Tuesday 27 December 2016

My Least Favourite Books of 2016!

Welcome back to Birdie's Books! After a long hiatus I'm back with a new post! I've been seeing a lot of people talk about their favourite and least favourite books of the year and I've enjoyed doing this in the past so I'm bringing it back to this blog for this year. I wanted to start off with my least favourites to rip off the Band-Aid, if you will. I want to put it out there that if you enjoyed these books I've listed I'm in no way trying to belittle you or insult you. I'm just sharing my personal opinion and am in no way trying to be mean. I also want to let it be known that these are in no particular order. Here we go!

1. The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
I read this in the very beginning of 2016 and was my first 1 star book of the year. I think I might just name this my least favourite book of the year. I just didn't like the writing at all and I was so confused as to the origins of this world and how anything made sense. I was constantly confused and I thought a lot of what happened was so dumb. Ok, rant over. If you want to see more of my thoughts, I'll leave my review here.

2. That Boy by Jillian Dodd
Another book I didn't like because of the writing. I think that's going to be a theme here. The writing was just so frustrating and pointless. I was looking for a cheesy romance to read when I was feeling sad and couldn't even have that! The back and forth between the love triangle just got so tiring and again...THE WRITING. My gosh, I remember this one part so vividly because it was the biggest wtf moment I've ever had while reading a book: there was literally a good page of her talking about the history of beanpoles and what a beanpole is. I digress. Here's my review.

3. Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay
I was so excited to read this book because I've seen so many positive reviews and I was so ready to read a Sleeping Beauty retelling but boyyy was I disappointed. Another book where, guess what, the writing was so slow and boring. I honestly skim read so much of this book, which is something I rarely do, because I literally could not keep my eyes open while reading this. The characters are on a long journey for the majority of this book and I just couldn't take the constant descriptions of landscapes. Sure, it adds to the world, but after 20+ pages of description I think I get the picture. There was also little to no world building which I found made the story extremely confusing. I have a Goodreads review that I'll leave here if you're interested.

4. Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins
This is a least favourite for me of this year because I just found it so disappointing. It felt more like the author was trying to get the series over with and get a conclusion out there rather than completely wrap up the story. Everything was a little bit rushed and didn't have the same feel as the first few books. I loved the first one so much; it definitely started the series out with a bang. But sadly, the sequels weren't able to meet the high standard. The humor and action that I loved in the first book just felt muted in this one. Another Goodreads review of mine.

5. Run by Kody Keplinger
I was highly anticipating this book because I loved the DUFF by the same author. I enjoyed getting to see from the perspective of someone who was legally blind and that the two P.O.Vs took place at different times but again, the writing. I just didn't find myself getting attached to the characters much and never found myself really getting into the story. I found both the main protagonists to be so immature and rude to both their parents, and to each other. The ending had me fuming. The only character I liked was Colt. Sweet cinnamon roll I wish we got more of him. I have a more in-depth review if you're interested in reading more of my thoughts.

6. 99 Days by Katie Cotugno
Welllll are you in for an angry rant? I picked this book up because my friend was reading it and I wanted to give it a try too. Let me tell you, after reading this book, I am so done with the girl-has-to-decide-between-two-brothers trope. This book had me frustrated to no end. Patrick was so snotty and just plain mean to Molly for the whole book I couldn't take it. And Molly kept going back and forth between Gabe and him for the whole book. The whole situation was just toxic and I couldn't stand any of it. Molly should've just moved on from that family completely and lived her own life. I couldn't stand that she was so impulsive and didn't think through any of her actions. The only thing I really liked about this book (and was what made me give it an extra star) was Molly's relationship with Pen and her kids. These scenes were my favourite scenes in the whole book. You can find my review on my blog here.

Alright, so that's about it. Out of 83 books there were only 6 I didn't like, not too shabby. Like I said before, if you liked these books I have absolutely nothing against you, every one has their own opinion. I hope you guys had an amazing Christmas and I'll hopefully have another post up soon.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Monday 10 October 2016

99 Days by Katie Cotugno

99 Days by Katie Cotugno
Published: Balzer + Bray, April 21st, 2015
Pages: 384
Source: Hardcover, borrowed (library)
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 2/5

How I Felt: This was just one big disappointment. I've heard nothing but good things about this book and I really loved Katie Cotugno's first book so I was so looking forward to this, but to me, it was just one big flop.

I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the plot, everything that happened just seemed so stupid and immature to me, and everything that came out of the character's mouths just had me rolling my eyes so hard.

Molly was just so dumb. Everything she did was based on impulse and just had me screaming No! at the top of my lungs. If there was one song that would literally describe this book perfectly it would be Say No to This from Hamilton. I literally just had that song stuck in my head the entire time I was reading this. Just no.


I think the reason this just didn't sit well with me because there was so much cheating. The main character just kept cheating on and with the same two guys (and they're brothers!) over and over again with no remorse whatsoever. The biggest regret she had about this whole situation was what it did to her reputation and I couldn't stomach that. It was just too messy for me and I absolutely hated this aspect of this book. It just felt like one huge cycle and nobody learned anything from it.

To me, this book was so immature and filled with too much angst and emotions all squished together to create an interesting romance plot. But, like...no. I just couldn't get passed all the stupidity coming from Gabe, Patrick and Molly. Gosh. Even Julia, Tess and Imogen started really getting on my nerves.

The only part of the story I actually liked (an is the main reason for the generous rating of two stars) was Molly's relationship with Pen and her kids. I really wish that storyline was more fleshed out and present more because it was literally the only redeeming quality of this book. I also wish we could've seen more of the relationship between Molly and the boys' mother, Connie. The one flash we got of it at the end of the story was so heartwarming and I would've liked to see more flashbacks into their relationship instead of all these stupid flashbacks with Patrick.

Another part that annoyed me was when Molly went off on a little rant about how she doesn't like to read and thinks it a boring pass time, blah blah blah. I mean, everyone's entitled to their own opinion but I'M LITERALLY READING A WHOLE FREAKING BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE whatever.

