My Bookish Review: Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Published: 7th August 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages, Format: 420, Paperback
Series: Throne of Glass #1

Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?

Celaena Sardothien is officially my favourite assassin.  I wanted to read this because practically every time I saw someone's list of "YA Hardcore Heroines" or something similar she'd be on it. So I'd know every heroine on that list about from Celaena, and so I just had to read it. Obviously.

Let me just tell you that I love the cover. So much. It's quite different from the normal YA book covers I see with either something abstract on them or a photograph of some model posing as a character. Plus I'm  also in love with the title.

I don't know why, but I kind of thought Celaena was going to be a brunette. Maybe it'e because I'm so used to nearly every tough protagonist having brown hair. I don't know. I just had this preconceived image in my head of another brunette. So I was kind of surprised when I found out that "it was her golden hair that caught the attention of most". That was probably just me though.

As cliché as love triangles sometimes are, I have a thing for them. In Throne of Glass Maas introduces Prince Dorian (a.k.a Crown Prince of Adarlan) and Chaol (a.k.a Captain Westfall). I don't feel like telling you guys too much about either of them because I honestly don't want to ruin your thoughts on either of them, but I can say that I don't think I can pick one over the other. 

Even if you think Throne of Glass isn't your 'type', trust me, it's your 'type'.

4/5 stars - I can't wait to start the next one. 

Quote:

“Still, the image haunted his dreams throughout the night: a lovely girl gazing at the stars, and the stars who gazed back.” 

Amazon | Amazon UK | Goodreads | Author's Website 

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine.
Ok, so this is a book series I love. Absolutely adore. 

The book I'm waiting for it...

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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...

This is the sequel to The Raven Boys, and I seriously can't wait to get my hands on it. I loved The Raven Boys so much because it was written so beautifully and it was overall so unique. 

I am so jealous of everyone who got to go to BEA 2013! Loads of people managed to get ARCs of The Dream Thieves. They don't have BEA in the UK though. Sigh. Maggie Stiefvater also held an art contest on her tumblr account to make anything art-related - the prize was an ARC of The Dream Thieves. 

I'm probably the least creative person you will ever meet so I didn't even try entering the contest. Just look at the name of my blog. I'm not creative.

So I'm waiting for The Dream Thieves. I realllllly hope there's going to be more romance between Blue and Gansey.

Oh, and you can read my review of The Raven Boys as well. 

Expected release: 17th September 2013 - at least it's this year.

What book are you waiting for?

I'd love it if you left a link to your Waiting on Wednesday, or a link to anything The Raven Boys/The Dream Thieves related. 

My Bookish Review: Lola and The Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Published: 29th September 2011, by Dutton Books
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #2
Pages: 338

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Don’t hate me, but I preferred this book to the first one.

Lola’s a 17-year-old girl who prefers to stand out from the crowd. Her fashion sense is really out there and she doesn’t like wearing the same outfit twice.  She used to know this guy who she’d always play and hang out with when they were young. This guy was Cricket Bell. When they were about 14 or 15, Lola realised she liked him, but then something happened between the two and Cricket moved away. Fast-forward two years and Lola is now 17, dating a guy who’s 22. She’s finally managed to forget about Cricket and her feelings for him, when she looks out her window and finds out that Cricket and his family have returned – something she’s been dreading for those past two years.

Lola isn’t someone I could imagine. She seems so ‘out there’ and unique, and quite frankly, I don’t really know anyone like that. Mostly in the YA section you get main characters who are are always like:

“I’m so shy. I only have like, one best friend, and this really hot guy keeps staring at me but I have no real personality so I don’t really know what to do. It’s dangerous but I’m falling for him.”

I am so tired of main characters who think like that. Luckily, Lola is seriously nothing like that. She’s the kind of person I’d want to be friends with because she’s the  complete opposite of me.

Then there’s Cricket Bell. Oh, Cricket. In Anna and the French Kiss I found it hard to really fall for St. Claire. Don’t judge me, but it was the whole him-being-kind-of-short thing. I don’t have anything against short people – I’m only 5 foot myself. Sigh. It’s just that I get completely turned off if a guy’s short. Sorry.

