Waiting on Wednesday (56)

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 Shard of Ice by Alivia Anders (3/14):

Summary from Goodreads:

THEIR SOULS, REAWAKENED.

When 13-year-old Lilix Morgan is found alive and floating on a bed of ice at sea, everyone counts it a miracle. Kidnapped nearly four weeks earlier, she remembers nothing of her mysterious abduction. When she tries to remember what happened, she hears only a melody – a faint and delicate set of notes, strung together in a tune she doesn’t understand.

THEIR POWER, UNMATCHED.

A year later and desperate to put the lingering nightmares of her past behind her, Lilix crosses the country to enroll at Baelmorte Academy, aiming to become the violinist she once dreamt of. Things seem to be finally going well, and Lilix settles into a routine of sheet music and inspiration among new friends.

Then the dreams start.

The melody and night terrors she thought she’d left behind return with a vengeance, threatening to ruin her fragile version of normalcy. Then an unlikely ally tells her that she isn’t alone. That there are others just like her, fighting to hide their own shocking truths from coming to light. That they know who she is, and what she’s been through. Now, accompanied by four other girls, Lilix discovers her nightmares are larger than a single trauma; they’re a window to a hidden part of her soul, a place of immense power with a destiny that cannot be ignored.

THEIR BATTLE, IS ONLY BEGINNING.

With this knowledge comes a new and frightening reality. For Lilix has been reawakened to stop an age-old enemy, one thought to have been destroyed centuries ago. Trapped by her destiny, Lilix is torn between what feels right and what she remembers. Her memories tell her of a star-crossed love waiting to be reunited, of friendships and trust broken in the past. But can she save that love when reality brings her an enemy, and an evil that will be the undoing of them all if they don’t destroy it?

Why I’m Waiting:

Wow. So, that is what I call a good-sized summary! It sounds super interesting to me. I like the idea of the music being her one memory of what happened. It sounds like one super epic survival story that also involves starting over with a new life. And I love everything about the way this sounds. I’m also so drawn to this cover.

What are you waiting on this week?

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Summary (from Goodreads):

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

Review:

Wow. So, I’m like still in this post-book haze. What an amazing book 2! It was definitely worth waiting in line for an hour to get this ARC at BEA. Though I wish I got it the day I happened to be standing behind the author in line at Starbucks…then I could have gotten it signed. The book comes out in a month, so you don’t have long to wait for it. But, oh how you need to be waiting for this one! I actually enjoyed it more than I did the first.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about reading all about the jobs the king required of Celaena. After all the fighting and training of book 1, she is now officially the king’s champion. And it’s not like there’s ever a dull moment for a champion of an evil king. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Celaena in book 1. But all the hate was gone in this one. She has definitely stepped it up here. Instead of complaining and whining about things, she actually does them!

Rebel Celaena is a force to be reckoned with. She’s killing, fighting, defending, and learning all the time. And I loved seeing how far she has come in the right direction. When her beloved friend calls her a coward in this book, I would have agreed in book 1. But here, Celaena is doing all she possibly can to defy a king who has murdered everyone she ever loved (in her past). She truly has become a hero in this one.

I also super loved the romance! It is another love triangle, but the good kind, promise. The kind that’s believable and revolves around so much more than instant love. The characters Maas writes are real people with real problems and personalities and this gave the whole fantastical world so much more depth. Plus, things get a little steamy for a while with my favorite boy, so I was very happy.

A lot of things are learned about Celaena’s past –things that were only briefly alluded to in book 1. And while the major twists/suprises were things I had a feeling might be coming, I loved how the author introduced them. Not everything is ever all explained at once. The readers get Celaena’s past in fragments, fragments that need to be packed up and stored away for future reference and puzzle solving later.

The book is layered with riddles, magic, mystery, and suspense. And all bets are off for Celaena when a loved one is kidnapped, someone close to her is brutally murdered, and the next person on the king’s list who she’s required to kill is an old friend from the past. There’s tiny tidbits of hope and references to possible future revolution. There’s a lot more magic and death and politics. But there’s more love and chocolate cake too.