I'm glad I borrowed this from the library instead of spending my own money on it. I had so much hope for this. I will consider reading more of Katie Cotugno's books in the future if the synopsis intrigues me but after this one I'm going to be a bit more cautious.

Now let's talk about the brothers. Oh, those dreamy Donnelly brothers. I could tell from the beginning what was going on but of course, Molly has to be so naïve and unobservant that she has no clue what's going on until the very end. Please. Patrick especially was getting under my skin. He was so quick to throw around words and call Molly a whole lot of nasty things. He deserved those punches. Gabe I did like and I'm sad he got hurt. Of course, he had his moments of total aggravation but I was rooting for him.

All this being said, I do know a whole lot of people who loved this book so if this sounds like a cute, cheesy contemporary you'd like, by all means pick it up. I think I'm just the one with the unpopular opinion here.

Overall, this just wasn't my type of book. The fact that it took me a while to get into it should've been a clue. Sadly, this didn't live up to my expectations I set based off of reading and loving her previous book, How to Love. Although, if you love cheesy, cutesy contemporaries I suggest you give this a go.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images taken from Google.ca 
 

Sunday 18 September 2016

Birdie's Books Update

Hello booklovers! I just wanted to do a quick little update to apologize for posing so infrequently and erratically lately. I've had a busy summer and now school is keeping me busy too! I'm going to try to post a review at least once a week and another fun post if I have time. Hopefully this time I can stick to a schedule, haha!

Anyways, sorry again! I'm just trying to find a balance between school and blogging. Thanks for sticking with me :)

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Sunday 21 August 2016

Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
Published: Dutton Books for Young Readers, May 26th, 2015
Pages: 375
Source: Hardcover, borrowed (library)
Genre:Thriller/Mystery
Rating: 5/5

How I Felt: Oh my gosh, this was so good!! I did not expect to love this book at all. I assumed it was going to be another cheesy, predictable YA thriller but boy, was I wrong. This is one of the best mystery/thriller books I've ever read.

If you're looking for a main character who is a villain/antihero and seriously messed up in the head this is for you. The main character is just so morally gray and crazy it's so intriguing and I couldn't help but be drawn into her story. Her moral indecisiveness made reading this a game of tug of war. One minute I could see her good side and I was rooting for her and the next she was completely diabolical and I wanted her arrested.

There are scenes that hint at her being redeemable but then she would do something just completely messed up and wicked and I was like woah nevermind... 


The writing in this was just so brilliant! It was genius! Carrie Ryan has definitely made me want to pick up her other books now based on the way this one was written. She is able to paint such vivid pictures of the setting and the mood of each scene it was perfect!

Also, the use of foreshadowing in this was on point. The best part of this was that after you know the revelation, you can clearly see now how everything was building up to this moment. Like those paintings where you can't tell what it is if you stand really close to it, but once you back up a bit everything becomes clear. All the puzzle pieces lock into place. Some obscure fact would be mentioned early on in the book and I'd think nothing of it, assuming it was just the character taking in her surrounding's and stating facts but noooo that was wrong. As the story progressed I was able to realize that was a clue and then I'd be all OHMIGOSH MY BRAIN IS ON FIRE IT ALL MAKES SENSE.


This was just the perfect revenge book. Everything you could ever want is here. Mystery, murder, poison, suspense, a sunken ship, a main character with a seriously messed up past and head. I have been trying to read different YA books recently trying to find one that satisfies all my dreams for a good thriller revenge story, and this one does just that.

If you've been wondering why I haven't said the main characters name yet it's because that's a touchy subject and the main source of her problems. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away but... The main character, Frances, was involved in a sunken cruise ship tragedy along with her friend, Libby. Libby didn't survive and since her father was devastated and Frances looked similar to her...well, he asked her to pretend to be Libby. This makes Frances really confused about who she is and also makes being in her head WEIRD. She doesn't think she's Frances or Libby; she calls herself a hybrid of both. So much so that she refers to herself in the third person. It was so creepy but really worked well. For example, she would say something along the lines of: "I could feel Frances rioting inside of me, fighting to take control. I decide to let her. Just this once."

The side characters were also brilliant. They all helped to showcase different sides of Frances. Morales, Shepherd and Grey. On their own, I cared so much about each of them. And the way they interacted with Frances just really helped to show how broken she was and how much the tragedy affected her, despite what she might say.

Even though the epilogue was really short, I really enjoyed it and thought it was a perfect way to wrap up everything that happened and still leave a bit of mystery in the air.

Overall, I really loved this book and I highly recommend this if you're looking for a great thriller (that isn't too scary) and mystery books with an untrustworthy character this is for you! I really enjoyed this and it's definitely one of my favourites of the year so far!


Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images taken from Google.ca 
 

Tuesday 2 August 2016

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Published: Henry Holt and Company, September 25th, 2015
Pages: 465
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

How I Felt: *runs in circles screaming*

OH MY GOSH WHAT EVEN IS THIS BOOK??? I cannot right now. Don't touch me.

I listened to this alternating between reading the physical book and listening to the audio and I loved this experience so so much. I really enjoyed connecting the voices of the narrators with the character's voices in my head.

This has got to be one of the best heist stories I have ever read. It was full of suspense and twists, and as the reader, the characters don't let on as to what they're doing right away and the mystery is so wonderfully frustrating because once you figure it out everything falls into place and it feels amazing. (So much rambling at this point ha!)

Okay, this took me a little bit longer to read because I kept putting the book down towards the beginning. The set up of Kaz and the Dregs and the world building was a little slow going at first because of all the new information and I was a little impatient. But once everything clicked together and we got to talking about the heist I diD NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF MY PRECIOUS CHILDREN.

The suspense in this book, my goodness. I couldn't breathe I was literally holding my breath hoping everyone would make it out alive.

I loved how we thought the world was falling apart and everyone was doomed and then Kaz would say "Haha psych! Part of my plan succahssss" Too many emotions, please don't do this to me.

I really liked the crew. I loved how diverse and unique each of them were. I could clearly tell who's perspective I was reading from and I loved each of the characters in their own way. When a book with multiple perspectives is written poorly, the characters' voices tend to blur together but that was not the case here and it was perfect.

