Monday 31 March 2014

March Book Haul


I had a humongous Book Haul last month which I'm really excited to show all of you! Here are the books I got in March!



Books I got in the month of March:
  1. Fever by Lauren DeStefano (READ)
  2. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor (READ)
  3. Ignite Me by Tehereh Mafi
  4. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
  5. The Essence by Kimberly Derting
  6. Crewel by Gennifer Albin
  7. Belladonna by Fiona Paul
  8. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
  9. The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead
  10. Infinityglass by Myra McEntire
  11. Timepiece by Myra McEntire
  12. Infinite by Jodi Meadows
  13. Asunder by Jodi Meadows
  14. Sever by Lauren DeStefano (READ)
  15. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
  16. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (READ) (REVIEW)
  17. Unite Me by Tehereh Mafi
  18. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
  19. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
  20. The Offering by Kimberly Derting
  21. Cress by Marissa Meyer (READ) (REVIEW)


Quote - "A Book Is A Dream That You Hold In Your Hand" ~ Neil Gaiman


^The above photo and quote are in no terms at all mine. They belong to two fabulous and genius people. One being Neil Gaiman, The other a genius on Tumblr

Saturday 29 March 2014

MARRY KISS CLIFF Tag



So I recently saw a few wonderful booktubers doing this tag on youtube and I just really wanted to try it out. Here are a few links to the ones that I have watched:
 ^BTW, these are a few of my favourite booktubers around. Go check them out!

Comment below with you email, message me or email me if you would like a copy of my document with the names of my Marry Kiss Cliff Characters because I can't attach it urg.

Here's a picture of what it looks like.


 Okay, so here I go!

 

Round 1

  

Marry: Captain Thorne

Kiss: Alec Lightwood

Cliff: Peeta


First one in and I was a stuck. I love all three of them urg. Unfortunately Peeta is my least favourite among the three of them so CLIFF. Then it was Thorne and Alec. My ultimate OTP is Malec so no way am I ruining that. I want them married! So I KISS Alec (that is considered cheating though whoops) and I MARRY Thorne who is so sweet and funny and reassuring. He's a perfect gentleman! I love him!


Round 2


Marry: Noah Shaw

Kiss: Simon Lewis

Cliff: Liam


Unfortunately, I have only read The Darkest Minds and not Never Fade yet because my book order has not come. So I am not as connected to Liam than I am to the other characters. So CLIFF for Liam. I'm going to MARRY Noah because I adore Noah Shaw. He is so so so sweet and I have really loved him since The Unbecoming of Mary Dyer! Lastly, I will kiss Simon because his Simon. I love him but Isabelle would kill me. Not that Mara wouldn't but :D

Round 3




Marry: Wolf

Kiss: Jace Herondale

Cliff: Gale


This one was pretty easy. I have never liked Gale. Not since the first time I read about him. It's not just because of the last book. I'm just a Peeta person I guess. So CLIFF for him and I regret nothing. I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted to marry Wolf or Jace and who I wanted to kiss. I chose to KISS Jace and MARRY Wolf because I think Wolf really cares about whoever he loves. I mean Jace is too but I think Wolf i more my type and anyway I could never separate any Cassandra Clare ships.

Round 4



Marry: Ronald Weasley

Kiss: Fang

Cliff: Dimitri Belikov


Damnnit. Another hard one. I chose to MARRY Ron because I adore him. I love his family and I would love to be part of it. He's a pretty nice guy and sweet and stuff. ;D Okay. I really wanted to save Dimitri buttttttttttttt (ha butt) okay um I love Fang. I have loved Fang forever. Not many people know of the Maximum Ride series anymore because its over and then people started hating it because of the stupid ending. (worse ending ever!) But I still adore Fang. His on my top 5 favourite guys ever! I just really love him so much. But I don't think I would marry him although I wouldn't mind because I just love him. So I would KISS Fang and CLIFF Dimitri who I also love but I'm pretty sure he would survive it anyway. :D

