messybookshelf

Control By Lydia Kang

Control - Lydia Kang

I hadn't heard about this book until I was invited to read this book for a read a long. I enjoyed it a lot. It was fast paced, interesting, and the characters were likeable. I liked the science part about the book the most I think. It made the book interesting in areas where it would be dull and just full of romance. I did however feel that the romance was a bit forced at the beginning. Because Cy and Zel didn't really get a long when they finally got the relationship going they were acting like that had been dating forever which felt a bit unrealistic. I realize the romance is needed for the plot but I think maybe if they had felt an instant connection then maybe it wouldn't seem so forced. 

Otherwise I fully enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the sequel.

Hollow City By Ransom Riggs: The Case of the Second Book

Hollow City - Ransom Riggs

I wish I could say that I loved the second instalment to the Miss Peregrine Series, but I can't. Although the book had it's moments for the most part is was long, dragged out and simply hard to get through. Hollow City has a case of the second book. Basically you really want to love it because the first book was fantastic and perfect but you can't because it lacked everything that the first book had. My rating is 3.5 stars. Part of me wants to love this book and to give it a 5 star rating (I gave it 4 on my goodreads) But I can't bring myself to do it. The book begins where Miss Peregrines home for Peculiar Children ends off. The children need to find someone who can help turn Miss Peregrine back into herself from her bird state. The children go from one place to another looking for help with little luck. I was overly annoyed by some of the characters that I loved in the first book. The biggest one being Emma. She seemed very bossy and selfish when it came to the peculiars and especially Jacob. She liked it her way or the highway. Although it has been a while since I read the first book I don't remember getting this bossy feel from her. She's supposed to be the amazing loved interest for Jacob but I just don't see it anymore. Their romance was boring and I didn't root for them like I normally do.  There is minimal fighting in this book and minimal peculiarness. I expected to meet some new peculiars that enhance the story and we did. But these peculiars weren't very peculiar. They didn't fascinate me like the children of the first book. The plot twist I will say is what saved this book. It caught me for a loop and it's the reason I want to read the third book. But sadly I'm not overly excited for the third book (which I don't think is even started yet). 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell does it again! In her newest stand-alone novel Fangirl she brings us into the world of a freshman in her first year at University. The main character Cather (err... Cath) and her twin sister Wren (Cather Wren... Catherine.. get it?) are moving into their dorms on campus but they aren't sharing a room for the first time in their life. Wren has intentions of partying it up while Cath plans to study hard, eat protein bars and peanut butter, and work on her Simon Snow fan fiction. Simon Snow is the Fangirl world equivalent to Harry Potter. When Cath moves into her dorm room she meets her not overly nice roommate Reagan and her assumed boyfriend Levi. The story is based on the fall and spring semesters of Cath's freshman year and all the ups and down, loves and heartbreaks, and stresses that come along with it. Rainbow Rowell reaches for the heart of every girl (and maybe boy who knows) and brings this understanding that we all as book nerds feel. I think that is what makes this book so special. Because we've all been there. There were times when I felt like Rainbow had taken a portion of my life and put it into her book and I'm sure others have felt the same way. This book is a must read and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

SPOILER ALERT!

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant  - Veronica Roth

When starting to read this book I was very warry (not sure on the spelling of that one but I think you get the picture). I had heard some things about the ending. Not specific details but that people didn't like it and that it was a bit shocking. Because of this I did my best not to read anything or watching anything about the book. I'm glad I didn't. Although I knew what was going to happen before it happened I think if I had known right from the beginning the book wouldn't have been as enjoyable as it was. Allegiant was fairly slow starting off. But because of the short chapters it wasn't hard to get into it once the "action" got started. I put action in quotations because there wasn't a whole lot of action in this book. Some people didn't like that about it. They wanted a good ending fight. I'm glad that Veronica didn't include a major fighting sequence in the book. We had already had two, one in Divergent and one in Insurgent. So the ongoing of fighting was beginning to get tiresome in my eyes. 

I give this book 5 stars because not only was it a great book but it was a book that will leave an impact. The Divergent Trilogy has taught many things about our personalities and what it is to be brave, selfless, smart, honest, and peaceful. But Allegiant doesn't just teach of those things but it also teaches us about acceptance and forgiveness. Which are probably the best gifts a book can give it's reader.

