Wrote that Review Update #16

If you want to participate, set a certain amount of reviews to write, and once you make that goal, you can get a reward!

My reviews to reward is 25 to 1, and I motivated myself to write my review for Gabriel's Redemption, This Night So Dark and This Shattered World, The Program, Nearly Gone, Crossed, Reached, Darkness Falls, Eternally Yours, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, Ashes, Call Me Irresistible, The Lens and the Looker, Scarlet, Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx, Earth, Hereafter, Jekel Loves Hyde, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, Animal Instincts, Animal Instincts, In Other Worlds, Guardian of the Gate and Circle of Fire, so I have 25 of 25 reviews written! My reward is Eon by Alison Goodman!

I also reviewed The Bronze and the Brimstone, The Loved and the Lost, Henry Wood Detective Agency, The Woman in Black, Lost Souls, Stone Cold Touch, Foreplay, Horde, Outpost, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice, Homecoming, Vampire Academy, The Meeting, Frostbite, Kisses From Hell and Prom Nights From Hell, Gameboard of the Gods, The Evolution of Mara Dyer and The Retribution of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, Originally Human and Mortal Danger, White Witch, Black Curse, White Witch, Black Curse, Six Months Later, Horizon, Mystic, Echo, Fated, Truth or Dare, Teardrop, so I have 25 of 25 reviews written! My reward is Eona by Alison Goodman!

And this week, I want to review the rest of November 2013, March 2012, rereads and other books in the series, and maybe for review books!

What about you guys? Happy reading!

How Well I Stuck to It #11, November 30th

So I decided that I should have accountability on sticking to what should be in a week, so I'm doing How Well I Stuck to It every Sunday, because my schedule should be fixed in by now!

Week 49:
Saturday: The Fear Trials by Lindsey Cummings, The Murder Complex by Lindsey Cummings, Escape Through the Wilderness by Gary Rodriguez, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, The Spring Before I Met You by Sarah Rees Brennan, The Summer Before I Met You by Sarah Rees Brennan, Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan, The Night After I Lost You by Sarah Rees Brennan, Unstrung by Kendra C. Highley, Death Sworn by Leah Cypress, Death Marked by Leah Cypress,
Sunday: Cheating Time by T.R. Graves, Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd, Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes, Sunrise by Mike Mullin, Polaris by Mindee Arnette, Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon
Monday: The Treatment by Susanne Young, Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, The Darkest Touch by Gena Showalter, The Nightmare Dilemma by Mindee Arnett, Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn
Tuesday: City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn, Taming the Scotsman by Kinley MacGregor, The Gospel of Winter by Brendan Kiely, Captive by Aimee Carter, Maddie's Tattoo by Katie Kacvinsky, Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky, Unbreakable by C.C. Hunter
Wednesday: Eternal by C.C. Hunter, Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, Wither by Laruen DeStefano, 99 Days by Katie Cotugno, Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore, Angels in the Dark by Lauren Kate, Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate
Thursday: Rapture by Lauren Kate, Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater, Ley Line Drifter by Kim Harrison, Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison, After Anthology, Love is a Choice by Beth Revis, Defy the Dark Anthology
Friday: Across the Universe by Beth Revis, Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stolh, Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stolh, Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan, Crystal Fire by Jordan Dane

Tour Books: Escape Through the Wilderness, Cheating Time. Check.

Review Books: Unstrung, The Treatment, Afterworlds, The Gospel of Winter. Check.

NetGalley: Sunrise, Take Back the Skies, City of Jasmine, Captive, Dark Metropolis, Crystal Fire. 6 which means I can have 3 extra rereads or new books. Check.

Edelweiss: The Murder Complex, Death Sworn, Death Marked, Liars, Inc., Polaris, 99 Days, 6 which means I have have 4 extra rereads or new books. Check.

Meme Books: The Night After I Lost You, Her Dark Curiosity. Check.

Rereads: The Darkest Minds, Taming the Scotsman, Awaken, Angels & Demons, Wither, Rapture, Black Magic Sanction, Across the Universe, Beautiful Darkness, Glow. 10. Which means I used up 4 of my extras from above. Check.

New Books:  The Darkest Touch, The Nightmare Dilemma, Eternal, Sinner. 4, but 4 are exceptions, which means I used up 0 of my extras from above. Check.

So a pretty good week, I don't have as much to read, so I'm more likely to read more of them! What about you guys? Happy reading!

Week 48 Review: White Witch, Black Curse

From Goodreads:
White Witch, Black Curse

Some wounds take time to heal...and some scars never fade.

Rachel Morgan, kick-ass witch and bounty hunter, has taken her fair share of hits, and has broken lines she swore she would never cross. But when her lover was murdered, it left a deeper wound than Rachel ever imagined, and now she won't rest until his death is solved...and avenged. Whatever the cost.

Yet the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and when a new predator moves to the apex of the Inderland food chain, Rachel's past comes back to haunt her.

Literally.

My first review of White Witch, Black Curse
My Review:
It was so great to reread this book! I mean, because I got to read the short story in Dates from Hell when Mia meets with Ivy, and then Hotter Than Hell, which Mia actually narrates, and then to read her story where she's the bad guy, yeah, that was just fantastic!

So I did take a bit getting into this book, because when I last read it, it was on my nook, or computer, and now I have a physical copy, and I can actually tell easily how many pages there were, and that daunted me a bit. But I got through it, and just enjoyed rereading this book!

