Best books I read this year...

It's over, 2014 IS OVER.

This is going to be a long one, seeing the number of 5 stars I've given.
But yeah, all these books were shining stars in the dark, scary night of a 2014.
Not all books were published this year, I just read them in 2014.
In the order I read them in....

MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2014 ARE...
1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

2. Choker by Elizabeth Woods

3. Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld

4. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

5. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

7. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

8. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

9. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

10. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

11. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

12. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

13. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

14. We Were Liars by E.Lockheart

15. Blankets by Craig Thompson

16. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

17. The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

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Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

THIS. BOOK. WOW. I MEAN. IT'S SO. WOW.
As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. 

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. 
No Word I say can capture the feelings this book made me feel. "Never Let Me Go" changed me with just 300 pages. It was subtle, moving and chilling.
But more than anything, everything about the story was so, so, sad. Imagine being resigned to a fate that you don't deserve, something that's so very unfair. Imagine not being allowed even the possibility of something more. That's Kathy's life, always knowing that she'll have to give herself up before she's even lived her life to the fullest.
Don't expect the usual elements of Sci-fi or Dystopian fiction. when you open the book, because it doesn't exactly fit any of these.Kathy and Tommy's love, though not the most important part of the story, is so touching, I wanted everything to be okay for them and I rooted for them so badly. Even Ruth made me cry.
I always find it so much harder to write about the books I love.
After reading the book, I immediately watched the movie adaptation, and it was beautiful.
(better read the book before you go further)

5 STARS

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The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.
Full of rage and without a purpose, former pianist Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone discovering her past and to make the boy who took everything from her pay.
All 17 year-old Josh Bennett wants is to build furniture and be left alone, and everyone allows it because it’s easier to pretend he doesn’t exist. When your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.
Everyone except Nastya, a hot mess of a girl who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. The more he gets to know her, the more of a mystery she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he may ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding or if he even wants to.

This was one of those books that could've gotten a 5 star rating...but then as the story progressed, it grew more and more cliched and meh. I mean, I loved the book after finishing it, but now after further reflection, I realized how very cheesy this book was. Broken girl with a dark past. Broken boy with a dark past. Boy doesn't talk much. Girl doesn't talk at all (seriously, there was a point in the first few chapters where I thought her tongue had been cut off). But then Girl talks to boy (or at least stalks him and then stares all the time in a "not-at-all" creepy way).  Said boy and girl fall in luuurve. But Girl's dark past becomes a  problem. Stuff happens. Problems get sort-of resolved. Happy ending. 

One thing I hate in YA Contemporaries is double p.o.v, I mean there's no confusing plot line or too many main characters who are in different situations, then why am I reading the same feelings with just the gender of he narrator changed. WHY? And then there was Nastya, whom I couldn't like, no matter how hard I tried. What happened to her was beyond horrible, but her reaction to it? what can I say.

The book was  intense and I loved some parts of it (DREW)and I went through it really fast, and I might've shed a few tears when the big secret is revealed. But when it came to rating the book, I just couldn't give it a 4.

so yeah,

3 STARS

 Don't let this review hold you down, most people have loved it.

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The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Yep, the book I’d been waiting for all year long: the FINAL book in the heroes of Olympus series, and probably the last I’ll see of Percy Jackson. *sheds a tear* If you haven’t read this series yet, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?! Like seriously? Go and read it right now.

I’ve already posted the summary in my “Cover Reveal” post, so let’s just get down to the point.

So, I start reading the book and guess who got the first chapter? JASON. Yeah, not a fan.

That character is the most boring and over-rated person ever.

Then came Reyna, Nico ,and Leo’s pov’s, and those were great. I really started loving both Nico and Reyna because of this book. They’re one of my favorite characters in the series now.

But I was just waiting for the Percy or Annabeth chapters and they weren’t coming.

What came was Piper.

Like Jason, I couldn’t make myself like Piper either, there’s something about her. Maybe it’s because she is shooting tomatoes out of her cornucopia while everybody else is out being bad-ass or because she say things like “Stay away, I’m too dangerous” while using charm speak.

