Review: Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #2.5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 17th 2013
Purchase: Ebook

In this electrifying sixty-page companion novella to the New York Timesbestselling Shatter Me series, discover the fate of the Omega Point rebels as they go up against The Reestablishment. Set during and soon after the final moments of Unravel Me, Fracture Me is told from Adam’s perspective.

As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam’s focus couldn’t be further from the upcoming battle. He’s reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend’s life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James’s safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It’s time for war.

On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam’s newly discovered half brother, won’t be that easy. The Reestablishment can’t tolerate a rebellion, and they’ll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.

Fracture Me sets the stage for Ignite Me, the explosive finale in Tahereh Mafi’s epic dystopian series. It’s a novella not to be missed by fans who crave action-packed stories with tantalizing romance like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Legend by Marie Lu.

Fracture Me was… okay. I mean, I really liked it, but Adam just got really annoying sometimes. The novella takes place at the same time as near the ending of Unravel Me, when Warner has escaped, and everyone at Omega Point is planning an attack on The Reestablishment. Juliette is freaked, which makes Adam freaked, Kenji has just woken up from almost dying supposedly because of Juliette, and Adam has to take care of his little brother.

I was really hoping this novella would make me like Adam more. He started turning really, and I mean really, whiny in Unravel Me. That wasn’t the main reason why I switched to Team Warner

because Warner does just fine on his own (SQUEEEEE I love Warner so freaking much). I was just hoping that Fracture Me would change my mind about Adam the same way the previous novella, Destroy Me, changed my mind about Warner. And I guess it kind of did. I like Adam more as a brother to James than as a love interest for Juliette.

In Fracture Me, it’s all about James vs. Juliette, which is not okay. I didn’t like how Adam had to choose between his brother and his love.

But Tahereh Mafi’s writing is flawless as always, and she builds up the tension and intensity of the war so well. And that sneak peek of Ignite Me? Yeah, that was my favorite part of the book. I suppose it’s not absolutely necessary to read Fracture Me, unlike Destroy Me, where we get a lot more info and a different perspective than just the rebels, but for fans of the series, or for those on Team Adam, you should give Fracture Me a go.

Reading Order: Shatter Me series

#1 ~ Shatter Me: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Destroy Me: Ebook • Goodreads
#2 ~ Unravel Me: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#2.5 ~ Fracture Me: My Review • Ebook • Goodreads
#3 ~ Ignite Me: My Review • Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
Unite Me (paperback bundle of Destroy Me & Fracture Me): Paperback • Goodreads

19Oct2013

Review: Beautiful Illusion by Jacquie Underdown

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Beautiful Illusion by Jacquie Underdown
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: October 1st 2013
Purchase: Ebook
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Escape Publishing) in exchange for an honest review

A beautiful, spiritual story about a woman who meets the man of her dreams — and then wakes up…

The last thing Leah thought she’d get out of a shocking car accident was the perfect boyfriend. But there was Brennan in the hospital bed next to hers — equal parts charm, cheek, and chocolate. Their relationship, their love, her life, is almost too good to be true.

Then, to Leah’s horror, she discovers that it is. Her new life with Brennan is only a fabrication of her injured mind — a coma dream that ends when she wakes up.

Struggling with injuries and grieving for a man that never existed, Leah battles to put her life back together. But a series of coincidences hint that for some people, love can transcend all barriers and achieve the impossible.

When I saw this book on Netgalley, and I read the summary, I knew I just had to read it. The blurb is just so intriguing–the heroine meets the love of her life, but it turns out that their meeting, their life together, wasn’t… real. It was all a dream. To be honest, I would never have wanted to read this book if I hadn’t loved the blurb, and yet it gives away such a huge part of the story that I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. So does the blurb hurt or help? If you don’t mind how it gives away the huge plot twist, then by all means, give this book a try. But for those who hate spoilers, this book might not be right for you.

