*Note: As I finally finish this post I would like to apologize for any editing errors I have made I've tried my best to fix them but, considering the amount of writing I have done I'm sure some slipped by me.*
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_City_(novel)?sa=X&ved=0CCQQ9QEwA2oVChMI7-Og0LX-xgIViaA-Ch3ayQJY
Star rating: ***** (five stars)
Summary of the book: In the sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the children find themselves leaving everything they know behind in desperate attempt to save their injured headmistress. Their journey eventually leads them to London where the must face war, death, destruction, and the fearsome Hollows. However the group does not have to face these challenges alone as they are soon joined by new Peculiar characters trying to save themselves as all of Peculiardom crumbles around them. Racing against the clock Jacob, Emma, and all the Peculiars find themselves thrown into a dangerous world where one wrong choice could sacrifice not only their safety but the safety of their whole kind.
Review of the book: I loved this book! Going into it I was really hoping that it would hold up to the amazing standards the first book set and it most certainly did. I loved the way Jacob's relationship developed with Emma throughout the book. I also loved how we got to know more about each of the Peculiar characters and how the reacted to tough situations. Riggs developed all the main characters so well and I found they all served as brilliant foils for one and other. My only complaint with characterization was that there were so many new characters introduced I felt as if some of them didn't drive the story forward, and the fast plot caused the main group to move away from the new characters quickly and leave loose ends. This caused me to desperately want to know more about many of the characters. That being said I loved the addition of Addison, Joel-and-Peter and, Melina. The plot was fast-paced intriguing, and made the book impossible to put down. Also lets not forget the plot twist. I did not see it coming at all and it left me shocked and desperate to know how the characters would get themselves out of such a grand mess. As always the photographs added so much to the text and were wonderful yet haunting to look at. Words can not describe how excited I am for the third book.
Song for the book: Youth by Daughter
Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick
Star rating: *** (3.5 stars)
Summary of the book: Britt Pheiffer has trained for many months to be able to backpack the Teton range with he best friend. However the trip begins to go awry when she discovers her ex-boyfriend, whom she is still secretly in love with, is coming on the trip. When an unexpected blizzard hits, Britt heads to a cabin to find shelter and soon finds herself taken hostage by the fugitives taking refuge there. Forced to guide them down the mountain Britt must rely on wit and determination to get her safely off the icy slops. However as a series of killings are unveiled Britt realizes she is in more danger then she initially thought and must make a decision on who she can trust.
Review of the book: Overall I enjoyed this book, it isn't one of my favourites but I had fun reading it.
My biggest issue with the novel is that although it had plot twists that would have made the book interesting I was able to guess almost everything that would happen less than halfway through. There was an interesting air of suspense created by Britt having to choose who to trust but it was ruined for me when I predicted the ending. The two things I liked most about the book were the pacing and characters. I found the pace quick and I was able to read through this book in a couple of days making it a nice, easy read. I also enjoyed the characters except for Britt's best friend Korbie who really had no purpose within the plot and weighed the book down with her constant negativity. Britt was my favourite becuase despite the fact she made frustrating choices, the smarts, tenacity and overall strength she showed helped to break the typical YA heroin stereotypes. Jude on the other hand feels very stock I could pull a character from a vast number of books and they would have served his purpose. Overall this book wouldn't be of my highest recommendations but it made for an enjoyable read and if you would like a contemporary with suspense, danger and high-stakes give this book a try.
Song for the book: I Of The Storm by Monsters and Men
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Star rating: *** (3.5 stars)
Summary of the book: Mare lives in a society divided by blood. Those with red blood live in poverty and are to serve the upper class as soldiers and servants. Those with silver blood have special powers that allowed them to rise to the height of society and rule over the reds. Mare however is different. By trying to protect her family she ends up in the king's court where she discovers that despite having red blood she has silver powers. Forced into a lie and a life among the royals she hates Mare discovers turmoil building amongst the red and joins their revolution giving them valuable information about the lives the silver's lead. However trouble strikes as she finds herself caught between two princes and the two parts of her. When betrayal tears her world apart it takes the realization that she is not red, not silver but both that allows he to fight with more strength than ever before.
