Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Its rare moment when I read a talked about book quite late and It turns out to be as bad as I imagined.

If you judged this book by it's atrociously photo-shopped cover, you did it right, "Daughter of Smoke & Bone" is as bad inside as it's outside

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I was close to leaving the book midway. Yup.
Though many critics have praised the pacing. I hated it, the book was sooooo SLOW and seemed way too LONG for a 400 pg book. This book had like 60 ridiculously stretched chapters.
And the relationship of "Mysterious" Karou and "Beautiful, Haunted" Akiva made me PUKE. I could feel no chemistry, just soppy sappy romance at its worst. Star crossed lovers?REALLY?
At least, the author did make an interesting world and put a bit thought into it. I'll give her that.
This book once again had that one best friend you wished would be the protagonist.
That's all I can say about "Daughter of Smoke & Bone" because I might have skimmed the last few pages or so.
WHY DID I READ THIS?

2 STARS

clearly.

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The One by Kiera Cass

Finally, the terribly predictable finale is played out.....

Before I start out with the summary, I want to talk about the publicity seeking praise that was written with the summary in Goodreads.

The highly anticipated conclusion to Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series, The One will captivate readers who love dystopian YA fiction and fairy tales. The One is the perfect finale for fans who have followed America's whirlwind romance since it began--and a swoon-worthy read for teens who have devoured Veronica Roth's Divergent, Ally Condie's Matched, or Lauren Oliver's Delirium.

Will captivate reader's who love dystopian? NOT SURE

but that's not the problem,

and a swoon-worthy read for teens who have devoured Veronica Roth's Divergent

ARE YOU SERIOUS? Divergent is a bloodbath, a tear-filled, depressingly ending series and you are comparing THAT to "The One"? 

Sorry, now the summary ...

The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen--and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Gee, thanks for that informative para.

My reactions throughout "The One"

• *shirtless guards scene* I CANNOT believe you girls are fighting over who saw Maxon shirtless first. I'm Irritated and laughing my ass off at the same time.
• Indecisive America continues.*Bangs head against the wall*
• AMERICA STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM MAXON YOU ARE RUINING MY SHIP!
• America, STOP Procrastinating.
• aaahh yess, finally you realize you love him!
• Never thought I'd see a Celeste-America moment.
• Never thought I'd like Celeste.
• 
• Maxon and America are finally gonna declare their love for each other, yes please
• aaaaand they fight again.
• The elites holding hands, The victors holding hands, yeah I see that.
• OH HELL NO, Not her father.
• Her family's waay to big, who's who?
• Let me guess, Aspen loves Lucy, America loves Maxon, how very perfect.
• ok, I hate to say this but STOP MAKING OUT YOU FOOL! tell him about Aspen!!!!
• "I sighed, promising myself that we'd talk about Aspen tomorrow. It would need to happen before the ceremony, and I felt sure I knew how to explain things in the best. For now, I would enjoy this tiny bubble of peace and rest securely in the hands of the man I loved" *sigh* I can't believe how utterly stupid you are sometimes, America.
• *closes book* OH SHIT NO NO NO NO AAAHHHH *CRINGES*
• And shit's going down.....
• Wait, was Celeste just shot dead? The one character I start to like and.....
• so, It took a massive rebel attack that killed everyone to make you two realize how much you love each other. GOD.
• *splutters* What? You let Aspen be the best man?!
• How lovely.

There. I laid out the whole book.
I kind-of liked "The One", It was fairly satisfying as a finale, It doesn't seem so, but I kind of liked the whole series. It's just, that, uh, AMERICAAAA (that's enough reason)

3.7 STARS

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The Elite by Kiera Cass

So. This whole book can be described by the two phases of dear America: The "ohmygosh Maxon is soooo good *swoon*, I so badly want to be'The One', who is Aspen?" phase, and the "Maxon is a pretender, how can I handle being a princess?, I'm a self-destructive idiot, how much I luuurved Aspen and his green eyes"phase.

Oh, America, How very much I want to smash your face against the wall.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.
America still isn't sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.
Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

I finally picked this up as I said I would, even though I didn't like The selection very much. There's something about these books because when I'm reading it, I can't stop, both the books were addicting but the story has serious flaws and the MOST. FRUSTRATING. PROTAGONIST. EVER. 

I seriously wouldn't give a fuck if America died right now, but something about the book makes me devour it in less than a day. Whatever it is, It's not America's pleasing character.

Ok, I need to stop with the America hate (and hope that some patriotic American didn't read this out of context) , but that's all this review's gonna have.

I give "The Elite" 

3 STARS

*cools down and tries not to imagine dead America*

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We Were Liars by E.Lockhart

WOW. Just, WOW.

I found a new favorite book.

