Cinder by Marissa Meyer - non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

*Hides in shame* I reread this book in 2015 in preperation of the release of Winter - which I still haven't read, btw :-s - but I never got around to posting my review. (Luckily, I wrote most of my thoughts down after finishing the book.)

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA, dystopia
Format: paperback

*Story:
This is a Cinderella retelling. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic in New Bejing. She has a stall at the marketplace and there she meets Prince Kai. They get to know each other, but unfortunately Kai can't make decisions about his own future because the Lunar queen, Queen Levana wants to marry him. There's also a plague, called Letumosis. Scientists are working around the clock to find a antidote and cyborgs are being drafted to help find it. After Cinder's stepsister Peony becomes a victim of the plague her wicked stepmother sends Cinder off to be tested for an antidote. From this point on, the story really takes off.

*Characters:
-Cinder: She finds herself in a typical cinderella-like situation, which made me really feel for her. She has two stepsisters, one who's nice, one who's a total bitch and a stepmother who can't stand her. Cinder is an interesting character because as a reader you find out about her past at the same time she does. On the other hand, she is also a typical teenager, trying to find her place in the world - which is made even more difficult because she is part cyborg.

-Iko: Cinder's robot. Well, actually she belongs to Adri (Cinder's stepmom), but she constantly accompanies Cinder. I love Iko, she is such a fun and emphatic character. She acts more like a teenager than a robot and she is a total drama queen, but that's part of the fun.

-Prince Kai: the handsome future emperor of New Bejing. He has a lot to deal with: the plague, the death of his father, the eminent threat of Queen Levana and her explicit wish to marry him. You really feel his struggle when all he wants is to be a normal young man, able to choose his own destiny.

-Adri: Cinder's wicked stepmom. Urgh, the number of times I've wanted to strangle that wretched woman... Like the typical fairytale Cinderella stepmom, she never wanted to take care of Cinder, especially after her husband died, so she never lets an opportunity pass to make this known to Cinder.

-Queen Levana: the ultimate villain, oh how I hate this woman! She's manipulative and deceiving, usually gets what she wants and she is so unbelievably cruel!! This character was so well executed, she is such a complex character and that's what makes her a 'good' villain.

-Dr Erland: He's the doctor leading the research for the letumosis antidote. He's such an intriguing character and there is definitely more to him than meets the eye!

*Plot / world building:
I really liked the world building, you get a clear view of how the 'new' world is constructed. You have the different countries, ruled by different people and then you have Luna, the inhabited moon.. We don't really get to know that much about Luna, only that the Lunars believe they are better than the Earthlings. There are Lunars who possess the gift of manipulating people and there are those without this gift, called Shells. Several Lunars live hidden on Earth, even though Queen Levana has put a sentence on those helping Lunars hiding on earth.

*Overall rating:
Reading this for the second time made the story even better. I remember it took me some time to get into the story the first time around, but not this time. I was immediately drawn into the action. You get a great insight into the character's emotions and the growth they go through. The book contains some major plot twists which I didn't always see coming. This was the first fairytale retelling I read and it set the standards high.

Also, the esthetics of these books are stunning: the cover and font are beautiful. The title page for each new 'book' is done beautifully.

Have you read Cinder or the other books in the Lunar Chronicles? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson - spoiler free review.

Hi booklovers

After rereading Amy & Roger's Epic Detour (I have a review for this book here) I felt like going on a Morgan Matson binge read. So, I decided to pick up 'Second Change Summer' and reread that one before moving on to 'Since You've Been Gone', which has been on my shelf for over a year now.

Title: Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Genre: YA, contemporary
Format: paperback

*Story:
Taylor Edwards has a habit of running away when things get tough. This summer however, something happens to her dad that she can't escape. Her family is going to spend the summer at their lake house. There, Taylor will be confronted with all the things she ran away from five years earlier. Will she run away again or will she stay and her second chance?

*Characters:
-Taylor Edwards: A 17-year old girl who has a habit of not dealing with situations when they get tough, but instead she runs away from them. In the story, Taylor goes through a lot and she has to deal with a lot of emotions. Does she always react correctly to some of the things that happen? No, but that's just what makes her humane. I really liked Taylor as a character, she grows a lot throughout the story.