Round 5


Marry: Will Herondale

Kiss: Harry Potter

Cliff: Jason Grace


This one was a lot easier for me. I cannot stand Jason so CLIFF for him! And then I adore Will because Herondales so I would MARRY Will and then lastly it left KISS for Harry freaking Potter. Mwahahahaha. Be jealous Ginny. :3

Round 6

Marry: Percy Jackson

Kiss: Etienne St. Clair

Cliff: Adrian Ivashkov


Another hard one again. Sigh. WHY WHY WHY! I love every single one of them. I love Percy the best though because Percy Fucking Jackson. I adore him so much. I love every part of him. He's strong. He's nice. He's adorable. He's beautiful. He's funny. He's cool. He's good to his family. He loves his mum. Oh I just love him. So I MARRY him. Now I had to decide between Etienne and Adrian. I chose Adrian to CLIFF and Etienne to KISS. Unfortunately, I like Etienne 1% better than Adrian and anyways, Etienne has a British Accent so yay! And he's so lovable. Not that I don't love the sexy Adrian Ivashkov :D

Round 7


Marry: Levi

Kiss: Four

Cliff: Magnus Bane


Another freaking hard one. I chose to MARRY Levi because his so sweet and reliable and nice and stuff and I love him! I would adore him forever. Now I couldn't really decide who to kiss or Cliff but I figured that Magnus belongs to Alec (OTP) and anyway Magnus Bane doesn't die like that. So Magnus CLIFFED and I'll kiss the sexy and beautiful Four!

Round 8

Marry: Draco Malfoy

Kiss: Prince Kai

Cliff: Warner 


Why is this so hard. Why did I choose such beautiful favourites of mine to pick to kiss, marry and kill... (except gale - i don't like gale). So I would MARRY Draco because I believe that Draco is actually really nice and stuff ahemDramioneficswherehisjustsofreakingniceahem. I love you him so much. And then I think I would KISS Kai because I really love him from Cinder and I adore him. I have only read Shatter Me because once again my book order is not here, so I don't kow Warner that well. I still like Warner better than Adam already though. I ship JulietteXWarner! So CLIFF for Warner :<

Alright. Feels like the hardest thing I've done like oh my gosh why did I put in so many people I love! I felt my heart break everytime someone I loved CLIFFED. Alright. Thank you for reading this. BYE!

Friday 28 March 2014

Book Review - What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick (Sneak Peak)

Title: 
What I Thought Was True
Author: 
Huntley Fitzpatrick
Expected publication date:
15th April 2014
Publisher:
Dial

Blurb: 

(From Goodreads)
From the author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.

Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it as a yard boy on her Nantucket-esque island this summer. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

A magnetic, push-me-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti

Review:
OMIGOSH!!! YES! THIS WAS ON MY LIST OF MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2014! I literally screamed when I saw that there was a sneak peak on netgalley.com and I snatched it up! 

I have loved Huntley Fitzpatrick's work ever since her first book - My Life Next Door (I loved that book so much!!!! Can't wait for the sequel-ish in 2015). Anyways, I was so excited when I finally got my hands on it and I anticipated so many good things and oh my gosh! So much joy! Once again, Huntley Fitzpatrick did NOT disappoint! I think this is already so good and I've only read 23 beautiful pages of it. I just want that book in my arms already. I'm going to stroke that book when I get it and see that beautiful cover in my hands. And then I'm going to read it and love it and adore it because its a beautiful book duh.

23 pages in and I think Gwen is a great protagonist.
23 pages in and aww Emory!~
23 pages in and oh my god Cass!

