Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.75 Stars Ella dreams of going to the royal ball and marrying Prince Charming, just like every commoner in the kingdom of Fridesia. But after she is chosen to marry the prince (no magic involved) life with the royal family is not the happily ever after that Ella imagined. Pitiless and cold, the royals try to mold her into their vision of a princess. Ella's life becomes a meaningless schedule of protocol, which she fears she will never grasp. And Prince Charming's beautiful face hides a vacant soul. Even as her life turns to misery, stories persist that Ella's fairy godmother sent her to the ball: How else could the poor girl wear a beautiful gown, arrive in a coach, and dance in those glass slippers? But Ella got herself into the castle on her own--and that's the only way she's going to get out. (goodreads.com) After I read this I went on to Goodreads to see what other people thought (something I’m learning to do after reading the book, rather than prior to so that my opinion won’t be tainted) and I was astonished at how many people disliked this book. To be fair, there were more people who liked it, but the amount of haters was alarming. The picked at things like the voice of narration, which I liked, the characters being empty shells, which I didn’t really notice except on one of the characters, and the improbability of it all, which I assumed had been because it is under the “fiction” section. I suppose these reviewers had some good points, but I really liked this book and it’s been the first book that I’ve read in awhile that I truly enjoyed and didn’t want to pick out all of its problems. I have missed just getting lost in a book and not caring about what the people on Goodreads think or what other book bloggers say. I felt like I connected with Ella more than I have with a lot of protagonists. She is in a situation that she isn’t used to and she isn’t sure if she wants to do things her way or to follow the rules and see how things turn out. I particularly like the opening scene in which her fireplace goes out and she reluctantly gets out of bed and starts it going herself. It is relatable to me that she is reluctant. She knows that it isn’t something the other people in the palace would want her to do, and she’s comfortable under the covers, but at the same time she knows it has to be done eventually and gets to it. I admire her willingness to get things done all throughout the book and her ethics. A character who I’m not sure that I like is Jed, the tutor. He seemed kind of flat and boring. He was very cliché in much of what he did and he didn’t really go through any development. There isn’t much I can say about him without giving away spoilers, but I will say he is a very nice character even if he’s boring. A lot of people didn’t like the plot because they thought it was bland and improbable. I liked it and I was surprised by some of the twists it took. The plot was moved forward by Ella and not some magical force, which was exciting to me and interesting. She took her life into her own hands and changed it, and though a man helped change her life, it was not in the way you would expect. Over all, I don’t really understand the negative reviews this book got. I guess, maybe, teenagers didn’t like it because it’s labeled as a teen book but it doesn’t feature a lot of the romance and violence that regular teen books have in them. That’s just a guess. Personally, I thought it was a good blend of middle grade and YA books. Perhaps a good segway for kids who want to start reading teen books but are ready for the full on force of some of them. Have you ever read this book? What did you think? Are you planning to read this book? Don’t want to ever read this book? Tell me what you think in the comments below, ‘cause I’d love to hear from you. Oh no! It’s midnight (not really), I’d better run! Dang it, lost my shoe. Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1536818.Just_Ella
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Personal Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.58 Stars For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer. But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along. The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the roguish young pirate who promises to keep her safe. With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But will she be able to save Neverland without losing herself? (goodreads.com) Something you should probably know about me is that I love Neverland stories. I love the island, I love the mystery, I love the characters, I love the warnings, I love the fairies, the mermaids, the flying, the pirates - everything about Neverland I hold in high esteem. So, don’t be surprised if you see a great many more Peter Pan retellings reviewed on this site. I might even make a list of my favorites at some point. Okay, about today’s book: I was somewhat disappointed in this novel. When I started reading it I got really