-Henry Crosby: He and Taylor had a crush when they were 12. They haven't seen each other for five years after Taylor ran off in a hurry. At first, he tries very hard to keep his distance from Taylor, he even acts a bit cold towards her. But then again, you can't really blame him for it, not after the way Taylor treated him. But Henry is such a sweet guy, who still cares about Emily very much. Plus, he works at a bakery ;-)

-Lucy Marino: She's Taylor's former best friend, but because Taylor ran away they haven't seen or spoken to each other for five years. Needless to say, Lucy isn't very happy to see Taylor again, especially when it turns out they will be working together during the summer. A lot of things have happened during the previous years and it takes a long time for Lucy to come to terms with Taylor being back in her life. Lucy is one of those characters you immediately like, even though she gives Taylor the cold shoulder at first. But then again, can you blame her? She's sassy and even though she sometimes does stupid things, she's someone you can count on.

-Robin Edwards: He's Taylor's dad. The things that are happening to him are the reasons Taylor has to go back to the lake house. He goes through a lot and even though he is very scared, he still keeps on going and I admire him for that.
 
!!SPOILER!!
The way he deals with the cancer progressing is in my opinion very humane: he's scared but he still tries to make the best of the time he has left. I was also very touched by all the letters he left behind for everyone to be read at certain moments in their future lives.
 
There are more characters in this book, but these were the ones I wanted to talk about.

*Plot:
I love how Morgan Matson turned this into a very believable story. You could feel - and believe - all the emotions each character goes through. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions, but somehow the characters and me as a reader got through it more or less okay. The details of the setting also made you feel like you were there with the characters. I also like that you get to know the things that happened five years earlier through flashbacks.

*Overall rating:
I loved this book just as much as I did the first time I read it and yes, I cried my eyes out again. This is still a solid 5 star read.
Because I read this back to back with Amy & Roger, I found the reference to that book, which I didn't the first time around :-)

Have you read this or any other Morgan Matson books? Which ones and which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Assassin's Apprentice - non-spoiler review

Hi booklovers

Recently I've been reading more fantasy books again and I have to say to me it feels like coming home. I have discovered some new genres I enjoy since watching BookTube and joining Goodreads, but fantasy will always remain one of my first reading loves.

Anyway, this post is a non-spoiler review about a great fantasy book I've read in October.

Title: Assassin's Apprentice

Author: Robin Hobb

Genre: High fantasy / heroic fantasy

Publication Date: First published in 1995, this version was published in 2014

Format: Paperback

*Story:

This is the first book in the Farseer trilogy and we follow the story of Fitz - or FitzChivalry as he is later called - who is crown prince Chivalry's bastard son. Since the crown prince doesn't want to have anything to do with his son, Fitz is raised in the stables by the prince's stableman Burrich. After a year Fitz is summoned by his grandfather - the current king Shrewd - to be trained by Chade, the king's assassin. He is to become a king's man - aka an assassin. Growing up at the castle isn't easy for Fitz because almost everyone regards him as a lesser being because he is a bastard. So, the first book deals a lot with Fitz' struggles in finding his place at the castle and getting involved in the politics of the country.

*Characters:

-Fitz: He is the bastard son of prince Chivalry. We meet him as a 6-year old boy, who is brought to the castle by his grandfather. He is taken in by Burrich who teaches him to take care of the animals in the stables. Fitz also gets to learn how to read and write and how to use weapons. Later on he is trained to be the king's next assassin.

-Burrich: He is prince Chivalry's stableman / friend who takes care of Fitz when he first arrives at the castle. He is a bit of a gruff character who feels a bit betrayed by Chivalry because he can't go with him after he abdicates the throne and moves to the countryside.

-Chade: He is the king's current assassin and he is ordered to teach Fitz how to become an assassin. He is a very intriguing character and there is definitely more to him than meets the eye.

-Verity: King Shrewd's second son and the current king-in-waiting after Chivalry abdicates the throne. He welcomes Fitz to the castle and likes him because he reminds him so much of Chivalry. He is very strong with the Skill.

-Regal: King Shrewd's youngest son and the complete opposite of both Chivalry and Verity. He is a very jealous man who despises Fitz very much. I really didn't like him!