Honestly, this book is just a masterpiece. Pure genius. There are so many layers of mystery and it's full of twists. GAAAHHH



While you don't have to read the Grisha trilogy to understand this one, there are a few nods to what happened in those books and I enjoyed every single one of them. Precious Nikoli.

I love Kaz so much. But my heart broke for Inej. And I will say that I ship Nina and Matthias so hard it's not even funny. I swear if anything happens to them I will lose my MIND.

I also loved getting to see each character's backstory. I thought the flashbacks were timed well and didn't interfere with any tense action sequences. It made me love my new children more.


Now how does one choose a favourite character? How do I choose between my children?? I love them all so much but I do love Matthias. Always the brooder.

The writing was beautiful, it all connected, every little detail is important, twists and twists and awesomeness and heists and tears and stress and perfection. That is what this book is. I enjoyed this immensely. I want an infinite amount of books like this.

Overall, I (obviously) loved this book so much. Definitely worth the hype and worth the read. I highly recommend you read it if you haven't already. Leigh Bardugo is a genius and has ruined my life in the best way with this book. I need the second book right this second. (I'm so excited for that Wylan P.O.V.) Just fantastic!



Favourite Quotes:
  • “The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”
  •  “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”
  •  “When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”
  •  “It's not natural for women to fight."
    "It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”
  •  “No Mourners. No Funerals.”
  •  “I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath.
  •  "If you can't beat the odds, change the game."


 Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images taken from Google.ca 

*Quotes taken from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Goodreads.com 

Sunday 17 July 2016

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Published: Philomel Books, February 2nd, 2016
Pages: 391
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5

How I Felt: Another beautiful historical fiction from Ruta Sepetys. The talent and passion while reading her books is quite evident. I hope she continues to write books in this genre in the future because they are so good and she is so talented.

I cried so much. I loved all of these characters. I loved how each one was so distinct and I never forgot whose perspective I was reading from. They were all so unique and had such strong voices. I grew to love the majority of them very much. I say majority because I hated Alfred. He creeped me out. Badly. I hated his perspective because it was so majorly warped. He was so delusional I couldn't tell if it was an act or if this guy was for real. And the whole thing with this Hannelore girl was a little weird too. To sum up, Alfred is weird and I don't like him.

I'm so happy we got to see what happened to Joana. In Between Shades of Gray Lina is constantly wondering how her cousin is doing. By getting to see from Joana's perspective we learn about what caused Lina's family to be arrested and what happened in those few years between the last chapter and the epilogue of Between Shades of Gray.

Florian is a precious cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs. I love Florian.

Emilia had me sobbing the most. I felt so attached to her after getting to know her full story. When revelations were made about her past, I bawled my eyes out. I felt so bad for her, and she was so young. The ending also had me bawling my eyes out for her. Gosh, these books make me cry like nobody's business.

Another character I loved was the Shoe Poet. I loved getting to hear him describe people based on their shoes. He was so wise. I love elderly in books. It's so important that they share their story.

I love how Ruta writes books on topics ignored by many others. The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff had a much higher casualty toll than the Titanic, yet hardly anyone knows about it. I love how Ruta is able to make me care so deeply for these fictional characters, yet also inform and educate me on an important and devastating tragedy from history that most often gets neglected.

Overall, I loved this book. I don't know which of Ruta's two books that I've read is my favourite. I love them both so deeply. I highly recommend you read this one as well. This story deserves to be heard. I would suggest reading Between Shades of Gray before this one so you can connect the story lines together, but it isn't necessary to understand either novel. Beautiful.



Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images taken from Google.ca 

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Published: Speak, April 3rd, 2012
Pages: 352
Source: Paperback, purchased
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5

How I Felt: Oh my gosh what do I even say? Nothing could ever do this book justice. It was beautiful, brilliant and emotional. I loved it; I'm so glad I read it. I honestly think everyone needs to read this book. It's so eye-opening, Ruta Sepetys is brilliant.

Firstly, I want to say that I loved the writing. Absolutely loved it. I love how she ends chapters. They end on such powerful one-liners that either make you cry or make you think. Too good ugh.

Let me just say that this book had me bawling like a baby. Reading Lina's reactions to things and how everyone around her rallied together to support each other had me feeling all the emotions. So many heartfelt moments. And what made this book all the more emotional was that this was based on true events, events that not too many people talk about. What made me cry the most, was how cruel the secret police were, and yet the prisoners were always kind to them. Always.

This has become one of my favourite books of all time and I will forever recommend it to every person I ever meet. Lina's story is one that needs to be shared with people; everyone should be made aware of the injustices done to these people.

I love Lina, I love Jonas I just love this book so much. I highly recommend it if you haven't yet picked it up. It's a heavy read because of all the horrible things that happened, but it's definitely worth it. Perfection. I want to read all of Ruta's books now.


Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it to everyone, even if you aren't the biggest fan of historical fiction. Despite the heavy topic, Ruta's writing is so easy to read. I flew through this book and I can't wait to read more of her works in the future. 

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Image taken from Google.ca 

Sunday 3 July 2016

My Summer TBR!

Sorry for the recent lack of posts! Exams have finally ended and I spent a whole week just binge reading to decompress from the school year and it felt so good. Now that I've had a break I'm ready to jump back into blogging!

I don't usually make TBRs for myself because I'm the worst at sticking to them, but I decided to share a list of the books I plan on reading this summer. Now that school's over, like I said, I've had so much free time on my hands so I've been filling it with reading! To add to my current mess of a TBR pile, my birthday is coming up so I will be spending a lot of birthday money at the bookstore (oops?). Anyways, enough rambling, let's get to it!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo- the fact that I haven't read this yet is a little ridiculous. I got it when it first came out and I've heard nothing but good things so there's really nothing holding me back.



Winter by Marissa Meyer- I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna finish this series. I've been putting this one off because I don't want it to enddd. I love this world and these characters so much!







Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid- I swear every TBR I've made has had this book on it. I just am never in the mood to pick it up and I'm not sure if I'll like it or not. Excuses, excuses.