With Cricket I didn’t have a problem. You know how I just said I can’t fall for a short guy? Well I love tall ones. And Cricket’s tall. He’s very tall.

(:

I always love it when an author brings back characters from previous books – and that’s what Stephanie Perkins does in Lola and the Boy Next Door. So all of you readers who ship Anna and Étienne won’t be disappointed. All of you will probably be jumping around inside whilst trying to maintain a calm facial expression for the outside world.
I just generally recommend this book to anyone. The Anna and the French Kiss books are both so feel-good and romantic. They're also very fit for fangirling over.

5/5 stars – it’s one of those contemporaries that you don’t really forget easily. The ones that are hard to come by.

Teaser quote:

“I know you aren't perfect. But it's a person's imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”

Amazon | Amazon UK | Goodreads | Author’s Website

Book Haul #6

I actually haven’t got that many books this week. It’s the half-term holidays here in the UK (Yay!) and so now we all have to go back to school on Monday. I just basically spent the whole week revising and reading. I have so many exams coming up. Wish me luck – I need it.

• Goddess (Starcrossed #3) by Josephine Angelini – Bought:

This is the last one in the Starcrossed trilogy. Sigh. I’m reading it right now and it’s living up to my (high) expectation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The Selection by Kiera Cass (eBook):

I’ve heard so much about this one – mostly about its cover. I heard that it was going to be a TV show on the CW but it didn’t get picked up. Sad face. I would’ve loved to seen it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Storm by Brigid Kemmerer (eBook):

Can’t wait to start this! It seems like a book I’d love and quite a lot of people have recommended it to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it. Those are all the books I got this week. Sigh.

After I finished Sweet Peril I really didn’t know which book to start next – they all seemed so good! I decided to start The Selection, but then when I was like a few pages in I decided to start Storm. Then when I had read a few pages of that I was like: “Maybe I should read Goddess.” So then I started that. Then went back to The Selection. In the end I decided to just read Goddess because it’s a conclusion to a series whereas the others are beginnings.

See, its times like these that I wish my older sister or any of my friends would read. That way I could’ve just asked one of them.

So how was your week? What books did you get?

Basma

Waiting on Wednesday (6)

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine.

I know I haven’t blogged in, like, aaaaages, but I’m back now.

This week I’m waiting for:

                     

Allegiant by Veronica Roth 

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

*****

I don’t think that’s Allegiant’s full blurb – it’s probably not out yet. But I don’t care! I am soooo excited for this book! I absolutely love  Divergent and I seriously can’t wait to start reading Allegiant.

I love the cover on the left, but I think the one on the right’s going to end up being the UK version. It better be, because all the other UK ones have been set out like that and I don’t want to ruin my collection.

Expected release: October 22nd 2013

Ahhhhh. That’s this year! YAY!

Babro

My Bookish Review: Zed's Story

Zed's Story by Joss Stirling 

Publication Date: 14th February 2013
Format: Short story, eBook

Zed's Story is a short story from the Benedict series. It's written in the perspective of Zed Benedict, the youngest Benedict brother, and soulfinder of Sky Bright. It contains scenes from before he met Sky, a flashback to when he was nine, when he met Sky, and when he found out they were soulfinders. If you haven't read any of the books in Joss Stirling's series, I highly recommend you do - it's quite high on my list of favourites. 

Zed's Story starts off by showing us a glimpse into Zed's life before he met Sky. For those of us readers who've read Finding Sky, you can imagine what he was like back then. However for those of you who haven't, allow me to explain the fact that he was quite a 'bad boy'. His supernatural powers have given him the ability to not only solve crime, but the ability to see the darker side of people straight away - and he hasn't been coping well.   

During the story, Stirling gives us an insight into Zed's life when he was nine. So that means that his oldest brothers were probably in their late-teens or early-twenties... it was very entertaining. The reader gets to see their more playful and caring sides, making girls - like me - swoon. I'm so grateful that this flashback was included, and I learned somethings that I never knew about the Benedict household (they used to have a family pet! You'll have to read it to find out what animal it was. Hehe.)