-Shrewd: The current king and a man who isn't afraid to use people for his own personal goals.

-The Fool: Another very intriguing character and again there is much more to him than meets the eye!

There are more characters, but for me, these were the most important ones.

*Plot:

Besides interesting characters, this story has two intriguing magic systems:

-The Skill, which is the ability see things over a (long) distance, to communicate telepathically with people who also have the Skill and even influence people's thoughts, emotions and actions. People who have the Skill can be taught how to use it properly, although much of the knowledge regarding this ability has been lost.

-The Witt is the ability to communicate with animals. However, this is looked upon as something bad and is therefor forbidden.

Fitz possesses both these skills, but Burrich forbids him to use the Witt and tells him it's not normal to communicate with animals and see things through their eyes - which happens when someone bonds with an animal.

*Overall rating:

I really liked this story even though it has a slower moving plot. I think I just needed a slower moving story at the time I picked it up. Even though there are a lot of - well-developed - characters in this book, I never got confused. The world is also very well-developed. I normally don't like stories that have a lot of politics in them, but somehow in this story I didn't mind it. Maybe that was because the story is actually more character-driven than plot-driven.

Robin Hobb has a way of making you love or hate the characters and feel what they are feeling.

Another thing I really liked is the way that noble people are named: their name tells you something about their character. After they are given a name, they grow up to have the characteristics connected to their name.

I also want to say I love the cover of this book - it is much nicer than the earlier versions - and the map is great too.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads and I definitely will be continuing on with this series. (But I've learned the hard way that marathoning series isn't for me. A few times now I've noticed that even though a series is very good, I get distracted when I spend too much time in the same world.)

Thank you so much Samantha, Kaitlin and Mercedes (definitely go check out their YouTube channels!) for raving about Robin Hobb's books and getting me into this first story.

Let me know in the comments if you've read this book and what you thought of it or if you are interested in picking it up.

Bye for now

Annelies

The Resurgence of Violet Blake - non-spoiler review

Hi booklovers

It's high time I did another review for you.

Since starting school again in September I've been using my e-reader a lot more while commuting to and from work and I decided to start the first novella in a series by Bre Faucheux.

Title: The Resurgence of Violet Blake - book I in the Violet Blake series

Author: Bre Faucheux

Genre: YA paranormal

Publication Date: 2014

Format: e-book

This is the new cover

*Story:

The Resurgence of Violet Blake tells the story of Shawn Cassidy, a girl who descends from a line of healers. She has always known that she is a healer and she has tried to use her abilities whenever she can. This hasn't always been easy, because when she was younger she healed a girl too much too quickly and her mom and dad told her off because she nearly exposed her whole family. Secrecy is an important concept in this story: they have to keep their ability a secret because the world can't know there are healers around. She lives together with her mom and dad - who are both doctors - and her brother Gavin - a paramedic.

We meet Shawn while she is in high school, where she is having a bit of a rough time. Together with her best friend Lucas she tries to get through the (school)days without being overly noticed. But things start to change when the hottest guy in school, Carter, starts noticing her and even asks her out.

From there on the story takes off because a lot of events happen that turn Shawn's world upside down. I'm not going to tell you anything more because that might spoil you for the rest of the story.

*Characters:

- Shawn Cassidy: I instantly liked Shawn because I could kind of relate to her while she is in high school. She is trying to go through the day unnoticed, but when Carter asks her out she gets picked on by his ex-girlfriend. I was never bullied or anything, but because I had my own style, fellow pupils tended to laugh at me from time to time. Shawn's character goes through a lot of changes rather quickly (but not too quickly, the changes are still believeable).

-Shawn's parents: We don't really get to know them in this story. We are told that they work very hard and that there are days that Shawn hardly sees them at all. This means that Shawn and Gavin mostly had to look after themselves.

-Gavin: He's a paramedic. He was supposed to become a doctor just like his parents, but he wanted to rebel a bit, so he became a paramedic. He's a good guy who wants to help people out as much as he can.

-Carter: Shawn has had a crush on him since forever and she can hardly believe it when he starts showing interest in her. We don't really get to know him, just that there is more to him than first meets the eye.