Riders by Veronica Rossi- I loved the Under the Never Sky series and this one is about the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Need I say more?












Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld- I have been trying to read this book for about 2 years. I don't know what it is about Scott Westerfeld's writing but I've never been able to get into it or enjoy it. I love the concept for this book so I do hope I am able to like it.







A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro- This being a Holmes and Watson retelling immediately piqued my interest. Finding out that this is a series has made me want to put it off a bit but now I just want to read it because I have high hopes that I'll like it.







How to Love- I have had my eye on this for a while. I don't know why I've never picked it up before but now that I own it I have no excuse. This to me, seems like the perfect book to read in the summer.







Alright, I'm going to keep this list brief so I don't set myself up for too much disappointment. I hope I'll be able to read all these and not get extremely lazy and just sleep all summer like I usually do. What are your reading plans for the summer?

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Sunday 5 June 2016

May Bookish Wrap-up!

May was definitely a more successful month for me book-wise. For some reason, I was able to plow through more books than I thought I'd be able to, and I was looking forward to reading for the whole month. These last few months, school has left me so drained I don't even have energy to read. The torture! Okay, this is getting rambly I'm just going to dive on in.

Favourite New Releases:
  1. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. The queen's new book has arrived! I can't wait to find out what goes on in this book because I've heard so many things! (This is also what I'm currently reading.)
  2. The Crown by Kiera Cass. This is the fifth and final book in the Selection series and so many tears were shed when I read this book. It's become such a large part of my reading life and will always have a special place in my heart as one of the first YA books I ever picked up. (Also, story time: my friend and I literally called every bookstore in the area hunting for this book because no one had it but then we ended up finding it on sale!)
  3. The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye. I've heard so many good things about this book. It's also set it Russia. An instant buy, basically.
  4. Ruined by Amy Tintera. I loved her Reboot duology so I'm beyond excited to pick this up and see how well she writes fantasy! Another book I've heard so many good things about.
  5. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. New Morgan Matson book! I'm ready for cuteness and squeals of joy!
Favourite Posts from Other Bloggers:
I've had more time to browse around the internet and read more posts this month. Well...I only really have one post but it's more than last month so I'm counting that as an accomplishment.

Cait (Paper Fury)'s  post on 10 dreadful things that will happen if you read too much

My Blog Posts:
Success! I managed to post three reviews this month! *gives self a pat on the back*

My review for: That Boy by Jillian Dodd 
My review for: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard 
My review for: Queen of Shadows by the Queen Herself Sarah J. Maas 

Book Haul:
I bought a lot of books this month and may have broken my book-buying ban...whoops?

  • The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh- I am in love with Khalid.
  • Me Before You by Jojo Moyes- I bought this to read before watching the movie and there were tears everywhere it's ridiculous.
  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas- This one is huge and I love it. Can't wait to finish it and write out all my thoughts!
  • Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys- My friend raves about this book so I'm really excited to read it myself. Also, I saw a video where the author explains everything that went into writing this and it was so heartbreaking yet beautiful I may have cried and I can't wait to read this now.
What I Read: I read nine books this month. I'm so proud of myself.
Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking. 4/5. This is the second book in the Kanen Chronicles series. I loved how this book continued on the events of the first one. I definitely enjoyed this series more than the Trylle trilogy. Amanda Hocking's books are so addicting.
The Crown by Kiera Cass. 5/5. I'm so sad this series is over. My heart hurts just thinking about it. I love Kiera Cass and I can't wait to read more of her books in the future.
Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking. 4.5/5. This one was my favourite book in the series. I loved the action and the mystery and all the twists. I was also very happy with how everything ended.
Consequence by Shelly Crane. 5/5. This is a novella that bridges the gap between the Significance series, and the series that follows this children of the main characters. Do I even need to talk about how good this was? It's pretty much a given with these books to me.
That Boy by Jillian Dodd. 2/5. Did not like. Would not recommend. I just found the writing and the main character to be incredibly immature. If you love contemporary romance maybe you should give this a shot, but it just wasn't for me.
Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom. 5/5. This is my favourite book that I have had to read for school. It just had me feeling all of the things. I love how after reading this, it feels like you know Morrie, like he's your friend too. I was reading this is class and trying to hold in my tears at the end because it was so beautiful!
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. 4/5. I read this at the same time as my friend. We were both a little hesitant going into it because it was hard to adjust to the world but then by the end we loved it and became obsessed!
The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh. 5/5. This book was perfect. Perfect. I can't express my emotions clearly I love this series so much.
Me Before you by Jojo Moyes. 4/5. This book made me ugly cry. I was both sad and mad and I really commend Jojo for being able to make me feel so many emotions and for making me love her characters so much.

Favourite New Author: Hands down Renee Ahdieh. I loved the Wrath and the Dawn duology. I will literally read anything she writes now. I think her books will be at least in the top three of my favourite books of the year so far. I'm not even kidding I still think about this world and what the characters are doing after finishing the series. This rarely happens and I don't know what to do. She's so good at writing twists I never knew who to trust and I loved it!

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Saturday 28 May 2016

That Boy by Jillian Dodd

That Boy by Jillian Dodd
Published: Jillian Dodd Inc., January 13th, 2014
Pages: 303
Source: e-book, purchased
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 2/5

How I Felt: The end of this book is what got it a second star. About 90% of this had me rolling my eyes and trying not to scream. I picked this book up because I wanted a cute, quick romance that I could read trying to come off a fantasy kick. Nope. I didn't get that at all. All I got was frustration.

First I want to talk about the narration. Jayden was incredibly immature. This book starts off when she's a young child. It's the story of her growing up with her neighbours and friends Danny and Philip. I thought she would mature as the story went on and she got older but no. It was the same narration when she was a child and when she was 21. I couldn't stand the immaturity. Her decision making was awful, and I was repeatedly screaming at the book trying to knock some sense into her. Also, her narration bothered the heck out of me. I'm not sure if it's the writing or just Jayden herself. I don't know if it was supposed to be part of her character but it was too much for me. She would think about something and then go off on a rant in her head. It got so annoying. She literally talked about the history of beanpoles for a few pages and provided a legitimate definition.  Quotes from a dictionary. I can't.