I can sort of see where things are going in the series, and I am so beyond okay with the direction of it all! There’s a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t one.

All in all, there isn’t really a negative thing I can say here. The book has it all: assassinations, kidnappings, court politics, magic, secret passages, mythology, libraries, love triangles, spying, killing sprees, slavery, prison sentences, and so much action and suspense that I literally could not put the book down until I finished it (I was up till 4:30 am reading). The plot, mystery, and characters have improved since the last book. I cannot wait to see what Celaena does in the next one. I highly recommend this book to fans of Kristin Cashore and Tamora Pierce. It so gets a 10/10.

A Good Week in Books (58)

I haven’t done one of these posts in a little while because I’ve really been trying not to get any more books…I’ve been sort of successful at this. I’ve managed to avoid my library’s annual book sale, which is really hard to do. However, I did make a small purchase on Amazon recently. I also received a couple of books for review (thank you to the Disney Book Group).

Ordered from Amazon (which by the way does not send me books the next day or the day after with my Prime membership!):

The Pirate’s Coin by Marianne Malone
Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally

For Review:

 
In Too Deep by Coert Voorhees
False Sight by Dan Krokos

How was your week in books?

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Summary (from Goodreads):

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That’s why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else ever notices them.

Review:

So, this book had so many things going for it. The summary sounded epic. The cover is awesome. And Jennifer Lynn Barnes is pretty amazing at writing strong female main characters who I love. Unfortunately, things fell a little short for me.

The premise was different. Though, there does seem to be an invisibility theme going down this year. I liked the idea that some people are just born to not stand out. There’s nothing really wrong with Claire. She was just born with an invisibility defect of sorts that prevented people from really noticing her. I really loved getting to see how awful this made things. She got left places and forgotten by her parents all the time. No one ever heard her speak. She never got things like towels (at the pool) because no one ever knew she asked for one.

I kind of wish I got to see more of these situations. I got to see the pool thing, but the others were just summarized stories that felt like things that were supposed to make me feel empathy for the main character, and not actual events. And because of all these summarized moments I never got to really see, I never really bonded with Claire.

And then Nix’s story is supposed to be even more sad. Unlike Claire, he was brought up knowing about what he was. He was trained, tortured, experimented on, and forced into becoming an assassin, because like the summary says, whose better at killing people than someone who no one can see? And While I found Nix’s story really interesting (what’s not interesting about teenage assassin whose sent to kill senators?), I never really cared for him that much either. And like with Claire, his past was summarized. I never saw him being tortured or experimented on. I just knew it was bad. I get that Nix isn’t the type of character to dwell on his past, but still –a little more character development would have helped lots.

I loved the story. I liked the idea of the nobodies and the nulls. And I found the whole energy/science/subterfuge aspects to be the best parts of the book. It was un-put-down-able in parts because of this. I wanted answers just as much as Claire and Nix. And being a librarian, I really wanted to help explain to them how to do better library searches during a particular scene. I also cringed when Claire stole so many library books. (And would a girl who loves libraries and books so much, really steal from a library?)

I think another big reason I never really liked Claire or Nix was that it’s so hard to like such self-hating characters. Nix was always telling himself he was nothing and no one could ever care for him. And Claire had just gotten so used to not being seen. I tend to like stronger, more confident characters. And while the confidence of both characters increased as the book went on, it was never quite enough for me. They both seemed rather sad for most of the book.

And then of course the two characters also have an instant connection. Though, I was kind of expecting this from the summary. And I’ve really enjoyed how this author has written love (even a bit of the instant love) in the past, it just wasn’t working for me here. It never really felt like love to me; it was more about how no one else noticed and less about how each of them did. And I kind of feel like a real romance/relationship should be built on more than just the fact that the couple notices each other, even when the whole rest of the world can’t see.

All in all, the characters came off kind of weak. Too many scenes were summarized. I wanted to see more of the characters’ lives, and without seeing them, I never really empathized with them. The romance was of the instant variety, and not handled that well. But, the story and the idea of nobodies kept me interested until the end. I needed to know how things would turn out. And I did like the stand-alone-feel I got from this one. This book was not my favorite, though I have loved other books by this author. I give it a 6/10.