-Lucas: He's Shawn's best (gay) friend and the best friend you can have. He always has her back and always gives her 'advice'.

-Liam: He's a guy working for the CIA who turns out to be someone completely different.

- Isaac: Liam's boss. He's a strange guy and a bit temperamental.

*Plot:
This novella is a set-up for the other novella's in this series. We get to know some characters that are going to play an important part in the rest of the series (which I have already read and absolutely love). This is a very fast-paced story, because a lot things have to happen in a limited number of pages. We don't get much world building, but that didn't bother me because the story takes place in a modern day America and England.

*Overall rating:
First of all: I read a version of this book that still had some spelling/grammatical mistakes. I know that Bre has been very busy revising the stories and she has just released the boxset of the series. Keep in mind she is a self-published author and she has to revise her own work.

I gave this book 3.75 stars on Goodreads. I really liked the story, but as always it took me a while to adjust to the fact that I was reading a novella. On the one hand I think things sometimes move too quickly, but on the other hand I'm always surprised that the book ends when it does. This book made me curious enough to immediately move on to book two in the series.

If you like paranormal stories about healers, then definitely pick this one up.

Bye

Annelies

You can get the box set from Amazon or Kobo 

April 2015 - wrap up

Hi booklovers

This is my April reading wrap up. This month was a great reading month, thanks to the Easter break :-) I read a total of 9 books.

You can click on the titles to go to the Goodreads pages.

1) Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers.

This is the sequel to Grave Mercy. This time we get the story from Sybella's POV. We already met her in Grave Mercy. While GM was packed with political issues that could really be tedious at times, this book focuses a little less on the political stuff. I found this book to be slow at times and action packed in other parts. Especially the last part is action packed and some surprising secrets are revealed. I really liked the characters, especially the interaction between Sybella and Beast. It's also nice that Ismae  and Duvall (Grave Mercy) are still part of this story. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I gave it 3.5 stars.

2) All Lined Up by Cora Cormack. 

This is the first book in the 'Rusk University' series. I really liked Cora Carmack's Losing it series, so I wanted to give this a try. This series made sure that Cora is now one of my auto buy authors :-) I really liked this book about Dallas and Carson. I did have some problems while reading the parts about football, because I hardly understand the game :-s. On the other hand, I could really relate to Dallas' love for dancing - having taken dance lessons myself for 10 years :-). I really liked how sassy Dallas can be sometimes, she is a rather strong character with good character development. I also really like the interaction and (sexual) tension between Dallas and Carson.

This is New Adult, so beware of sexual content. I gave it 3.5 stars.

3) When I'm Gone by Abbi Glines.

This is book 11 in the Rosemary Beach series. This is part of a massive companion series where the stories all tie together.
After You Were Mine I was really hesitant about picking this one up, because I began to find them a bit 'more of the same': SPOILERS READ AT OWN RISK  boy meets girl or vice versa - something bad happens (usually an unexpected pregnancy) - they split up - they find out they can't live without one another - they get back together - they live happily ever after.

I also really don't like the covers anymore. I have the first 7 books in these 'nice' black covers with items on them. But books 8 and 9 have people on the cover and they are soooo cheesy. (I have book 10 on my e-reader since it is a free e-novella) From now on, I'm only getting them on my e-reader, because the covers are just so bad. But anyway, rant over. This story focuses on Mase - Harlow's (Take a Chance - One more Chance) brother and he is a typical cowboy, including the boots and hat. Reese - the female protagonist - got a bit on my nerves because she could be so naive at times.
I have to admit I rather enjoyed the story. Just don't go in expecting high quality literature. It's cheesy at times, full of clichés, but still addicting nonetheless. There's something about these stories that keeps drawing me back in, although some parts make me cringe. I'm going to give the next one in the series, 'When You're Back', a go - it comes out June 30th. There are still more books to come in this series but it'll really depend on the next one whether or not I will pick them up. I gave this one 3 stars.

I do recommend you read the books in order, because they contain major spoilers for the other books. You can find the reading order here.

4) All Broke Down by Cora Carmack.

