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 

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
Published: Margaret K. McElderry Books, September 22nd, 2015
Pages: 374
Source: Hardcover, library
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Rating: 1/5

How I Felt:Let me just say that this book was a mess. The only thing I really liked about it was that it was set in Canada and incorporated diversity. That's literally all I liked.

I tried so hard to like this book, I really wanted to. The concept was so cool and unique, it held so much potential but fell so so flat.

There is such poor writing in this book. I didn't like it at all. It dragged so much for the majority of the book, and I didn't think there was a very good explanation for anything, I was confused 90% of the time.

I also found the development of the characters to be so very bad. They were all just so dull and I didn't find myself attaching or liking any of them. Especially Greta. She was so naive throughout this book, and if I may be honest, completely annoying. Her narration is so childish I would roll my eyes every other line. I have to use a direct quote here because I found it utterly ridiculous: "The soldier was leading the horse with a... leading thing." That is just careless description and I've been seeing it more and more in YA and it bothers me so much.

The writing wasn't as clear as it is in many other books I've read, I couldn't picture anything from this world in my mind. I've found that some unnecessary descriptions were way too detailed, but many more important descriptions weren't detailed enough.

Another thing about Greta; she was always trying to be the best, most bravest queen in all the land. She had to be strong because she was a queen. A queen must always keep her cool. So when her friends are in a gun fight, instead of coming to their aid, Greta decides to SIT DOWN. She tried so hard to be noble, she always thought she was doing the noble thing. Sorry, no. Never in my life have I read about such a weak character. Gosh.

Talis was made to be the funny, spunky, likable villain. But it was too forced and didn't feel real.

I also didn't like the pedestal Greta put Xie on for the whole book. Any time she'd look at her she'd call her a goddess. The description of Xie constantly included 'goddess' in there somewhere. "She is a goddess-queen in red and gold silk..."

I'm not going to spoil anything but the even that happened at the end bothered me so much. I didn't like where it went and frankly, it just added to my confusion. Nothing was explained clearly to me (this is just how I felt about the clarity of the writing, I may just be incredibly oblivious at this point in the novel because I'm skimming pages to get it over with).

I'm so disappointed, I was so excited about this book because it's a great concept. It was just so poorly executed.

Overall, I didn't like this book at all. This was the worst book I've read in a while. But I have heard other people say they enjoyed this book so it depends on the person. I won't be continuing on with the series and I don't think I'll be reading any more of Bow's books. This was so painful to read.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

 ***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow***
*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*
*Image takes from Google.ca 

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick
Published: Simon and Schuster, November 10th, 2015
Pages: 400
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Contemporary, mystery/thriller
Rating: 3.5/5

How I Felt: I usually really enjoy Becca Fitzpatrick's books. Generally, I like reading her books even though the writing isn't the best and they're full of cheese. But I found myself not liking this one as much. I've read all of her books and this one is definitely my least favourite. I just didn't like Stella that much, especially in the beginning. You'd think after going through a traumatic, life and death experience and coming out alive, she'd be grateful to move far away to a safe place with a nice ex-cop to take care of her but alas, no.

I can say that Stella became more tolerable as she grew throughout the story and began to open up more to her past and accept the things she's done and been able to grow as a person and move on.

I wish Carmina's drama with her family would have been more prominent. It was set up in a way that made it feel like it would come into play later but it didn't really offer any new, relevant information. I was hoping we'd get to see more of her past as Stella learned to respect and appreciate her.

Trigger was disgusting and I'm glad he got what he deserved. The whole small town star player drama thing was getting old.

I wish we got to see more of Inny, her and Stella went through some major bonding and after a certain point she was briefly mentioned about why she wasn't going to be a part of the story anymore and then she was just completely gone from the plot. I missed her sass.

The twists at the end in the murder case was predictable in hindsight, but I didn't see it coming so I found it entertaining.

I found that my interest while reading this book was like a roller-coaster. I wasn't 100% interested in the story 100% of the time. There were some chapters I wanted to skip all together because they dragged so much and then there were others where I was on the edge of my seat. The inconsistency in the writing started getting on my nerves a little but I wasn't too fussed about it.

The ending is what really pushed me to give this book three stars. The whole time I was reading this, it didn't get better than a two star rating. But the ending, with the action and mystery and Stella finally coming to her senses (and with a little help from Chet and his swoonyness), allowed me to enjoy myself more and I decided to be generous and give it an extra star.