The whole thing with Ford, with the finding of Kisten's killer, and then helping Ford with him sensing emotion all the time, yeah, I enjoyed how that wrapped up, it was just so perfect, and I'm pretty sure this is one resolution that doesn't come back to bite her like almost every other one! And then there's the Pierce thing, and the Junior's thing, because this is the first book where she starts to apprehend someone there!

I read somewhere that Kim Harrison purposely wrote that conclusion to Kisten's killer plot line to be dissatisfying, that sense of that there was nothing that they could do, and yeah, that came across quite clearly, and yeah, it was sad, and unresolved, and yet, so, because he was dead and they didn't get to punish him.

Favourite lines: "Green shag carpet. This might be why Mr. Tilson was nuts. It would make me nuts." I have nothing against shag, but I don't like the colour green too much! "Looking at everything, I started to feel nauseous, as if the seventies had taken refuge here against extinction and were preparing to take over the world." Which would suck, because the 00's would fight back, it'd be a Decade vs. Decade World War! "When we'd moved in, I had the use of one end of it. Now I was lucky if I got a corner to eat on. So of course I'd taken over the rest of the kitchen." Of course! "Realizing that he was singing to get it to turn on, I flicked the switch. Jenks exploded into gold sparkles and collapsed, giggling." Singing to turn on the lamp? So cute! "Leave it to a vamp to slice her bagel with a ceremonial device designed for black magic." Yep, leave it to Ivy! "And you're Farcus, rhymes with Marcus, another lame-ass vampire." Yeah, that's annoying for Rachel to have him block her! "...knowing if I played the ignorant, he might give in,, He knew I wasn't ignorant, but he liked it when I pretended, as if I could manipulate him, Which I could, so who was smarter after all?" You, Rachel! ''Why does everyone think he's my boyfriend?' 'Not your lover?' 'No.' 'But he is Rachel candy.'" Even Al thinks Pierce is for Rachel! So funny! "Damn my dame! I knew it! Not another list!" Al's learning! So cute!

Enjoyed rereading this book so much, and I can't wait to keep going! I'm so close to The Witch With No Name!!!

Author: Kim Harrison
Series: The Hollows #7
First Read: August 10th, 2013
Read: November 28th, 2014
Source: Own
Reason Why: Rereading, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 book!
Publisher: Eos
Published: February 24th 2009

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Reviews: Originally Human, Mortal Danger

From Goodreads:
Molly doesn't look her age. In fact, Molly never will, having already been around for centuries with no signs of wear. That's because Molly is a succubus—not demonic, but cursed. A victim rather than victimizer—and more than sympathetic to the gorgeous and naked man she finds hiding in the woods. Unlike Molly though, he has no memory of his past—only that he’s being hunted for reasons he can't explain. Now they must both try and solve the riddle of his origin before his past—or even hers—reaches out of the darkness to destroy them.

From Goodreads:
Former cop Lily Yu has her sister's wedding to attend, a missing magical staff to find, and now must deal with her grandmother's decision to return to the old country. Lily could turn to the man she's involved with for advice, but for all the passion that flares between them, she doesn't really know Rule Turner--she's just bound to him for life. Rule happens to be a werewolf, and Lily wonders just how far she can trust him.

My Review:
I enjoyed reading these stories so much! I mean, ever since Lover Beware, and the short story that evolved into Tempting Danger, I've been fascinated by this world, and I wanted to know more, and these gives me that, and I can't wait to see what I'll get in future books!

So Originally has a different narrator, and looking at the synopsis' of the series, I think that this couple going to play a pretty significant role in the series, so yeah, I was really interested in reading their beginning story, and yeah, then I got to see how some things played out from there!

Mortal was just fantastic! I love her grandmother so much, she's just hilarious whether she means to or not, and yeah, that comes back from that ending in Lover Beware where Lily starts to tell Rule about her grandmother and imagining his reaction. Yeah.

So yeah, there was a lot going on in Mortal, and yeah, it was just so interesting, her personal life, and mixing in her professional one, yeah, there were some situations that I bet she wishes she wasn't put into, but she was, and yeah, she made the most of them!

Favourite lines from Originally Human: "Wasn't that just like a man? Earlier he'd trusted for no particular reason, now he suspected when there was little cause-and little remedy, if he'd been right."

Favourite lines from Mortal Danger: "'You could at least try to look like you're enjoying yourself.' 'Why?' 'Everyone is watching. Your mother. My mother. Everyone.' "Does that mean you aren't going to try to grope me this time?'" And this is her second cousin she's talking to! And I'm with her why! "FBI. You have heard of them?" I should hope so-I have and I don't live in the US! "Lily's lips twitched at the idea that FBI agents arrested a better class of criminal." If anything, they'd arrest worst! "I'm twenty-eight, not eighteen. Read my lips. We are not getting married. Not ever." Yeah, it'd be weird if they got married! "'What's wrong?' 'It's such a pleasure to be asked that question by someone I can tell to mind her own business.'" Yeah, family being pushy! "He's stopped proposing. He just talks about our marriage as if I've already agreed." Which is rather rude! "He stared at the heart of his heart, the one woman in the world for him...the pigheaded, my-way-or-the-highway idiot who'd refused medical treatment." Loved how the tone changed from loving, to enraged at the love! "It goes with the stethoscope. For some reason everyone wants to see my credentials if I show up in shorts and an athletic bra." Yeah, the professional image!

It was excellent to read these, and yeah, I can't wait to read more! Though I think I will wait for the new year!