Waiting on Wednesday (55)

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 Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel (3/14):

Description on Goodreads:

Witches must choose the path they will follow, and Darlena Agara is no exception. She’s been putting it off long enough, and in her case, ignoring it has not made it go away. In a moment of frustration, Darlena chooses to follow Red Magic, figuring she had outsmarted the powers that be, since there’s no such thing as Red Magic. But alas, Darlena’s wrong (again) and she becomes a newly declared Red Witch.

Her friends are shocked and her parents horrified by the choice Darlena has made. As a Red Witch, she now governs one third of the world’s chaos. She is the walking personification of pandemonium, turmoil, and bedlam, just as the patrons of Red Magic would have it to be.

But Darlena believes there must be more to Red Magic than chaos and destruction, and she sets out on a journey to achieve balance. Only doing so puts her at odds with the dark goddess Hecate, who simply will not allow Darlena to quit. She encourages Darlena to embrace who and what she is and to leave good magic to the good witches. If only Darlena could, life would be simple, and she would not be the Daughter of Chaos.

Why I’m Waiting:

I sort of came across this title randomly, on Goodreads. It’s not the most enticing cover. But, I’m always on the look for another great witch story. Seriously, I’m tired of the same witch story over and over. And this one sounds utterly and completely unique. I love the idea of her being this witch of chaos. And I love that the goddess, Hecate is thrown in. I’m so ready for this book to come out!

What are you waiting on this week?

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Summary (from Goodreads):

ONE OF THE BOYS

What girl doesn’t want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn’t just surrounded by hot guys, though –she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that’s just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything’s she ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he’s also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan’s feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart’s on the line?

Review:

So, I’m not really sure as to what took me so long to read this one. I’ve read a lot of good reviews for Kenneally’s books. I love books that depict female athletes because we don’t get many of those in YA. And I just adore these book covers! They are so eye-catching. On the other hand, this really is a perfect lazy summer day read, and it’s just what I needed right now.

Jordan is such an interesting main character. She’s not a typical girl at all. She prefers binge eating on buffalo wings, playing foosball, and watching videos of old football games to just about all else. She’s a tomboy of the first order, always rocking the sweat pants/sportswear look. And all of her friends are boys.

The relationship she has with her team is wonderful. They all love her and respect her. When anything is said about her being a lady or about some other guy disrespecting her, they take care of her. She’s also a really great quarterback.

She lives in a town obsessed with football, and her dad is an NFL player. It doesn’t sound like there’s much to be sorry for her. Then you see how her football obsession takes over her life. She’s never dated anyone and says no to most social gatherings and parties, in effort to watch more football and prep more for games. But more than that even is her disintegrating relationship with her father.

He refuses to support Jordan’s dreams of playing football. He goes to Jordan’s brothers’ games. He practices with Jordan’s teammates and friends. He helps Jordan’s friends with colleges. But he won’t support his daughter; he is desperately afraid of her getting injured. And stubborn, strong, sarcastic Jordan refuses to let anything or anyone prevent her from accomplishing her dreams.

The book is good at making it clear how complicated sports (especially football) is for women. Everyone always expects Jordan to be hideously manly or feminine and terrible. She deals with copious pick up lines, comments about her gender, and jokes from everyone she’s up against. The college she’s been dreaming about attending for years seems interested in her, but she has to deal with sexism in an academic setting too. She’s recruited for calendar photos, and college promotions. All she really wants to do is play football. And everything involved with being a woman makes this 100 times harder than it should be.

The boys in this book are great! Actually, most of them are players, but I still love them. I love the biggest player of all, her best friend. And I also kind of loved her first boyfriend, Ty. There’s a lot of things I didn’t agree with in regards to the boys’ behavior, but overall I thought this was rather authentic.

What I loved most was watching Jordan deal with emotions she wasn’t used to feeling. I loved learning about why she became such a “guy.” And I loved watching her handle her first serious relationships. She’s not someone I think I could easily be friends with, yet at the same time she reminds me of one of my closest friends. You know she’s someone who would have your back no matter what. She’s the kind of girl who would stay friends with the guys she dates after she breaks up with them. And she always wants to do the right thing for her team, above the right thing for herself. She is a true leader, and kind of a true inspiration.

