August 29, 2018

Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2)
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little, Brown BYR
Publication Date: November 6, 2012
Pages: 517
Format: Hardcover/Own

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Read more »

Read more »

November 22, 2012

Review: Reached by Ally Condie

Reached (Matched #3)
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: November 13, 2012
Pages: 512
Source: Hardcover/Own

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.

In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times-bestselling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.

*Review contains spoilers!*

Review: I really felt like this was a satisfying ending to the trilogy! I enjoyed it. I definitely didn't see the book going the way it did but for me it made it all the better. I really enjoyed the 3 POV's between Xander, Ky & Cassia. It really worked well for this book because I know many of us have been wanting Xander's POV along with Ky's and Cassia's. Even though I'm Team Ky I really did enjoy Xander's POV. I always wondered what he would think about and just what things were like from his perspective. It also worked well because they ARE the three main characters and they all were stationed in different places for a while so we really got to see how things shaped up from within all three different places. 

Xander. I really think he was my favorite perspective to read in this book! It was first of all, a fresh perspective on everything, which I really enjoyed. Second, we finally got to see how he thinks and what secrets he was hiding. He was also the one who I saw that was always trying to do the right thing even though he knew sometimes it could get him in trouble. I was actually shocked to find out he was in The Rising. I know I should have picked up on it in Crossed during that conversation he had with Cassia, but I didn't. I'm usually really good at picking up on things but I just completely overlooked that. I'm glad he was though. He was completely dedicated to The Rising for the longest time until he found it better to believe in neither The Society or The Rising. But more importantly, he was dedicated to his role in The Rising, which was helping the patients who contracted the Plague. Even when he found it better to not fully believe in The Rising either he was still completely dedicated to helping the people. He was so good at his job. And even when everything seemed to be turning for the worst with no hope to save them Xander still had that hope. He kept going. He was also still in love with Cassia for the longest time in this book as well. I was very happy to see him grow out of that once he realized he was never going to be her choice. And in the end he found happiness with someone else. I was very satisfied with his ending!  

Ky. He was really only in The Rising because of Cassia. While he was flying planes throughout the first half of the book all he could think about was how really wanted to just take one of them and just pick up Cassia and run off together. But even with those thoughts constantly running through his head he still stuck through it and did what he was assigned to do. I also loved his friend and fellow Pilot Indie, who we met in Crossed. She was his best friend throughout the book and she was really there for him when he needed someone. She also did the huge task of getting Cassia out of Central and Xander out of Camas so that the three of them were together after they figured out what happened with the Plague. I was so disappointed that she died because of the Plague shortly after. I was also so sad that Ky came down with the Plague as well. But I was very happy that Xander and Cassia figured out what the cure was and cured him. I was gonna be so freaking sad if he died. So glad he didn't!

Cassia. She really struggled throughout the book. At the beginning she was fine and doing her role for The Rising. But then she had to take the Red Pill and come to find out she's not immune to it. For a majority of the book she was struggling to remember things. Specifically the Red Garden Day of which her grandfather left on his microcard as his memory of her. That specific memory kept haunting her throughout the whole book. And the memory only came back piece by piece. But that's the thing. Cassia got her memory back. Normally when you take the red pill you forget and never get your memory back. We later found out that her getting her memory back dealt with the fact that she never took the green pill. I'm really glad Cassia got her memory back. I'm also happy she figured out what everyone was missing for the cure. That girl is smart and she knew she was missing something for a while. I was shocked though at what the Red Garden Day memory was finally revealed as. Come to find out, Cassia was the one who sorted the abberations and such into the system to be Matched. She's the reason Ky ended up as a Match to her in the first place. But she never remembered it until she was trying to remember that day because she had taken the Red Pill on that day too. OMG! 

I thought this was a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy! 

5 Stars!

Read more »

November 02, 2012

Review: Elixir by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Elixir (Covenant #3.5)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Publication Date: November 27, 2012
Pages: 80

Aiden St. Delphi will do anything to save Alex.
Even if it means doing the one thing he will never forgive himself for.
Even if it means making war against the gods.

Review: DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DEITY. Like no joke. It would spoil things for you and it would also be massively confusing for those who havent read Deity yet. 

Are we ready then???

MMMMMM. Aiden! I have to say, you are seriously an amazing guy. Alex is so lucky she has you in her life. That being said. I loved this being from Aidens POV! I've been dying to see what goes on in his head during certain situations and I loved every minute of being in his head, even if it was painful to read.

*SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON, SO DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DEITY OR ELIXIR YET* 

*I'M SERIOUS!!!! I GAVE YOU FAIR WARNING! IF YOU SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF IT'S YOUR FAULT NOW!* 

So we've picked up right where Deity left off. Alex has Awakened. But she isn't herself anymore. She's consumed but this anger, and this rage that being connected to Seth is causing. He's constantly in her head. Telling her things, making her not be herself. Trying to control her. (I really hate that guy). The bond is too strong for Alex to be able to control at the moment. Its painful to watch her like that. 