excited because “yay, a book about Neverland!”, but as I read through it I found it to be lacking in the wow factor. It did redeem itself a teensy bit with the heartbreaking, but lovely ending, but overall, not one of my favorite reads this summer. One thing I didn’t like was that this is, as the tagline says, not the Neverland I knew. Sure, the island was very much the same as it has always been with it’s changing geography, magic, and flying boy, but it was many shades darker than I was expecting. The island itself is almost a character in many retellings and it was sort of like that in this, but evil. Way, mega, creepy evil. And so were some of my favorite aspects of the story. The mermaids have always been nasty to everyone but Peter, so that didn’t surprise me. Tinker Bell, however, bothered me. For one thing, she could talk, for another, she was an irritating character. On top of all that, she wasn’t even named Tinker Bell. Captain Hook was pretty much everything I expected him to be in a YA novel, and I was anticipating many of Pan’s new traits as well, but - my word! Peter Pan has never been so disturbing. Not even in ABC’s Once Upon a Time, where some weird stuff happens. He was vile and gross and I wanted to slap him. Yuck. Something I did like was the “other story” at the beginning of each chapter. This was a story told in brief tidbits right before each chapter started and it was poetic and interesting, as well as extremely sad. It is about a boy during World War I and what he goes through as a soldier. At first it doesn’t seem to connect to the rest of the book, but it does and it was more interesting than the actual novel, I think. Even though I was entertained by this book and the writing was decent, I really can’t think of many complements to give to it. I’m sorry, book. I really wanted to like you, but Peter was a creeper and Hook was way off the original book. The main character, Gwen, wasn’t so terrible, but she was kind of an idiot. And she needed a lot of rescuing. And I couldn’t connect to her at all. So… y’know, she wasn’t great. Part of why I didn’t like this, might have been because of all the darkness. I’m used to Neverland being portrayed darkly, but this was nearly pitch. The creatures, the tone, the complete lack of any humor, and the many, many deaths. Like I said, I’m used to a darker Neverland, but this was too much for me. All together, it was entertaining to some extent, but it was hard to read at a lot of parts. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I only recommend it if you are a die-hard Peter Pan fan and even then, I’m not sure you’d like it. Thanks for reading, be sure to tell me what you think in the comments below. Do you have any good books you think I should read/review? How about terrible books you think I should read/review? To get off the computer would be an awfully big adventure, but I suppose I must… Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21518344-unhooked?ac=1&from_search=true Personal Rating: 3.8 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.62 Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie? (goodreads.com) Let me warn you, this is the weirdest, most artistic book I have ever read in my life. I loved it, but it was also incredibly odd. I can see this book being both loved and hated amongst readers because of its uniqueness. Some of the other reviews that I’ve read have claimed the narration is annoying, and I see that, but I liked it. The concepts are kind of out there and the fantasy/sci-fi bits were supremely strange, but I really did enjoy this book. The main character, Aza Ray, is the primary narrator (we get a few chapters from her friend, Jason’s POV) and she does tend to ramble and her voice could be considered grating, but I loved how different it was from the typical first person narration that I’ve grown accustomed to in young adult novels. For the more conservative reader I have make sure you know that she does swear. Only one F-bomb that I recall but more than a few uses of “s***”. Another note is that there is homosexuality in this book, as Jason (the love interest/best friend) has two mothers, both of whom are good characters. The book portrays it as positive and they mention it many times. However, a plus side is that there are no “awkward romantic scenes” (you know what I mean) between anyone in this novel (although, there was some kissing between Aza and two boys - yeah, I know, love triangle, but it’s not a dominant plot point). Speaking of plot, this book has a great one. It was a tad predictable in some spots, but for the most part is was really original and good. Even though romance wasn’t a huge part of this book, the parts that did have it were really well done and I think I have a new OTP. They’re just so sweet and he’s so wonderful to her and she’s so short with everyone else, but they make the best couple. Just sayin’. Some of the main themes in this book included self discovery, what “home” means, and… uh… death. I know, I