Review of the book: I tried to gather my thoughts about this book in a cohesive way but I really can't. Red Queen is truly an emotional journey and by the time I closed the book it felt as if I had just stepped off of a really intense roller coaster. Aveyard's use of a fantastic plot twist greatly contributed to this tension. Although I was predicting the plot twist pretty early on the exact way it played out shocked me and left me feeling very strong hate for a certain character. I loved the use of powers within this world and the interest they created within the novel. I thought the author used the world she had built and the powers within it very creatively in the plot. Despite my aversion to love triangles I must admit the one within this book was used creatively. I never thought I would type those words but, I love Mare's choice in the end and how it reflected the development of the story and the strength she gains as a character. Overall there were choices Mare made that really bugged me but I still found myself cheering for her throughout the novel. The other characters in the novel were probably my least favourite part. By the end of the book I hated one prince and strongly disliked the other. I also felt that Farley had many flaws and therefor made the revolution harder for me to get behind. I also couldn't help but realize this book did have a lot of similarities to other YA novels. It is a personal pet peeve of mine when people say novels are only carbon copies of other but this book despite being a fun read did feel a little generic. Overall I'm still not completely sure how I feel about this book but, it was a fun, riveting, emotional page-turner so I would recommend it.
Song for the book: Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
Frostbite by Richelle Mead
Star rating: ****
Summary of the book: Rose Hathaway is a Dhampair, a half-human half-vampire training to act as a guardian for her best friend Lissa the last of a royal vampire bloodline. In this sequel to Vampire Academy Rose is trying to cope with increasing threat from the Strigoi. A league of immortal vampires determined to kill all of the royals one by one. The Academy takes everyone on a ski trip to try and protect the royals over the holidays but, Rose soon discovers they are anything but safe. The increase of Strigoi attacks just adds to Rose's worries. Torn between feeling for best friend and mentor and facing tension with her mother Rose's problems are only added to when her friend and worst enemy go to hunt Strigoi. As Rose sets out on a mission to save them she discovers even more danger to her and those she has sworn to protect than ever before.
Review of the book: Like Red Queen this was another book that had a lot of ups and downs for me. There were parts of it I loved and there were parts that made me desperately wish I could crawl into the pages and talk some sense into Rose. I feel as if her behaviour created many unnecessary conflicts within the book and worked occasionally to distract the reader from the important events occurring within the world. While I appreciate Rose for her cynical and sassy nature I got really tried of her constantly picking fights with every person in the book. Also as someone who hates love triangles the tangled love mess going on in this book was a whole new level. I must admit though it did function fairly well with the plot towards the end so I couldn't hate it too much (so I ended up just hating it a little). One of my favourite elements of the book was the further development of the world within the Vampire Academy novels. I enjoyed the conflicts created by the Strigoi and joining Rose on her journey in discovering what it really took to kill them. I also liked the inclusion of another Spirit use because it will set the stage for learning more about Lissa's particular branch of magic. The main reason I am giving this book such a high rating was because of the character development Rose went through. Her frustrating and often immature actions I alluded to early gave her a lot of growing room and seeing the difference in the way she acted by the end of the book was really rewarding. She still retained the fighting spirit and sass that made her such a great character while learning how to act a bit more responsibly. The ending truly shocked me and I liked the way Rose handled the situation. Also the love triangle thing resolved the way I wanted it to so that made my day. Overall I am dying to pick up the next book.