Overall, this book was okay. I loved the premise when I first read it, but the story didn't really live up to it for me. I love the idea of reading about a character going through the witness protection program, but the process wasn't really talked about too much. I will continue reading books by Becca Fitzpatrick just because they're easy reads and I have no self control. I don't think they're the best books out there and they're definitely not for everyone. As I said before, I wasn't too impressed by this book and it wasn't my favourite of hers. If you want to pick up this book you're going to need a lot of patience with Stella because she does eventually make it to a good place, but it takes her a while to get there.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

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

My Most Dissapointing Reads of 2015

I've wanted to write about some of my least favourite reads of the year for a while but haven't had time to sit down and write it. I know this is late now but I'm just going to end the yearly wrap up posts with this. I want to say that the books on this list were ones I personally didn't enjoy. If you did, I am not in any way trying to offend you, they just didn't work for me. So here they are!

1. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
My Rating: 2/5
I've heard good things about this book on the internet and I heard that it was becoming a movie so I wanted to pick it up. But when I read it I just didn't like the main character or the writing at all. I have a full review on my blog if you want to know more of my thoughts that I'll link right here.






2. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
My Rating: 3/5
I bought this book a few years ago because I've always been interesting in reincarnation and I love watching those kinds of movies so I thought I'd like this book. It's not that I hated it, it just didn't live up to my expectations. Again, I didn't really like the characters and was a little irked by the whole concept of the world. I just found so many aspects of this book confusing. I also have a review of this book that you can find here.




3. End of Days by Susan Ee
My Rating: 3.5/5
I read this book about half way through 2015. After I first read it I enjoyed it, but as months went on and I continued thinking about it, I realized how much it actually disappointed me. I loved the first two books. Loved. Became obsessed. I was so excited for this book. But when I read it so many things felt off. It didn't feel like the same writing style, the book was very rushed, and I didn't really care for what was going on much. It didn't hold me (action wise) as much as the first two did, and that really upset me because I wanted to love it. If you want to know my initial thoughts on Goodreads I'll leave that here.


4. Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
My Rating: 3.5/5
I'd been interested in reading this book since before it came out. It had been sitting on my shelf for about two years because I could never work up the guts to pick it up because steam punk isn't my favourite genre. I wanted to risk it all for this book because I found the concept so intriguing (and the cover so beautiful!). So now I know why steam punk isn't my preferred genre. I found the setting hard to picture in my mind, and again, I didn't really connect with the characters. I did like the humor in the writing style, that was one of the few bright spots in this book. I also have an initial thoughts review for this on Goodreads that I'll leave here.

5. Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins
My Rating: 3.5/5
I read the first book, Rebel Belle, in 2014 and absolutely loved it. It was funny, unique, and just an easy read. But this one was sort of painful to read. I didn't like where the plot was headed, and it wasn't anywhere near as funny. Also, when I read this I thought is was only going to be a duology, but now knowing that there's going to be a third book I feel slightly (slightly) better about it. I have a full review of this here on the blog so if you want to check it out you can click here.



6. Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes
My Rating: 1.5/5
This is both a book I was extremely disappointed by and I a book I hated. This was the lowest rating I gave all year. I picked it up because it looked like a cute contemporary that I'd be able to read quickly and enjoy. Wow, was I way off. I hated the writing, the characters, the plot, everything. The only think I liked was the speech at the end of the book because of the sad circumstances. But everything else was extremely disappointing. I'm not even going to continue because the more I think about this book the more upset I get. If you want to know all my thoughts I have a review on this blog that you can find here.

7. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
My Rating: 3/5
This book blew up the internet before it came out. Everyone was getting early copies and making rave reviews. I decided to pick it up mainly because of the reviews, but I have to admit the cover did play a big hand in making me want it. I read the book and was so underwhelmed from the very beginning. It was a hodge podge of so many other YA books. I just couldn't love it as much as everyone else because I felt like I read this book a hundred times already. And I also guessed the plot twist early on in the book which was not fun at all. My review of this book can be found here.


Those are all the books that disappointed me in 2015. I was really hoping to like a lot of these but sadly, that didn't happen. What were some of your most disappointing reads last year?

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, April 1st 2014
Pages: 336
Source: E-book, purchased
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 2.5/5

How I Felt: This was not my kind of book. It wasn't really good and it wasn't really bad, it just wasn't for me which is why I gave it a low rating. The majority of the book was hard to get through because I didn't like the main character, Laurel, at all. I didn't like her mentality or the way she treated people. I understood that she was grieving but that didn't give her an excuse to treat her family and friends horribly.

The only part of the book I enjoyed was the ending. When Laurel was able to face and write down what happened to her and her sister was the bright light at the end of the tunnel. I liked how Sky was able to help her realize this, she needed someone like him in her life.

My favourite character in the whole book would have to be Laurel's dad. There is literally no one else I could like. I felt so bad for him. His wife left him and then his first daughter died. He didn't always handle the situation well but you could tell he was trying. I liked that about him.

Another character I liked was Laurel's aunt Amy. I felt bad for her because she's had a tough time living and being alone for a long time and the way Laurel treated her for most of the book didn't help. I'm glad that as Laurel grew up over the course of the novel, she was able to grow closer to her aunt and get to know her better.