Author: Eileen Wilks
Series: World of the Lupi #1.5, 2
Read: November 28th, 28th, 2014
Source: Tuebl
Reason Why: Loved the first book, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 Books!
Publisher: Berkley
Published: August 7th 2012, November 1st 2005

Originally Human:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Mortal Danger:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Reviews: The Evolution of Mara Dyer, The Retribution of Mara Dyer

From Goodreads:
Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can't.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren't.

She couldn't imagine that after everything she's been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She's wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

From Goodreads:
Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she's been told.
There is.

She doesn't stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer's story.


Retribution has arrived.

My first review of The Evolution of Mara Dyer
My Review:
I enjoyed reading these books so much, because between the release dates, there were big gaps between me reading these books, so yeah, it was just excellent to read them all so close together! And yeah, just reinforced my love of this series!

All the trials that these 2 go through, yeah, it's a wonder that they aren't more scarred by everything, that they even survived! And yeah, that ending of Evolution, with the thought that Noah maybe didn't make it. But since we have him in the end, it's all good!

Then there's the families, of Mara, of Noah, and Jude. And all the mysteries there. And the connections. I mean, between the charms that both Noah's mom had, and Mara's grandmother, yeah, that's like, just the tip of the iceberg! Knowing just how connected Mara's family and the Shaw's are!

One thing, when they were watching Dr. Kell videos, that they automatically went to her being Jude and Claire's mom, when she said that her maiden name was Lowe, which, if she hadn't been adopting, would've made her their aunt, not mom. Yeah.

And the ending! It's kinda similar to the ending in Afterglow, where the books were published, and it ended with the start of the first book, this one had that too, and yeah, that was just fantastic, I really enjoyed bringing that all around!

Favourite lines from The Evolution of Mara Dyer: "You gave a child, in a psych ward, a lighter." That's a smart thing to do if you want a distraction! "'You like them. As people.' 'As opposed to..furniture.'" Well, seeing parents as people is weird! "This is where the priviledged send their screwed-up progeny; no gluing macaroni to construction paper fo us. They only let us create with ricciolini here." Yeah, big difference! "How about an Obi-Wan slash Gandal slash Dumbledore slash Giles?" That's a big combination of help the hero types! "Says the person who just tried to pin this on growth hormones in mile. Seriously?" Yeah, why go blame the milk? "Joseph didn't want to kill any fish, though he seems to have no problem killing-you bastard." I'm going to guess the sentence was originally going to end with something alone the lines of, "my avatar in the game" going from the ending that it got! "John's been working with a security firm so secure that it doesn't have a name for-how long, again, John?" Doesn't have a name? Then how do you refer to it? "'I wish I had you room.' 'It's not a terrible consolation prize, I'll admit.' 'I wish we could make out in your bed.' 'As do I, but I'm afraid we have a ritual burning to conduct.'" Yeah, it sucks! "I would wholly embrace and mirror your disdain, but I have to say, of all the useless garbage he bleeds money on, that's the one I'm not at all sorry about. No lines. No security misery. No rush." That sounds pretty great! "'I was just going to say it reminds me of the symbols on a family crest.' 'We're not related.' 'I now, but-' 'Don't even think it.'" Yeah, it would be a real Clary/Jace situation! So glad that Noah's the smart one on that! "I'm not sure you can appreciate how much I want to lay you out before me and make yo scream my name." And "Maybe I'll make you scream mine." This is awesome banter! "I successfully avoided mentioning any of my real (and valid) fears of the Jude and supernatural varieties by rattling off a bunch of benign, normal ones like bugs and needles. Jamie attempted to ruffle Brooke's patience with answers like 'intellectual bankruptcy,' and 'sea monkeys.' while Megan earnestly volunteered every phobia I'd ever heard of and several I never knew existed ('Doraphobia' is the fear of fur)." This is so entertaining! "THERE IS AN ALLIGATOR IN MAX'S POOL!" Well, it is Florida! But cool! "'What if someone pisses me off and I tell them to go jump off a bridge?' 'You'd never say that. 'Oh, really?' 'You'd tell them to go die in a fire.' 'Helpful. Thank you.'" Changing the details of what to tell the person to die of, is not a big hair to split, Noah! "Mara is trying to move a bottle of Tylenol with her mind." And saying it like that makes it not serious! "You could read obscure poetry while I play the triangle, I suppose. Or we can smother ourselves in peanut butter and howl at the moon. Use your imagination." You certainly are, Noah! "'So what are you wearing?' 'I don't know. A space suit. Who cares?' 'I think this should be as vivid as possible. For your. Eyes closed. I'm going to have to institute a punishment for each time I have to tell you.' 'What did you have in mind?' 'Don't tempt me. Now, what are you wearing?' 'A hoodie and drawstring pants too, I guess.' 'Anything underneath?' 'I don't typically walk around without underwear.' 'Typically?' 'Only on special occasions.' 'Christ. I meant under your hoodie.'" I don't think it's going as Noah pictured it! "So being the unillustrious record of the observations and musing of one Noah Elliot Simon Shaw insofar as they relate to one Mara (middle name as yet unknown, must remedy) Dyer and her purported metamorphosis. Mara has just left. We have just immolated her grandmother's doll, which seems to have been (distressingly) stuffed with human hair, as well as a pendant identical to the one I own. Both of us are justifiably disturbed by this development, though it has provided a new avenue of exploration as to why the f**k both of us are so deeply weird. Also, I a kissed her. She liked it. Naturally." I can just see Noah writing this, his word choice, so awesome! "I am definitely a pussy." Changing for a girl, that makes you a pussy? I don't think so! "'Discussed and agreed by...?' 'By everyone. Everyone in the whole world. There is no other topic of discussion other than Mara Dyer, didn't you get the memo?'" Ah, Daniel, you're awesome! "The pairings seemed like they were all roommate-roommate. Maybe to stave off a patient revolution?" Yeah, I think that's going to backfire! "Noah, what did you do to that poor whale?' 'She's fine. I only pushed someone into her tank.' 'You didn't.' 'A little bit, yes. He was encouraging his budding sociopath child to bang on the glass.' 'What were you even doing there?' 'Looking for a fight. I needed something that would make the news.' 'Oh my God, it did?' 'I was this close. Edged out by a corrupt politician.' 'You were robbed.'" This is just so funny! Poor Lolita! "But unless you're about to engage in some executive-secretary role-play-' 'Jamie.' 'Or, oh my God, psychologist-patient role-play? Please tell me that is not what you were about to do, or I will throw up in both of your faces. Simultaneously.'" Yeah, Jamie, that threat is pretty gross! "'Why do you have two middle names?' 'That's your question? After reading that?'" Well, it was in the journal that was supposed to be for her, so it's been a sitting question, and thus more important! "Amitra. Mystery solved." Yeah, such a pressing mystery, Mara's middle name! "'This is bulls**t. WE're teenagers. We're supposed to be sarcastic.' 'And preoccupied with sex.' 'And impulsive.' 'Exactly. But we're in her and they're out there? Everyone's a little crazy. The only difference between us and them is that they hid it better. It...kinda of makes me want to burn this place down Just me?' 'Not just you.'" I'm with them! Burn it to the ground! "They rattled my cage to see if I'd bite. When they released me, they'd see that the answer was yes." And they'll deserve it!