This is the second part of the 'Rusk Univesity series' and this time we get Silas' story. At first I didn't think I would like Silas because of what happened in All Lined Up, but that soon changed. He is such a loveable character and so is Dylan, the female protagonist. In this story the focus isn't so much on actual football games, so it wasn't as confusing for me to read as the first one. (It still revolves around football and college, but it was looked at from 'the outside'.) Maybe I should read up on American football so that it's not so confusing anymore :-)
This story is a bit heavier on the sex scenes, but it's still not too overwhelming.
Like All Lined Up I read this one in almost one sitting and I can't wait for the third one in the series to come out. I also gave this one 3.5 stars.

5) Making Faces by Amy Harmon.

This one was a bit of a disappointment. I went into this with really high hopes because of April's NA recommend video. She was raving about this book so much that I really wanted to read it. The premise of the story is good, but I didn't think it was that well executed. I found the story to be very slow at times. I was actually more moved by Bailey's part of the story than I was by Ambrose's, which is supposed to be the main plot line. I gave it 3 stars.

6) Addicted to you by Becca & Krista Richie.

This is the best book I've read so far this year. I have a non-spoiler review on my blog, if you want you can check it out. This is NA, so beware!
This is the first book I've rated 4.5 stars this year.

7) Ricochet by Becca & Krista Richie.

This is the sequel to Addicted to you. It's actually an in-between novel that links Addicted to you to Addicted for now. I really enjoyed this. It gives you a good insight in the processes that both Lily and Lo have to go through. But not just that, you also take a look at their past, which helps you to better understand some of their actions and decisions in the first book. I'm not going to say anything else because I don't want to spoil you. I gave this book 4 stars. I'm dying to continue this series, but I want to pace myself, because I want to make this series last as long as possible. Fortunately, the authors assured me that the books get chunkier as they go along, so YAY for chunkier books :-)

8) Encounters by Bre Faucheux.

Since this is the third part in 'The Elder Origins' series I'm not going to say too much about it because I don't want to spoil it for you. What I can say is that I really enjoyed this story. I have to be honest that it was a bit confusing at times, but in the end all the information clicked into place. The characters develop even further, which I really enjoyed. As with the previous two parts, this is a good combination of historical elements with fantasy ones. And I'm so happy the vampires - or vampyrs - don't sparkle while walking in the sun!! I can't wait for Bre to publish the 4th part of the story. I gave this 4 stars.

9) From the first sight (2) by Gwendalyn Fox.
This is the second part in Lexi's story. I have come to enjoy these stories very much because they are quick but very addicting reads. I think Lexi is the most complicated character in these companion novella's and I really feel for her and the struggle she is going through. Can't wait for the next one because this one ended on a major cliffhanger :-) 
Remember, this is erotica, so it's heavy on the sex scenes. I haven't rated this yet, but I'm thinking of giving it 3.5 to 4 stars.



I think we can safely say that April has been an NA month :-) Maybe this is because Spring invites me to read more 'lighthearted' things. What genres do you prefer to read during Spring? Also let me know in the comments which books you've read in April and what you thought of them.

Bye for now

Annelies 

March 2015 - wrap up

Hi booklovers

Apparently I forgot to write my March wrap up, so here goes: 

In March I read 5 books (although, some of the books I read were 3 books in a boxset), so it was a good reading month.

1) Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan.

This was my first TBR-jar pick and the first Colgan I've read and I really enjoyed it. I gave it 3.5 stars on Goodreads. At first I had to get used to the way the story is told. You have two different POV's: Rosie Hopkins', her aunt Lilian's and then you also have flashbacks from Lilian's past. But once you figure this out, it's a really fun story to read. Mind you, the parts about Lilian's past were heart wrenching at times. Being the sweet tooth I am, I really enjoyed reading about the different sweets that used to be sold in Lilian's shop. The only problem was that I didn't know them all. I'll have to look up some of the sweets to really know what they are. And this book made me want to visit old sweetshops :-) I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, because when I picked it from my TBR-jar, I didn't think I was in the mood for it. But it pleasantly surprised me and I will definitely be reading more of her books. I already own 'Meet me at the cupcake cafe' and I'll be picking up the sequels to this story: 'Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' sweetshop' and 'The Christmas surprise'. 

