Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series/Standalone: The Lunar Chronicles (Book #1)
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Pages: 387
Publisher: Square Fish
Year Published: 2012
Format: Paperback Copy (Own it)
First Line: "The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle."
"Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time....
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl.
Sixteen-year-old Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past and is reviled by her step-mother. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the centre of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future. Because there is something unusual about Cinder, something that others would kill for."
My Rating: 4.5/5
I was hesitant going into this book because this is another well loved series on booktube and the book community, and I would be disappointed if I hated this one. But I really enjoyed it! I think that this book is a perfect binge read. This series is fast passed but also written in a way that you feel like you're getting a lot of story line in a short amount of time. Marissa Meyer everyone was telling me to read your books and I feel like I've wasted so much time putting this one off for long. The half a star was docked due to the ending that I predicted to an extent but other than that this book is an amazing read. I can't wait to continue with the series. They are being added to my next month TBR.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
So I finally got to this book that feels like it's been on my TBR forever (because it has, let's be honest with each other). I loved this book! I think that Marissa Meyer kicks ass with retellings, while making them her own. The story was so unlike anything else I'd ever read. And while there were elements from Cinderella I didn't feel like everything was predictable. There were a few things that I guessed, such as the ending fact about Cinder's identity, but I think that that just made sense.
The setting in this story is another interesting factor in this first instalment. In a dystopian novel were Earth has many different governments after World War IV, and there are freaking people who have "powers" on the moon, it's hard not to get caught up in the world. I can't wait to continue the series and see other parts of this world through the next story.
Characters:
Cinder: She's an interesting main character to me, because of her different makeup. Being a cyborg obviously isn't always accepted in this world, and especially with the plague going on and people refusing to "volunteer". I think that she was the right amount of naive and with a reason (not enough to make me roll my eyes while reading).
Kai: I wonder how his life will continue when or if he finds out about Cinder's true identity and what that could mean for his kingdom and the Lunars.
Peony: She was sweet, ditsy but sweet. I cried when she died, especially when Cinder was so close to saving her.
Queen Levana: I'm not going to lie I can't wait to rad Fairest to see about her life and how she became to be an evil dictator.
Iko: Please come back to our story line. I miss your cute, sassy comments. Ugh perfect side character.
Dr. Dmitri: You son of a gun killed a lot of cyborgs to find the one you were looking for. Also what else do you know about Cinder and the Lunar migration? I want to know so much more.
Adri: I hope you're embarrassed but I'm surprised you weren't the real villain during this story to make it a classic Cinderella retelling.
Pearl: I could do without your snotty little attitude. Hopefully we don't see you for a long while... or ever.
Moments to Remember:
Final Line: "But they would be looking for a ghost."
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Everbound
Author: Brodi Ashton
Series/Standalone: Everneath Series (Book 2)
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 358
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year Published: 2013
Format: Audiobook
"Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity- a debt that should've been hers. She's living a borrowed life, and she doesn't know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.
Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen- and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.
Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they'd anticipated- and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack- even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.
In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we'll go to for the ones we love."
My Rating: 4/5
This audiobook was addicting. I loved the way the author changed the setting, in and out of the Everneath helped to give this story a little more depth than the first book in the story. I also found that some characters were more intricate during this story. For example, the changes that the side characters go through throughout the novel. I also think that this book had a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I can't wait to continue with the series as this book left on a bit of a cliffhanger. It's already downloaded and ready to go.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: The End
Author: Lemony Snicket
Series/Standalone: A Series of Unfortunate Events (Book #13)
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 368
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Year Published: 2006
Format: Hardback Cover (Library Edition)
First Line: "If you have ever peeled an onion, then you know that the first thing papery layer reveals another thin, papery layer, and that layer reveals another, and another, and before you know it you have hundreds of layers all over the kitchen table and thousands of tears in your eyes, sorry that you ever started peeling in the first place and wishing that you had left the onion alone to wither away on the shelf of the pantry while you went on with your life, even if that meant never again enjoying the complicated and overwhelming taste of this strange and bitter vegetable."
"Dear Reader,
You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of THE END. The end of THE END is the best place to begin THE END, because if you read THE END from the beginning of the beginning of THE END to the end of the end of THE END, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope.
This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous twelve volumes, you probably can't stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents.
It has been my solemn occupation to complete the history of the Baudelaire orphans, and at last I am finished. You likely have some other occupation, so if I were you I would drop this book at once, so the end does not finish you.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket"
My Rating: 5/5
I've finally done it. I've finished the series! I mean it's only taken me a year, but I did it. And now I can start the Netflix series. But first, I want to write my thoughts on this last volume. This series, overall I would say is a middle-grade series that has the very interesting narrative from a character who you never encounter in the series but has a connection to our main characters over time. I would warn you not to read this spoiler if you haven't read the other 12 volumes in this series, but then I would sound so much like our dear friend, Lemony Snicket. I think that this book does an interesting job of speaking about being morally grey and how it feels to be unsure if you are good or evil. It also holds a great mystery right until the end for readers of all ages. That being said, you must be able to keep up with some of the authors "rambling" some of which proves to be important to the story and other pieces which are written at length for no apparent reason. I, as a reviewer, can relate.