Favourite lines from The Retribution of Mara Dyer: "Why is it that whenever anyone says something offensive, they always add 'no offence' after it?" Because they don't want to be offensive? "He patted my head a few times until I threatened to eat him." That's a weird threat! "I thought you were going to give it the District Twelve salute." Nice Hunger Games reference, Jamie! "My gastric juices are dissolving my stomach lining. My stomach is eating itself." Pleasant image, Jamie! "Not it. Sharks, first of all, and second of all, sharks." They're that bad that they need 2 mentions? "'Mutations? We're mutants now?' 'Don't tell Marvel. They'll sue us.'" Well, seeing as the stories are different then real life, they don't have the rights to mutations in real life, just to the characters and stories and such! "Hey, Mom, I've been tortured and experimented upon, but don't worry because my tormentors are dead. Because P.S., I killed them." Yeah, that'll work well! "So we can't start a fire. We cant fly. We can't create a force field. We are the most bulls**t superheroes." You have powers, so that's something! "Barney Rubby. And this, is Better. And this is our daughter, Bamm-Bamm." That's a weird fake name for Mara! "'Names?' 'Jesus,' Jamie answered. 'Mary,' said Stella. 'Satan.'" Oh, Mara, nice name! "'You can be our Gandalf.' 'I'm only a year older than you. But I'll take that as a compliment, if you let me Dumbledor instead.' 'If you insist. But Dumbledore is more dead.' 'Point.' 'Your'e neither actually, You're a muggle-' 'Hey, now.' 'Which makes you Giles.' 'I'll take it.'" Such a great nerdy/geeky conversation! Love it! "I notice a sign just outside one of the windows with the words STORAGE WAREHOUSE: FIREPROOF painted on it, except someone had blacked out the letters so it read, RAGE WAREHOUSE: IREPROOF." That is too funny! "Like you're the ocean and he's desperate to drown." But Noah thought that he didn't want to die anymore. So weird analogy, but not apt anymore! "You don't get what you do for him. You're like his manic pixie dream girl or something. Actually, more like his psychotic demon nightmare thing, but whatever. You get my point." Yes, we do! "'You opened it without me?' 'I thought you might be having sex.' 'You would've heard it.'" Yeah, you would've, why the excuses, Daniel? "Wrong. I did want to. But considering I gave you a lethal injection not twenty-four hours ago, I thought you might not be in the mood." What gave you that crazy idea, Noah? "I love you. Today. Tonight. Tomorrow. Forever. If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If I were to live a thousand live, I would want to make you mine in each one." Which is so romantic, Noah! Especially since you say it in French! "My brother is banging cabinets around, loudly, to announce his presence; a charm of protection against any stray public displays of affection, no doubt. Luckily for him, I was just as embarrassed by our loud colonization of the town house as he was-more, probably. Unluckily for both of us, Noah didn't acre. God knew what Daniel heard." Yeah, brother hearing sister having sex? Not fun for either of them! "We became fast friends. While you and Noah were...busy." So it's known, ah, well. "You? A walk? Since when do you need food, sunshine, fresh air? Oh. Noah isn't here. That explains it." Love this teasing! "'But wait. Why do I have a tail?' 'That is not a tail that's your arm.' 'Why is it coming out of my ass?' 'Behave.' 'Or what, you'll spank me?' 'That would be a reward, darling. Not a punishment.'" So this established that Noah isn't good at drawing!

I enjoyed reading these books so much, they were just so freaking great! I can't wait to read more books by Michelle Hodkin, I know they're going to be fantastic!