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

The summary basically shout's it out that this is a book you need to get into without knowing much. Trust me, you'll love it. It's a MASTERPIECE. I'm not exaggerating.
So, GET THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST I'VE READ ALL YEAR.
and run away because I don't want to get anybody spoiled.
There are three stages or states you'll be in while reading "We Were Liars"
1. WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?



2. OH SHIT. THAT HAPPENED?

3. BUSY CRYING

The crying part particularly. This book is BEAUTIFULLY written, perfectly paced, every thing is revealed in the right moment and it shocks to hell. THE TWIST IS UNPREDICTABLE. And thus, so much more tragic.
Remember when you're getting into this, "We Were Liars" is not a light summer read, It's the opposite of Sunshine, Butterflies and Unicorns.
and I love it.


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If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Me 4 pages into "If I Stay".....

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.

I sit up as much as I can.

And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heart achingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

I had been avoiding this book for years, GOD KNOWS WHY, Then I saw the movie trailer which was totally awesome and I had to read it.
I actually cried when I came around to page 4, you know a book's good when THAT happens.
This book doesn't really have a plot, we just get a lot of memories from Mia's life and how she decides between giving up or living on. What I didn't know when I read this book was that everything in it happens in one day and Mia is having an out-of-body experience throughout the book.
For a 200 page book, this was a really heavy read and I still can't Imagine how Gayle Forman stretched one day into a novel and at the same time how could so much story and depth be fitted into 200 pages.
I was just a tad bit unhappy with how the book ended, and then I found out that as unexpected as it is, "If I Stay" is a part of a duology, the second book being "Where She Went"

The first thing I thought about this book was that WHY THE HELL did they change the cover format. This looks AWFUL.
But, don't judge the book by it's cover (though I definitely do), because "Where She Went" was AMAZING.
If music played a huge role in "If I Stay" then it played a majorly huge role in this. Because now Adam has turned most of  his pent up anger and sadness after Mia left into a Super-hit album and he's hella famous in this book, something the summary kindly forgot to mention...

It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.
And three years he's spent wondering why.
When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.
Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

This book again took place in one day (seems like Gayle Forman's preferred style), was heart-wrenching (a little less), and overall great, Though I couldn't help but feel like slapping Mia across the face for what she did, she had her reasons but just LOOK AT ADAM! he was completely destroyed and emo-ish.
Anyways, loved this book, loved both of them and I would give them......

4.7 STARS

and a huge recommendation.

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Books that are too good to be reviewed.

I'm a bit choosy in the books I rant about, mostly the books I don't review are classics, or ones that are sooo bad that It's not worth it. I'm not going to mention those here.
These are the books which I read between January and March, and chose not to review. If you haven't already, READ ALL OF THEM!

           

1. Crank by Ellen Hopkins - I was so haunted by this book I couldn't articulate my feeling into words.                                           
2. Dracula by Bram Stoker - Yup, I can't judge classics, they're classics for a reason                                                                     
3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - The best book I've read all year, THE BEST. I still can't stop thinking   about it.                         
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Do I really need to say anything about this one?                                                           
5. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides - Read this, and then watch the movie, both are so good and beautifully tragic. 

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City Of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Now, I've got a shitload of books that are yet to be ranted about but as soon as I finished reading the FINAL book in The Mortal Instruments series, I had to do this. And It was just the satisfying finale I had wanted.This post is going to be full of spoilery spoilers so read the first FIVE books first and come back! (If you haven't read TMI yet,what have you been doing?!)

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID. 

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance?

I had been waiting for this book for 2 FREAKING YEARS! and my interest had been fading, I was also getting a bit angry at this series (check out my cover reveal post to see), But as soon as I started reading, everything I love about this series came back to me cause this book was so dang good.

What I liked best:those little "The Infernal Devices" references and the fact that we saw Jem getting healed. TID is like one of my all time favorite series, It's way better than TMI ( according to me) and I LOVE JEM so very much ("Jessa" shipper here). Don't even get me started on this.Also, the Malek scenes make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

And of course, Simon.

Crying like hell parts: SPOILERS 

Sebastian's death, though I hated him,was just too much, It reminded me of Luke's death in the Last Olympian (seriously, It was waay to similar).I actually felt bad for Sebastian.

I also teared up when Raphael died,

And then Simon had his memory taken away.

Though the end was all good. Except that fairy treaty part, DO I SENSE THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER BOOK? oh yes.

The first book of The Dark Artifices, "Lady Midnight" will be coming out next year.

And I'll be reading it.(can't help it)(plus, we're going to get more of TESSA and JEM!!!!)

This book gets 5 STARS

 and don't think that because I give 5 stars away so freely means their value decreases, I just can't help but fall in love with almost every book I read.

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