This story was by far my favourite in the series so many things come to a conclusion while leaving a vague enough ending to leave a reader wonder about other things in the series. The characters in this series go through such a complex character growth that is realistic in the time given by the 13 volumes of the series.
It is a series that I think a reread would give you a different insight into the story after completing the series totally. I hope to reread these in coming years (not anytime soon as 13 volumes are no small task when your TBR is hundreds of books long).
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: The Penultimate Peril
Author: Lemony Snicket
Series/Standalone: A Series of Unfortunate Events (Book #12)
Genre: Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery
Page: 353
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Year Published: 2005
Format: Hardback Copy (Library Edition)
First Line: "Certain people have said that the world is like a calm pond,, and that anytime a person does even the smallest thing, it is as if a stone has dropped into the pond, spreading circles of ripples further and further out, until the entire world has been changed by one tiny action."
"Dear Reader,
If this is the first book you found while searching for a book to read next, then the first thing you should know is that this next-to-last book is what you should put down first. Sadly, this book presents the next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, and it is next-to-first in its supply of misery, despair and unpleasantness.
Probably the next-to-last thing you would like to read about are a harpoon gun, a rooftop sunbathing salon, two mysterious initials, three unidentified triplets, a notorious villain, and an unsavoury curry.
Next-to-last things are the first thing to be avoided, and so allow me to recommend that you put this next-to-last book down first, and find something else to read next at last, such as the next-to-last book in another chronicle, or a chronicle containing another next-to-last things, so that this next-to-last book does not become the last book you will read.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
My Rating: 4.5/5
This story is the next-to-last book. If you didn't gather that from the description above. It was a really interesting last book it took place with so many different characters from the children's past. It was great to read about I can't wait to finish the series. This series is asking young readers tough questions what is good, what is evil? Are we all morally grey? I just wish I would have completed the series at a younger age though, as the twists and turns might be more shaking.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Series/Standalone: The Diviners Series (Book #1)
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Mystery
Pages: 578
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Year Published: 2012
Format: Paperback Copy (Own It)
First Line: "In a town house at a fashionable address on Manhattan's Upper East Side, every lamp blazes."
"Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City- And she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It's 1926, and new York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.
Evie worries he'll discover her darkest secret, a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened."
My Rating: 5/5
This book gets hype so much and I totally get it. The Diviners is unlike anything that I've ever read. I really enjoyed the writing style, it was beautiful but spooky. I would give a precursor that this book is a little spooky with the idea of supernatural and the occult. But if you're fine with a bit of a thrill then I think you'd enjoy it overall. This story follows so many characters that you get a really good view of the world and the time period from so many different perspectives.
The suspense in this book was on amazing. I had to do the thing where I would close the book and just stare at the wall to calm myself down. I would get so caught up in the story and then realize that it was a book, it was all in a book and I could calm my butt down.
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who loves paranormal elements along with a crazy mystery. Can't wait to continue on with the series.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
So this is the first time in a long time that full length book got a 5/5 stars from me. And here is why:
1. Characters that you fall in love with and who bring a lot of depth to the story.
2. The settting/time period
3. The writing style: beautiful, spooky, suspenseful, thrilling
4. PARANORMAL MYSTERY IN 1920s? Sign me up.
When I first heard about this book I proceeded with caution because of the hype. The more a book is hyped the less I tend to like it. Maybe I'm an accidental hipster... you tell me. But this book was amazing. It was so different than anything I'd ever read before, the language and the setting made it unique and interesting. I love the idea of speakeasies, the idea of the suspense that anyone could catch you at any time drinking.... scandal. The author does a marvellous job at keeping the reader intrigued and guessing.
Characters:
Evie: She is really something. The way she describes doing things "wrong" really caught me in this book. How she would try her best to do and say the right things at the right time but always felt like she was messing up. I feel like that's super relatable for most people. Don't we all just wonder if we are messing things up sometimes? There were other parts of her personality that I didn't care for, selling out stories to newspapers, sneaking into "abandoned" houses, ya know just things that didn't seem like the smartest ideas. I'm excited to see where her gifts take her next.
Memphis: I loved him more than most of the characters. The fierce love he had for his brother and the way he did anything for him made me heart warm. The way he felt about Theta and treated her was beautiful. I can't wait to see what happens in his life with so many people aware of his powers and those his brother possesses as well..
Theta: She's amazing. I'm very interested in what she can do and how she will handle her past going forward with Memphis.
Henry: To be living his life in a time period where such things were considered much more than Taboo, it makes you wonder how he got so strong to handle rumours
Will: I want to know so much more about his life and what's coming? Why won't he take advice from any one whose letting him know their premonitions?
Jericho: How long before things mess up for him? Also I understand he's not interested in Mabel but maybe he should just tell her that, instead of her finding out that he's with her best friend.
Sam: I thought that Evie would end up with him for sure. What with their witty banter and the way they had started to get on throughout the book. Ugh. I like him I won't lie. I wonder where he'll come into play again.