know, death isn’t exactly something I like to read about on a regular basis (unless I’m in a Lit class, in which case I get used to it), and this book made me tear up a few times, but it was a really beautiful, heart wrenchingly sad kind of death theme. But it’s all okay! Things turn out okay. I promise. The magic in this book took some effort to get into, but I think that’s just because it’s like nothing I’ve ever read before and I had to get used to it. A lot of the magic in this book revolves around singing, which is kind of cool. The singing isn’t given lyrics at all (personally, I prefer it when there aren’t lyrics in a book because I have no tune to go with it), but is described more as something that just comes from you and your emotions. Seemed pretty accurate to me. This book definitely isn’t for everyone, but it is something that I really enjoyed. I am hugely excited to read the sequel Aerie, because even if this book ended in a mostly satisfying manner, there are some things that I’m dying to know. I recommend giving it a shot if the premise sounds interesting to you, and if you don’t like it then don’t worry about it. As I’ve said, it’s not for everyone. A couple of final warnings before I sign off: this book has a lot of birds in it! I know some people who don’t particularly like birds so if you think that will impede your enjoyment of Magonia then you might want to reconsider reading it. Also, this book has some bizarre formatting with words taking odd shapes and moving across the page. Finally, the style is kind-of-almost stream of consciousness, but not quite, which is part of the weirdness. That covers it, I think. You are sufficiently warned. Not really. I don’t think you can be fully prepared for this book. If you do read it or have read it then I’d love to hear what you think! I have a quick question for you: do you think I should add a “Christians/Conservatives May Want Warning About This” section to my posts? I know Plugged In is basically that, but they don’t have a huge selection of books reviewed and I thought it might be something helpful to add since most of the people I know that read this are Christians or at least more conservative. I don’t have to add it, but I thought I’d ask what you thought. If I were a Magonian I would sing my goodbye. Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21393526-magonia?ac=1&from_search=true Movies have music to help the audience feel emotion or to get a point across. Books have no such thing. I mean, I wouldn’t really want to listen to music while I was reading most of the time anyway, it would be too distracting. However, after I’ve read the book, it’s occasionally fun to listen to a song that goes with that book. Sometimes I’ll stumble across a song and find that it reminds me of something I read or of a character, and sometimes when I’m reading there will be a phrase that makes me think of a song. I’ve decided that I want to compile some of those songs and let you laugh at my choices or agree or disagree or comment your own songs for books. Maybe if I get enough suggestions I’ll do a sequel post in the future. Some of these are serious and the songs actually go with the book or book character, but some of these are pure ridiculousness and meant to make you laugh. I think I got a bit carried away with some of them…
I had a tremendous amount of making this post and I hope you've enjoyed it! What songs make you think of books or books make you think of songs? Or does the idea of associating one with the other highly offend you? Do you wish to challenge me to a duel? I've never dueled before, but it sounds exciting.
Let me know your thoughts below! *epic air guitar solo* *bows* Personal Rating: 2.5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.32 Lady A is the most notorious blackmailer in the city. With just a mask and a gown to disguise her, she sweeps into lavish balls and exclusive events collecting the most valuable currency in 1725 London-secrets. But leading a double life isn't easy. By day Lady A is just a seventeen-year-old girl named Arista who lives in fear of her abusive master,Bones, and passes herself off as a boy to move safely through the squalor of London's slums. When Bones attempts to dispose of his pawn forever, Arista is rescued by the last person she expects: Jonathan Wild, an infamous thief who moves seamlessly between the city's criminal underworld and its most elite circles. Arista partners with Wild on her own terms in order to save enough money to buy passage out of London. Everything changes when she meets Grae Sinclair, the son of a wealthy merchant. Grae has traveled the world, seen the exotic lands Arista has longed to escape to her whole life, and he loves Arista for who she is-not for what she can do for him. Being with Grae gives something Arista something precious that she swore off long ago: hope. He has promised to help Arista escape the life of crime that has claimed her since she was a child. But can you ever truly escape the past? (goodreads.com) This is one of the books I bought because I have no self control inside Barnes and Noble. I saw it, the description was intriguing, I had a gift card, I purchased it. Do not leave me unattended in the bookstore, I will come out of there with at least one book. Unfortunately (fortunately), Barnes and Noble is right next to where I work and I bring home a lot of books. Regardless, let’s get to the actual review, shall we? There were some parts of this book that I enjoyed, but most of it I was just trying to get through without falling asleep. I know, that’s an awful thing to say, but it really wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped it would be. The plot seemed to be constantly on the verge of doing something exciting, but when it got there it was quite anticlimactic - even the murders. I was also not loving the characters. I can think of no nice way to say this: the main character was bland. Lady A, or Arista, is supposed to be this super awesome exciting lady who knows how to do stuff and kick tush (pardon my language). She never actually did that much. Sadly, rather than kicking other’s patooties, Arista often had to have hers saved - and pretty much always by men. Her thoughts were all similar to each other; all she seems to want to think about is how hard her life is now and how she wants to get away from it. Even when she’s in danger she’s thinking about how this wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t been an orphan. I believe there was an attempted love triangle, but one can’t really be sure as one of the gentleman in the triangle only showed up when the plot needed a boost. The other man in the triangle was not overly interesting. He was sweet, but, like a platypus, he didn’t do much. Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true, he reliably rescued Arista almost every time she was in danger. Let’s talk about the villain, eh? He’s not as villainy as I was hoping. His scheme was kind of obvious and you know from the start that, even if he acts nice, you really can’t trust him. I don’t really know what to think of him beyond that, as he doesn’t really do anything to make me mad, glad, or sad. It’s like there needed to be a villain so this guy just got tossed in. Some positive elements to this book… eh… uh… the art is gorgeous! I love the delicate lace patterns throughout the book and on the cover. Another positive is that Arista and the guy she ends up with are actually a very cute couple and I think they went well together. Besides that, there’s not a ton of good things I can say about this book except that it was decently interesting and not a terrible use of my time. Did I like this book? It was okay. Do I recommend this book? Not particularly. So, that’s it for this review. Thanks for reading! The next review I do will probably be for the book I’m currently reading, which is one of the strangest most interesting things I’ve read in awhile. You’ll see what I mean soon. Farewell my friends! Until next time! Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26245755-tangled-webs Personal Rating: 4.99 Stars Goodreads Rating: 4.07 Stars Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart. (goodreads.com) Scary monsters, super powered people, weird fantasy country that resembles Russian/is Russia with magic, snarky and hilarious heroine - what’s not to like? Sure there are a few parts that I’ve seen dozens of times in YA fiction, like the almost love triangle and the “chosen one”, but for the most part this was original and wonderful. I apologize in advance for the total lack of professionalism in this review, but I’m still in fangirl mode from this book and I finished it over a week ago. It was just so good and unique and interesting and wonderful and my heart feels like it’s going to explode with all of the emotions this book (and later the whole trilogy) gave me. Excuse me a moment whilst I fangirl. Ahem: Aaaaaaahhhh!! O. M. Goodness! This book killed me, but it made me so happy and sad and scared and giggly and uuuuuuuggggghhhhh… why did I already finish the series? Why couldn’t I have saved some for later? Now I shall perish. Oh wait - there’s a spin off series. But when that’s over I’m gonna fall down dead! *more strangled noises of emotion* So anyway, I really did enjoy this book and I found the characters to be dynamic, the plot to be complex enough to intrigue me and simple enough for me to not feel lost. The world building was spot on and the whole story had a beauty and deepness that even the most difficult critics could surely appreciate. I never thought I’d like this book as much as I did. I checked it out from the library once and started it a little bit, but I had other books I wanted to read and I didn’t think it would actually be something I like and I thought it would be too much work to figure out the setting and the world it was in, so I returned it to the library. Then I went back to the library, shrugged, picked it up again, and forced myself to start reading it. Then I stayed up way past my bedtime, forced myself to go to sleep eventually, woke up, and finished it that morning. Then I tried to start another book, but Alina and Mal and the Darkling and the plot were all still swimming around in my head so I immediately dropped the book I was trying to read and biked to the library to get the next two books in the trilogy. I then finished those books in the course of two days. Now, I know there are a lot of people who do not like this series, and they have their points, but I personally loved it (though it also kind of felt like three bullets being shot into my heart). If you read it, you don’t have to love it, you don’t have to hate it, you can think it’s “meh” if you want. Think what you like, this review isn’t really a review, it’s just me saying how much I personally liked this trilogy. On to the other stuff: This book did have some more mature parts in it. For this reason I’d give this book a fourteen and up age recommendation and if you really can’t stand innuendos and a few awkward scenes, I’d advise you stay away. There are some blush-worthy, turn-the-page-now parts, but for the most part this first book is okay. The next two books have some more I-want-to-close-my-eyes-but-it’s-a-book parts, but if you focus on the plot and skim the stuff that gets to be too much for you then you should be fine. The characters are really great. I’m just saying. Many people point out, and are kind of right, when they say that Alina is your stereotypical YA heroine, but for some reason she stands out to me. I like her better than I like Tris Prior (Divergent), Mare Barrow (Red Queen), America Singer (The Selection), Cassia (Matched), and pretty much every other teenage girl that I’ve read about. I like that Alina is genuinely witty with her comebacks, that she isn’t afraid to make some friends, and that she actually goes through character development in the series. Another character who I didn’t really like in this book, but was great by the end of the series is Mal. He’s kind of lame in this book, except toward the end, and then he becomes really awesome. It’s obvious how much he cares about Alina even when they’re fighting and he goes through a lot of development as well. The last character that I absolutely have to talk about is the Darkling. I can’t say too much without spoilers, but he’s a really interesting character in a creepy, I-want-to-run-away-but-also-give-him-a-cookie-and-a-pat-on-the-shoulder sort of way. Emphasis on that creepy bit. Even at the end of the series I’m not sure if I hate or pity him. Sometimes I want to smack him, because he is more often than not, the cause of those awkward scenes I mentioned, but at some parts he’s also my favorite character. I hesitated to write that down because I don’t feel like being pegged as one of the crazy fangirls who falls for the dark sinister types (the Darkling’s fangirls are called the Darkling’s Darlings and that kind of makes me gag and also the fact that he has fangirls), but he is a great character. One complaint a lot of people seem to have is that the world building isn’t good, but I thought it was perfection - of course I’ve read the whole trilogy now and I’ve spent a significant amount of time in this fantasy world, but I still thought it was fantastic. I’m coming to realize that I’m not a great person to judge world building abilities because whatever the author doesn’t flat out say about the world I usually just fill in from some of the other details and my imagination, which isn’t always to most accurate. So yeah… don’t trust me when I say world building is perfection because that’s just my opinion. Considering the amount of feelings I have about this book and the length of this review, I probably should have waited until this book was more out of my head and I could judge it properly. Oh well. I hope I didn’t scare you off forever. Thanks for reading my long rant about how much I like this book. Sorry if it was long and… rant-ish. Haha. Anywho… if you’d like to you can leave me a comment about what you thought or a suggestion for another book to review or a suggestion for how I can become a better blogger or whatever you want to say. I’ll see you around, chums! Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10194157-shadow-and-bone?ac=1&from_search=true Lately I’ve been reading a lot of new things. I’ve probably done more reading this summer than any other summer in my life. It’s been pretty fun and many of the books I’ve read have been great and will probably be revisited in the future or thought back on fondly. Right now they are new to me and exciting because I love the newness of them and the excitement of meeting new characters. However, amidst all of these new books and characters, I want to take a moment to give a shout out to the twelve books/series that make me feel the most nostalgic. These are the books that either got me into reading or strengthened my love for reading. Why twelve? Inside joke, I'm not telling.