This short story answered a lot of questions that I had about when Zed and Sky first met, like Did he find her as attractive as she found him? Reading Zed's Story helped me figure out Zed's character more, and I admit that Zed's never been a favourite for me. Although after reading this, I think I'll reconsider. 

Zed's Story will be available as a free download on Valentines Day 2013. I loved reading it and seeing for myself all the different versions of Zed and I think you will, too.

You can also read my review for Joss Stirling's Seeking Crystal.

A huge thank you to Joss Stirling for making me one of the winners to the 'Zed's Story Competition' and giving me and two others a manuscript - thank you!

5/5 stars - You MUST read this series!

Quote:

"The girl was still at the piano, stroking the keys. The thought edged in that he wanted to go lie down on it and let her run her fingers over him."

Goodreads | Author's Website

Book Haul (#5)

Hi, guys!

How was your week? So, I had that Chemistry exam I've been going on about. It was OK at the beginning, but by the end I was practically weeping. 

There's some good news, though - over here in the UK, it's SNOWING! :D School ended earlier on Friday and I was in English when we all find out and my English teacher looked so happy. 

Annnnywaaaays... this week I've only gotten eBooks.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (eBook) 
I'm still in my dystopian-genre mode, so I hope this will be good. Looks good. I just can't get over the fact that the guy in it is called Perry (Phineas and Ferb, anyone? Childish, I know.) I've heard of Rossi quite a lot, actually.

Switched by Amanda Hocking (eBook)

It's been on my TBR pile for quite a while and I know this girl who's been going CRAZY over it. It's time I give it a go.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks (eBook)
Can't wait to start this! Looks so good and so many people have said good things about it.

The Rogue's Princess by Eve Edwards (eBook)

Just recently finished this and enjoyed it. This is the first Historical Romance series I've read, and now I think I'm going to try some more.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (eBook)
I've had my eye of this for sooo long. Not normally the type I'd read, but a lot of people have and they've loved it.



















That's it for this week. What do you think of my Book Haul? Read any of these?

Leave a comment - I'd love to read it.

The Teen Reader
:)

My Bookish Review: Shatter Me

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi 

Published: 2nd October 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 338
Format: Paperback

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

I have a list of favourite authors. Currently on that list are writers like L.J Smith, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Richelle Mead and Cynthia Hand - Tahereh Mafi is now also on this list. 

Look at the cover. It's so pretty. I can't get over how beautiful it is. It would've been impossible for me to spot Shatter Me in a bookstore and not pick it up. I could sit and fangirl over the cover itself. I had really high hopes for this book when I picked it up. 

Tahereh Mafi is a beautiful writer. I understood everything she had written and whilst reading the book, there were certain parts I just had to reread over and over again - I still do. For instance, the beginning of Chapter 11. It was written in such a unique way and everything was described so well - you'll see when you read it yourself. There aren't that many authors out there who can write like she does.

Julietter Ferrars is a 17-year-old girl. I get really annoyed nowadays because almost every YA book I read has the main character as a 16-year-old. I know, it's a really childish thing, but I can't help myself, it's like one of my pet peeves. Can't the she be a 15, or a year or two older? So you can imagine by happiness at finding out that she's 17. Juliette seemed really lost and empty in the beginning, but as a reader I loved seeing her transform into someone more confident.

For those of you out there who haven't read this book yet: what are you still doing? Go! Buy it! Shatter Me is a book you stay up late reading - I did. And you won't regret it, either.

5/5 stars - Books like this one make me love the dystopian genre even more. 

Quote:

“I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe.”

Amazon | Amazon UK | Goodreads | Author's Website

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It's my first Teaser Tuesday! YAY!

These week I'm sharing some teasers from Zed's Story which is a short story written by Joss Stirling, as part of the Benedicts series. I've read it and a review'll be up soon.

