Love, Rosie

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

Rating

4 stars+

Date Read

01/07/2015 - 15/07/2015

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

I got goose bumbs reading the epilogue. My back ached from the two hour ride in the bus, back to London from Oxford, my throat was dry and my legs had fallen asleep. But I didn't feel that lump in my throat anymore, the feeling I got throughout the book about all those chances lost, all that time wasted, all those dreams broken to pecies. I believed my mother, as she had told me once that some times moments count more than years.

The Assassin's Curse (Book 0.5)

The Witch's Betrayal by Cassandra Rose Clarke 

Date Read

28/6/15

Age Group

13+

General thoughts

The witch's betrayal is a short story' shedding light onto Naji's past and the life changing moment that scarred him permanently, left him disfigured, looking like, as he would put it, a monster.

The Assassin's Curse (Book 2)

The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke 

Rating

4 stars

Date Read

28/6/2015 - 29/6/2015

Age Group

14+

General thoughts

Damn, I really should stop reading if it feels like this every time I finish a series.

The Assassin's Curse (Book 1)

The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Rating

3 stars+

Date Read

23/6/15 - 26/6/15

Age Group

13+

General thoughts

Pretty.

Pretty cover, pretty characters. Quick, fun. A summer read.

Shadows (Book 4)

Burn by Paula Weston

Rating

5 stars+++

Date Read

16/9/15

Age Group

15+

General thoughts

The curtain falls for the rephaim series with a grande finale, wonderful and captivating. All the questions from the past three books are finally answered, the mysteries unravelling, the mist rising to reveal a forgotten past.

Aren't I feeling poetic today.

In this final installment we learn all that Gabe had been forced to forget but finally remembers. In long chapters between the Now, the author describes the Then; what happened eleven years ago to tear the twins apart and make Gaby -who back then was Gabe- stay at the sanctuary while her brother Jude and -insert swooning here- Rafa leave with the Outcasts; what happened a year ago to bring the twins back together, what happened with Dani that ended with them heavily injured with distorted memories living in different sides of the world.

It's a book worth reading, a series worth obsessing over, characters worth falling in love with.

Go read Shadows right now!!!

XOXO

Aggie Pearson

Shadows (Book 3)

Shimmer by Paula Weston

Rating

5 stars+

Date Read

17/06/15 - 19/6/15

Age Group

15+

General thoughts

How did Paula pull off a book where the love interest wasn't even there for the romance but, instead, was away, abducted by demons, for half the book?

Perfectly.

Shadows (Book 2)

Haze by Paula Weston

Rating

5 stars+

Date Read

05/6/15 - 10/6/15

Age Group

14+

General thoughts

*Speechless
Can the second book ever be like the first one? Just as good? Like you never moved on, like it's not the next installment but more pages of the previous one?

Shadows (Book 1)

Shadows by Paula Weston

Rating

5 stars+

Date Read

03/06/15 - 05/06/15

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Wow.

I've been way too lenient with books lately. Can't blame me. I haven't read a good one, a really good one, since January (yes, I'm talking about you, Existence)...

Beauty

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Rating

3 stars+

Date Read

28.5.15 - 1.6.15

Age Group

12+

General Thoughts

"Beauty" is a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story and followes the original very closely, from the time period (sounds like the 18th century) to the magical objects in the palace (teapots moving themselves) to the hideous Beast living in it (all claws and fur). That said, and noting that I don't mind cheesy novels too much, I was surprised to find that it had a lot less princess-like quality and cheesy moments than I expected. Which was not a bad thing, just unexpected in such a faithfull retelling of the classic.

The Divergent Trilogy: Tobias' POV

Review 2 come!

The Divergent Trilogy

Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

Dates Read

Book 1: Sometime last summer

Book 2: 17.4.15 - 21.4.15
Book 3: 1.5.15 - 10.5.15

General Thoughts

I was halfway through the first book when the movie came to the theaters. So I watched it. And it hooked me almost as much as the book. It is Theo James we're talking about after all.

Divergent had it all: thought-through back story, ingenious plot-thickening, haunting romance and honest, sharp characters.

The Writing

Veronica Roth's writing is elegant, though simple, nonredundant (is that even a word?). Her language flows through the pages, easy to get lost into. She uses present tenses to talk through Tris which, unusual as it is, I've always found to be quite enjoyable.

The Captive Series (Book Five)

Waiting 4 my paperback!