There was a line 'Don't think about it. And definitely not about his lips.'
I want to think about his lips. Oh gosh another sexy and beautiful person to add to my top favourite guys of all time:D
I want to know what happens after this 23 pages. 
I want to know what happens to Cass and Gwen.
I want to know if they get the beautiful happy ending they deserve.
23 pages in and I've fallen in love with all the characters in the book. <3

Thank you Dial for allowing me to read a sneak peek. I really enjoyed it! Huntley Fitzpatrick really writes the best contemporary books around!
Those of you who are interested in Contemporary/Romance/YA or just any kind of book, remember to buy this book when it is out and do go read her other book too! It's literally a work of art.
Rating: 
5 Stars Out of 5 Stars ALREADY!

^SENSE THE EMPHASIS!

Thursday 27 March 2014

Book Review - The Bravest Princess by E.D.Baker (ARC copy)

Title: 
The Bravest Princess
Author: 
E.D.Baker
Series: 
Wide Awake Princess
Expected publication date:
1st April 2014
Publisher:
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Official Bloomsbury website:
www.bloomsbury.com


Blurb: 

(From Goodreads)
Sleeping Beauty's younger, non-magical sister, Annie, still can't rest while trouble in the kingdom threatens her good friend, Snow White. Snow White's evil stepmother has disappeared, and her father wants her married off right away--but who should she choose? How can she tell which prince is best? It's Annie and her good friend Liam to the rescue! A hilarious and and fantastical romp through a fairy tale landscape from beloved author E D Baker. 
Review:
I received this book as an ARC from netgalley.com a few days before the publishing date and I was really excited because I loved the first book of the series. I never read the 2nd book because I didn't know it was a series but I remember how much I loved and raved about the first book. I can still remember the beautiful tale that E.D.Baker spun (ha spun ha! You will understand it if you read the first book! <3) when Annie basically had to save her entire kingdom from a curse. 

Once again, I was NOT disappointed. Indeed, E.D.Baker never fails to write the best children's books ever.

In the 3rd volume of the Wide-Awake Princess series, we follow Annie's point of view again. This time, we meet her friend Snow White who needs her help so she sets off with the all wonderful Prince Liam (fangirls!!!) and several others to see Snow White and handle some other stuff (ahem put a witch in a tower). Along the way, she finds out that someone else is following her ahemevilahem. Now, Snow White's problem is that her father wants her to marry someone right away. Basically Snow White and Annie set up challenges for the suitors who show up. Along the way my OTP - AnnieXLiam become closer. However of course evil forces threaten to destroy everything.

Thank you Bloomsbury for allowing me to read an ARC. I really enjoyed it! Once again E.D.Baker has written a beautiful and inspiring book which had me reminiscing over the times when I would just sit in my bed for hours and read fairy tales all day long. I haven't had that much fun reading a book in a long time! 

Do go and read this book! I guarantee you won't be disappointed! May you feel as much joy as I do reading this book!

Rating: 
4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars

Movie Review - Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: 
Divergent
Book to Movie Adaptation from: 
Veronica Roth
Series: 
The Divergent trilogy
Sequel:
On March 21, 2014, Lionsgate officially greenlit the film adaptation of Insurgent, expected to be released March 20, 2015
Official Movie Site:
Offical Divergent IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1840309/

Summary: 

(From the Divergent IMDb page)
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late. 
Review:
(Spoiler Alert)
Divergent.
Divergent.
Divergent.
Well...
The Divergent Series is on my top three list of favorite series so I was really excited for the book to movie adaptation. However, even though I personally feel that it follows the book version pretty well, I do feel disappointed. Not that I wasn't expecting that because book-to-movie adaptations sigh...
I'm not exactly sure what I feel is missing but I just didn't feel that thrill in the movie as I felt in the books. I have felt this thrill in certain book to movie adaptations before but I didn't have this feeling in this movie. It's that feeling of something so so so epic and you can't wait for the next moment and stuff but it just didn't come on as strongly for this movie. 
I really did have very high hopes for this movie because Divergent duh. I was so excited that I paid extra to go for the premier and stuff and on the whole I'm still pretty satisfied.
So of course as I still love the Divergent series and ohmigoshTheoJames. And apparently Uriah is coming out finally? I love Uriah! I am going to watch Insurgent. In fact I am excited for the movie as I feel that they did put in the effort in Divergent to make the movie similar to the book. The setting and props and everything was also marvelous. 
So yes I am going to watch the movie with high expectations again and most likely get disappointed again because this was happening ahemPJOahemTMIahem.