More on the writing, I also didn't like how J.J. would address the reader. She would say things along the lines of "You probably already guessed that." Personally, I hate this in books. I don't want the character to address me because when I read it's a chance for me to escape my world and become the character. It just seems a little unnatural to me when it's less of a stream of consciousness and more like a voice-over in a movie.

One of the biggest things that annoyed me in this book was the constant use of the phrase "That boy." Yes, I understand that is the title of the book but I don't think it needs to be used every time J.J. describes someone of the male species. Again, cue the eye roll.

Also, since this book follows Jayden as she grows up we often skip and gloss over years at a time. I really didn't like how this worked out because it usually just had J.J. recapping the last few months or years very quickly and brushing everything off. I didn't really like that because it stopped the flow of the story and really slowed down the plot. It made things choppy and the author often had to backtrack anyway to catch the reader up on all the time that passed. I don't think the time lapse was executed as well as it should have been.

The part with Danny, Philip and Jayden's parents in the hot tub. Gross. Ew. Stop.

I thought that Jayden's flirtatious personality she developed as she grew up felt forced. I mean when she was younger she was completely oblivious to everything and then the book fast-forwards a few years and she's a master of all the arts. Ok. It annoyed me that she took everything too far and just went "who cares" and made Phillip clean up her mess. It felt like her character was forced to become 'cool' so she was placed in situations that felt unnatural to me. I understand she was growing and changing but it didn't feel consistent. If that makes sense.

Now, what did I like? To be honest, sadly, not much. Phillip is what really made this book for me. I loved how he was always there for J.J. no matter what they were going through. Fighting or not e always went out of his way to make sure she was okay. I was almost ready to slap her for what she did at the end.


Sadly, a lot of this review is full of negative things. But I really couldn't find too much to say I liked about it and that pains me. I was so looking forward to enjoying this book and gobbling it up.

Overall, I didn't really enjoy this book. A lot of reviews I've seen though have been positive so if this is something that sounds like you might like give it a shot. I personally don't recommend it.


 
Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Image taken from Google.ca 

Saturday 7 May 2016

April Bookish Wrap-up!

Welcome to another wrap up! I'm really excited to be doing these posts now because I find it so fun to just look back on the month and see all the bookish things that happened! Also, this year is flying by so fast! It's already May so that means exams are coming up soon and I am not looking forward to that at all. Anyways, here we go!

Favourite New Releases: There weren't too many books that came out last month that I was interested, but my TBR pile is still continuously growing...

  1. The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead. When this book was first announced I was so excited because it sounded so cool to me but now that it's out I've heard a lot of negative reviews and I'm worried. But I still really want to pick it up and give it a shot! (Also, this cover is gorgeous!)
  2. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. I've heard nothing but amazing things about this book and I can't wait to get my hands on it!
  3. Dreamology by Lucy Keating. This book came out of nowhere and kind of surprised me. I hadn't heard too much about it but I saw a YouTube video about it and I was immediately hooked. (I almost bought it last month but I already bought too many other books)
  4. Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins. This is the third book in the Rebel Belle series and I can't wait to see what happens. I loved the first book but the second one disappointed me a little so I'm excited to see what's in store for this one!
Favourite Blog Posts from Other Bloggers:
Sadly, I haven't had a lot of free time in April because I had so much going on with school but in May I hope to explore the bookish interwebs a bit more!

My Blog Post: Also because of my busyness in April, the only post I uploaded was my March bookish wrap-up. I rock.

My March Bookish Wrap-up

Book Haul: As many book lovers know, when you don't have a lot of time to read books, you tend to buy more to make up for it because that makes so much sense. I know I have a problem and I accept it. Oh, and it's official: I've run out of space on my shelves and I've resorted to stacking book up in piles on my desk.

Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking. This is the second book in the Kanin Chronicles series and I'm really liking it so far!

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. As soon as I read the synopsis for this book I had to get my hands on it. It's about the descendants of Holmes and Watson and I cry this is so amazing I can't wait to read it.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. Everyone always talks about how amazing Sanderson is so I thought I'd give him a shot with this book because it was on sale. Gotta get those deals.

On the Fence by Kasie West. Kasie West is the queen of quick, fun, cute contemporary romances. I could read these books till the day I die. All the excitement for this.

What I Read: So I read 5 books this month, and one of them was for school. I'm pretty happy with that considering how much I had going on. I hope maybe I can read a little bit more this month to catch up with my reading goal.

Switched by Amanda Hocking. 3/5. After Queen of Shadows, I was left in a weird state so I didn't know what to read. I picked this up on a whim and I really enjoyed it. It was so easy to fly through and I love Hocking's writing. Definitely recommend if you feel a slump coming on.

Torn by Amanda Hocking. 3/5. I started marathoning this series because I became addicted and I didn't really feel in the mood for someone else. At this point in the series, Finn was kind of like Chaol to me and I wanted to punch him in the face. But it was a good sequel.

Ascend by Amanda Hocking. 4/5. Definitely my favourite book in the series. I loved how everything wrapped up and it did bring a few tears to my eyes! Loki is precious.

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking. 4/5. (As you can tell I binge read a lot of Amanda Hocking last month.) I really liked this book, especially because there were so many cameos from the Trylle series! But I also really like Bryn and her character. I can't wait to see where the story goes!

Lord of the Flies by William Hocking. 2.5/5. I had to read this for school and I wasn't too impressed. While it was a good and important overall story, the writing just didn't work for me. I found it to be very inconsistent with the pacing and it was so descriptive it just wasn't keeping my attention.

I don't really have any new authors to talk about again because I literally only read two. I have a problem and I need to branch out more.

Favourite Book Fanart:

I just had to pick this book because the Selection series comes to an end this month with the Crown and I can't handle all the emotions right now!

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Images taken from Google.ca*

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
Published: HarperTeen, February 9th, 2016
Pages: 444
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Fantasy/Dystopian
Rating: 4/5

How I Felt: This book is a roller-coaster, to say the least. My thoughts are a little scrambled after reading this so I'll try to be coherent.