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #2, 3
First Read: November 24th, 2012
Read: November 27th, 28th, 2014
Source: Own
Reason Why: Rereading Evolution!  And they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 Books! And Retribution is a End of Series 2014 Book, WR Reward Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: October 23rd 2012,

The Evolution of Mara Dyer:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Retribution of Mara Dyer:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Review: Stone Cold Touch

From Goodreads:
Every touch has its price

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who's pretty sure things can't get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla's powers begin to evolve, and she's offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She's finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…

My Review:
I loved this book so much! It was Zayne's book like White Hot Kiss was Roth, with Zayne on the cover, and being the guy that Layla spends the most time with, and who got to have a scene from the book in his POV, and yeah, it was great to know him!

This book takes off 2 weeks after Kiss ended, and Roth is still gone, and Layla is missing him-and then he just appears, and does the below paragraph. And Abbot shows his mistrust of Layla more heavily, because of her developing powers. And it really sucks for her!

So Roth pulls the time honoured play of pushing Layla away to protect her. And as almost always, it doesn't work. Does it ever? I can' think of any instance where that move actually works to the benefit of the recipient who's supposed to be saved from the bad thing the deliverer has hanging over his head!

And the thing is, in the ending, about who was the Lilan, that both Roth and Zayne, and Layla herself, thinks that she's the Lilan, that's how poorly they think of her. And when it turns out to be Sam? That's suck a cliffhanger, I'm almost tearing up!

Favourite lines: "Oh, for the love of God, if he pulled out a knife, I was going to give up on life in general." Yeah, already 1 person who's pulled a knife on her! "'You thinik you're cute?' 'Nah, I think I'm sexy.'" That definitely sounds like Roth! "Are you...serious growling at me, Stony?" Yep! You both love Layla, after all! "My books miss u. How weird is that. If I get my cell taken from me, it's ur fault. Holy s**t, Layla, where r u?!? You have no idea who just walked into bio!!! Roth is here! Holy canola oil, why aren't u here to witness this? Ok, he says he had mono. Srlsy? DO people still get mono? And who the duck was he kissing? Duck? I ddint' mean duck. That's SO not what I meant, autocorrect. He asked where u were. I told him u joined a cult. I laughed. He didn't." Love these texts Stacey is sending her! So funny! "I busied myself picking out a pen from my horde, settling on a purple one that looked as though it had taken a bath in glitter...or with Ke$ha." That's a lot of glitter! "She tackled the other teacher. Like jumped on his back and brought him down to his knees. Right there. In the middle of the hall, full of gaping students and faculty. Brought him down, cocked back and arm and punched the dude right between the legs." That is very random! Though almost expected, in their school! "Twisting at the wasit, I threw the hamburger on the floor behind Roth as hard as I could. The satisfactory splat it made as ketchup and mayo splattered like a gruesome burger massacre brought a wide smile to my face." The poor burger! It was innocent, Layla, not it's fault that Roth picked it! "Don't hurt the fries. That would be sacrilegious." Yeah, you already killed the burger! "Did you know the reason they went with a Chevy Impala on Supernatural was because a body would fit in the trunk?" Well, sounds about right! Love how her love of Supernatural made it to the page for the first time I've read! And as a side note, my parent's Jetta, it can fit 3 bodies in the trunk-me, my brother, and an exchange student demonstrated this! "If they try to mug us, I'm seriously going to laugh." Yeah, this group would not be a good one to mug! "You ate my cookie dough! That's so wrong." Yeah, you'll have to make it up to her, Zayne! "You didn't do crap today but hang out in your room and stare at Izzy as she tried to bite your feet." Why is the toddler trying to eat feet? That's so weird! And cute! "And it also wasn't the firs time I'd found myself jealous of said demonic familiar, and how messed up was that?" Well, considering why you're jealous, not so much! This was the scene from Zayne's POV, so I put it here, where it happened in the chronological order of the book! "'Guess what I found?' 'Obviously not a better personality.'" Yeah. not so much! "It wasn't as if they were expected to join hands and sing 'Kumbaya' together." Nope! And they have every reason to be hostile! "...because unless we were planning on bum-rushing the house, a little demonic persuasion was needed." Aw, why can't they bum rush it? "'Do I look like I care?' 'Do I look like I won't rip your head off your shoulders?'" Nope, and nope! So something should be going bad in three...two...one.... "There is nothing cool about my blood creating a pod that looks like something straight out of Alien." No, but something epic is there! "A muscle ticked along Zayne's jaw and then he spun on Roth, cocked back his arm and punched him right tin the face." Well, that took a while to get here! "Stomach, meet butterflies." Yes, this is something you've thought about for forever. And it's happening. Squee!!  "So on top of being an infernal ruler and Roth's wingman, Cayman was apparently also a bartender. Odd." A demon of many talents, is Cayman, apparently! "A succubus and an incubus. I call them Sucky and Inky. I think I'm going to change their names to Dead and Deader." Yeah, they followed the rules, but they were messing with Layla! "You'd trip and break your neck or fall over one of our guards. Or try to pet it." Like your cats that are tattoos? "Can I yell 'By the Power of Christ, I compel you' whenever we get to that point?" In the exorcism? Too bad that you can't because that's not part of what thing you're doing! "I didn't think we'd ever stop kissing. There was no way.Not even if tan Alpha landed beside us and started to dance naked." Which is an image! "My high school was turning into the Hellmouth." Yeah, it is, great Buffy reference, too! "Roth. One of his arms was draped over my hips and the other was under my shoulders. His hand was buried deep in the mess of my hair. His chest rose and fell steadily. I could feel Bambi on the other side of me, stretched out. What an odd...sandwich to be a part of." No kidding, a Demon, a snake demon familiar sandwiching a half Warden, half Demon? That is very odd, but very right! "Roth had felt that his Porsche was too noticeable, so he'd borrowed Cayman's car. Which was a vintage Mustang. Yeah, real inconspicuous there." Love how thick the sarcasm is there!

