Tag Archives: Romance

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

23 Jan

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Book One in the Everneath Series

Rating: Two out of Five Stars

Ugh this book. When I first read the description, I immediately put it down. The whole to-hell-and-back-plot and the dysfunctional romance sounded a little too tweeny Twi-hard for my taste. But then reviews started rolling in and it impressed some of my favorite bloggers so I put it on my “if I get around to it” shelf and was put on the long request list from the library. Then my friends were reading it and really enjoying it and all the sudden BOOM! It’s in my hands.

So then I was stuck with this book I wasn’t really excited about reading, which automatically taints my perception of the book. But even as I started reading it, I knew I wouldn’t like it. I didn’t connect with the characters, didn’t see the vavavavoom in the romance, couldn’t grasp the concept the way I like. It was exactly what I expected, “meh”. Be forewarned, this review does contain spoilers.

Nikki, the main character and narrator, annoys me. She’s “so afraid” of hurting people she just lies and lies and lies to them. Yeah, sweetheart, that makes perfect sense. Nikki spends the whole book trying to “make it up” to her family for ditching them for the Underworld. Which entails handing out flyers for her dad’s mayor reelection and ignoring her little brother, how sweet. Oh and the boy she is just soooo in love with that saved her from going insane after 100 years of being sucked dry of emotions? Way to not even TALK TO HIM for the first 3 months of your 6 months back. WHAT THE HELL. Nikki is spineless. She sits there and says it was  her fault for causing all these problems but she doesn’t DO anything about it. Actions speak louder than words, my friend. And all she did was talk. And whine. And sulk. Nikki only looked things up on the internet, maybe in a book or two but Jack did all the work. SPOILER AHEAD! And then sacrificed himself for her? After Nikki didn’t trust him, ran to another guy to fix things, was gone for 6 Earth months and then when she comes back she lies to him, ignores him, rebuffs all his advances for 5 and 1/2 months and in TWO WEEKS they are willing to die for each other? PUHlease. Shit is so not happening.

Needless to say, not exactly my favorite book. I do not plan on reading the sequel any time soon, if ever. Unless! Unless it has the meat and potatoes and she loves Cole. Because Cole is hot and feisty and deserves Nikki’s selfish self way more than Jack because he is also selfish.. and hot. 🙂

 

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What I mean when I say “Fluff Book”

28 Dec

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I am a variety reader. I have my favorite genres, of course, but I pride myself in not sticking to only one “type” of book. I try to love all books equally.

One of my favorite kinds of books are what I call “Fluff Books”. I’ve mentioned them a few times in passing in some of my previous posts but an explanation will clear all doubt as to what I mean.

The easiest way for me to fully describe what a fluff book is, is to give some examples and then find the common trends between them. Analyzing is always my favorite!

Top Three Favorite Fluff Books of 2012

Selection

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The Selection, The Luxe Series and Entwined are lovely sweet treats, dark chocolate mouthfuls filled with rich rosey love, glorious estrogen boosting stories filled with amazing dresses, handsome men, and lovable heroines. These are the books we adore on a purely feminine level. Our romance loving subconscious’s  ache for these beauts. Flowery, gorgeously written plots and 100% hands-off for men.

These fluff books are Jane Austen‘s descendants of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. They have enticing and adoring love interests like Mr. Darcy, feisty females like Elizabeth Bennett, and harrowing plights of Dashwood induced love follies. They also have Austen’s underlying themes of women’s morality, the injustices of societal norms, and they highlight the breathtaking ability of the “weaker” sex to adapt and overcome.

Looking at what I’ve just written and comparing the books I consider fluff, these are the basics of fluff books:

  1. Female Protag
  2. Swoon worthy love interest
  3. Epic romance
  4. A villain trying to corrupt our heroine
  5. Underlying ethical or moral questions
  6. A happy ending

The happy ending though, does not, and I repeat DOES NOT, always end up with ooey gooey love-shall-overcome BS. Some of the best fluff books end with the female lead giving a dainty middle finger wave and riding off into the sunset by herself (those are my favorite).

So there you have it my friends. Questions, concerns, comments? Send any awesome fluff my way. I can always go for some romance 😉

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten” – G.K. Chesterton

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Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

27 Dec

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First Book in the Seraphina Series

Rating: Three out of Five Stars (I’m stretching the three stars status)

Seraphina came to me as a recommendation. And the fact that Christopher Paolini endorsed it by having a quote from him placed on the cover I was like “yeah buddy! Score zone!”

And then I started reading and I was all:

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My issue with this book was that the world wasn’t explained enough in the beginning so I felt like my mind was whirling around plot points without actually getting a hold of them. I like the concept, I can grasp the concept, but it was too much too soon. Where was the meat and potatoes of the world building in the first chapter? I was thrust into the world, that’s very surreal and different from my own, and wasn’t given the chance to acclimate. My WSOD was accosted.

The only time I was completely on board and ingrained in this story is when the characters were having conversations. The dialogue is fantastically written. Those scenes felt less like reading and more like watching a movie. So engaging! I just wish that the rest of the book was as fascinating and griping.

