know this one will be good.

What are you waiting on this week?

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Summary (from Goodreads):

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

Review:

As I said on Goodreads earlier, sometimes you finish a book, and it's so good, and you feel so strongly connected with the characters that even when you know it's over, you can't quite let the book go. This is one of those books. It's the kind you finish, and then clutch to your chest in a book hug. This author got so many things right. Things about siblings, and families, and love, and grief, and hate, and art.

I knew right away that this book was different. The writing style was beautiful. I can see some people not getting it and loving it. It’s layered upon layered in metaphor. And I don’t always love so much metaphor, but in this case, it just flowed. It was natural. The writing style was both natural, yet also exaggerated. And that just worked perfectly with the story that was also both of those things.

I’m so glad I read this one when I did.  I needed it this week. I did. And I’m so glad I didn’t read it earlier to its release date when my own grief might not have mixed well with the grief going on here. There is so much loss in this book. There’s pain and then there’s pain that makes you cut through stone over night like a stone-cutting ninja sculptor warrior. So many tough things happen. There’s loss, depression, lying, cheating, affairs, and so much darkness and drama.

But there’s also this great, sarcastic sense of humor throughout everything too. There’s always a disease to think about to distract oneself from charming, leaning British artists. And there’s animal facts and stargazing, and first love too. There is some steamy romance in here (both between Jude and her leading man, and between Noah and his), mixing with the heart-wrenching break-ups and realizations. It was also a twin story, and I can’t get enough of those.

I’ve never read a YA book that discusses art like this one does. Between the painting, the street art, the drawings, the museums, the sculpting, and the stonework, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a great sense of image from a book before. The artwork was leaking off the pages. I was seeing it all, and I wanted to see more.

Also important, is the romance isn’t just of the heterosexual variety. I thought Noah and Brian’s relationship was both usually more interesting than Jude and Oscar’s, and more sizzling. It was the slow building variety. And I was shipping them for so long! I was shipping Oscar and Jude too…just actually not quite as much.

I feel like I’m not even giving this book enough justice. It was powerful, strong, and unique. It’s one of my favorites of the year (I think I did vote for it on Goodreads as my favorite of the year) I give it a 10/10. Go read it.

A Good Week in Books (93)

So, I had a rather uneventful book week. I did purchase two new books that are oh so pretty. But, I haven’t even finished reading one book this week! The book I’m reading now is super amazing, and I think it’s actually one of my favorite books of the year, but my mind is not focusing. My mind is on the novel I’m writing. I’m kind of dreading not finishing it by the end of November. I just hit 30,000 words this morning. And I kind of have 20,000 more words to write in a week…What am I thinking? I’m still trying to read 100 books this year for my Goodreads challenge, and I’m a little afraid of not finishing all these challenges.

On the plus side, I’m writing a YA book that I’m a little bit proud of. And even if I don’t finish it in 7 days (though, I will try!), I will definitely finish it soon at the crazy rate I have been writing it. When I’m not focusing and not reading all the YA books like I normally would, I am in book zone, thinking about my characters.

Any way, challenge worries aside, these are the lovely books I purchased and that I just cannot wait to get started on:

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson
The Body Electric by Beth Revis

How was your book week?

Waiting on Wednesday (118)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on Lies I Told by Michelle Zink (4/7/15):

Description on Goodreads:

What if, after spending a lifetime deceiving everyone around you, you discovered the biggest lies were the ones you've told yourself?

Grace Fontaine has everything: beauty, money, confidence, and the perfect family.

But it’s all a lie.

Grace has been adopted into a family of thieves who con affluent people out of money, jewelry, art, and anything else of value. Grace has never had any difficulty pulling off a job, but when things start to go wrong on the Fontaines' biggest heist yet, Grace finds herself breaking more and more of the rules designed to keep her from getting caught...including the most important one of all: never fall for your mark.

Perfect for fans of Ally Carter, Cecily von Ziegesar, and Gail Carriger, this thrilling, high-stakes novel deftly explores the roles of identity and loyalty while offering a window into the world of the rich and fabulous.

Why I’m Waiting:

I really enjoyed the Prophecy of the Sisters series by Michelle Zink. I know she’s written more since then, but I still need to get to it. And this one sounds super awesome. It has an Ally Carter feel to it, and I’m all about it. The mixture of conning the wealthy and falling for her mark makes this main character sound beyond interesting. It will be fun to read something a bit more contemporary by this author too. I’m not sure I’m feeling the cover because it’s kind of yawns-ville, but I just know this book will be good.

What are you waiting on this week?

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Summary (from Goodreads):

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

Review:

I’m a big Marie Lu fan. I loved the Legend Trilogy. It’s one of my all time favorite YA dystopias. When I heard a new book was in the works, I just about jumped for joy. Was this one as good as Legend? Not quite. Was it still a lot fun? Definitely.

I feel like everything I’ve been reading has been good, but nothing has been amazing in a while. I was kind of hoping for an amazing with this one, and got stuck with just another plain old good.

This book had a very French Revolution type vibe going for it. Though, the setting seemed more reminiscent of Venice, Italy. There seemed to be a lot of water and gondolas –not to mention giant, masked ball type celebrations. However, the Dagger Society felt a lot like the revolutionaries. They wanted the malfettos to be treated better, or at least equally to everyone else. All the plotting, spying, secret missions, royal politics, and training felt like revolutionary school for beginners. And all of this was super fun to read about.

Also, what’s not to like about a main character who’s missing one eye and has silver hair? She’s so not the typical hero. Yes, I felt bad for her. But, she had some dark mojo going on too. She thrived on people’s fear…And got a little too into the killing aspect of her job. However, I really couldn’t blame her. She got the short end of the stick on her childhood situation. Also, there was some seriously dark family drama going on with all the twisted flashbacks to the worst dad of the year. And the whole sister relationship aspect of the story was also really cool. I like stories where siblings are important and not just background noise.

So, why wasn’t this awesome sounding book amazing? I never really felt like I cared for any of the characters. I grew to love the main character and her sister. But everyone else? I could care less when death happened. I really was never afraid for the Dagger Society’s members. And I guess I wish I cared more for the people in here, particularly the romantic interest, who mostly just came off as a jerk to me.

I loved the plot. Lu knows how to write those suspenseful twists and turns. And wow, that ending was so good, and frankly a little unexpected. So, even though this wasn’t totally amazing, I still need book 2 now. Please. The story, the setting, the concept, the main character, and the revolutionary feel made this worth the read. I just wish I cared more about the characters. I give it 8/10.