Wow, I really enjoyed this book, and if I had read it sooner, then I would've voted for Roth, but it was closed before I could vote. But thinking about it, I'm glad that I didn't have the chance, because then it is what it is, and yeah, the wait for Every Last Breath is going to be evil, because it comes out in July according to this!

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements #2
Read: November 26th, 2014
Source: Bought
Reason Why: Loved White Hot Kiss, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 Book, WR Reward Book, and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: October 21st 2014

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Review: Nearly Gone

From Goodreads:
Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next. 

My Review:
Nearly Gone was a fantastic book! I enjoyed it so much, such great characters, great romance, and great mysteries, they were just so captivating, and I read this when I was meaning to read something else, but yeah, I don't regret it one bit, because it was so enjoyable!

I had a problem with the 3rd clue and the math/interpretation of the question: "We all fall down. The tower will point the way. It's 68 ft. higher than three times a side of its square base. If the sum of these two is 1,380, at day's end you'll know where to find me." I take the "two" as the hight, and the base. In which case, it'd be (3x + 68) + 4x = 1380, not x, because there's 4 sides to a base. And it'd make x=187.42, which is not as clean as Nearly's answer of 328, but making the height 630.28. Though I could have the wrong assumption of the "two" thing! Though when it came to the clue, turns out it wasn't about the math, ish, but a replica of the Eiffel Tower, and the "ring around the rosie" rhyme! But either way, I was wrong!

The Log roll ride? I feel bad for Nearly, because I had a bad experience on one-I was with my dad, and by the time it was done, I had a big bruise on my arm. Don't remember anything besides that, but yeah. Bad experience, so I can understand her feelings while on it!

I must say, that for a bit of the book, I thought that Jeremy was the bad guy. He was her best friend, he knew about her thing with the personal ads, he was upset when she left him at the park, and he has an abusive dad. But I was so glad that it wasn't him!

Really enjoyed how it ended, who the bad guy was, because like I said above, I thought it was Jeremy, but it wasn't, it was somebody that we shouldn't have suspected, and yet, at the same time, should've almost been the top of the list!

And we got a bit of a clue to go one for the next book, I think, the picture of the group of dads, and yeah, since that was part of the synopsis of the next book, that collection of dad's again, yeah, liked that little hint! Can't wait for Nearly Found!

Favourite lines: "It had been a birthday gift from Anh, who thought it was hilarious that Albert Einstein was the only guy who'd ever been in my bedroom, until I'd pointed out that this accounted for one more than had ever been in hers." Yeah, this is so cute! "My brain's a carb- and fat-oiled machine. It runs on these crazy little alkaloids called theobromine and phenethylamine. They're found in nature in something called Snickers bars. Maybe you've heard of them?" Love that, a nerdy answer about candy!

Enjoyed this book so much, it was very entertaining, and yeah, I can't wait for Nearly Found!

Author: Elle Cosimano
Series: Nearly Gone #1
Read: November 26th, 2014
Source: Tuebl
Reason Why: It sounded really fantastic, and it's a DAC Book, LLFL Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Published: March 25th 2014

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Reviews: This Night So Dark, This Shattered World

From Goodreads:
Tarver still has nightmares about the night, six months before the Icarus crash, when he rescued a group of civilian researchers being held hostage by brutal mercenaries. Now Tarver and Lilac must reconcile his memories of that fateful night with the truth that they uncovered on a mysterious planet after the Icarus crashed. 

From Goodreads:
The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war. 

My Review:
I loved reading both of these so much! Being in this world again, even though it's been about a year since I last was in it, was just amazing, and as addicting as it was before! I'm so thankful that I got an eARC of This Shattered World through NetGalley! (And I had Thanksgiving last month, not this one, so totally unconnected!)

I really enjoyed the inserts between the chapters, Dark was like Stars, where there was a conversation about the events in the chapters, which was fitting, seeing as it was Tarver and Lilac in both, while World was a mix of memory and dream, and yeah, that was just fantastic! I really enjoyed them!

So Dark tells the story of how Tarver ended up on Icarus, and as it turns out, is connected to why the Icarus crashed, which is why Tarver's having a nightmare about it. And yeah, this story just highlighted how much of a conscience Lilac's dad has-none. Which was a bit hard for Lilac, but she's getting used to it, which is almost a good thing.

Really enjoyed the setting of Avon, a terra-formed planet that is behind schedule, and as far as the company's concerned, they don't know why. But we readers have a suspicion-it's set in the same world as Stars, after all!

And because of that lack of progress, and the various laws because of that status, there's the rebels, Flynn the younger sibling of the leader of the last rebellion, Lee, whose family was damaged by rebels when she was young. Yeah, it was great to have their story, and then as an added bonus, Tarver and Lilac are in this book, because a) LaRoux are the bad guys, and b) Tarver was once Lee's commanding officer!