The writing and dialog in this one were not my favorites. Sometimes a lot of the dialog between Jordan and her friends seemed forced and dumbed down. The author kept emphasizing how not all football players were the same. Some liked to write, some liked to cook, some were players, and some were afraid of talking to girls. Yet, none of their conversations seemed too intelligent, and I kind of wish she wrote the team to be a little bit smarter.

All in all, I loved this book. I was highly entertained by Jordan and her team. I found the romance addicting. I found the games and practices suspenseful (something I was not expecting), and I found all the hardships Jordan had to face because of her sex to be empowering. I wish certain characters and certain conversations sounded a little smarter. But, this didn’t take too much away from the story. I still read it in one day. It gets a 9/10 from me.

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

Summary (from Goodreads):

The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1^st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2^nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3^rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4^th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5^th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother –or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Review:

So this book has been taking over this summer. Seriously, I see it everywhere. I wasn’t sure about the description, but after reading six really good reviews, I knew there was no way I couldn’t read it.

The biggest thing this book has going for it is the characters. I absolutely loved Cassie. I thought she was honest, brave, and real. I liked that she was always herself throughout all the terrors she endured. She never looses her thoughts about her high school crush. She’s always thinking about her brother. She hates being alone, but knows she has to be. And she’s willing to kill people in order to protect herself and her brother. She is pushed to her limits over and over, but her personality still remains intact. And she has such a personality!

There’s all these snippets of the past that the reader gets in small does. The epic downfall of our planet isn’t all summarized and jammed down out throats in the first chapter (though it is just tiny bit). It happens fluidly over time. I really was guessing as to what exactly happened for at least half of the book. Each wave was terrible, and the worst one seems like the fifth, which you eventually understand in the later parts of the book.

A lot of people have remarked on the suspense and surprise here. I called almost all the major twists; however, this author wrote them extremely well. Everything was in the right spot –and nothing about this world was summarized. It was all shown through painful memories and the questions/debates characters have among each other, and I was super impressed by this. I loved hearing this conversations –knowing what people believed and didn’t believe.

I liked the other characters too. The book did sometimes follow other characters, besides Cassie. And at first, this was kind of confusing. Almost the entire first half was in Cassie’s point of view, and then it just all of a sudden changed to someone else’s with no indication of doing so, and it took me a few pages to realize I was now in the head of male character. I get why Yancey did this. He didn’t want you to know who the character was yet; there’s a big reveal later. But, still it was really disorienting sometimes and it took away some of my enjoyment of the story because I had to keep reminding myself who I was reading about.

On another note though, I read this one super fast. It gets to a point during the last half, where it is literally impossible to put the book down. Do not read this book until you have the time to read a book in almost one sitting!  I was up to 2 am reading, when I had to be up by 5:40am the next day. That was a mistake. But seriously, there is no good point to stop reading here.

The sci-fi elements weren’t brand new, but mixed in with the way Yancey writes dystopia elements, the story really did become unique. Some of what was happening was legitimately terrifying. And I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, in hope of a lot of these kids surviving. The romance was pretty awesome. The description makes it sound like it’s a much more major part of the book than it is. Frankly, there’s not a ton of time for falling in love. But, I absolutely adored the relationship between Cassie and Evan. So much tension, fighting, and mystery –my favorite kind of romance.

I wanted to learn more about Evan than I had the chance to. I’m hoping more is explained in the next installment. I also want to learn more about Them. I want to learn more about other camps, other survivors, and I’m dying to see how things work out between Cassie and someone else too.

This book is sad, suspenseful, terrifying, romantic, and just so addicting. It definitely feels like a Stephen King novel for the YA audience. And nothing is sugar-coated. I highly recommend this one to fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games. Cassie is an amazing main character. The story is impossible to put down. And I’m dying to get more answers. This gets a 10/10 from me (even though the character points of view switches were a little confusing).