I definitely liked this book better than Red Queen, I thought it was a strong sequel. But I still had my issues with it.

I still don't like the writing too much, although I did feel it improved in this installment. I find so many repetitive phrases that just get on my nerves every so often.

I liked the addition of the new characters in this, and I loved all the action sequences. I felt like they were well written and I could picture them all clearly. I also loved how we got to travel around a lot in this book, it was so interesting to get a better look at Norta.

I also really liked getting to learn more about the people like Mare. It was so cool to see how diverse they all were and how much they could whip the Silvers into shape if they got together.

*sing-songs* I have a feeling there is something going on with Farley and I can't wait for the third book to see if it's true. *laughs maniacally*

I didn't really like Mare too much in this book. I felt like she was acting very vain and self absorbed most of the time thinking that this rebellion is all about her when so many other lives are at stake. So I appreciated it when Cameron was introduced and gave her a few reality checks. I understand it was to add to her character development and help her grow as a person, but she got a little annoying after saying the same thing for the whole book.

(*The next paragraph contains mild spoilers*)
Jon. I'm not going to say too much about him but at first he reminded me of the guy from Men in Black who could see the future and that made me laugh hysterically for a few minutes when I made that connection. Sadly I don't remember his name but in short he gives me life. Until the end of this book when I want to slap him silly.
(*Spoilers over.*)

I had a feeling it was going to end that way. I see it in practically every sequel in YA. I won't say what it is because I don't want to spoil anyone but ohmigosh -__-

Now I must mention this because it's something I am completely confused and undecided about and it freaks me out in a good way. There is so much allusion to romance in this book but it feels like every path and every guy leads to a dead end. I don't know who to trust, I don't know who I like or want to protect more. It's delightfully infuriating.

I really hope Mare fixes things with her family and Kilorn. I don't really know what to expect in the third book though, to be honest. I appreciate that going into the next book, I have no clue what to expect. With this one, it was like being thrown into a completely different world.

I will be continuing on with the series because I must say I'm intrigued. Even though tropes are layed on thick I still really enjoyed this one.

Cal and Kilorn must be protected at all costs.


Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Image taken from Google.ca 

Sunday 1 May 2016

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Since this is the fourth book in the series I want to put it out there that this review is filled with spoilers for the series. Beware, you have been warned.

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Published: Bloomsbury USA Children's, September 1st, 2015
Pages: 648
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

How I Felt: Can I just start this off by saying how much I loved Lysandra in this? I hated her in the Assassin's Blade and now I want to be her best friend.

Dorian, precious cinnamon roll!!



Sarah J. Maas is a literal queen and deserves all the awards ever for making me feel all the feels and for breaking my heart into a million little pieces and then gluing a quarter of them back together.

So in case you couldn't tell, I really really loved this book. I thought it was a great continuation of the series and I loved where it picked up. I feel like it did the characters a lot of justice and was great at showcasing their stellar development. For instance, in the beginning of this book I wanted to knock the living daylights out of Chaol he was so annoying. But by the end he had me in tears and I just wanted to protect him and cry for the rest of my life. Also, Dorian is my precious cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs. Aedion gives me life. And Lysandra is a beautiful human being who deserves all the good things.

What I love about Sarah's writing is the witty banter that happens between all the characters. I can't help but burst out laughing like a psycho whenever reading one of those scenes and it's what I love about all her books.

Aelin is such an amazing character, in my opinion. I love how much growth and change she goes through in this book. Frankly, I love how much change everyone goes through in this book. Too many emotions!

So I think I should put it out there that I'm hardcore team Rowan so I loved this book very very much. I thought I loved Rowan in HoF but I fell in love with him in this book and in my opinion I think he and Aelin are perfect and amazing together.

I very much enjoyed getting to see many new characters in this book, like Evangeline, Elide and Nesryn. Granted, at the beginning of the book I also wanted to punch Nesryn but by the end I would've done anything to protect her.

I enjoyed getting to see from Manon's P.O.V. more so in this book than HoF just because of how much was going on in Morath with her in this book. I also enjoyed getting to see her mindset change and see her slowly develop a conscience. I loved the Manon/Aelin seen! I was rooting for both of them very loudly whilst reading alone in my room (to the dismay of my family).

I did find some parts of this book to be slow and hard to get through, but for the most part I really did enjoy it.

I loved all the action/fighting/battle scenes we got in this book and I'm so pumped for all the ones to come in future books!

Also, I hate Arobynn Hamel with a burning, fiery passion. And Clarisse too.

I really liked the scene where Aelin disguised herself with the dancers. I loved getting to see her with her old teacher and their exchange.

Okay, we need to discuss the Wrydkey and Valg developments in this book. SO many things happened in both departments it was hard to keep up but I enjoyed learning it all just the same.

Overall, I really loved this book. I am such a fan of this series it isn't even funny. I can't wait for the fifth book to come out! I need to know what happens to all my precious children! I will probably pass out when I get it in my hands. I can't wait to know more about everything, this book has so many layers it never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images takes from Google.ca 

Saturday 9 April 2016

March Bookish Wrap-up

Hello lovely book people! Sorry for my lack of posting lately but school's been keeping me busy for the last month. I haven't had much free time for anything so that's the reason for the lack of posts. I'm trying to make a schedule so that becomes less of a problem.

Anyhow, today I'm continuing with something I started doing last month which is wrapping up everything bookish that happened within the month of March. Feast your eyes on these lovely books!

Favourite New Releases: As always, many amazing books came out this month! My TBR pile is constantly growing so at this rate I'll be 80 and still have a million books to read but what's wrong with that right? True to my disorganized fashion, these aren't in order of release date.