But for all those fans put there who want to read it, here a few teasers:

"Then the teacher started talking to the girl at his side, a gorgeous little blonde that Zed knew he had not seen around the school before. He wouldn't have missed a sweetheart like her." Page 15, Zed's Story by Joss Stirling, manuscript.

 "Keeping watch over Sky turned out to be a fascinating excercise. She bobbed up around Wrickenridge like Alice wandering through Wonderland." Page 23, Zed's Story by Joss Stirling, manuscript.

Zed's Story is being released Valentines Day 2013 as a free download.

So what did you think of the quotes? Is Zed of your favourites? Drop me a comment or leave a link to your own 'Teaser Tuesday'. I'll appreciate it. 

The Teen Reader
:)

Book Haul (#4)

Hi guys!

First of all - sorry. I haven't been blogging much recently. I only posted a blog post like, once last week. Sorry. You know how in last week's Book Haul I was complaining about my lack of revision? Well, I was trying to get some actual revision done.

But on a brighter note, I'm starting this week with a book haul! Yay! 

Haven't got that many books this week, but here they are:

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Borrowed)
My school library doesn't have that many YA books. Which is weird. However, I managed to find this, so I borrowed it. Tah dah!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (eBook)

Hey - this is the one being turned into a film! Two of my friends have recommended it to me now. They're both avid readers (you know who you are). So I decided to give it a go. I'm reading it right now and I can assure you - I am in love.

Zed's Story by Joss Stirling (WON!)

YAAAY!!!! WOOOOOOO!!! I won this over at Joss Stirling's website. It arrived today and I was so happy! It's a short story from Zed's perspective and fans of Stirling's previous works will not be disappointed. I'll be posting up a review soon because I finished it today as well.

That's it for now. I can assure you that I'll be posting more blog posts. When I manage to finish my exams I'll be blogging nonstop and annoying everyone - be prepared.

So how did your Book Haul go?

The Teen Reader

:)

My Bookish Review: Legend

Legend by Marie Lu 

Published: 29th November 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages, Format: 305, Hardback
Series: Legend #1

Los Angeles, California,

Republic of America

He is Day,

The boy who walks in the light.

She is June,

The girl who seeks her brother's killer.

On the run and undercover, they meet by chance.

Irresistibly drawn together, neither knows the other's past.

But Day murdered June's brother.

And she has sworn to avenge his death...

June Iparis is an over-achiever, confident and daring. Why shouldn't she be? She's the only person known to the Republic to have gained a full score on her Trial, the test taken at the age of ten which determines your skills, and therefore your future. Managing to gain admission into one of the top universities - at the age of only fifteen - has made her one of the most admired. June knows her future is successful.

Day, on the other hand, failed his Trial, and is currently quite high on the list of the Republic's most wanted. He comes from a low class family and has been surviving, on the run, for five years. 

I like June. She's someone who's used to getting what she wants, and when she doesn't, she goes out and gets it herself. Including revenge for her brother's death. I also like Day. He's someone who's willing to do anything to support his family, even if it means having them believe he's dead.

The book is split into two parts, despite the fact that's it's barely 300 pages. When I was reading it I was really surprised by it's small size. So much happens in Legend that I couldn't stop wondering how Marie Lu managed to cram so much in. I don't even think 'cram' is the right word. I never felt as if the book was too fast paced or too slow. 

The dramatic irony in this book was killing me. When Day and June first meet, the reader is aware of who both of them are, but the characters themselves aren't. I think all the dramatic irony was made possible because of the switching character perspectives. Normally I absolutely hate it when an author does that. Why?! Why can't they just stick to one person? Why do they have the make it so confusing? Only a few books are the exception... this book is one of them.

Lu writes with emotion. I felt that I could easily sympathize with all of her characters. Her writing was really convincing and not boring. If that helps. 

In the end, I did enjoy the book. I liked it. Really liked it. The only reason I'm giving it a 4 instead of a 5, is because it didn't fully amaze me. It wasn't something that lingered on my mind. I still really like it, though.