I still enjoyed reading this book, despite how I was waiting and waiting for the time when Leah would wake up from her coma and her dream. Always, in the back of my mind, during Leah and Brennan’s love story, I would be wondering, Is this when she wakes up? Is this when she’ll lose the love of her life? I kept thinking and wondering the entire time, so I couldn’t really connect with the main characters. Their story was all a dream and wasn’t real, so I was never invested in their story or their romance. That’s not to say this isn’t a good book. I still liked it! But I didn’t LOVE it. Still, Leah and Brennan’s story was sweet and heart-warming, a romance that seemed very natural.

Leah meets Brennan in the hospital after her accident, and they are very sweet and flirty together. They’re not sure whether they’ll ever see each other again, but they want to. They want to try to have a relationship, to see how far a relationship will take them, because during their time at the hospital, they connect. They have conversations and become friendly, even though both sides want more. The first half of the story is told in Leah’s POV, and her narrating is very simple and straightforward. She and Brennan fall more deeply in love with each other each passing day, and it was all mellow and slow. But it wasn’t until Leah wakes up that things… get exciting. More interesting. Because in reality, she’s never met Brennan or his family. And yet she feels in her heart she does.

I wasn’t a fan of the writing, but Jacquie Underdown stepped it up for the second half of the book. I liked the story much better, because I honestly had no idea what would happen. Is Brennan even real? If he is, will Leah ever see him again, get the chance to love him, have the life they were meant to have before she woke up? The story really took a different turn after Leah wakes up, and I ended up really liking how Leah copes with the loss of Brennan.

While Beautiful Illusion isn’t the BEST book out there, it was still really interesting to read. If you’re intrigued by the blurb, like I was, who knows, you might end up loving it!

3 hearts for me!

10Sep2013

Early Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: September 17th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Scholastic Press) in exchange for an honest review

The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

I don’t spoil anything for The Dream Thieves, but there may be spoilers for The Raven Boys, so proceed with caution if you haven’t read it!

Wow. This book pretty much blew my mind. I can honestly say that nothing in this book was anything I could expect, and it was fantastic! I had so much fun reading this, there were so many twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and I am just in awe of the superb writing. Truly, the writing is stunning.

I absolutely adore Maggie Stiefvater. I fell in love with her Wolves of Mercy Falls series and The Scorpio Races. And I don’t know how she does it, but the way she writes is just… magical and alive. The words and thoughts and phrases flow so well, and the writing in The Dream Thieves is no different. Even in the prologue you can’t help but take notice of the writing. It’s gorgeous, it sticks out to you, it makes you think or remember, and it’s filled with such vivid imagery. LOVED it so much.

The characters are probably my absolute favorite part of this book and series. We have the major characters: Blue, Gansey, Ronan, and Adam. Noah is sadly not as important as he was in The Raven Boys. We are introduced to a new character, the Gray Man, who is a hit man(!!). He’s a fantastic addition to the book, and I was very intrigued by his character. Blue’s family is as crazy as ever, but still helpful in their magic-y ways. Each character is important in their own ways, even Kavinsky, who’s a total scumbag, and I love the fact that Maggie Stiefvater is able to keep me interested in ALL of the characters throughout the entire book. Each character has their own little story that does connect in the end with the story as a whole, but I never got tired of any one person.

Gansey, Adam, Blue, and Ronan are the best. I love them SO much. They’re the type of people I wish were real, so I could be friends with them, hang out with them, find Glendower with.

In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them. Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys.

Gansey is the natural leader, the charismatic one. Ronan was my favorite in The Raven Boys, but now… Gansey totally stole the spotlight. I found myself eager to read more of him, because he’s just so interesting! I love him and his Camaro. Blue is still the only girl in the group of boys, and she’s still cursed with killing her true love if she kisses him. There’s not much romance in this book, like in The Raven Boys, but things do change for Blue. And I’m pretty happy about it, though I didn’t expect to be. Ronan goes a bit crazy and self-destructive now that he knows he can take things from his dreams into reality. He learns more about himself and his power, and it’s a huge revelation. I’ve never read anything like Ronan and his power, and I was so hooked onto his part of the story. Adam is pretty pitiful, he doesn’t know what he wants in life, but he eventually starts making progress and choosing for himself.