 










2) Exile by Bre Faucheux.
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

This mini-review contains spoilers. I you want to read it, just highlight the text.

 bit helpless, but iThis is the second novella in 'The Elder Origins' series and the story picks up where 'The Elder Origins' left of. We meet Madison after having fallen into the river and waking up with a Sioux tribe. During this part of the story we find out more about what Madison and Jayden have become: vampires. They learn how to deal with their new 'life', their abilities and their thirst for blood. They receive help from a healer from a Sioux tribe. The healer knows what happened to Madison and he wants to help her come to terms with her new condition. Jayden is a bit more restless and he wants to return to their homeland and he asks Madison to join him. During this story we get to know all the cool things vampires can do, all the abilities they have along with the characters. I really enjoyed the character development in this book. First I thought that Madison was a bit whiny and she seemed an this story she really grows and she learns to stand up for herself. She has to, considering Jayden is the only one of her homeland left and the only other vampire she knows. And believe it or not, Jayden is actually growing on me. He can still be arrogant and selfish, but you also get to see a different, more compassionate side of him. When I told Bre this, she said that Jayden was such a misunderstood character :-)
When they arrive in England they discover that the plague has been wreaking havoc. And this is where the story takes an interesting twist: they find out that another one of the original 'crew' has survived: Lyndon. And with that cliffhanger, the 2nd book ends.
Like in the first part, Bre manages to combine historical and fantasy elements brilliantly.

3) From the first touch (1 - 4) by Gwendalyn Fox
These novella's are in the romance / erotica genre. They were actually the first erotica stories I've read. In this series we meet Jayme and follow the development of her relationship with actor Lucas Wolfe. They were fun, sexy, steamy reads. Sure, sometimes they're a bit cliche, but that doesn't stop me from reading them. Beware these books contain a lot of sexual content! I gave the whole series 3 stars.

4) From the first kiss (1 - 3) by Gwendalyn Fox
This is a spin-off series of the 'From the first touch' series, focusing on Lauren - Jayme's friend - and her story of finding true love. I really enjoyed these novella's. I appreciate them for what they are: erotica, nothing more, nothing less. I still believe in judging a book by it's genre. You shouldn't expect complex stories from books in this genre, they are meant to be fun, exciting, enticing. If you want to read something more complex, choose a different genre! I gave the series 3.5 stars.

5) From the first sight (1) by Gwendalyn Fox
This is another spin-off series. This time we get to know Lexi's story - Lexi is Lauren's colleague and friend - and I have to admit that this is the most intriguing character so far. I hope that there will be more to her story, because she is a more complex character with a heavier background than Jayme and Lauren. Although I have to admit that Lauren's background isn't all that pleasant either. I also gave this one 3.5 stars.

What have you read in March? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Winter TBR - wrap up

Hi booklovers

During the Winter season I managed to read 14 books out of the 19 on my winter TBR. Actually, to be honest I read 9 books from my TBR and 5 that weren't on my TBR.

Here are the TBR books I've read: 

* Crown of midnight - Sarah J. Maas
* The Elder Origins - Bre Faucheux (e-book)
* Falling Kingdoms - Morgan Rhodes
* Rebel Spring - Morgan Rhodes
* Gathering Darkness - Morgan Rhodes
* You were mine - Abbi Glines
* Faking it - Cora Carmack (e-book)
* Finding it - Cora Carmack (e-book)
* Seeking her - Cora Carmack (e-book)

Other books I've read:

* Kiro's Emily - Abbi Glines (e-book)
* Bitter sweet love (reread) - Jennifer L. Armentrout (e-book)
* White hot kiss (reread) - Jennifer L. Armentrout (e-book)
* Stone Cold touch - Jennifer L. Armentrout (e-book)
* Breaking the rules - Katie McGarry (e-book)

I'm curious to see how many books I will be able to read during spring.

Bye for now

Annelies

February 2015 wrap up

Hi booklovers

During the month of February I was able to read 5 books, thanks to my midterm break and some shorter, quicker reads. I've added the links to the Goodreads pages so you can check out the synopses.

1) Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes: non-spoiler review / spoiler review.