4/5 stars - Really like it. Go read. :)

Quote:

“What a joke! Poor little rich girl's fallen in love with the Republic's most famous criminal.” 

Amazon | Amazon UK | Goodreads | Author's Website

Book Haul (#3)

It's the end of the Christmas holidays. Sad face.

I was meant to spend the majority of my holidays revising for some very important exams, but the temptation to read and tweet was just too strong. So now if I fail my Chemistry, at least I'll know why. 

I've gone quite dystopian this week because I read Divergent and found it was amazing so decided to give the dystopian genre a chance.

Anyways, here is my 'Book Haul' for the week:

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (Borrowed)

On the last day, before we broke up for the holidays, my friend was like 'Hey, I have this book in my bag that I've already read. Want to borrow it?' So I was all 'Okay!'. I've already read it, but I'm debating whether to review it or not because it was released like, in 2007.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (Bought)

This cover is just asdfghjkl; I can't even. I didn't really want to buy it because it was in hardcover, but then when I saw the paperback version, I just had to have it.  So I bought it off Amazon. Read it and the review's coming soon.

Legend by Marie Lu (Bought)

My friend recommended this to me. First book she's ever recommended, so figured it must be good. Review'll be up soon. :)

Happy Ever After by Adele Geras (Bought)

Just don't ask. This book was published in 2005, and I only bought it because my older sister was like 'Ooooh! Please buy it!! It'll be reeeeeeeeeally good!' I had my doubts though. I was kind of pressured into buying it, because if I didn't my sister would be annoyed at me for who knows how long. I still have my doubts.

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini (Gift)

I've already read this, but it wasn't my own copy. So one of my friends decided to buy it for me because she's just that amazing.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (Bought)

YAAAAAAAAYY!! Been hearing so much about this book. Been given a lot of promises. Better be good. Or else.

So that's it for now, guys. How were your holidays? What books have you gotten recently? Don't forget to write a comment - I'll appreciate it. 

Thanks!

The Teen Reader

:)

My Bookish Review: Meant To Be

Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Published: 13th November 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages, Format: 304, eBook

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

Sometimes you just want to read something completely paranormal-free. Something that has nothing to do with dystopian societies or forbidden love. Something you just want to read and feel good about; something you can just enjoy. 

If you're looking for a book like that, then I suggest you pick this up.

Julia Lichtenstein is a straight-laced, book-smart, neat-freak sophomore girl in high school. Her aim in life is so find a perfect, successful career whilst married to The One... a.k.a her MTB - 'Meant To Be'. Her whole life she's believed that her crush, Mark Bixford is her MTB. She leaves with her school for an educational trip to London - the city she's dreamed of visiting her whole life. So everything should go according to plan, and this trip should be one of the most memorable experiences of her life. Thing is, it would be if she weren't paired with the most annoying, self-centered practical joker of the class, Jason. 

In case you didn't know, I live in London. I've never been to America, so it was really nice to read about a familiar place - it was really fun seeing it from an outsider's perspective. Allow me to quote Julia herself, "Screw Paris; London is the city for me." So you know, once I saw the Big Ben in the background of the cover, I promised myself I'd read it. It's not often you get American characters in London.

Julia is someone I can kind of relate to myself. I'm not as extreme about everything as she is, but I could understand her actions and reasons really well. Including her annoyance towards Jason. In the beginning, she really annoyed me. I wanted to slap him around the face with a wet fish. Yet, the more I read and the more I got to know the Julia and Jason, the more I believed they were perfect for each other. What did annoy me was the amount of time it took for Julia to figure this out.

I think Meant To Be was a good read. It was easily enjoyable and I have to admit it had a plot twist I didn't see coming. Like I said earlier, if you're looking for a light-hearted book, read this.

3/5 stars - It was enjoyable, but not particularly memorable. Still liked it though. :)

Quote:

"I'm plenty loose. There's a difference between preferring books to parties and preferring sixteen cats to seeing the light of day."

Amazon | Amazon UK | Goodreads | Author's Website