All of the characters show such growth. It may or may not be huge change for them, but their relationships with one another shape them in a way that gives them the support they need. I just can’t imagine their group without Gansey, or Adam, or Blue, or Ronan. Their hearts and souls are all entwined, and if someone was missing, it would be like a vital part of them was missing. And oh gosh, the humor. The characters can be so snarky and witty and sarcastic sometimes. It’s not blatantly in-your-face kind of hilarious, but more of the quiet, subtle kind. The humor creeps up on you and before you know it, you’re smiling and laughing and falling in love with all the characters all over again.

And the ending was edge-of-your-seat incredible. It’s like everything in the book was building up this tension and leading up to the ending, and when you finally get there, everything explodes. It’s huge and it’s crazy and it’s the most amazing thing to read.

I really did love this book. There were times though, where I found myself getting confused and wondering what was going on, especially with Glendower and the ley lines and the dreams. But despite that, I found myself enjoying the book so much, I didn’t even care I was confused at times. I definitely recommend this book, for its writing, its characters, its uniqueness. But I also recommend going into this with a little bit of patience. It took a while for this book to warm up to me, but in the end, I adored it.

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: The Raven Cycle series

#1 ~ The Raven Boys: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Dream Thieves: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Blue Lily, Lily Blue: Ebook • Hardcover • Goodreads (Oct. 28, 2014)

2Sep2013

Review: The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson
Series: Fire and Thorns #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 27th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback
Source: won an ARC from a giveaway on Epic Reads

The epic conclusion to Rae Carson’s Fire and Thorns trilogy. The seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen will travel into the unknown realm of the enemy to win back her true love, save her country, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny.

Elisa is a fugitive in her own country. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves in order to lure her to the gate of darkness. As she and her daring companions take one last quest into unknown enemy territory to save Hector, Elisa will face hardships she’s never imagined. And she will discover secrets about herself and her world that could change the course of history. She must rise up as champion-a champion to those who have hated her most.

Wow. I… I don’t even know what to write. Where to start. I really don’t think I can do this book justice. Well, I can at least say that I l o v e this book with all of my heart. The Fire and Thorns series is one of my absolute favorites, if not my very favorite fantasy series of all time. I am completely in love with this series. And I am so very happy with this last book in the trilogy. Oh and I just want to give a humungous THANK YOU to Epic Reads for the ARC! Totally squealed when I found out I won 🙂

So I had been dying to read this book ever since I finished The Crown of Embers, since CoE ends with a wicked cliffhanger. But not only that, I fell completely head-over-heels in love with the series, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the final book. The fantasy world-building is absolutely divine. It’s so well created, so fleshed out, that it feels like a real world to me. And I just love the Spanish influence Rae Carson has put in the world building (and I’m so grateful that I took Spanish classes in school!). I’m sure I’m pronouncing some names and words wrong, but whatever! The world where Elisa and Hector and Mara and Belén and Storm live in is so incredibly well written, so alive, it’s like its own character.

Elisa is a badass. She is one fantastic heroine. I love that she changes so much throughout the entire series, starting from an insecure, nervous girl, to one who reaches her full potential. She’s the damn queen of her kingdom, for christ’s sake, and she’s only 17! If there’s any heroine I would look up to, it would be Elisa, and I admire her inner strength, her intelligence, her independence, and basically everything about her because she’s amazing! I have a total girl crush on her. Throughout the entire book, she proves to everyone that she is fully capable of leading her kingdom, that she has what it takes to rule firmly, but compassionately. She doesn’t take anything for granted, and she values her life, the lives of those she loves, and the lives of those who live in her kingdom. And every time she comes up with an idea (which are always so epic and badass), I’m just like, You go, Elisa. Show ’em who’s ~~boss~~ queen. And at the heart of the series, I love that Elisa shows that you can pretty much do anything you set your mind to, if you give it all your effort. You don’t need to rely on outside forces to do what you want, because you have always had the capacity to accomplish what you want inside of you. And Elisa proves that even though she has the Godstone, she doesn’t always need its help to accomplish a goal.