The Captive Series (Book Four)

Salvation

Rating

4 stars minus

Date Read

07/04/15 - 14/04/15

Age Group

14+

Summary/ General Thoughts

In Captured Erica Stevens was following the GSG (guidelines set for books of this genre) a little too closely, as is to be expected of a first book in a series. 

Renegade was a couple finding their way back to each other. Cute and fun and all, but not as captivating (pun intended).

Refugee left something to be desired, with the best part being the ending.

Finally, Salvation made up for every dull chapter and lack of actual plot its prequels suffered from. In fact, in it's action-packed, passion-filled pages, it manages to surpass even Captured. And rightly so, considering that the first book was like every other paranormal romance with a headstrong girl and a dangerous vampire for main characters, while this one gave the author a chance to improvise.

The Captive Series (Book Three)

Refugee

Rating

3 stars +

Date Read

3/6/15 - 6/6/15

Age Group

14+

Summary/ General Thoughts

Omg. The ending was just.... Wow. OK. Didn't expect that.

Aria and Braith and William and Ashby go into a search for powerful exiled vampire aristocrats to form alliances with for the upcoming war.

After a few boring chapters in the Barrens - something of a desert in the dystopian world, a place that civilisation has abandoned - we finally get to meet Gideon, an eccentric used-to-be noble that, after being exiled for having teamed up with the losing side (aka the him race) found shelter in these lands and created a city where vampires and humans lived together, unafraid.

The Captive Series (Book Two)

Renegade

Date read: 23.03.15 - 26.03.15

Summary/ General Thoughts 

Satisfying? Not quite. Going after the next one in the series? No doubt.

In the second book of the Captive series Braith, after a lengthy swim in the darkest abyss of his character, finally couldn't resist going after Aria. Although all of us here knew that was only a matter of time.

After he sees her again and they make amends, clearing up the misunderstanding that taunted the relationship, we're back to the couple-against-the-world storyline.

The Captive Series (Book One)

Captured

Rating

4 stars-

Date Read

20/03/15 - 22/03/15

Age Group

14+

Summary/ General Thoughts

Since they've won the war, vampires have ruled mercilesly, diminishing humans to living blood bags. Some humans chose to become loyal to them, becoming their servants in exchange for a place within the city walls. The rest were banished to the woods, to live like primals, never giving up their loyalties to their own race, the human race, and forever plotting their enemy's demise.

Having grown up in the woods with her father, the leader of the rebels, and her two brothers, Arianna has been taught to hate the vampires and everything the stand for.

More Reviews Soon!

Hi there!

I know it's been a while since I last uploaded a review. It's not that I have given up on trying to keep a blog. It's just that after one too many paranormal romance novels I feel that I have exhausted the subject... Especially after a few recent disappointements in awfully-packed-with-clichés paranormal books -see Falling Under &c- I have decided to re-evaluate my stance toward books and obsession with certain genres (parnormal romance & paranormal romance...).

Towering

Towering by Alex Flinn

Rating

3 stars-

Date Read

9.1.15 - 13.1.15

Age Group

13+

General Thoughts

What a gorgeous cover indeed...

Towering, a modern retelling of Rapunzel, is a book written by Alex Flinn, an author with whom I had an obsession with through the ages of twelve to thirteen.

I finished this book just yesterday and, honestly, the details are already slipping through my mind and moving out of reach.

Existence, Predestined & Ceaseless

Existence (Book 1)

Sufficiently developed characters. Easy-to-relate-to narrator (Pagan). Delicious relationships between protagonists. Thought-through plot. Interesting back-story.

Existence was exactly my cup of tea. Although calling a book about Death "a cup of tea" is an interesting way to put it...

Before you run away from that gruesome comment read a summary of the book here.

And let me tell you: it is quiet difficult not to swoon over Death.

Predestined (Book 2)

The Existence Trilogy

Rating 

5 stars+

Date Read

5.1.15 - 8.1.15

Age Group

14+

Main Characters

Dank

Where to begin? Dank is sweet, kind, loving, possessive, aggressive, selfless and selfish. He is also lethal. Literally. He is Death. A Deity around since the beginning of time, with sole companion the souls he collects, without the ability to feel petty human emotions. Until he meets...

Pagan

Pagan never once felt like a Mary-Sue... Okay, maybe once. Anyway, she is stubborn, understanding, compassionate, honest, mature and polite. She almost deserves him. After he meets her, she becomes Dank's whole existence.