I liked the concept of the book, the assignment Laurel had to do that led to her finding out who she was and realizing that she needs to grow up and move on. I thought the way the story was told through letters at times didn't really work. The switching of tenses, and the time frame in which these letters were written got a little jumbled at times but for the most part it worked.

Even though I haven't read the Perks of Being a Wallflower, I have watched the movie and I did notice a lot of similarities between that and this book. But I'm not too bothered by that considering that Dellaira said in the acknowledgments that he played a big role in her writing this book.

Overall, I'm not too fussed about this book. It just wasn't for me. I have just too many mixed feelings about it to be able to say I enjoyed it. If you're a fan of dark contemporaries you'll probably like this one. I'm not sure this will be a book I'd reread ever but I'm glad I read it now.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

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

Tis the Season Book Tag

We've come to the end of Daily Posts Week, day 6 is here! I hope everyone enjoyed these posts as much as I did. I thought I'd end of the week with a Christmas themed post so today I'll be bringing you the 'Tis the Season book tag! I have no idea who created this so I apologise for that. I also want to mention that no one tagged me to do this, I just thought it'd be a fun way to end off the week. Let's get this show on the road!

Question 1: Do you have a favourite winter read?
I don't really have a book I read every winter, but I do have a favourite genre. I love reading fantasy books in the winter because they make me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate and slip into another world. Fantasy books make me want to stay indoors and read all day which I think is perfect for winter.

Question 2: Find a book with blue on the cover.
I immediately thought of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. This is a book that always makes me think of winter. While I didn't like this book, I always think about it during the winter time because it's set around that time and my mind always falls on this one first for these types of questions.

Question 3: Find a book you'd use as the star on a Christmas tree.
I'm going with Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff because it was one of my favourite books of the year and I want it's awesome writing and story to shine bright from the top of the tree this Christmas.

Question 4: Pick one fictional place that would be perfect for a winter holiday.
I'm going to be basic and go with Hogwarts. I think spending time here during any holiday would be the best thing ever.

Question 5: Pick one fictional character you'd take with you on your winter holiday.
This is a tough one because there are so many but I think I'd take Aelyx from the Alienated series by Melissa Landers because he'd have no clue what anything was so it would be fun to just go places with him and watch him try to figure out the use of all these human gadgets.

Question 6: Name one book on your wish list this year.
There are so many! But at the top I'd say is Winter by Marissa Meyer. I can't wait to read this book and finish off the Lunar Chronicles series and find out what happens to all my favourite characters. And there's bound to be a lot of kick-butt action scenes so I'm excited for that too!

Question 7: Favourite holiday drink, treat, and movie.
My favourite holiday drink is hot chocolate, my favourite treat is gingerbread cookies and my favourite holiday movie is Home Alone (I swear this year I've already seen it at least 15 times!)

That's it for the tag! I hope it was entertaining. Thanks for sticking around for the week of daily posts, I hope it was worthwhile!

Merry Christmas!
~Birdie

Favourite Covers of 2015

Huzzah! Day 5 is here! Today's post is going to be all about my favourite book covers of the year. I saw a few bloggers and BookTubers doing this and I thought it'd be a fun way to wrap up some of the stunning covers I've seen throughout the year. I'm not good at describing covers so these explanations aren't the best but I just wanted to give a reason for why I chose each cover. Let's get to it!

1. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
While this book didn't quite live up to the hype for me, the cover was gorgeous. The moment I saw this cover I was immediately interested. I just stare at it sometimes because it's so simple, yet so beautiful and represents the story well. I can't wait to see how it'll look next to the sequel, Glass Sword!







2. The Heir by Kiera Cass
These books have the ultimate cover-dresses. And what makes these covers even better is that they fit the series. Finally, a YA book where the girl in a dress makes sense. I love the colours and styles of the dresses on these covers, I can't wait to complete the collection with the Crown next year!







3. Wandering Star by Romina Russell
These covers are so beautiful. I love the galaxy design they have, and the colours are always gorgeous.









4. Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
I was drawn to this book by its cover. While I have yet to read this book, I have a constant urge to just based on the cover. I'll hopefully get my hands on a copy in the future so I can admire it's beauty in the flesh!








5. Ensnared by A.G. Howard
I first became interested in this series because of their covers. So it's no surprise that this one made the list. I think they're definitely on the list of my favourite covers of all time now.








6. The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz
I don't know what it is about this cover but I love it so much. I love how bright the green is; and the apple in the middle just brings the story to life.









7. Firewalker by Josephine Angelini
This is actually the redesigned cover, but it's not too different from the original for it to upset me. I love the bright colours and the different purples on this.








Those are some of the covers I've loved in 2015! What covers did you find to be gorgeous this year?

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie