Sunday, December 30, 2012

New Releases: December 30- January 5

Here's this week's new releases:

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
(January 1st)

Splintered by A.G. Howard
(January 1st)

The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington
(January 1st)

Falling For You by Lisa Schroeder
(January 1st)

Empty by K.M. Walton
(January 1st)

Prophecy by Ellen Oh
(January 2nd)

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Stacking The Shelves #18

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and here you can find all the books I've recently received that I'm stacking my shelves with!

Bought:

Deadly Little Lessons by Laurie Faria Stolarz

I was so excited to read this book because its the last book in a series I've been reading for over three years. Here's my review.

ARC Review: Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
Published: October 9, 2012
Publisher:
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages:
416
Series:
Mystic City #1
My Rating: 
2 of 5 star

Synopsis:
For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.


My Review: I'm getting so sick of books being compared to The Hunger Games. Especially when the only thing they have in common with The Hunger Games is that the book is dystopian. 

I have a lot of issues with this book but I think I'll start with the positives. First off I love the idea of this book. It was unique and it sounded like something I would really enjoy reading. I actually really liked Davida and I would have preferred to have the story from her point of view since she was the only character I actually cared about.

One of my main problems with this book was the main character. Aria was one of the most clueless main characters I have ever read about. She also doesn't make any sense. She's taught that mystics are evil people that can hurt her so what does she do when she meets Hunter? She feels completely safe with him and doesn't even think that it would be better if she ran screaming in the opposite direction. 

Aria's relationship with Hunter and Thomas was also strange. I know that she lost her memories but how she acted around Thomas was just plain weird. She was forcing herself to love him because her parents told her to. Even when there were clear signs that they were never in love.

The love letters that Aria found were ridiculously cheesy. Every single time she was with Hunter something cheesy happened. I can't deal with cheesy romance unless it is well done cheesy romance.

"A kiss that feels like it can change the world."
 Doesn't that sound a bit cheesy to you? 

This book was also extremely predictable. Nothing in this book surprised me at all. It took Aria almost the entire book for her to figure out something but it took me only a few chapters to figure it out. I made six predictions within the first couple chapters and at least half of them were correct. The fact that Aria can't make any connections and is so gullible was so frustrating.

I feel like this book would definitely appeal to Matched fans but since I am not a fan of that series this book just wasn't for me. It was way too predictable and no matter how much I tried I just couldn't like the characters. I will not be reading the next one even if the cover is as pretty as this one.

*I won an ARC of this from a giveaway at Written By Brittan. Thank you! 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
Published: December 11, 2012 
Publisher:
Razorbill
Pages:
412
Series:
Falling Kingdoms #1
My Rating: 
4 of 5 star

Synopsis: In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past--and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?



My Review: I'll admit that I picked this book up solely because the cover looked so interesting. I don't normally read high fantasy so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. Right now I'm actually glad that I judge a book by its cover because I really enjoyed this book.

Falling Kingdoms was told from many different points of view. At first this was a little overwhelming since there were so many characters to keep track of but there was a list of characters in the beginning of the book that helped me remember who they were. After a little while I didn't even need that list to keep track of the characters.

I was never bored while reading once the story picked up. It was very fast paced and time would pass but it didn't feel like more than a day had passed. Four different characters from different backgrounds told the story and in the beginning I was wondering how each of their stories would connect since they didn't all know each other.

I really liked how the death of one person led to all the events that happened in the story. The one part I didn't really understand was why Jonas blamed Cleo for the death when it was Aron who killed the person. Shouldn't he blame Aron? I'm also wondering about what happened between Jonas and Cleo. I feel that there was something between them but I didn't think that was possible since Jonas fantasied about killing her. I have this feeling that in the next book they will fall in love and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I feel like the romance in this book and Cleo were my main problems. Cleo was just so hard to sympathize with for most the book. She was basically a spoiled girl that didn't think about what her actions could cause. By the end I sort of liked her because I could see that she grew as a character. I really didn't like the insta love between her and another character and I saw if coming from the moment they met.

Lucia and Magnus are like Jace and Clary from The Mortal Instruments except they were raised as siblings. So how Magnus felt about her was a little strange. I actually really liked Magnus. He has a reason for being the way he is even if I don't like how he acts. I have so many mixed feelings about Lucia. I really wish that they hadn't been raised as siblings.

Jonas was my favorite character. His reasons for hating the royals were believable and when someone close to him died he didn't sit around and do nothing. He wanted to make Paelsia better for his people. I wish there had been more chapters from his POV and I think that in the next book there will be.

Even though I had didn't really like Cleo or the romance in this book I actually really enjoyed it. I can't wait until the next one! 

Feature & Follow #22

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community.

Q: What book do you think everyone should read? If you could gift the entire population with one book? 

A: I couldn't choose just one so I'll have to say The Fault in Our Stars by John Green or White Cat by Holly Black. I loved both of those books. The Fault in Our Stars was so heart breaking but funny at the same time and I think that more people should know about how amazing White Cat is.

What about you?
Please follow and leave a link to your post so I can follow back!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Top Ten Most Anticipated 2013 Release

Here's my top ten books that I can't wait to read!

10. City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster 
Release date: February 5, 2013

9. Shadows in the Silence (Angelfire #3) by Courtney Allison Moulton 
Release date: January 29, 2013


8. The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) by Richelle Mead 
Release date: February 12, 2013

7. Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) by Kaite McGarry 
Release date: May 28, 2013

6. Prodigy (Legend #2) by Marie Lu 
Release date: January 29, 2013

5. Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton 
Release date: January 22, 2013

4. Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer 
Release date: February 5, 2013

3. The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa 
Release date: April 23, 2013

2. Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver 
Release date: March 5, 2013

1. Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare 
Release date: March 19, 2013

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Top Ten Best Couples of 2012

I have so many couples that I love so I had a hard time choosing my favorite but I somehow managed to narrow it down to 10.

10. Echo and Noah from Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

9. Cinder and Kai from Cinder by Marissa Meyer

8. Hazel and Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

7. Karou and Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

6. Zeke and Allie from The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

5. Katsa and Po from Graceling by Kristin Cashore

4. Peter Pan and Tiger Lily from Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

3. Alex and Lena from Delirium by Lauren Oliver

2. Magnus and Alec from City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare


1. Four and Tris from Insurgent by Veronica Roth
I kept going back and forth between Four & Tris and Magnus & Alec because I love both so much but I think that I didn't pick Magnus & Alec because of how upset I am about their what happened in City of Lost Souls if that makes any sense. Honestly I think this was one of the hardest Top Tens I've done so far. It took me forever to figure out who I wanted on this list and then how to place them.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

 

Just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas! Hope you are all having a great holiday and are reading a lot. I know I'll be reading as many books as I possibly can before I have to go back to school so I'll probably have a lot of reviews up this week.


Happy holidays!



Top Ten Beautiful Covers of 2012

These are my top ten favorite covers from books released in 2012! Just because I like the cover does not mean that I loved the book or that I've read the book, just that I really loved the cover.

10. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

9. Eve and Adam by

8. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

7. Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

6. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

5. Black City by

4. Everneath by Brodi Ashton

3. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

2. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater



1. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Monday, December 24, 2012

Top Ten Best Books of 2012

2012 has been a year of ups and downs. I've read many amazing books and some not so amazing books so I've decided to pick my top ten favorite books released in 2012. This might be a little difficult since I loved so many. Why did I do this to myself?


10. Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry

Where do I even begin? So many tears were shed. I just loved the entire book.










9. Everneath by Brodi Ashton

I love mythology so its no surprise that I really loved this book. I can't wait to read the next one and I'm hope that there will be more Cole because he's so much better than Jack









8. Speechless by Hannah Harrington

This book was so cute but meaningful at the same time. I really loved how the main character was silent for most of the book. It was unique and I don't think I'll be forgetting this one anytime soon.







7. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

As a kid I loved Peter Pan. So I wasn't if this book would completely ruin it for me. I'm so glad it didn't. It was so heartbreaking and I cried so much.








6. City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare

I love TMI and I feel like this one was so much better than City of Fallen Angels. The wait for City of Heavenly Fire is way too long but at least Clockwork Princess is coming out soon!
5. Black Heart (Curse Workers #3) by Holly Black

I read this entire series in less than a week and I read this book in one day. I loved Cassel and the idea of Curse Workers. Definitely one of my favorite series.

4. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa

This is what every vampire book should be like. It was creepy and so completely wonderful. I even loved the romance and the main character. I basically loved everything about this book. 

3. The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

I'm a huge Maggie Stiefvater fan so when I heard about this book I was counting down the says until I could read it. I loved the complexity of the characters and how beautiful the writing was.









2. Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

After reading Divergent I wasn't sure if Insurgent could live up to its awesomeness. I was wrong! I loved this book almost as much as the first one. I can't wait for the next book.

 







1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

You're all probably getting sick of me talking about how much I loved The Fault in Our Stars and how much I love John Green's books but I think The Fault in Our Stars deserves one final recognition for 2012. If you haven't read this then you're missing out big time.