2) Faking it by Cora Carmack. This is the second book in an NA companion novel series. I've read Losing it and Keeping her (a novella) last year. The first two books are about Garrick and Bliss and I really liked reading about them, so at first I was a bit hesitant to read the other stories. (I tend to have that reaction to companion novels, I had the same issue with Katie McGarry's books.) But while I was on the train to go to Waterstones Brussels the other day, I decided to read it on my e-reader. I was still reading Gathering Darkness at the time, but I didn't feel like taking such a chunk of a book with me, so I took my e-reader instead.
This story is about Cade and Max - it's written in dual POV - and I read it almost in one sitting. Cade is trying to get over Bliss but he has a hard time forgetting her. And then, all of a sudden Max comes into his life asking him a weird question.
Like Losing it and Keeping her this was a quick, fun, sexy read, but with a bit of an edge. I know most NA stories are about the same themes but this one didn't have the cliches that Abbi Glines' stories sometimes tend to have. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. (Click here if you want to know how I rate books.)

Beware if you're a younger reader because this has sexual content.

3) Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes: non-spoiler review / spoiler review. (coming soon)

4) Finding it by Cora Carmack. In this book we follow Bliss' best friend Kelsey on her trip around Europe. On this trip she want to discover herself and find out what she's going to do with her life. What I like about this book is that although there is instant attraction between Kelsey and Hunt, they don't hit it off immediately. You have your typical characters weighed down by their personal histories, but it was so well written that this didn't bother me. My heart was trampled on a couple of times. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.

5) Seeking her by Cora Carmack. This is a novella in which we get part of the Finding it story told from Hunt's POV. I really liked it because we get to know a bit of the story before the start of Finding it. It was nice to get to know the story from Hunt's POV and some of his back-story. The only problem I had was that I thought it ended at a weird point in the story. I would've loved to read a bit more. That's why I gave it 3.5 stars on Goodreads. 

All in all, February was a good reading month :-)

Which of these books have you read or would you like to read? Let me know in the comments!

Bye for now

Annelies

Rebel Spring - non-spoiler review

Hi booklovers

Title: Rebel Spring

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Genre: High Fantasy, YA

Publication Date: November 27th 2013

Publisher: Razor Bill

Goodreads

Goodreads summary (highlight the next text if you've read Falling Kingdoms!)

Auranos has been conquered and the three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But alluring, dangerous magic still beckons, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the world. . . .

CLEO is now a prisoner in her own palace, forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her people MAGNUS stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister, Lucia LUCIA is haunted by the deadly outcome of her breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdoms JONAS watches at the palace gates, a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King Gaius When Gaius announces that a road is to be built into the Forbidden Mountains, formally linking all of Mytica together, he sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will forever change the face of this land.

My review:

Just like with the first book, I really like this cover, I've always had a soft spot for hooded capes.

Once again you get a map and the list of characters - which is adapted for this book.The list of characters is handy to go back to when you're confused.

Morgan changed the way the chapters are introduced: instead of telling you which land you are in, you immediately know which character's POV this chapter is in and also where it takes place. I like this even better than the names of the places in the first book.

The prologue of this book introduces new characters, which is nice. It keeps the pace of the story going.

The world and characters are constantly being developed. You think that you know everything about a character and then something unexpected happens. Some of the characters that are mentioned in Falling Kingdoms are given a bigger role to play in Rebel Spring: Queen Althea and Lucia.

All in all, I think this is a good sequel in which a lot of things happen and there is never a dull moment. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

Bye for now

Annelies 

Rebel Spring - SPOILER book review

**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**

DON'T READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T READ Rebel Spring YET! I also have a non-spoiler review.

If you want to read the following text, just highlight it :-)


In this post I'm going to talk about my feelings about the book. Again I would like to apologize if this is a bit confusing, but I wrote down my feelings while reading the book. Remember these are my personal thoughts and feelings!

* Pretty soon after the start of the story I wanted to strangle Aron for telling Cleo's secret about having slept with him to save his own sorry little ass. Grrr!!

* Magnus is starting to grow on me: the way he cares for his sister and he seems to be genuinely concerned about Cleo when she's kidnapped. 

* Queen Althea is such a bitch the way she wants to kill her daughter 'to save her'. I almost did a happy dance when she was killed.

* I kind of saw the kiss between Jonas and Cleo coming because of all the chemistry between them, but I was still surprised about the timing. I totally ship them!