Song for the book: Elastic Heart by Sia
Ensnared by A. G. Howard
Star rating: I cannot decide on a star rating I'll explain in my review
Summary of the book: Ensnared is the final book in the Splintered trilogy. It follows Alyssa who is a decedent of Alice, the very Alice who falls into Wonderland and inspires Lewis Carroll's stories. After destroying the rabbit hole and failing to destroy the malicious red queen Alyssa must return to Wonderland to reclaim her rightful spot on the throne. However the dangers of AnyElsewhere, the bleak world that hold the only entrance to Wonderland, are only the beginning of her worries. Facing a constant tug from her human and netherling half and facing a choice between the two men who love her. Alyssa is nearly torn apart. Weakened she must accept the Red Queens help to survive and face one final battle with her greatest enemy to ensure both of her worlds, and her lives are not destroyed.
Review of the book: As you can tell by my inability to give this novel a star rating I am extremely conflicted regarding how I feel about it. I then decided that I will give a star rating to different elements of the book to help explain my reasoning and haste to make a final decision on how I feel about Ensnared as a whole. The first thing I am going to address is the characters because there is a lot to talk about. Those of you who have read past reviews know about my aversion towards love triangles and the love triangle in this book is no exception. Throughout the whole trilogy I distinctly remember it driving me crazy. Both Jeb and Morpheus have so many faults as characters and overall served as huge flaws to an otherwise brilliant story. The first three quarters of the book continued this trend both remained disgustingly possessive of Alyssa. Morpheus remained pretentious, cruel and manipulative. Jeb remained jealous, angsty and entitled. I was so frustrated with them both and then the story developed and both of them actually went through character development which left me shocked considering they remained so static throughout all the other books. The biggest factor that swayed my opinion of them was the sacrifices that they made for Alyssa. Instead of continuing their stupid jealous war they decided to put her first. Also it made me so angry that Morpheus forced Alyssa to make the 24-hour promise it was the most controlling thing I have ever been unfortunate enough to read about a character doing. Then despite all odds he basically gives the promise away and allows Alyssa to make her own choices and recognizes her as someone worth waiting for. I was expecting a lot of the plot twits but I was absolutely floored by this. Suddenly even my least favourite pat of the story was beginning to redeem himself. Therefor I'm going to give the love triangle a two point five star rating despite the fact if you asked me during the other two books I would have given it a negative number and that is no lie. Next I want to talk about Alyssa as a character. Like the first two she remained more or less the same throughout the books (I mean she went through obvious changes but I'm talking about changes to her as a person and not physical changes) then in this book she too went through a lot of positive character development. She always let herself be pulled around my Morpheus and Jeb but this book she finally stood up to them. She showed that they should respect her by outsmarting them both and displaying exceptional amounts of courage. She grew so much in such a positive way and it was honestly just amazing to read about therefor I'm giving Alyssa as a character four stars. Ok finally I'm gonna discuss plot which is the element of this book I'm most torn on. I had the same problem with Ensnared as I did with Unhinged neither the first or second books spent enough time in Wonderland. Howard did an amazing job crafting the world of Wonderland and it was sad to see neither book focus on it as a settting. Also the book moved a bit too slow at the begging but had incredible pacing and plot towards the end. I loved the face off between Alyssa and Red in AnyElsewhere and then it goes downhill. Sure those last few pages are when both boys finally redeem themselves but the end seemed like a cop out everything was a little too convinetnat. I almost wished it ended after the final battle even though that might seem a bit cruel it would have made the book a lot more interesting. Also the epilogue was waaaaay to short. I wouldn't mind the ending of the book so much if I got better closure but the epilogue was unsatisfying. If you're gonna make it a happy ending make it a good happy ending not a rushed ending. Overall I give the plot a tentative 3 and a half stars. There you have it my incredibly long winded review of Ensnared.
Song for the book: Dark Paradise by Lana Del Ray
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Star rating: ***** (five stars)
Summary of the book: The year is 1924 and Evie's destination is New York City. After getting in trouble at a party her parents decide to send her away to live with her Uncle, who is obsessed with the supernatural. Evie is ecstatic to be in the centre of the bustling, lively streets of New York but the city hides a dark secret and danger lurks around every corner. Evie discovers her secret power might be the only way to catch a a serial killer terrorizing the city. In a gripping story that weaves multiple perspectives together and entwines the live's of many characters. Evie must stop the the brutal attacks the only problem is; how does one stop the very force of evil itself?