**Spoilers**
A few chapters into the book I thought I had the ending figured out. I thought that it would just end up with Tobias and Tris ending their relationship. Because all throughout the books they weren't clicking and through most of the second book and the beginning of the third I was beginning to get very annoyed by their relationship. They just didn't seem comparable. It wasn't until they officially broke up that I realized that they weren't only comparable but they needed each other to survive. I believe that was always Tris' downfall. Tobias always brought out the rational side of her in my opinion. So whenever left to her own bearings her dauntless side would clash with her abnegation side. She would jump at the chance to sacrifice herself even when their were other options. She was acting like a coward trying to find the easiest way out. Especially when she was grieving over Will and the loss of her Parents and technically her brother. But in Tris' last scene when she decided to go into the Weapons Lab instead of her brother she shows true bravery. Not only does she forgive him which shows strength but she goes in knowing very well she could die showing courage. I'm actually glad that the serum wasn't what killed her but that her enemy was her downfall. Maybe that makes me a terrible person but having David be the one to kill her proves that she didn't want to die and that she fought to stay alive. 
**End of Spoilers*

Bookish Mad Libs

Here’s how it works:

  1. I give a list of words I need from you: noun, verb, adjective, etc.
  2. You pick words from book titles. (Share title and author so we can learn about new books!)
  3. Use those words to complete a short story.

 

Here’s the list:

character name – How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
adjective1 – Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
adjective2 – 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
item – Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
occupation – Clockwark Princess By Cassandra Clare
act of violence – Struck By Lightening by Chris Colfer 
adjective3 – Beautiful Creatures By Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl
noun1 – Above By Leah Bobet
noun2 – The Last Song By Nicholas Spark

 

Here’s the story:

 

I just read the greatest book!

 

This guy Grinch ends up in the middle of a Dead conspiracy. Turns out his ancestors were pirates, and he might be the key to finding the Little Deathly Hallows. It’s a mythic artifact that disappeared centuries ago, and now a shadowy group of Princess's are looking for it. No one knows what uncovering it might do, but these guys are willing to Struck for it.

 

I won’t say anything else. But believe me, if you like Beautiful stories with Above and Songs, you have to read this one.

Bout of Books 9.0  Day 1 Challange #1
Bout of Books 9.0 Day 1 Challange #1

Bookish Comforts has put out the first challenge and giveaway of the Bout of Book Read-a-thon!!!

 

The Challenge: Imagine if you will: you’ve just received some FANTASTIC news! You have won a $100 book buying spree! Now comes the hard part though: what books will you buy?! For this challenge, you’ll be creating your book buying spree wish list. 

 

Sapphire Blue By Kerstin Gier

Sapphire Blue (The Ruby Red, #2) - Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell

This 2nd book is the ruby red/precious stone trilogy is amazing. I'd say even better then the first! Which is strange since I normally am not a fan of the second books in trilogies. I find they lack the luster of the first book but in this case it topped it.This book begins right where the last left on (before the epilogue). So we don't need to be caught up on the amount of time that we've missed. I do enjoy how the author reminds us of minor important details from the previous book as we need them and not in one lump sum at the beginning. It's nice since most people had to wait to read the second book. In this book we are also introduced to some more important characters and we find out some more information that will become important in the third and final book.

Ruby Red By Kerstin Gier

Ruby Red - Kerstin Gier

This first book in the Ruby Red/Precious Stones Trilogy is fantastic. The protagonist Gwyneth is fabulous and relatable. She's acting as someone might actually act in her situation.  I've heard from other people that they find her a bit annoying in the beginning. I can sort of understand why but I just keep thinking how would you feel in her situation having to deal with her Aunt and Cousin all those years going on about how special her cousin Charlotte is and then poof you're the special one instead. I can only imagine how stressed out Gwyneth is during the first few days. Gideon doesn't help much either. He's sort of an asshole in the entire book but at the same time you can't help but ship the two of them together. They fight as if they are already married. I do hope things work out for them in the end. 

Emerald Green By Kirsten Gier

Emerald Green (Precious Stone Trilogy, #3) - Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell

This final book to the Ruby Red/Precious Stones Trilogy was perfection. The ending was a bit of a surprise. I knew they would beat the Count but I didn't know how and I wasn't expecting the count to be who he was. I did feel it was a bit long. But following along with them figuring out everything with them was very nice. I didn't feel that the book was rushed. Especially since only a few days had passed. I like that the series was based around approx. 3 weeks meaning that there was time to put detail into each day and the detail wasn't wasted. The time travelling wasn't confusing either. I was afraid I might get confused about what year the characters were in but I didn't find that at all. This was a very good read. Especially since it's a translation.

SPOILER ALERT!

The Last Little Blue Envelope

The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

I read the first book in this duology by maureen Johnson (13 little blue envelopes) back when I was in high school. I really loved it a lot. I was super excited to read this one. It just took me a while to get around to it. The book begins with Ginny back in America preparing her applications to university. She receives an email from someone who had her bag and in turn the last blue envelope from her Aunt Peg. So once again she jets off to finally finish what she had set off to do in the first book. We are reintroduced to a couple characters such as Richard, her Aunt's husband and Keith, the person she was kinda-something with. Ginny is expecting to get right back into the swing of things when she finds out Keith has a girlfriend, Ellis. Now immediately when I'm reintroduced to Keith I try to remember if I liked him in the first book. Mostly because in this one I don't like him at all, he's demanding and rude and not an overly good friend to Ginny. Sure he offers to trance around Europe with her but I can't help but feel he's not doing it for the right reasons. Ellis is nice enough. I truly believe that she and Ginny will remain friends when Ginny returns to London for Uni. Then we are introduced to Oliver, the person who has her things. At the beginning I don't think we are supposed to like him. Which is probably why he's portrayed as a bit of a dick. He won't give Ginny her last letter because he wants a portion of the money the painting they are going to find sells for. The book kept me interested and I quite enjoyed it. But there were a few things that drove me (Keith) that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars. I just wish she would have saw from the beginning that Keith was nothing but a starving actor that wanted to get a bit a bit of a profit off of the whole thing.

SPOILER ALERT!

An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

This book was not at all what I expected. For one I expected it to be a usual John Green Book with a gripping, heart wrenching tale that I didn't want to end. But this was not the case. An abundance of Katherines by John Green was very slow. It took me forever to read even tho it was only a couple hundred pages. it should have only taken me a couple days. But after a few pages of reading I would be bored or tired and would put the book away. I forced myself to read over 100 pages in one night because I wanted to get the book finished so I could move on with my TBR for the month. This does not mean the book was bad. It was actually pretty good. It was just really slow. The story is of a boy named Colin who had just been broken up with his 19th girl named Katherine. So him and his sorta but not really funny friend Hassan head out on a road trip where they end up in GutShot Tennessee working for Hollis Wells along with her daughter Lindsay. Blah blah blah, some deeps stuff, idiots, some secrets, some cheating, Colin and Lindsay get together and Hassan finally goes to school. That's the gist of the book. See not overly interesting.

Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

The Carrie Diaries

The Carrie Diaries - Candace Bushnell

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell is the perfect book... for someone who is still in high school. As for me someone who is 23 years old and has been graduated for almost 5 years I just couldn't relate to the problems the girls were dealing with and how they were dealing with them. Sure it was a face paced read. I managed to whiz through it in only a couple days. But that doesn't mean I overly enjoyed it. Actually on goodreads I only rated it 3 stars. It was a quick read sure but not an overly well written one. It was very juvenile. It's the second book I've read this book based in the 80's and it's the youngest feeling one. If it weren't for the mention of sex and the few bad words it has I would even suggest it as a middle-grade book.  

SPOILER ALERT!

Three Words Long

Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

Out of of the quotes I underlined during this novel those last words hit me the hardest. I turned the page to find more words that were not there. Although they left me hanging and hopeful of something more they also gave me a sort of closure I needed. I couldn't go on wondering if Park would never get a response from Eleanor. I think if Rainbow never gave us that closure I would probably end up writing her an email demanding a 2nd book. But although I would hope she would let us know if Eleanor and Park ever see each other again I'm kind of okay being left in air of wonder. If you enjoy anything by John Green or the book Perks of Being a Wallflower you will adore this book just as much as I did.

It wasn't as good as the first book. I found around the middle when they go to the lodge it sort of dragged out and it probably could have been covered in a couple chapters instead of being the basis of the book. I enjoyed that it started off right where we ended off at in the first book and the last 100 pages were very intriguing. I just feel there was something missing.

Beautiful Creatures So Far

So I'm currently about half way through beautiful creatures and I am enjoying the book more than I expected. I honestly picked it up from the library to start and probably never finish but at the rate I'm going I'll probably have it finished today. Mostly because I need to finish it today to get reading on my other library books. I still have struck by lightning, shadow and bone and hallowed to read from one lot and then I have a second lot to get through. I want to start Shadow and bone tomorrow because I can probably have it done in 3-4 days with all the bussing I have to do since my car accident. Then I'll work on struck by lightening and I'll read hallowed on friday/saturday. Then the last week in October will be used to work through the knife of never letting go, fruits basket vol.2, hex haul and frost bite which have to be returned for october 9th. I do have a feeling I will be extending my lend out time at least for the knife of never letting go which I plan on reading last especially for that reason. I've been doing a pretty good job with keeping up with my school work since I do most of it in school. But I don't think I'll be taking out any books from the library in october so I can get though some of my own tbr list. Keep checking in to see when I post my October TBR to find out what books I plan on reading.