* In my spoiler review of Falling Kingdoms I wrote that I wondered if Cleo wasn't reacting too calmly to the death of her loved-ones. She answered that question herself: 'I can barely remain standing and contain my grief'. This made her very real for me.

* All the feels when the rebel's attack at Cleo & Magnus' wedding backfired and King Gaius forced them to continue the ceremony.

* I don't care much for Lucia. Granted, it's difficult for her to deal with her elementia, but she is such a nasty person sometimes.

* I was on the train while reading the scene when Jonas was stabbed through the heart and my boyfriend was sitting next to me. I went: 'Noooooooooo, this can't be happening' and I started flipping the pages and he was like: 'What are you doing???' And then the feels when Phaedra rescued him and was betrayed by her brother Xanthus!!

* My face went like this O____O when Prince Ashur kissed Nic, didn't see that one coming at all. I don't know why but Prince Ashur reminds me of Prince Oberyn of Game of Thrones.

* I still hate King Gaius for all the things he has done, especially when we find out he was the one who ordered Aron to kill Queen Althea. He is such an infuriating character.

* The moment I found out is was Brion who was captured and brought before Magnus and Aron and then when Aron stabbed him to death, my heart just stopped. The way Morgan Rhodes describes those scenes is so heart-breaking. You could feel all the emotions going through Jonas and Lysandra while watching this.

* A second happy dance occurred when Aron was killed by Magnus.

I really liked this sequel. It was packed with emotions and I wanted to pick up the next one immediately. This is something that rarely happens to me, usually I need to put the series down after reading two books. This is the case for the 'Throne of Glass' series and the 'Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices' series. So, it's a good sign that I wanted to pick up book 3 in this series straight away.

As always, let me know in the comments what you thought about this book. Let's discuss it!

Bye for now

Annelies

Falling Kingdoms - non-spoiler book review

Hi booklovers

I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon of reading the 'Falling Kingdoms' series. After watching Bre Faucheux's review and Lainey's recommendation on YT I decided to give it a try.

Title: Falling Kingdoms

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Genre: High Fantasy, YA

Publication Date: December 11th 2012

Publisher: Razor Bill

Goodreads

 

Goodreads summary:

Treacherous betrayals, secret alliances, unforeseen murders, and forbidden love —
The world of Mytica will hold you captive:

AURANOS - Privileged Princess Cleo is forced to confront violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse.

LIMEROS - The king’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything.

PAELSIA - Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Witches, if found, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

My review:

I would like to start off by saying I absolutely adore the cover of this book, it's so beautiful. The inside of the book is also nice, I really like the map.

Something I found really helpful was the character list, you can easily go back to it when you get confused.

The story is told from multiple perspectives and I really liked that. It's a good way to get to know a lot of the characters and the world. 
Besides the good character development there is also great world building. Morgan Rhodes paints a great picture of the differences between the three countries. The story is told from the perspective of different characters - mostly - within their own country.

I liked the distinction between 'mere' witches and sorceresses.

Characters:
*Cleo: This is the character that has the best character development in my opinion. When we first meet her she is a spoiled little brat, but you soon discover that she is faithful and strong-minded. She knows what she wants, but she doesn't always think before she acts.

*Aron: Urgh, the first character I did not like. What an arrogant bastard!

*Theon: Oooh, Theon, he's loyal, dutiful and totally swoonworthy :-)

*Nic: He is a funny, loyal friend to Cleo.

*Jonas: He's a very strong character, driven by his desire for revenge.

*Magnus: I know some people instantly liked Magnus, but I simply don't know what to think of him. I like that he stands up to his father, but most of his actions infuriate me.

*Lucia: I can't really say much about her without spoiling the story, but like with Magnus I'm not sure yet how I feel about her.

*King Gaius: What a horrible man! The way he treats Magnus is infuriating.

*Chief Basilius: What a fraud!

Overall opinion:
I really enjoyed this story. The writing is really good, not too complicated. Most of the characters are well developed. The world is described very well. The pacing is just right. It was a real roller coaster of emotions.

I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. 

Let me know in the comments if you've read this book and whether you liked it or not. Please don't put spoilers in the comments! I have a spoiler review up as well, so we can discuss the book more in detail over there.

Bye for now

Annelies