Mabel: I wonder what she'll do if or when she finds out about the powers everyone around her seems to have.
Isiah: He might be the most in danger from Blind Bill of all people. What's that story about? I can't wait to see where that part of the story line goes.
Moments to Remember:
Final Line: "he took her face in his hands and his kiss blotted out the sky."
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Series/ Standalone: Everneath Series (Book #1)
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mythology
Pages: 370
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year Published: 2012
Format: Audiobook
"Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her boyfriend- before she's banished back to the underworld... this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance- and the one person she loves more than anything. but there's just one problem: Cole, the smouldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.
As Nikki's time on the surface draw to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's Queen.
Everneath is a captivation story of love, loss and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton."
My Rating: 3.75/5
This audiobook was exactly what I needed this month. It was a reminder about why i read and why I started to listen to audiobooks. Yes, parts of this book were incredibly corny, but that being said the story overall had a plot and an interesting idea. What would make you give up your life to someone else? Completely, emotions and all? I think that the author did a good job of showing our main character and her changing world. To be reintroduced to her life after forgetting so much must have been difficult, to say the least. That being said I was left with some questions and plan to continue listening to the audiobooks as the story line is enjoyable overall. I can't wait to see the boys and if they continue to fight for our Nikki.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Saga Volume 4
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Pages: 152
Publisher: Image Comics
Year Published: 2014
Format: Paperback Cover (Own It)
"Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. As they visit a strange new world and encounter even more adversaries, baby Hazel finally becomes a toddler, while her star-crossed parents Marko and Alan struggle to stay on their feet."
My Rating: 5/5
I can't resist these freaking graphic novels. I love them to pieces and each one is more surprising than the last. Due to the vast setting and fantasy/science fiction aspect, there are still so many places this story can go. I love the way the art complements the story by being beautiful but still sharp and contrasting to the crude violent scenes. I can't wait to continue the series and see where the story goes. I love our characters and wonder what other adventures they will go on.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: The Star-Touched Queen
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Series/Standalone: The Star-Touched Queen (Book #1)
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Pages: 342
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffith
Year Published: 2016
Format: Hardcover Copy (Own it)
First Line: "Staring at the sky in Bharata was like exchanging a secret."
"Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen?
Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire...
But Akaran has its own secrets- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance. Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most... including herself."
My Rating: 3/5
This book has been raved about on booktube since it came out and the sequel/companion novel also was spoken about highly and while I understand some of the praisings, some parts of this novel just fell flat for me. The writing in this book is beautiful and so poetic, but I found myself having trouble keeping up with where the story was going. Personally, I just think that the writing was too flowery for the story that was its companion. I also found that most of the twists and turns were predictable. I gasped once or twice over the choices of our main character, but other than that I found it all slightly predictable.
All these things considered I have decided not to continue on with the series, but would be interested in other works that the author comes out with, just in a different series or subject.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
So this book was all over booktube when I first started watching booktube, and it was all over the place. People were raving about the cover, the story and the writing. So I decided to pick it up. Overall for me, this was just a bit of a letdown. It did not live up to the hype. While the writing was beautiful and almost poetic, it was too flowery for the story itself I had trouble keeping up with the metaphors and symbolism so much that I had to reread paragraphs to grasp where the story was going. I also found that the twists and turns were not as surprising as they were intended to be. I guessed that Amar was death himself and that Nritti was the villain in the story. These things aside, I won't be continuing the series/reading the companion novel, although I'm interested in other works the author may put out.
Characters:
Maya: She was a sad main character at first and to see her struggling just to feel alive and like she belonged broke my heart, but when she found Amar it seemed like things started to head in a different direction. Until she was naive enough to believe everything anyone freaking told her. It was frustrating that she believed anything anyone told her when she was so quick to question Amar to begin with.
Amar: I liked him but during the flashbacks, I saw why she stepped into the pool of souls for reincarnation. To say, fine go is a horrible idea but that happens in so many couple arguments. I also think that his love for her was beautiful, but I wish that their story of the meeting had been expanded a little more (and yes I know there is a novella and no I am not going to read it).
Gauri: She would be the only reason for me to read the companion novel. And I loved her attitude by the time we saw her again. Her power and the love of her people are beautiful.
Gustpa: I'm very interested in his background but not enough to read the prequel, unfortunately, his love of riddles was sweet to read about and reminded me of the riddles in ACOTAR
Kamala: Everyone seems to love her, but I didn't really care for her overall. We saw her for a short time and when we did she was just obsessed with chomping on someone. Which is fine.
Nritti: Obviously the villain but her story was also tragic. That being said, he was going to be reincarnated, but that's not soon enough apparently.
Moments to Remember:
Pg. 269
"'You're not a sadhvi, not a thief and not entirely a charlatan,' said Mother Dhina. 'Who are you?'
If I could tell her, I would. But that answer was beyond me, so I gave the only one that felt right.
'I'm a dead girl walking.'"
Final Line: "I was Queen of Naraka."
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