Review of the book: It is such a great feeling to finally give a confident review of a book. No half stars here, I gave this book five stars without hesitation because quite simple I loved it! Libba Bray's writing is very unique and absolutely beautiful. She creates very descriptive settings and an overall hauntingly chaotic atmosphere within this book. I saw everything so clearly in my head it was as if I was watching a movie. I also loved all the characters! Despite the many perspectives and characters within this books all of them managed to be fleshed out and interesting. Even though there is never a question of who the killer is within the book I still found it suspenseful and interesting. Also Naughty John is one of the most terrifying villains I have yet to encounter within a book. This book was truly an emotional roller coaster sometimes I was hiding under the blankets in fright and a few pages later I would be laughing out loud. Despite this book being nearly six hundred pages I flew through it because it was fast paced and I never lost interest. I highly recommend this book especially to those who love a good mystery.
Song for the book: Ain't We Got Fun by Dorris Day
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Star rating: **** (4.5 stars)
Summary of the book: Flavia de Luce is an eleven year old chemistry genius with a particular passion for poison. Her boring life, usually filled with annoyance from her two older sisters, is flipped upside down when she witnesses a man take his dying breath in the garden. She should feel concerned but, instead decides it is the most interesting moment of her entire life until all goes astray and her father is arrested for the crime. Flavia then takes it upon herself to solve the case and soon uncovers a fascinating mystery centred around particularly valuable postage stamps. As Flavia continues her investigation little does she know that she is about to come face to face with a killer.
Review of the book: This book was fantastic! I adored Bradley's witty and descriptive style of writing. Flavia is such a unique and awesome protagonist, I really appreciated how clever and sarcastic she was. In fact I thought all the characters in the story were very interesting and I loved the backstory that tied many of them together. Flavia was a great detective and I enjoyed her ingenuity in solving the case. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a real page turner and I ended up reading it in a day! My only complaint would be that I figured out who the killer was the minute the character was introduced which set me two steps ahead of Flavia at times, which lessened the suspense and made some of her grand discoveries seem obvious. However I would still highly recommend this book and I can't wait to read the second book in the series.
Song for the book: Trouble is a Friend by Lenka
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Star rating: ***** (five stars)
Summary of the book: The circus arrives without warning. There was once an empty field and now a maze of black and white tents spread across it. On the wrought iron gate that circles the tents there is a sign that reads; the circus opens at midnight and closes at dawn. As darkness spreads over the landscape you line up and get a ticket once you enter the circus you feel like you have entered a dream. Nothing will ever be the same. Get pulled into a story of feuding magicians, forbidden love and a secret game that threatens the lives of all who enter. The circus arrives without warning, the circus feels like entering a dream, but it could very well become a nightmare.
Review of the book: This book was magical pure and simple. There is honestly no way for me to do it justice in this review. The only way to truly experience this book is to pick it up and read if for yourself. I loved every single element of this book; the romance, the plot, the characters, the writing style, the alternating perspectives. If fit together so well, the way the multiple timelines and perspectives aligned within the book was incredible. I wish I could go back in time and reread this book as if it was my first time reading it. I was so absorbed within the world I felt as if I was a patron at the night circus living everything within the novel. I loved both Celia and Marco as characters and their relationship was handled beautifully it was the perfect amounts of tragic and wonderful. I was worried the book would have a disappointing ending because as I read I thought there was no way the conflict could be resolved in the few pages I had left. However the ending was creative and rewarding. Also I just want to mention sections of this book are written in second person which furthered the engagement of the reader. Overall this book was exhilarating and the kind of story you will never forget. Please do yourself a favour and read this book it is like experiencing a dream in the daytime.