And there you have it, my review for the Divergent Movie. Please do leave any comments or points you would like to discuss with me about!
Rating: 
3.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Book Review - Cress by Marissa Meyer


Title: 
Cress
Author: 
Marissa Meyer
Series: 
The Lunar Chronicles (5 STARS FOR THIS SERIES)
Sequel:
Winter (Coming in 2015)
Marissa Meyers Official Website:
The Lunar Chronicles Official Website:


Summary: 
Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Review:
(Spoiler Alert)
Marissa Meyer is brilliant. 
Literally.
The Lunar Chronicles is her debut but they are so SO good. This is one of my favourite series of all time. I honestly cannot wait for her next series - which according to goodreads will be an Alice in Wonderland theme kind of book? I'm not too sure. But honestly I'm just excited.

Now here's what's good about the series as a whole. EVERYTHING. The world. OMigosh I LOVE the world. I'm not a huge sci-fi person but I loved this world. I loved the start, how Kai meets Cinder, and most of all how Marissa Meyer snuck all the actual fairytale moments into the book without anyone noticing it. Or else she twists it into something even better then what had been which is a really genius and risky thing to do but something she did pretty well in all three of her books, something which I applaud her for!

Also let me just say, ahem, CinderKaiScarletWolfCressThorne and eventually WinterJacin. I swear I love all of them. In a series, I usually don't ship more than 2 couples if all of them are main characters but in this series. ALL of them deserve to be shipped. (I will do a relationship Analysis maybe some time soon!)

Okay so on to just CRESS. In this book, we officially get introduced to the darling Cress, who I think is the love interest for the all wonderful and interesting Captain Thorne. (He's in a tie with Prince oops Emperor Kai on who's my favourite male character in the book. I love captain thorne because he's just funny and seems playful but underneath, he's just so dependable. However I love Kai because, well he's Kai. And I love his seriousness and passion for Cinder and his sarcastic side and well just everything. - decisionsdecisions i'll eventually make a post about all the characters once and for all as an overview but that will be after Winter is out.) 

So anyways, back to Cress and Thorne. Cress is just this adorable little thing who has a crush on Thorne before they even meet (you'll find out why when you read the book - its adorable! She's adorable) So basically, you finally get to see ALL the main characters in this book which is great. However, they will get separated in the book where you will see perspectives of all the characters. This once again shows Marissa Meyer's great talent in writing as  she has to write different perspectives but intwine all their journeys eventually. At the same time, she cannot forget/get confused about the character's personality, other character's personality and all their surroundings, timeframes, and so on and so forth. In fact, I think that although she had more trouble writing this book, this may be her best book out of the three as of now. So really, go and pick up that book, and READ it!

Okay.
Peace out:D

Rating: 
5 Stars Out of 5 Stars
This whole series deserves 5 stars! Really do go check it out!

CrAcKpOt ThEoRiEs: 
(Spoiler Alert)
Time for the all wonderful Crackpot Theories segment! Here we discuss my weird most likely unlikely ideas and I put questions down which I don't know what will happen but we can discuss! <3

1. Winter becomes Queen in the end instead of Cinder?
Personally I don't like this idea because I feel then the goal of the 4 books would just be crushed. A goal is very important for all stories, especially fantasy fiction kind of books, so if Winter becomes Queen because Cinder doesn't want to be and Cinder returns to Earth just like that I won't like it as much... Unless, there is a really really really good reason. And omigosh please don't give that cliché about Cinder becoming the ambassador or something of both planets?!!!!!