  1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Finally this book came out! I still haven't been able to get my hands on it but I'm so excited for more shadowhunters!
  2. The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins. I believe this is about a competition where the winner that kills the beast terrorizing this kingdom wins the Princess's hand in marriage. I love Wendy Higgins's writing and will always read her books.
  3. Burning Glass by Katheryn Purdie. Another fantasy about a girl who can feel people's emotions and is charged with protecting the King. It sounds so good and I can't wait to pick it up!
  4. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. This is about a girl who's a sharpshooter and has to disguise herself as a boy. Just that alone makes me want to read it. Oh, and it takes place in the desert. Check, check, check.
  5. Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige. This is the third book in the Dorothy Must Die series and I can't wait to continue on with this series. (Also, it was announced that this series is getting a fourth book and I cry.)
Favourite Blog Posts from other Bloggers: Like in February, I haven't written many of my own posts so I've spent so much time reading others. These are the few that I really enjoyed and found thought provoking or inspired me for my own posts.
  1. Morissa's post about Book to Film Adaptations
  2. Booknut101's post about March Book Mail
  3. Ivey's post about Her Thoughts on White Authors Writing about PoC
My Blog Posts: Alas, I only posted twice last month, and one of those was my February wrap-up. Whoops.

My review for: Queen Song and Steel Scars by Victoria Aveyard
My Bookish February Wrap-up

Book Haul: Surprisingly, I only bought one book this month? That's a first. My bookshelves thank me. Well I guess it's partially because I barely left my house. Here it is:

Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie. This was the new release I mentioned above and I can't wait to read it!










What I Read: I read eight books this month and I am so proud that I was able to reach that. I'm currently on track for my Goodreads goal so I'm content with that.

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas: 5/5. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this. I love all of Sarah's books and I can't wait to read more in the future.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery: 5/5. My friend read this just before I did and she made me interested so I decided to pick it up. It was such a quick, heart-warming read and I loved it! Maybe I'll even get around to seeing the movie (she said hopefully).

The Siren by Kiera Cass: 5/5. I gobbled this book up. I buddy read this with another friend and it was so great to have someone to sob with.

Queen Song by Victoria Aveyard: 3/5. I bought Cruel Crown in February so I finally got around to reading these novellas. This one was my favourite of the two in the bind-up. You can find my review for both linked above.

Steel Scars by Victoria Aveyard: 2.5/5. I didn't like this novella as much because I didn't like Farely's narrative. I did like getting to see more of Shade though.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: 4/5. I decided to continue on and read Glass Sword. If you didn't know, I wasn't the biggest fan of Red Queen but I was surprised by this book. I didn't love it but it was definitely an improvement from the first one and I'm looking forward to seeing where this series is going.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare: 3/5. This was a book I had to read for school. I liked it more than Romeo and Juliet but his books just aren't my cup of tea.

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas: 5/5. This book gets all the stars. I'm so happy I finally read it and I don't know why I waited so long. This book made me a mess with emotions and I love Maas's writing so much. Ugh, just beautiful.

I don't have any new authors to talk about this month that I read. I just stuck with those I loved because I was so busy and didn't have time to experiment.

Favourite Book Fanart:
 
I just had to pick one from Throne of Glass because I am still a mess of emotions.
 
Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Sunday 20 March 2016

Dual Review: Queen Song and Steel Scars by Victoria Aveyard

I thought that since these are both in the bind up, Cruel Crown, I'd review these together. I just recently read this because I'm currently rereading Red Queen and am about to pick up Glass Sword. Now I'm not the biggest fan of this series, I just want to put that out there right now. I did enjoy these novellas, though. I'll start this off by giving an overview and quick review for each novella, along with an average rating for both of these short stories and the novella bind up in case you don't want to read through this whole post.

Queen Song: 3.5/5
(Queen Elara must die.)

Steel Scars: 2.5/5
(The driving force that allowed me to finish this one in a timely manner was the addition of Shade Barrow.)

Average rating for bind-up: 3/5






Queen Song by Victoria Aveyard
(Red Queen Series #0.1)

I enjoyed this novella. It wasn't some revolutionary new story that revealed a mystery. It did add some mystery, in a way, to Queen Elara.

I enjoyed getting to learn more about Coriane and her backstory. Getting to see where she came from and what growing up for her was like was interesting. I enjoyed getting to see her with Julian when they were young. I don't think it added anything positive to my opinion of King Tiberias or Elara. I didn't really like Tiberias in this, and obviously I hated Elara.

I really liked getting to see Cal as a baby. Getting to see his mother's affections for him was really sweet and heartwarming.

Overall, this novella was just okay. I enjoyed being in Coriane's head, I found her downward spiral in health to be interesting in a way. I think it's good to read to gain some more background on the world and the Calore family and their history. My favourite of the two novellas.


Steel Scars by Victoria Aveyard
(Red Queen Series #0.2)

I didn't like being in Farley's head as much as I did Coriane's.

The ending of this novella is what made it for me. I was so bored throughout most of it. And as usual I found the 'twist' very predictable and obvious from the beginning.

I also didn't like the writing in this short story. I kept coming across the word 'albeit.' It was literally on almost every page. Everything had to be 'albeit;' it got to a point where I was so annoyed that I'd huff and skim read that page.

I do think this novella is of greater value if you're looking for more insight into the plot and story line. I felt like this one added a lot more to the world and story than Queen Song. A lot is revelaed about the Scarlet Guard in this because we get an inside look.

After reading this, I'm interested to re-read Red Queen and connect the dots of the newfound knowledge.

Overall, I didn't love this novella. I think it was a good addition to the series and suggest reading it if you want a more in-depth look at the world.


 

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images takes from Google.ca 

Monday 7 March 2016

February Bookish Wrap-up!

Welcome back! I apologize for posting so infrequently recently, my world has been crazy over the last month adjusting to a new semester of school. Things have calmed down a bit so I decided to start doing a monthly wrap up post that talks about all things bookish that happened to me over the course of a month. Obviously this is a little late but I was really excited about doing this that I couldn't wait a month to start. This is my first post of this kind so bear with me.