Song for the book: Solitaire by Marina and the Diamonds
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Star rating: **** (4.5 stars)
Summary of the book: Celaena Sardothien is the lands most notorious assassin until betrayal causes her to be captured and sent to a prison camp where death is invetiable. That is until she receives a mysterious summons to the castle. There Celaena is offered a deal, become the king's champion and work for him to earn her freedom. However becoming the champion is no easy feat as Celaena must face off against twenty three other, thieves, warriors and assassins to earn the title. Not to mention the battle for her heart between the Crown Prince and the Captain of the Guard. When a mysterious force arises within the castle and kills off all the competitors one by one it is up to Celaena to defeat the evil within the castle's glass walls before it destroys her world.
Review of the book: I'm fairly certain I have used the phrase; I loved this book a million times in this post however I'm going to use it again. I loved this book! It was compelling, action-packed, and fast paced. Sarah J. Maas has amazing writing in the sense it is very descriptive and beautiful yet it is also extremely funny and relatable. The characters were all amazingly well crafted. Celaena has such a great dynamic between being a sarcastic kick-butt female heroin and a fashion loving, broken hearted girl who is haunted by her past. I find that most female characters are often stripped of softer more feminine qualities in order to be perceived as strong however Celaena completely defies this and makes her one of the most interesting, multi-dimensional heroines I have encountered in a while. On the subject of characters lets talk about Prince Dorian and Chaol because I never thought I would say this but, I actually genuinely liked the love triangle in this book. Typically I might be ok with a love triangle if its used for plot reasons but this is the first time since the Hunger Game's I've picked a side and genuinely enjoyed cheering for a certain character. My biggest problem with love triangles is that they are an overly easy way to create conflict and typically both characters will suffer development wise becuase the romance will be focused on more heavily than who the characters actually are. However neither of these things happened in Throne of Glass. I loved both Chaol and Dorian! If you are wondering who I like better the answer is Chaol and if Celaena doesn't choose him I will be happy to volunteer. Another major plus for me was the plot typically I am able to guess plot twists and while I can't say I was surprised by the twist in this book, the red herring that Maas included did have me fooled which was refreshing. The world building in this book was fascinating and I really hope we get to learn more about Celaena's past in the next book because I am intrigued by the bits and pieces you get within Throne of Glass. The only reason I docked half a star was because the ending didn't have the same surprise factor I was hoping for. Overall I am so excited to read Crown of Midnight! I thought this was going to be a trilogy but I just heard there may be five or six books in the series so I am thrilled to have discovered such an exciting world.
Song for the book: Kill of the Night by Gin Wigmore
Forged by Erin Bowman
Star rating: **** (4 stars)
Summary of the book: Gray Weathersby and his group of rebels are getting closer to their goal of finally taking down the Franconain Order but as every generation of Forgeries gets more sophisticated it is hard to know who they can trust. With their new allies the expats plans are made to gain useful knowledge about the inner working of the Order. Before they can strike Gray is kidnapped and tortured by the order. When he makes his escape what he discovers could be their most valuable asset of all. When it is time for their final stand the ultimate sacrifice must be made.
Review of the book: This book was an action packed thrilling read. I finished it in a day because the pages seemed to turn themselves. I really liked the introduction of some new characters and the twist at the end regarding the Expats completely caught me by surprise. The reasons I docked stars are two-fold. First of all I never found Gray that interesting of a character he is just to brash and cold for me and proved to be annoying throughout the series. It also frustrated me that one of the main plot points in Forged was recycled from other books in the trilogy making the book feel a bit repatitve. That being said I did really enjoy how the relationship between Bree and Gray developed and I did enjoy seeing him soften a little around her. The scene in the square when Gray made his speech was one of the most interesting and compelling ways I have seen an author approach a final battle. Overall this series isn't one of my all time favourites but I did genuinely enjoy it and would recommend the trilogy to any one looking for some good plot twists and lots of action.
Song for the book: Chains by Nick Jonas and Sound of Your Heart by Shawn Hook
That's all for now I hope you enjoyed my reviews, and I hope I inspired you to read one of these books.
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