2. Marissa Meyer has been using Tangled as inspiration for Cress?
I'm not too sure about this, but I think this would be cool. Some parts do seem similar? I think. Like how Thorne (Cress) and Flynn Rider (Tangled) are like both not serious but when it comes to serious stuff, they are dependable and stuff. And it takes a while for them to fall in love with Cress/Rapunzel. Also, if you have watched Tangled, the Disney Movie, it will seem like Cress has a similar personality to Rapunzel in Tangled. So I don't know but it would be really cool to me if this was like true.

3. What happened to Scarlet?
Okay so, Scarlet didn't have many scenes. But when she appeared oh hell yeah. However, I really want to know what happened to her hand, what happened to her in more detail, why was she with Winter and stuff. Any ideas? 
4. Who exactly is Winter? What's her personality really like? Why does Jacin like her?
Winter. Currently, when I think of Winter, I think of someone who's alittle weird. A little psycho? I'm not sure. But if Jacin likes her she can't be that bad? How will she play a part in the last book though. I mean Marissa Meyer is a genius so I know she will think of great things and I'm really excited!

Monday 24 March 2014

Book Review - The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Title: 

Author: 

Series: 

Sequel:

More Information and Excerpt:

http://www.thedarkestminds.com/ 

Rating: 4 Stars Out of 5 Stars

 

Summary: 

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her-East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Review:

(Spoiler Alert)

I really really enjoyed this book. Nowadays, with the trend of dystopian books, there are many not-as-well written dystopian books. And sometimes the dystopian books focus more about romance and then leaves many loopholes and stuff. I think that a good dystopian book has a balance between character development, journey and relationship between characters, regardless of whether it is a romantic relationship or just friendship. 

This book starts off immediately with a very well-developed well-written first few chapters. You get what you need to know for the story and what the main character has gone through and blah. Then, it progresses to when the main character, Ruby, becomes 16. Meaning she has spent 6 years in the 'camp' she was sent into. 

Technically, because of who she is, she is supposed to be an 'Orange', one of the more dangerous categories that the government puts them other. However, she manages to survive by being a Green. This story talks about Ruby's journey from the killer camp she is at to a safe heaven where people like her with special abilities are supposed to be safe. Along the way, she will meet companions, and other people whatsoever and will eventually reach the camp.

Personally I feel that the camp part is the most exciting. The most twists happen there. Its a pretty short part of the book for action. But for the first book to have a longer setting development is okay because the author needs to put down the necessary platforms for him or herself to continue. During this setting development/world development, the characters go through personal growth and relationship growth. On the whole, there is a really ideal balance between the three aspects of personal growth, relationship growth and plot/journey/action.

The author knows when to insert different scenarios and teaches the characters important lessons of the facts that 'You are never safe' and 'Never trust anyone'.

If you want to read a good dystopian-ish, original book, READ THIS BOOK!

Crack-Pot Theories: 

So I haven't read the second book. And the title for the third and final book is not out as of the 24th of March 2014. Or at least I know not of the title. As such, I was thinking what could be the title, right?

Titles usually match in some ways. Example, ahemahem Mortal Instruments ahemahem Daughter of Smoke and Bone ahemahem Divergent ahemahem. Somehow it fits.

However, the first book, this book, The Darkest Minds and the second book, Never Fade don't seem to match so I was thinking.

WHAT IF!!!!!

THE TITLES WOULD BECOME A SENTENCE OF SOME SORT?

LIKE I DON'T KNOW?

THE DARKEST MINDS NEVER FADE...
UNTIL THE END...

OR SOMETHING
BASICALLY ITS SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
:D
CrAcKpOt ThEoRiEs! <3

Sunday 23 March 2014

Introduction

Hi, I am Nerissa. I will be posting future reviews/book updates here, etc.

Follow my instagram at http://instagram.com/roseblackthorn