Not putting Percy and Annabeth’s POV's in the final book of the series was the worst decision ever. It hurt to see Jason saving Percy UNDERWATER, to see them almost about to die from PIPER’s perspective, depressing.

And then, the final fight was a big letdown.

5 books leading up to the battle with Gaea and it just deflated. I couldn't believe that *potential spoilers* Gaea was killed so easily. In fact, that sacrifice (you know which one) was not even needed.

As relieved as I was that I was that no one died, it just didn’t seem real.

Yes, the blood of Olympus did disappoint a bit. But my expectations for this series are really high so don’t let that hold you back.

The final chapter with *SPOILERS* Leo and Calypso was great, though many of my wishes were left unfulfilled. It helps that I’m a dedicated Caleo shipper. 

Now I can't remember anything else to say, because I finished it on the 9th (did you really think I would read this book a month late?), and after finishing it, I was like "okay, that was good." But then it finally hit me with full impact that this was THE LAST BOOK. THAT"S IT. NO MORE PJ, and then, BoO just wasn't that good anymore. (for a final book, that is) I wanted to cry my heart out and then grin like an idiot and then swoon because of Percy (not his fault that I didn't though, he was hardly there in the book), like I did in "The Last Olympian".

Just didn't happen.

4.7 STARS

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Blankets by Craig Thompson

And the most heart-achingly beautiful, stunning, depressingly true, and unique novel I've read all year is...

Blankets is an unforgettable story.

Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith.

Words in this book are as scarce as they are blurb, but we have drawings, and Craig Thompson tells a better story with these drawings than most authors could do with words.

Just, like, look at these.

I'll keep my post just as short.(i'e I'm too lazy to write any more). Just read this book, I recommend this to everyone and I promise you won't regret it.

Needless to say, I fell in love with this book. (and it broke my heart into tiny little pieces and then left a scar)

5 STARS

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The Merciless by Danielle Vega

I went Into this book expecting a stand-alone YA Contemporary with something like mystery or mental-illness...

Guess I should have checked goodreads better.
Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned
Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.
 Sofia Flores knows she shouldn't have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn't realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.
Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .
 In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?

 Sofia Flores knows she shouldn't have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.
Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .
 In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?

 

Don't be misguided by the overwhelmingly pink cover.
It's a short read, and I flew through it. The creepy atmosphere and weirdness certainly helped. But really, the first half or so I thought this was just a YA Contemporary. It had the standard set-up for that genre: New Girl, Clique of popular girls with a two-faced leader, Popular boy who falls for the new girl, one eccentric friend, blah blah blah. Boy, was I wrong. "The Merciless" is actually a paranormal fantasy/ horror novel. I sure realized that when I was in the last chapter or something. There's a BIG, jaw dropping plot twist that will leave you stunned. 

Just my type of ending. Except that I found out later that this is part of a series. *Sigh* It would've been really cool if the story had ended just with the first book, but now we'll be getting another Mean Girls-esque paranormal fantasy.

so, read this if you 

1. Like creepy books                          
2. Can tolerate a mostly cliché plot
3. Like twisted endings                          

I give "The Merciless"

3.7 STARS

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Graphic novels/ Comic books

Whatever you call it, pictures and words together are a heavenly combination.

I love reading, I love drawing. I appreciate both equally, but when I can enjoy both together...

 It's perfection, really.

I recently became obsessed with this, It started with manga, which of course isn't exactly in the "comics" category but technically, It's about the same. I've been watching anime for a long, long time, but not reading manga, so when I did, I was completely in love with the feeling of being able to both read and see. Obviously, while reading novels you can use your imagination to picture things too, but here it's a given.

So after reading a manga called "Silver Spoon", I ventured into the graphic novel territory by reading "Blankets", I'll write a separate post on this one, because this book is just too beautiful to be fit into a small para. Then I read a few more ("Asterios Polyp" and "Ghost World"), and that's how I came to love graphic novels. 

And that's about it.

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