It was a huge, lovely surprise when I started reading, and all of a sudden, there were chapters in HECTOR’S POV. I was so shocked, but excited, because Hector is the. b e s t. The BEST. He is one of my favorite book boyfriends ever. His love for Elisa shines through clearly, but doesn’t completely overcome everything else about him. His love for Elisa, his queen, and his quiet strength, loyalty, and dedication to his kingdom are so beautiful and inspiring.

“I love you the way a drowning man loves air. And it would destroy me to have you just a little.”

Both Hector and Elisa are independent people, and if they were to lose one another, it would devastate them, but they would survive and move on. And I love this. They have an epic love, but it’s not the be-all end-all for them. But basically, what I’m trying to say is that Elisa and Hector are perfect. Separately and together.

Every part of The Bitter Kingdom is intense. Rae Carson goes all out in the final book and holds nothing back. I was frightened for the characters one moment, and laughing the next. The secondary characters are incredibly well done, and I was surprised by how much I came to care for Storm, and by how much I was rooting for Mara and Belén. This book made my heart go absolutely crazy. It would be pounding because of some intense scene where someone is almost killed, or it would be melting because of some sweet words Hector says. I just wanted everyone to stay alive and survive through their journey, but the author is obviously a sadist (NO I’M KIDDING I LOVE YOU RAE CARSON!), because these characters do not have their journey cut out for them. Rescuing Hector, fighting Inviernos, killing nasty scorpions, Elisa and the gang are put up against so many things, but they never give up. AND I LOVE THEM SO FREAKING MUCH.

I can’t recommend this series enough. It’s epic. If you love fantasy, you’ll love the Fire and Thorns series. Even if fantasy’s not your thing, I’m pretty sure this series can change your mind about that. Love love love this series so much, but I’m so sad that the trilogy is over, even though I loved every bit of how it ended.

5 massive hearts.

Reading Order: Fire and Thorns series

#0.5 ~ The Shadow Cats: Ebook • Goodreads
#0.6 ~ The Shattered Mountain: Ebook • Goodreads
#0.7 ~ The Kind’s Guard: Ebook • Goodreads
#1 ~ The Girl of Fire and Thorns: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Crown of Embers: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Bitter Kingdom: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads

21Jun2013

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by Shirley

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: February 5th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth…

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Hey guys! Sorry for not reviewing in a while, school and finals week just took over my life, but it’s summer now so I have all the time in the world to review and read(: {except for SAT school but let’s not talk about that}

I remember getting this book from Lacey and thinking that I probably wasn’t going to enjoy it as much as the first book, Cinder, because it had two different point of views (Cinder’s and Scarlet’s). Normally, I don’t enjoy books with many point of views because I just want to concentrate on ONE character and I start getting confused between what is happening in whose point of view because there’s just so many feels and information going through my head. SOOO, when I started reading Scarlet, I was kind of bored, but that was also probably because I was being bias with my only one POV thing and I really did not understand why we had to read Scarlet’s story. LITTLE DID I KNOW.

I honestly loved both point of views so so much and they were both very interesting! There wasn’t an imbalance, with one being more interesting that the other.

*ALSO, IS IT JUST ME, OR am I literally the last person on Earth to realize that Cinder = Cinderella & Scarlet = Red Riding Hood. like what is wrong with me I am literally the slowest person ever.*

Anyways, if you guys have that feeling too about too many povs, try checking this book out! You might ~~like~~ love it like I did! I JUST TOTALLY LOVED THIS BOOK AND I DON’T THINK I EVER WENT THROUGH A BOOK SO FAST BEFORE LIKE I FINISHED IT IN ONE DAY AND I STILL had homework but you know.

I honestly canNOT wait for the 3rd book to come out next year i AM SO EXCITED

DON’T WORRY GUYS I’M STILL TEAM KAI 5EVER, BUT I ALSO LOVE WOLF AND I ALSO FREAKING LOVE THE CAPTAIN/CADET HE IS LEGIT MY FAVORITE CHARACTER EVER AND HE BETTER NOT DIE OTHERWISE I’M GOING TO BE SO MAD AND SAD.

Reading Order: The Lunar Chronicles

#1 ~ Cinder: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Scarlet: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Cress: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Winter: Goodreads (Nov. 10, 2015)

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