Aiden. Man. He loves Alex so much and its killing him seeing Alex like this when he knows that's not her in there, and just Seth controlling her through the bond. And then on top of that he has a god telling him to put Alex on the Elixir to be able to temporarily break the bond and get her under control. And that if he doesn't do that they may have to kill her. And nobody wants that. Aiden was put in a really tough spot with all the Alex related decisions he had to make and I felt so bad for him. He wanted to try and get through to her without any of that having to happen. And he knows he can, but he needs Alex to fight harder. For a moment Alex was able to fight the bond and be herself again but it pained her, like literally pained her to do it. But Aiden knows she can do it if she tries hard enough and he's determined to help her do it. 

The gods. We got a shocker with them again. We found out the Apollyon in every generation has come from Apollo's bloodline. And as we learned in Deity, Alex is of Apollo's bloodline. We found out that Alex was supposed to be the first Apollyon, not Seth (UGH, STUPID SETH!). So that makes Seth come from the same line as Solaris (I think that's the name) and no one knows what Gods bloodline he's from. But no one wants to take responsibility for him either (who could blame them?) Somehow Seth slipped through the cracks first (no bueno!) 

So much was packed into this little novella and I loved every minute of it!!! 

5 Stars! 

Read more »

November 01, 2012

Review: Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Deity (Covenant #3)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Publication Date: November 6, 2012
Pages: 360
Source: ARC/Borrowed

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. "


Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden.

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

Review: As Alex would say... "OH MY GODS!" One word. AIDEN!!!! *Swoon* This is seriously the best book in the series so far! Man, I don't know where to start. Soooooo much happened in this book! Its going to be so hard to write this without saying anything too spoilery to those who haven't read it yet. I think I shall start with the hiding of what happened in New York. Man, thats a huge secret for ALex, Seth and Aiden to be keeping. And for a while they thought they got away with it, until Telly from the New York Covenant shows up (remember, he's the bad one who was trying to get Alex placed in servitude in Pure). He somehow had this suspicion about what Alex did and how Aiden covered it up. But they knew exactly how he knew about it. Now did they deny it when question. Well DUH! But man, if you think Telly is evil... You haven't seen ANYTHING yet until you read the second half of Deity. It will BLOW YOUR MINDS! Someone who we thought was becoming just a bit trustworthy and actually caring... Nope! Lying to everyones face. This person had their own agenda with how to go about getting changes made and the people he's managed to brainwash into joining his side... Its just... Its DESPICABLE what this person did. And I am definitely looking forward to seeing him taken down in the next books!!!! 

Gods. Literally. The Gods! Some Gods start appearing in this book. I'm not going to say which ones, and what person actually is one even though he seemed like a normal person before it was revealed. But man!!!! You know somethings going down when the Gods get involved!!!! And OH MY GODS!!! What one of the gods did at the end of Deity when all hell broke loose... Man... DO NOT MAKE THE GODS ANGRY!!!!! BAD IDEA!!!! 

So this is where I talk about the boys. I am FIRMLY on TEAM AIDEN after Deity. We all know I was wavering a bit in Pure but after Deity there's no doubt whatsoever that I am on Team Aiden now. This boy will seriously do anything for Alex and I love him for that. And man, Aiden is just so swoon worth in this book. You can't help but love him (I mean unless, your a firm believer in Seth). Aiden, man, he just did whatever he could to protect her, especially after one of the guards at the covenant ended up being against them, and attempted to kill Alex (I was so not happy about that). And just what he says to her. Man. I seriously love Aiden and Alex together (All you Team Aiden people be prepared to be really happy with this book). Alex and Aiden are seriously perfect for each other! I <3 them! Now Seth on the other hand... NOT A FAN! He hid stuff from Alex! Very valuable information that she should have known and he hid it from her! And then what he does at the end of the book! If I say anymore about that it would really spoil it but if any of you already didn't like Seth, then he's just going to prove your dislike right. 

OMG!!! Alex awakened at the end!!! I'm seriously going to go nuts waiting for Apollyon after that ending!!!!!! (Yes, even after reading Elixir, which I have, Still going nuts!)

5 Stars!

Read more »

July 18, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday [#47]

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

Deity (Covenant #3)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Expected Publication: November 6, 2012

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. "

Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden.

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

I love love love this series! I just read Pure during the readathon last week and OMG! It was fantastic. I absolutely cant wait for this! And whats even better, is one of my blogger friends got a review copy and she's sending it around to some of her friends so they can read it as well! So sometime in the near future I'm gonna get my chance to read the ARC! AHHHHHH!!!! But seriously. I'm like beyond excited for this, like no joke! Lol. 

What are you waiting on this week?

Read more »

May 30, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday [#40]

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2)
Author: Laini Taylor
Expected Publication: November 6, 2012

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was declared a "must read" by Entertainment Weekly, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, and The New York Times called it "a breath-catching romantic fantasy."

I am really excited for Days of Blood & Starlight! After all we found out about Karou in Smoke & Bone I'm dying to see what happens next. I definitely want to see what she does with all this new information about herself! 

What are you waiting on?

Read more »

May 16, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday [#39]

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

Reached (Matched #3)
Author: Ally Condie
Expected Publication: November 13, 2012

Cassia faces the ultimate choices in the long-anticipated conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Matched Trilogy

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.

In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.

I loved both Matched & Crossed! I cant wait to see what happens in the end for Cassia and Ky! :D And I definitely cant wait to see what is shifting! 

What are you waiting on? 

Read more »