150
3 books behind
33
11.5 (I read a comic book but I so counted it)
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Note: I’m severely behind on reviews right now but I’m working on it!
150
3 books head
16
16
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150 Books
Yes! But barely so. I was in a slump this month.
100
11 books: 5 rereads and 6 new reads
Remember, ampoule as always, search to click the book title in order to read the review!
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Genre: Science Fiction, pills Young Adult, Romance
350
The final, fifth novel of the Lux series
August 5th, 2014
Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.
She can’t believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.
Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.
They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.
War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.
While there will be no spoilers for Opposition in this review, there will be spoilers for Obsidian, Onyx, Opal and Origin.
When I discovered the Lux series a little over a year ago, I had no idea that it would literally climb into my heart and stay there. Katy, Daemon, Dee, all of the characters would make such an impression on me and the story would make me laugh and swoon and cry. I was eagerly awaiting the end of the series to figure out how this crazy, fun, romantic, out of control story would end.
And for the most part, I felt okay with the ending. I have become accustomed to reading books by JLA and feeling overwhelmed by emotions: happiness, giddiness, excitement, swooning, terror, panic, and more. While there were definitely parts in this book that made me feel this way, I felt, overall, just massively underwhelmed by this book.
And this is not to say it was a bad book! Because I honestly don’t think that. It definitely wasn’t. The story was good, the characters were as lovable as ever, but it felt…rushed to me. Anti-climatic. It just didn’t feel like the finale book to this incredible series. The journey to get to the end seemed way too long for the actual end. It felt almost like things had been wrapped up too quickly and I was very disappointed in that.
Something that annoyed me a lot too was the relationship between Katy and Daemon. Now I adore the both of them SO much. Katy is the awkward, book obsessed book blogger with a sassy streak. What is not to like about that? And Daemon…can we even begin to start on how sexy he is? And I shipped them together from the first moment that they met each other. Easily. But in this book…it just got old. It got old fast. I was like “okay, we get it, you love each other, yes, these scenes are steamy, but let’s have some action or something…” It was like…I lost count how many times they told each other they loved each other, or admired how beautiful the other one was or something like that. I get that this book is a heavy romance science fiction but I missed the playfulness between them that wasn’t always lovey dovey. Plus the Luxen have basically invaded the earth and humanity is on the brink of extinction and let’s focus on that, yeah?
One thing that I did really like is that JLA knows how to make a sacrifice. She has killed Adam and Ash and Andrew, and in this book, she continues to do that, and I admire her for that. I hate finale books that don’t make the sacrifices necessary, especially when there is war involved. (cough cough Cassie Clare). Luxen have invaded, humans are dying, and JLA makes sacrifices. She understands that people need to die and its heartbreaking. There is a particular death in the book that I had…not quite expected and it was very heartbreaking to me, and I think that’s a mark of a good writer, when they can make you fall in love with a character so much that the death of that character just hurts so badly.
Basically, in the end, this is what I felt: underwhelmed. It wasn’t a bad book. In fact, it was fairly good. But as far as a finale book to a series, I just felt disappointed. I didn’t feel the need to speed through the book. I felt like I was slowly reading it and I read it in three hours. I probably could have read it in about 2 if I had really wanted to but I just didn’t. I loved seeing all the characters, I loved the story idea but I just thought it maybe needed to be fleshed out more, have more action, maybe be a slightly longer book. I honestly felt like Sentinel, the finale book to JLA’s Covenant series was much better and this book just disappointed me. I look forward to more books from her in the future, and having read “The Return”, her Covenant spin off, I know she’ll produce great books again and again.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Hello everyone! Welcome back to the Tuesday Top Ten!
I honestly have had a crazy week, and I’ve been so incredibly busy that I honestly couldn’t even remember if I did a Tuesday Top Ten last week. Turns out I did!
I got the idea for this week’s top ten from my dear friend Kayla’s blog! She did a booktag where she posted what authors she owned the most books of from her auto-buy list. I thought it was kind of fun but…I have over 500 books and I don’t have bookshelves so that’s a lot of work for me. But then I thought, well, I don’t have an idea for this week’s Tuesday Top Ten so voila! Now I have one.
All ten authors are authors that from right this moment (and perhaps before), I will buy everything they release, without even thinking about it. You know what I mean. Those kind of authors that you’ve read enough books to trust them, so that when they release a new book, you immediately want to pick it up and read it. Those ones.
Here are my top ten, erm, eleven:
Its funny that a year ago, I would have scoffed at this, rolled my eyes at the cover of Vampire Academy, and never known how amazing this author is. Luckily, I put aside my vampire prejudices and read this book. Now I’m addicted to VA and Bloodlines, absolutely adore Richelle and I have a VA tattoo now. I will buy anything she writes because she takes something that has been done over and over again, has been beaten to a pulp and makes it fun, fresh, adventurous, sexy and amazing. Richelle Mead is incredible and I will be picking up every single one of her books from now on, easily.
This is a very…I will buy everything she publishes from here on out. I don’t own everything by her at this point. I have read the entire Lux series (so far) and I don’t own it all. I have read the entire Covenant series and again, don’t own them. But I’ve read so much from her now, and I’ve been so thoroughly impressed by her, again and again, that any time there is a new release for her, I’m determined to head to the bookstore in order to purchase her new book. I trust her to take me on adventure, to make me laugh and to have perfectly steamy scenes that leave me panting for more.
After reading the entire Legend trilogy, and being completely blown away from beginning to end, I’ve developed not only an addiction to Marie Lu, but a complete trust in her. I was ready to dive happily into her new book, The Young Elites, and worked my ass off to get a copy of it at ALA. I read it just last week and it blew my mind. I already have my ARC of it but I know that when it is released in October, I will totally be picking it up. I trust Marie Lu to write an incredible story every single time, and she will be one that I will be following for quite some time.
The Divergent series means so incredibly much to me; I don’t get tattoos of series just because I feel like it. I love Veronica Roth. I love her characters and her stories. I picked up the Four collection and read it in about an hour. I trust her, and I want to read everything that she puts out. She’s the same age as me so I know that she has a great future as a writer in front of her. Right now, I am unsure of what she is working on. Everyone is just talking about the new Four collection and I don’t think there’s anything set in stone planned for the future. Whatever it is though, you can definitely count on me to purchase it on the day it comes out.
There is a stipulation to this, even though she’s totally tied for first in the list of my favorite authors. I buy every single thing Tamora Pierce writes as long as its in the Tortall world. Everything she has written in that world has just blown my mind and I love going back again and again and again. She hasn’t put anything out in that world for awhile, which makes me sad, but I always eagerly await a new one. I need to go back and read her Circle books, in the hope of getting an “auto-buy” feeling for those as well :)
Okay, yes, I need to go back and buy all the books he’s already released since I don’t own all of them, but of the ones I’ve read and own, I just can’t imagine him disappointing me. He is an absolutely incredible author and every book I read makes me love him even more. From now on, every time he releases a book, I will be at the bookstore, grabbing a copy (or two…or three…) and making sure its in my collection. I trust him enough to always make me a happy reader.
Did I just use a picture of Jessica Brody from the first time I ever met her, over a year ago at WonderCon 2013? Yes, yes, I did. Apparently when I google “Jessica Brody author”, most of the pictures that pop up are the ones from my blog…which is kind of cool and maybe a bit creepy and stalkerish. But the point is, I’ll buy all Jessica Brody’s books because they’re all so good! I’ve read them all (except the Fidelity Files, which I’m working on), and she makes me laugh and she’s a great writer and I love supporting her. Its easy to imagine going to the bookstore on her release days and picking up her new book!
I’ve literally bought every single Sarah Dessen book, on the day its released, since I was about fourteen years old. I doubt that is going to change any time soon, unless she starts writing truly awful books.Even then though… Sarah is one of those authors that usually makes me happy, and I love reading her books. Her last couple have been a little lacking compared to some of her earlier ones but I still buy each one with much eagerness because I know what a terrific writer she is and I always look forward to the great stories she tells. Plus they’re always the perfect summer books and I just love that.
Whatever you feel about her, that’s your deal. I ran into a lot of people at ALA who don’t like her, and that’s your deal. But she is literally one of my favorite authors ever, I have a tattoo from her series and I will buy each and every one of her books on the day they come out, no matter what. I absolutely hated City of Fallen Angels, and I’m upfront and honest about that. But that didn’t keep me from continuing to buy The Infernal Devices series or from picking up the next TMI book, Lost Souls, the following year. I will pick up a copy of The Iron Trials (her novel with Holly Black) this fall (though I already have an ARC copy of it), and I’ll pick up a copy of The Bane Chronicles and Lady Midnight and so on. This is one author that I’m definitely going to continue to buy, because even though she writes a dud sometimes, she writes a great book that makes me happy too.
Meg Cabot has been one of my favorite authors since I was 12 years old, when I first picked up a copy of The Princess Diaries. I’ve literally bought every single book of hers, on the release day, since then. That’s 14 years of complete dedication. In fact, a few months ago, I thought “Wait…how is it Meg isn’t releasing anything this year?” Not even a week later, Meg announced two new adult books, based off of two of her very popular YA series. Those will most definitely be auto buys, without even pausing or thinking about it.
She’s my favorite author in the entire world and she’s written a total of 10 books. Which seems like a lot but the first one came out in 1998, and that was nearly 20 years ago. She wrote the Harry Potter series and when that was over, I thought I would never again be able to experience the beautiful and incredible writing and storytelling of her again. Then The Casual Vacancy came out. Not one of my favorites but I did enjoy it and I purchased it immediately. As soon as it was revealed that she was Robert Galbraith, and that The Cuckoo’s Calling was, in fact, her novel, I immediately went on my e-reader and bought it. (I had to; at the time, bookstores didn’t carry enough copies to meet the sudden demand). Just recently I purchased The Silkworm, the sequel. I will continue to buy every single thing she writes, even if its, like, a history of toothpicks or something because I will read anything this queen writes :)
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Who are some of your favorite auto-buy authors? Share in the comments!
Genre: Young Adult, doctor Thriller
384
Nope
April 15th, decease 2014
Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, approved Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.
Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it’s one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took “mean girl” to a whole new level, and it’s clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She’s getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she’s falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.
But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn’t just buried deep inside of Sam’s memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?
I love Jennifer L. Armentrout and she blows my mind over and over again. I read the Lux series and was massively in love, mostly with Daemon Black. Then I read the Covenant series and my god, that series is incredible. I just recently read The Return, which is the spin off new adult series to the Covenant series and there will be a review for that later. But when her standalone novel came out, and it was hitting bookshelves everywhere (literally, everywhere, taunting me and my wallet all the time), I knew I had to cave in and buy this. So I did.
And I read it in one night.
Which I realize is not exactly a hard thing for me to do. This is legit the girl who read a 750 page book in 5 hours and 45 minutes. If a book catches me, I can read it in mere hours. Which is what this book did to me, easily.
This was a very different book from Jennifer. For a moment, I forgot I was reading it by her because it just didn’t read the same as others I had read from her in the past. It was creepy and scary and literally had me turning the pages frantically to find out what happened next. Jennifer has always managed to make me laugh and to swoon but she’s never scared me before, not like she has in Don’t Look Back.
Don’t Look Back builds this mystery around the main character, Samantha, who is very nearly killed, and must figure out what happened to her, and her best friend. Problem is, she doesn’t remember who she is or who her best friend is, which, you know, makes things kind of difficult. Kind of. Then Sam starts to go…kind of crazy. She’s receiving cryptic notes and seeing things and hearing things that shouldn’t be there. Its incredibly creepy and Jennifer writes it so well. It reads like a horror movie, almost, a thriller, but its better than any movie I’ve watched. I’m not a huge fan of horror/thriller, I tend to find them lacking good stories, good characters, but this one was just perfectly chilling.
I also think its incredible that she’s able to weave such beautiful relationships throughout the book. Sam literally has to rebuild her relationship with everyone: friends, family, boyfriends, boys who are super cute who she wishes was her boyfriend instead, that sort of thing. And it all feels so incredibly authentic and confusing. So many of her relationships before her memory loss were frustrating and needed work, and now its even harder. These people remember what she was like, and she has to completely meld the two pieces of her together. Its confusing and that journey is taken so well through out the book.
There is also the conclusion of it, which obviously, as I write this, will be spoiler free. I hate ruining books for people. For awhile, I’d had a tiny inkling of what was going to be going on, but when it all came to an end, it was not the way I expected it. I knew the person responsible for a lot of the things going on, that part seemed to be creeping into my mind slowly. The why and how of it completely threw me off guard and I was wide-eyed all the way up until the last page. Way to go, Jennifer, for a completely surprising conclusion, and for scaring the crap out of me this entire novel. I was reading this at about 2 am and that probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve had.
Must read though. Seriously. If you like Jennifer Armentrout, you will like this very different novel from her. If you’re not a fan, read it anyway. If you’ve never read her books, then this would be a fun one to start with. Just remember to keep the lights on while you do so.
4 out of 5 Stars