Favourite New Releases: So many good books came out in February. Some of them I own and some of them I need to own A.S.A.P! I don't think I've read any of the books that came out this month which is a little disappointing, but I'll live. (These aren't in order of release date because I'm not that talented and I'm writing this as quick as possible so I can get back to my homework.)
  1. Dorothy Must Die stories Volume 2: I love this series so much and I can't wait to get my hands on both this and the first volume and devour them!
  2. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: This one I do own and I'm actually pretty excited to get to; I've heard interesting things.
  3. Assassin's Heart by Sara Ahiers: This to me sounds like assassins meets Romeo and Juliet and I couldn't be more excited about that.
  4. The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine: A Snow White retelling with ogres and dragons instead of dwarves. Sign me up.
  5. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer: I heard this includes a long epilogue (!!!). (I still haven't read Winter yet, whoops.)
  6. The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury: An Aladdin retelling with a girl as the genie. I couldn't be more excited.
  7. Revenge of the Wild by Michelle Modesto: I heard this is a western with cannibals. I can't even right now this is the most unique thing I've ever heard.
  8. Titans by Victoria Scott: This is about robotic horse races. I love horses, especially when they're racing.

Favourite Blog posts from other bloggers: Last month I've been really into reading other bloggers posts since I wasn't creating any of my own. I've been trying to gather ideas to do a more creative post and a few caught my eye and I really enjoyed them.
  1. Library Luv's guest post on Booknut 101's blog about the Pros and Cons of Predictable Story Lines.
  2. Books by Jay's post about Books She Couldn't Finish-dnf
  3. Morissa's post about Her Bookstore Adventure

My Blog Posts: Sadly, I only posted twice this month and they were both reviews but I'm really happy with how they both turned out.

My review for: The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
My review for: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Book Haul: I'm sort of on an unofficial book buying ban right now but I completely broke that in February. In February I read a lot of books from the library so I don't know why I saw that as an opportunity to go out and add books to my TBR pile by buying more. Anyways, here's what I got:
  • The Siren by Kiera Cass- I'm currently reading this and loving it!
  • Riders by Veronica Rossi- I loved the Under the Never Sky series so I had to get my hands on her latest book (also I really liked the flaming horse on the cover).
  • Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard- I wasn't the biggest fan of Red Queen but the covers are gorgeous and I found a signed copy on sale so I couldn't resist.
  • Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard- If I'm going to buy the sequel I might as well buy the novella bind up, right?
  • Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys- My friends talks about how much she loves her other book so I thought I'd pick this one up first because I've heard so many good things
  • Firstlife by Gena Showalter- I must admit that this was a cover buy. I saw it on Goodreads and fell in love. Also, now that I know the concept, I'm pretty hooked.
  • Stars Above by Marissa Meyer- I love this series so much, even though I read most of these novellas already I don't care, I will buy anything if it takes place in this world.

What I Read: In the month of February I read six books, which isn't too bad considering it's the shortest month of the year and I've been extremely busy. Here are the books I read:

Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson: 4/5. This is a graphic novel by a bunch of different authors. It was just a fun, light read that got me out of the beginning of a reading slump. I enjoyed it, it's one of my favourite graphic novels out of the few that I've read.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: 1/5. This was a book I picked up on a whim because the concept was so interesting. It's about this futuristic world where the children of the leaders of every country is taken as a hostage to prevent wars and promote peace. This book had so much potential and I was so excited for it but it just fell flat. For a more in depth review you can click here.

Of Triton by Anna Banks: 5/5. This is the second book in the Syrena legacy series and I loved it so much! Galen and Emma and Toraf and Rayna. Gosh, I love this series so much. I highly recommend it if you want something quick and fun.

Of Neptune by Anna Banks: 4/5. Then I finished of this series by picking up this book. While it wasn't my favourite in the series I still really enjoyed it. I just didn't completely loved what happened to the plot and the characters in this book but I'm still really happy with how everything ended.

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith: 4/5. Because I'm a huge cheeseball I read this book for Valentine's Day. I didn't love it as much as some of her other books but it definitely wasn't my least favourite of hers. I loved the realistic relationships she created between all the characters, I feel like they were all so relatable and honest.

The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe: 4/5. I had to read this book for an assignment in class and I ended up really enjoying it. Poetry isn't something I'm a huge fan of or really interested in but it was fun to read this and gain a different perspective. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this.

Favourite New Authors: Anna Banks. Last month I discovered the wonderful world of the Syrena legacy series. It's a trilogy about mermaids that involves Greek mythology and overall cuteness. I binge read the series because I couldn't get enough. Her writing is so light and easy to read, I flew through all of these books. Her writing is also full of funny dialogue between the characters that definitely brightened up my day while reading it.

Favourite Book Fanart: This is from the Red Queen series and I find it stunning. I like anything if there's a big pretty dress in it to be honest.



 I realize that this post is a little long. I apologize, this is what happens when I don't post for a long time and have a lot to say. I hope this was an enjoyable post, let me know if doing this sort of thing every month is a good idea.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Monday 22 February 2016

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Published: Bloomsbury Children's, May 5th, 2015
Pages: 416
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5

How I Felt: I loved this book. I don't think it's as good as the Throne of Glass series but it's still amazing. I love Feyre and this world. It's so intriguing and filled with mystery, this book left me second guessing everyone and I loved that.

Tamlin is beautiful and perfect, I just  love him so much my heart is melting. Lucien was amazing, his banter with Tamlin and Feyre was hilarious. I don't quite know how I feel about Rhysand. I'm definitely on team Tamlin at this point.

I didn't give this book a full five stars because the beginning was really slow for me. It took me a while to get through those opening chapters. But the ending was a complete 180. It was my favourite part of the book, I could hardly breathe while reading those chapters.

The three trials with Amarantha were amazing and action packed. When we first get to know the riddle, I knew the answer right away just because it was so obvious, but I enjoyed getting to watch Feyre figure it out.

THE ENDING HAD ME CRYING SO HARD IT WAS PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL AND ALL I COULD ASK FOR. I was the happiest camper you ever did see at that point. I can't wait to see where it continues in A Court of Mist and Fury!

I can't wait to pick up the second book and see where this story goes next! I'm also excited to learn more about this world! Sarah is basically the queen of writing about faeries.

I recommend this if you like fantasy, but it is one of those books where you either love it or you hate it. I definitely loved it.


 

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Images takes from Google.ca 

Popular Posts