Really enjoyed how World ended, it was on a happy note, cautious, but still happy, and with progress being made for the good guys, good progress, and yeah, a bit of an open question as to who the last couple will be, and if Tarver, Lilac, Lee, and Flynn will be in the 3rd and final book!

Favourite lines from This Night So Dark: "We just had to be taken hostage by professionals. I hate well-organized opponents." Yeah, because it makes things harder!  "'Are you even old enough to drink?' 'Who, me? No, ma'am. I lied my way into the military at thirteen years old, they think I'm thirty-nine by now.'" This is just too cute! "You're calling my life's work a glorified seat belt?" Not nice, Tarver! "And miraculously, he does. Apparently sometimes threats do work on civilians." Yeah, just don't get used to it! "'Well, I guess I have Sanjana to thank for preparing you for dealing with civilians in life-or-death situations.' Lilac’s voice is dry. I reach for her to pull her in against my side, putting my own mug down on the empty box serving as a temporary nightstand until we get the rest of our furniture in. 'Beautiful, an entire year of training couldn't have prepared me for dealing with you.'" No, Lilac is in a class of her own! "Beautiful, we're an exception to every rule there is." Yes, you are! You're so cute!

Loved to read these, just fantastic, and now the wait for the 3rd and final book is going to be absolute torture!

Authors: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Series: Starbound #1.5, 2
Read: November 23rd, 24th, 2014
Source: Free, NetGalley
Reason Why: Loved the first book, and they're 2014 Dystopia Books, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 Books, and This Shattered World is a WoW Book!
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Published: October 7th 2014
Expected Publication: December 23rd 2014

This Night So Dark:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

This Shattered World:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Review: Gabriel's Redemption

From Goodreads:
Professor Gabriel Emerson has left his position at the University of Toronto to embark on a new life with his beloved Julianne. Together, he's confident that they can face any challenge. And he's eager to become a father.

But Julianne's graduate program threatens Gabriel's plans, as the pressures of being a student become all consuming. When she is given the honor of presenting an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel is forced to confront her about the subject of her presentation – research that conflicts with his own. And in Oxford, several individuals from their past appear, including an old nemesis intent on humiliating Julia and exposing one of Gabriel's darkest secrets.

In an effort to confront his remaining demons, Gabriel begins a quest to discover more about his biological parents, beginning a chain of events that has startling repercussions for himself, Julianne, and his hope of having a family.

My Review:
Really enjoyed reading this book! It has been a while since I read the first two, so most of what happened in them is a bit of a blank, which sucks, but oh, well! I enjoyed this one a lot, it was a great ending to the series, lots of happy endings!

Most of the book's conflict is about family. Specifically, their birth parents, and those that their lives touched, and their own family, and the possibility of a baby, that was realised in the end, and yeah, really enjoyed how that was handled!

Ah, the parentheticals, the remarks in them, they were hilarious, and true statements from outside the story, about what was going on, side notes of a sort, and yeah, they were just so funny! Loved those a lot!

The scene where Gabriel donates the illustrations to the Uffizi Gallery, there was a guy that looked familiar to Julia, and seemed pretty menacing. And I was hoping that we were going to get a bit more then that. And we are, because The Prince, a prequel novella to the new series, The Florentine, deals a bit with that! So yeah, spin off series!

Lots of great endings, with Christa having to go to a different college because of her work ethic, the one professor being stuck in Italy, Nicole broken up with Simon and in California, Simon broken up with his fiancée, Rachel and Aaron taking a break from trying for a baby, and Tom and Diane, and baby Tommy! And Richard living in his old house, and yeah, that was really great!