That’s it for my list of my top twelve most nostalgic books. What books bring back the most memories for you? Did any on my list spark a little nostalgia? What were the books of your childhood? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Thanks for reading! If you’re wondering where I am you’ll find me in Noonvale on the side of a hill when summer is peaceful and high… All of the images in this post were taken from goodreads.com unless stated otherwise in the description of that book. Personal Rating: 3.5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.79 Stars It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School. Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education. (goodreads.com) Admittedly, this book was rather difficult for me to get into, but part of that is because I’ve never read anything steampunk before and I was thoroughly confused for a while. Once I got some of it sorted out I really started to enjoy the book. I love the setting and the characters and the simple, but exciting plot. The main character, Sophronia, is a trifle annoying at the get go, but as the story progressed I came to like her quite a lot, and more than many of the YA heroines I’ve read about lately. She’s funny, clever, and inventive. If you read more of the series, which I highly recommend doing, she gets even more likeable as she ages (like cheese… I guess - I’m not an expert on cheese). Along with an interesting and eclectic cast of characters (one of my favorites being Prof. Braithwope, who should be played by Martin Freeman - with a mustache - should there ever be a movie), Sophronia goes on a set of adventures throughout the series that leaves you giggling and sitting on the edge of your seat. The plot was kind of simple, but considering I was already trying to figure out the rules of steampunk, it was kind of nice not to have to think too hard about motives and machinations. As the series goes on I’ve found that the plot thickens, but so does the amount of steam-powered oddities, so occasionally it’s more than I can wrap my head around. Although at times it seems somewhat childish, and it makes it hard to really immerse yourself in the book, I like the writing style of this book. It’s fun to read and witty. It feels sort of like talking to a fancy person of long ago. On a random note, I really like the cover as well. However, that model does not look anywhere near fourteen years old. She, in fact, resembles Keira Knightley a great deal, and Ms. Knightley is thirty-one at the moment. But it is a very nice cover and I find it quite aesthetically pleasing. I’ve yet to read the fourth book of this series, but two and three just added to the wonderfulness of this book. I highly recommend to pretty much every single person on the planet. I know the author has a couple of other series out that take place in the same universe as this one, but I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet. Although, I did start one of them… but I had to put it down because I was having hangover feels from another book. Charming read, wot wot! I hope you thought the same of my review and that you’ll leave me a comment telling me what you think. I loved this book (after I started getting the general idea of steampunk) and if you read it I hope you love it too. Thanks for stopping by! Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10874177-etiquette-espionage Do you like Pixar's Inside Out? And I can only assume you like books if you are on this blog, which is, in fact, dedicated to books. Well why not combine the two in a lovely book tag created by the Book Tuber, Kristina Horner. Thanks for watching! Personal Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Rating: 4.16 Stars For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined. (goodreads.com) I was actually going to review Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo today because I just finished that trilogy, but I started to review it and I had to stop because the story is still too fresh in my mind and I’m still feeling the feels too much to try and write about it. So instead you get to read my thoughts about The Selection. Yippee! So, by itself I really, really enjoyed this dystopian book, but as a series I’m not liking it so much. The writing gets weirder later on and the characters become more boring. I also think the plot was dragged on a little too much and could have been wrapped up way sooner. The first book was fun, the next two were a chore and I’m not sure I can even start reading books four and five along with the companion short stories for the series. I know a lot of people don’t even like the first book, but I found it entertaining. The premise is a bit of a blend of The Hunger Games and the Bachelor, which is about as strange as it sounds, but actually turns out okay. Since I hadn’t read or seen The Hunger Games before reading this book I thought it was very original, but after seeing the movies (I still need to read the books) I noticed a lot of similarities. Of course this book is not about children killing each other, it’s about girls in poofy dresses who are spoiled beyond reason, but there were a few details that mirrored The Hunger Games. As far as characters go, I’m not sure how I feel about the MC, America Singer. Lots of people told me she was annoying before I started this series, but once I read it I only found her mildly irritating. Her main problem is that she’s kind of boring. There isn’t much that makes her stand out against other main characters. Prince Maxon, however, I adored. He was so adorable and sweet. I know he’s supposed to be super buff and stuff, but I like to imagine him as a short and pudgy guy. He’s so nice to everyone in this first book and I wish I could hug him. He’s polite to America even when she’s a jerk to him, and he’s polite to all the other girls in the competition. Unfortunately, in the next two books in the series I got really annoyed with him, but in the first one he is a perfect little cupcake. My final note is about the cover. First of all, the dress is hideous. It kind of looks like a weird duvet or some exotic curtains or something. Secondly, why is she sniffing her armpit?! From the first moment I saw this cover I’ve been wondering what brand of deodorant she uses that makes her want to smell her armpit all day. Why?! What is attractive about that pose? Ugh. The next one is better, but sheesh. Anyway, I liked this book, but not the next two. What are your thoughts and feelings about it? What brand of deodorant do you think America Singer uses? Sorry about not having a post ready on Friday, I was out of town and my computer has been on the fritz. Hopefully it won’t happen again. Buh-bye now, buh-bye! *queen wave* Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10507293-the-selection?ac=1&from_search=true |
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