Monday, August 31, 2015

Book Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Spoilers from previous books ++ Spoilers from previous books ++ Spoilers from previous books



Hey Readers!
Yesterday I finished Heir of Fire, the third book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, my all-time favorite Fantasy series. These books just keep getting better and better, it's crazy! - In the best way possible:

I honestly don't want to write too much about the plot because the best thing you can do is just jump right into it knowing next to nothing about it. 

In this book we get a bunch of new characters; one of them is Manon. She's a pretty powerful witch and I actually liked her from the beginning. A lot of people hated her first but I thought she was really bad-ass and kind of cool. 
Then there are new people introduced in Wendlyn where Celaena was sent to. I'm only going to mention two of them because they are not too much of a spoiler. Luca and Emrys. I liked them so much, they were so nice to Celaena and tried to give her a feeling of "home". They accepted her even when she was ... let's call it "moody".

The story itself was just so epic and amazing and awesome and I could write a lot more of these words but I think you get the point ;-)
And, think about how good the first and second books were and that the third was even better. Now imagine the level of epicness of the final book! I know we still have to wait a few years untill it's out but I can dream, right?
Do you know these book series or books you want to finish so badly but at the same time don't want to end? This is one of them.

I cannot wait for Tuesday when Queen of Shadows comes out - it's too long!! 

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Thanks for reading!
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Sunday, August 23, 2015

Book Review: Alice in No-Man's-Land by James Knapp





Hey Bookaholics!
Today's review is on Alice in No-Man's-Land by James Knapp. This book came out just recently and was sent to me by the author (thanks a lot, James!:-)) to write an honest review.

Alice Walshe has led a very charmed life, until now. 
Twenty years after a pandemic crippled the country things are finally back on track and her father, a major player at real estate giant Cerulean Holdings, has made billions renewing the pockets of urban decay that were left behind. As his protégé she has accompanied him to one such area named Ypsilanti Bloc, a particularly valuable site due to its proximity to a major thriving city. When their airship is attacked by Ypsilanti's biggest militia, however, Alice and her brother Cody only barely escape and end up as the sole survivors of the crash. 
Alice emerges from the drop ship to find herself trapped in the very Bloc that her father was meant to re-purpose - a ruined city that militias, gangs, and even cannibals now call home. She is discovered by a pair of teens who have tracked the wreck hoping to scavenge anything useful, and with few options open to her she employs their help to find her brother and get home. Things grow more complicated, however, when she realizes that the attack may not have been random, and that Cerulean’s renewal project may not be as benign as she had been brought up to believe.
(Synopsis from Goodreads

The story is told from the perspective of Alice, a strong and smart 20-year-old. In the beginning she needed a little time to deal with the situation she's been thrown into but then she got very determined and tough again. A lot of times she kind of "discusses" with herself what she's supposed to do or tries to convince herself that she can handle everything like saving her brother and staying alive. And I think most people would act like her so, for me, it was really easy to identify myself with her. Once she sees the violence and cruelty but also the kindness in the Bloc, she struggles with what she's been taught to believe and what she actually learned in this completely different world.

There are two great supporting characters too: Maya and Basilio. They helped Alice after the crash and it was really interesting to see all of them grew to trust each other despite the prejudices they grew up with.

In the beginning of each chapter is a small paragraph of direct speech by different people outside the Bloc; politicians, entertainer, news anchors etc, who talk about the current situation of the Bloc and it's residents. I think that was a really good idea because for one thing the reader knows a little bit more than the main character about what's going on "outside" and for another thing I felt it's sort of socio-critical since it can easily be transferred to our time. In the book the government had to decide how to deal with the Bloc but you can't make such an important decision without really having experienced the life of the people living there. I don't know if it was intended that I felt approached on the subject but I did.

What I loved as well was that you jump right into the story, not much explaining about what happened to the country or why they're in the situation they are in right now, which I was very glad about because I like finding out about everything throughout the story without a super long prolog.
 
All in all was this a really great, detailed but fast-paced book. It's not an exact retelling of Alice in Wonderland so if that's what you're looking for, you won't find it in this one BUT it is an awesome, kick-ass story with a tough heroine!

Thanks for reading and pick up Alice in No-Man's-Land!
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JAMES KNAPP
Website
Goodreads
Get Alice in No-Man's-Land on Amazon!

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Vacation Wrap Up

Heyy guys!
Sorry I haven't posted anything the last two weeks but I was on vacation. I read a lot of books there, six in total. I think it would be a little bit too much too write a full, long review for each book so I decided to do a quick Wrap up! Here we go:


Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck. (Synopsis from Goodreads)
Pure is the second book in the Covenant series and I enjoyed it so much. It was even better than the first book Half-Blood. Though I have to say so far I liked the other series by Jennifer I read (Lux and The Dark Elements) better. But this is really good too and I will definitely continue on with the other books.

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

This is about a 16-year-old girl named Angela. She has no idea what happened in the last three years of her life. She was gone, everyone thought she was dead. Something terrible must have happened and now she hast to find out what.
This was such an interesting read! Very dark and mysterious but at the same time so many feels. It just really got to me how Angela found out everything and had to handle the truth somehow. There were shocking plot twists I didn't see coming - actually I couldn't guess anything. Absolutely a five out five stars novel. 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner 

The Maze Runner is about Thomas. He wakes up in a place called Glade which is surrounded by a giant maze. He has no memories of his past except his name. Surrounded by boys who also lost lost their memories he has to find a way out of the maze. Then the first girl ever comes - and she has a terrifying message for them.
I did have some issues with this book:
Don't get me wrong, the story had potential but I didn't like the author's writing style, I mean it wasn't bad or anything, it just wasn't for me. Maybe because of the way he described the characters. Which brings me to the next point: Thomas. I could not bring myself to like him, whatsoever. In the beginning I thought maybe there will be so much character development throughout the book that will make up for his annoying, self-righteous behavior at the start but, for me, there was none at all, at least I didn't see it. BUT there are some great supporting characters I really enjoyed reading about. Like Chuck. He was very funny and nice and reminded me so much of Jude from The Darkest Minds (who I loved!).
More or less I enjoyed The Maze Runner in spite of the difficulties. I just really hope the next book will be better.
 

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all. (Synopsis from Goodreads) 
Throughout this book the whole time I was pretty sure I would give it 4 out of 5 stars but when I finished it I couldn't help it and gave it 5. For several reasons: One is that I loved the character of Lara Jean. How much she cared for the people she loves and how she always tries to be exactly like her sister but then has to find out that the people we look up to are only human too and not perfect after all. I really, really liked the family aspect in this.
Then of course, the letters and the reactions to them: part hilarious (like Lukas'), part heart-breaking (Josh's, though I totally ship Lara Jean with Peter).
All in all, I loved this book so very much and I can't wait to read the next!
 


We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

"We are Sinclairs.
No one is needy.
No one is wrong.
We live, at least in the summer time, on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Perhaps that is all you need to know.  
Except that some of us are liars."
Wow. This book blew my mind. It's so tragic and sad and tears streamed down my face in the end but it's still beautiful. At times it was a little bit confusing, there's this girl Cadence, she had an accident and sometimes i wasn't quite sure if some chapters took place before or after her accident but in the end it's all clarified. I won't tell you anything else about the plot because it's really better if you just jump right into it. All you need to know is that this is a Must-Read!

The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow

The three sisters grew up not knowing their father and not quite catching a break. But it looks like their luck is about to change when they find out the secret identity of their long-lost dad—a billionaire Las Vegas hotel owner who wants them to come live in a gorgeous penthouse hotel suite. Suddenly the Strip's most exclusive clubs are all-access, and with an unlimited credit card each, it should be easier than ever to fit right in. But in a town full of secrets and illusion, fitting in is nothing compared to finding out the truth about their past. (Synopsis from Goodreads) 
I enjoyed The Secret Diamond Sisters so much. It's really a perfect read for summer. Some of the characters annoyed me at parts, like Savannah with her naivete or Madison whose oh-so perfect. But Michelle said that in the next book the reader might feel different about certain characters and I hope she meant these.


These are all the books I read in the last two weeks. 
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