With the character’s being mediocre (although Seraphina finally grows some ladyballs in the end) I was really disappointed in this book. Maybe I put it on too high of a pedestal to begin with? I don’t know. I just wanted so much more from this book. I wanted action, romance, adventure! I wanted all the amazing things in Eragon that I loved so much but it never developed into anything. It was just fluttering on the edge decent. Sad day 😦

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The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

19 Dec

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Third Book in the Seven Realms Series

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

I can’t even put into words how much I feel for Cinda Williams Chima.  I am hovering around “obsessive love” and “complete infatuation”.

Be glad you aren’t in the room while I am writing this, otherwise you would hear my awful voice breaking out into heartfelt aria. Much like my previous reviews of the Seven Realms books (The Demon King, Book One and The Exiled Queen, Book 2) this is will be a lovesick gush fest about Chima.

Han – let’s get married and have babies. Raisa – let’s hang out and be BFFs. Please let there be a crack in reality so I can crawl into this world. I adore this book so much. I can’t write a review that can urge you enough to pick it up. If you like high fantasy AT ALL you need, must, are REQUIRED to read this series. Its beautifully written with a world so real that it the scenery has its own story and personality. I am having such a swoonfest over Han it’s embarrassing. He has become my new Mr. Darcy. And much like with Elizabeth, I want Raisa and Han to work out sooo bad my emotions are going haywire. Chima just taunts us and teases us with their relationship and makes it so tantalizing real, I feel like I am part of them.

I can even begin to explain my love for this series. It’s on par with Harry Potter by the infamous JK and the Graceling series by Kristin Cashore. Just amazingly written with characters that are so alive you forget that they are in a book.

Just do yourselves a favor and read it. For real. Read it. Please, for my sake. It will make your life so much better.

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To-Read Tuesday – Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

18 Dec

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Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Series: Under the Never Sky Book Two

Previous Rating(s): Under the Never Sky, Book One: Four out of Five Stars

Release Date: January 8, 2013

Why I am Excited: I just finished reading Under the Never Sky last week (working on getting my review posted) and I am super pumped by the ending of this book. It was heart achingly lovely the way Rossi decided to finish up book one and made you crave the second book immediately. I’m super pumped I only have to wait a couple weeks for this one to be released, that NEVER happens! The reason why I am looking forward to this release is because by the end of book one, I was attached to both characters. I felt with them, I cried with them, I laughed with them. They are my friends and I miss my friends and want them back. Now.

What I Hope to See: *Contains Spoilers* If you haven’t read the previous books, LOOK AWAY! This is hard for me because like I said, I recently finished this book and haven’t had a whole lot of time to start speculating yet. At the end, Perry and Aria about to be reunited. I really hope is a steamy reunion! I want the passion that they had started to feel in Never Sky to really bloom in Ever Night. But I really hope that Rossi doesn’t make their romance the whole book. She has some really amazing independent characters and an insanely well built world. It’s real and tangible to me and I don’t want mushy love to distract from the basic foundation of the plot. Perry and Aria’s romance should be developed and main plot line of course, I just don’t want it to be the ONLY plot line.

My Predictions: In the final few chapters, there are a lot of twists and a lot plot developments thrown at us. Rossi almost gave us too much information at the end of the book, but I’ll discuss that when I get around to posting my review for Under the Never Sky. So, here we go:

  1. Obvi, Perry and Aria are ooey gooey in love. I think in book two though, they are really going to struggle with balancing their own internal desires and wants with love for each other. They come from extremely different backgrounds and their ultimate goals do not compliment each other. I think that Aria is going to end up leaving Perry and The Tides to fulfill her promise and get revenge for her mother’s death.
  2. That being said, I think Perry will struggle a lot. The synopsis hints at this but I think it will be a main plot line in the book. I think when Aria decides to leave, Perry will have to make the ultimate decision of Tides vs Aria. And I think he will choose Aria right when she doesn’t choose him.
  3. Roar and Liv have their own bridge story. (I can’t wait to read it!) So I think they HAVE to become an important piece in book two. Going off of the synopsis, I think Roar and Liv will be the untrustworthy friends and royally mess up Perry, Aria and the Tides relationship.

 

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The Selection by Kiera Cass

26 Nov

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Book One of The Selection Series

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

I love you. I love this book. It is amazing. The end.

In the words of my mother, “This book is Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.” UH HELLO! Greatest description ever.

The Selection is, by far, one of my greatest guilty pleasures in a long long time. I like to stick with fluff books for what fluff books are. You know the kind, tidy little happy ending books you read when you just get done with intense books like The Maze Runner series or Birthmarked? Well that was what I was planning this book to be. I needed a break. But oh heavens above! did I fall in love with this series! It has romance, action, drama, mystery. I cannot even TELL you how obsessed with this story I am.

It has an interesting twist on the post apocalyptic plot which I AHdore. And what’s amazing about this book is that Kiera Cass creates unique and believable characters. I was worried that Prince Maxon was going to end up like Leland in Wither, sweet and charming but naive and happy to be oblivious. But he isn’t and it’s sooo nice to have a romance be, oh I don’t know, DEVELOPED in a YA novel. It does have the Almighty Love Triangle, but it’s not overpowering or overshadowing so it doesn’t make it as annoying as it usually is.

Gag me with my amount of flattery right now but I can’t help it. I love me some princes, dystopia, and realistic heroines. Any girly girl will LOVE this book. And, like me, give it to your mom to read! It’s nice to throw them some bomb YA novels once in a while.

 

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