Favourite lines: "I've known Jeremy and his wife for years. Believe me, Christa Peterson couldn't catch his eye if she were naked, holding the original manuscript of The Decameron and a case of beer." You'd think the manuscript would catch his eye, but good for him! "Planning on invading Baghdad? Or just Charlestown?" Yeah, a Hummer isn't exactly a good idea! "I'm sorry I missed that. Picton and Christa in a steel-cage death match? We could have sold popcorn." Yeah, you could've! "A shotgun wedding for Tom, who is probably the only person I know who actually owns a shotgun. I'd label the situation as ironic, except I now better." That takes the fun out of it! "That's probably a good thing, or God would have sent him twins." And seeing as she's grown, having twin baby siblings would be even more weird! "It was possible the professor would have accepted death as an excuse as to why his teaching assistant missed class. Although it was doubtful." Sounds like a hard ass! "He thought his Prada frames were a good deal smarter than the horrific pair that Clark Kent wore." Too bad, a child thinks not! And thinks you're Superman! "I do, but at what cost? I never thought I'd say this, but we're having too much sex. I'm beginning to feel like a machine." And that must suck! "I reminded him the longer he took to heal, the longer he'd have to wait for sex. He grabbed the pill bottle out of my hand. I don't think we'll have trouble getting him to take his medication anymore." Nope, three weeks are long enough for him, he doesn't want to make that wait longer! "One might observe that being grumpy and cross was precisely his old self." Well, his really old self, not his newest old self! "We're having ripped-up-note sex. I've been waiting for this forever." There's a lot of various titles to the reasons why and where they're having sex. It's pretty funny! "Wait till the cousins learn that there's now a Catholic wing of Reform Judaism." Yeah, because it's an another wing besides the Presbyterian wing! "I went to Princeton, Oxford, and Harvard. I can certainly learn how to look after a baby." 2 different skill sets there, though! "You'll be up to your elbows in dirty diapers and burping cloths, surviving on a few hours' sleep, and trying to soothe a cranky, colicy tyrant by reading Goodnight Moon over and over. In English. Because I don't think Dante successfully completed hi Italian translation of it." Well, Gabriel can always translate it! "Maybe he didn't say anything. Maybe he just stood there." Yes, because what works on a demon and a condemned soul works on God! "Where did you go, and anti-oral sex college?" It's for the health of Julia and the baby, Gabriel! No need to get that testy! "I was just telling Julianne that I accept the distinguished appointment as your baby's godmother." Well, technically they didn't ask, but yeah. This also makes me wonder about if I have a godparent? "Bit like Mars, really. Except with more sex." Yeah, seeing as there's no humans on Mars, there'd be more sex with Academia then on Mars! "Your father is proud of us for having a baby. That means he's proud of us for having sex and you for impregnating me. Do you think they make T-shirts for grandfathers that express those sentiments?" And that's the weird thing about sex for me-that babies let people know that you have been doing so. I mean, they know, but now they have concrete proof. It's just weird, and if it's your parents, then it's gross! "He had no idea that Jack Mitchell was sitting in his dark Oldsmobile outside the police station, thinking of his pregnant niece, and smiling." I feel bad for Simon's ex-fiancée, she doesn't deserve this, but Simon does! "He was distressed to learn that the Pottery Barn Kids gift registry did not extend to children's books in Italian or Yiddish." Maybe the Italy version of the store has a selection of books? I don't know what area Yiddish comes from, though. "At least if there's a power outage we'll be able to find you. You'll just have to drop your pants." Yeah, weird to have neon on your boxers! "But that didn't stop him from Googling transverse positions and their attendant information on his iPhone. (It should be noted that at that point, Julia wished he'd left the damn thing at home.)" Yeah, better to not know, when it might be something you're going through soon, leave it to the pros! "We should probably talk about what we're going to call her. Her grandfathers are not going to be impressed with the name Spring Roll." Nope, and neither would she!

Yeah, this was a fantastic book, and I can't wait to read more!

Author: Sylvain Reynard
Series: Gabriel's Inferno #3
Read: November 23rd, 2014
Source: Tuebl
Reason Why: Love this series, and it's a LLFL Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2014 Book and a End of Series 2014 Book!
Publisher: Berkley
Published: December 3rd 2013

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 48 Review: Crimson Bound

From Goodreads:
When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

My Review:
I loved this book so much! So much so, that like Cruel Beauty, it's one of my most favourite books of 2014! It was just that freaking fantastic! And it is not a part of the Cruel Beauty Universe, no matter how similar the covers of the 2 books are!

I really enjoyed her interactions with Armand, she's supposed to be his jailer in the guise of bodyguard, but she falls in love with him, tells him he's crazy, and stupid, which apparently other people have told him before. And yeah, they were just so cute together!

I loved all the twists and plotting that went around, and how some people weren't who they said they were, some where exactly what they seemed like, and yeah, finding out who fit in each group, was very, very entertaining!

Rachelle was dark. No kidding, she had to kill somebody to live, and she wanted to live. So there's that. And she wants to find a sword, so she can face the darkness. She's expecting to die, and yeah, it's pretty dark, but seeing how it ends up, that's just so, so, so good! Loved this book!

Part of the story, is the legend of Zisa and Tyr, and how they barricaded the Devourer away from the world. I really enjoyed how we got bits of the tale interspersed between the story. Though the part where the swords, Joyeuse and Durendal, where made out of the bones of a sister and a brother's bones who had a grudge to pick with the Devourer, yeah, that was creepy! And then it turns out it's not quite a legend, in the telling, so yeah, really enjoyed that twist there!

This was a really incredible book, and it just cements my opinion that Rosamund Hodge is an author that I have to read more of!

Author: Rosamund Hodge
Read: November 22nd, 2014
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Loved Cruel Beauty, and yeah, it's a SAC 2014 Book, Sophomore Challenge Book, and it's going to be a WoW Book!
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Expected Publication: May 5th 2015

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Last Letter, First Letter Reading Challenge Update 53

OK, so I have done some more reading, and I read Gabriel's Redemption, Nearly Gone.

Yep. Happy reading!

Here's the link to this year's post with my journey.

What it is:

You pick a book, read it. Then you look at the last letter of the title, for example, "The Adventures of Tom Saywer." Then you take that last letter, and search you TBR piles for a book starting with the last letter, so continuing the example, someone could read "Rotters" next, and then a title that starts with "s."

Rules:
1. Have fun!
2. Read!
3. The last letter of the book you read must be the first letter of the next book you read.
4. Words like "the," "a," "and," and those such don't count as the first letter.
5. If a letter becomes overused, like d, e, l, w, ext, and you run out of books that you really want to read for this challenge, cycle in letters that don't often get used like a, b, i, k, p, ext, and note what you cycle in, where!

Follow Friday #160, November 28th

 Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Follow Friday is hosted by 2 hosts, Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs! For more rules and how to participate, visit one of the hosts. Now for this week's question:

Q: Describe your favorite book character death scene. Why is it your favorite? Was it a villain or a hero? What made it so good?

A: I can't remember a specific scene. I mean, I know some deaths of characters, but I don't really remember the deaths, or have a favourite! What about you guys? Happy reading!







Any or all. I'm not too picky, there's options!