Cinder by Marissa Meyer

       I just finished Cinder a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you, it was amazing! I don't know why it took me this long to decide to give this series a chance because so far I am in love. I loved the twist on the Cinderella story, I mean a cyborg Cinderella? Who wouldn't enjoy that. I loved that this book added a lot of other elements to the story as well so it wasn't as predictable as you would think. There were so many other things going on; a plague that decimated the population, countries changed up, Lunar people, cyborgs and an awesome twist.
       The characters were all great and brought their own thing to the story. Cinder was an excellent character especially since she didn't act like the Disney Cinderella we all know. She is very independent and even though she is stuck with a crappy step mom she doesn't let it bring her down too much. She also doesn't have two mean step sisters, there are still two step sisters but she is friends with one of them. I'm not going to get into too much about her sister because I don't want to spoil anything. She knows that she can't stay with her forever and comes up with a plan to escape. When she meets her prince or Emperor to be she isn't shy but doesn't completely let her guard down with him either since she is a cyborg and to most people that is something frowned upon.
Kai is this story's Prince Charming and his character is pretty complex. His dad has the plague that was brought on by the Lunars and the Queen of the Lunars wants to marry him which he is totally against. He comes across Cinder because he needs someone to fix his android and she is the best mechanic around. I loved the meetings between Kai and Cinder. They flirted but not in a cheesy way and the chemistry between the two was pretty good. Levana is the perfect evil queen and just the whole introduction to the Lunar people is really awesome!
       The setting was great as well. There was a good amount of detail to the story, you get really vivid images of the palace, the market, the hospital and many of the other places. There wasn't way too much detail either so we were bogged down in it which is great especially for the first in a series!

Overall I really enjoyed the story and can't wait to read the next one. I give this book a 4.7 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good sci-fi/dystopian type of story.

Where have I been?

Its been a few months since my last post and a lot has happened. I graduated from college and am currently looking for a job, I'm on month 5 of the search and still nothing. I am honestly thinking about getting my teaching certificate and being an English teacher. My laptop actually broke down so I haven't had a computer in months so I haven't been able to write anything either. I finally bought a keyboard for my iPad mini so I can write some until I get an actual computer. This time I think I'll go for an actual desktop computer instead of a laptop especially since I have this keyboard now. I'm working on writing now and doing more book reviews. I just posted a list of books that I have been enjoying and plan on reviewing them as soon as I can.

High Fantasy

Currently I have been in love with high fantasy but I still typically go for the Young Adult fantasy. Recently I have discovered a few good series that I will post about. Right now I'll just give a list of these books and then post individual reviews for them as soon as I can. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas:

Throne of Glass

Crown of Midnight

Heir of Fire

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes:

Falling Kingdoms

Rebel Spring

Gathering Darkness

Frozen Tides (2015 release)

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch:

Snow Like Ashes

Ice Like Fire (2015 release)

Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima:

The Demon King

The Exiled Queen

The Gray Wolf

The Crimson Crown

The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson:

The Kiss of Deception

The Heart of Betrayal (2015 release)

I haven't completed any of these series yet but I plan on it. The first two series have several more books on the way according to the author pages on goodreads. The  Seven Realms series is done but I think there will be a spin off series, at least goodreads shows it on the author page. Chima also has another series out that I believe has 5 books in it, it's the Heir Chronicles, I personally havent read any but I'm sure I'll eventually at least try the first book. There are several other high fantasy series that I havent even started yet but as soon as I read any of those others I'll post on here about it.

Long Time No Post

Man it has been almost a year since my last post! All I can say is I apologize for my absence. This past year has been really crazy, I welcomed my first niece into the world last year and I have been working super hard on graduating from college. I actually graduate in August! The fall and spring semesters were packed with nothing but History and English classes and each semester I took 15 hours which is 5 classes. I'm officially in my last ever class of my college career so I am now able to actually concentrate on what I love most and that is reading! I seriously have only been able to read a few books here and there because I had to read so many books for my English classes. The books we had to read for class were interesting and fun but they weren't the types of books I like to read for fun. I'll also be able to get back to writing as well! My major is in creative writing so you would think that I still was able to work on my story but alas I wasn't. My last professor actually hated anything that wasn't realistic so I had to focus on writing stories about real life. I do enjoy reading stories about real life but it's not my cup of tea. Then the amount of essays I actually had to write as well didn't allow me the time to write for fun either! I am back now and have more free time! I am going to make a list of the few books I have read so I can write reviews on them as soon as I can write them up! Keep your eyes out for new posts!

Sarah Dessen

I talked about her books in my previous post but I just wanted to show you all her books that are currently out! If you want a good YA contemporary novel with a cute and adorable main boy then read these books! My first book of hers was The Truth About Forever and to this day it is my all time favorite book! If you are wondering where to start I would say start with that one and work your way through the rest! 

Sarah Dessen

I talked about her books in my previous post but I just wanted to show you all her books that are currently out! If you want a good YA contemporary novel with a cute and adorable main boy then read these books! My first book of hers was The Truth About Forever and to this day it is my all time favorite book! If you are wondering where to start I would say start with that one and work your way through the rest! 

Barnes and Noble haul!

So I recently decided to try YA contemporary again. I used to love this genre but I got sucked into YA paranormal romance. I usually do get a few contemporary novels each summer because they just seem like a summery thing to read. So these are the books I've gotten so far and I'll post reviews soon! Just so ya'll know I love Sarah Dessen and have read 5 of her books so far, not counting the one above. I'll try and post some reviews of the books I've read by her! There are other YA contemporary books that I love and I'll try and post about those books too!

Serious Post

This is so true! Never give up on life or hurt yourself everything will get better! Like Gary Allen said every storm runs out of rain! Tell someone how you feel and what's going on in your life because that person can help you and talking works so well! Trust me I know what it's like! Go for a run if you need to just don't stay in that dark hole you put yourself in. Just remember your family and friends love you and it would destroy them if anything happened to you! 

Nook and Kindle

I posted earlier that I have a nook and a kindle and you may be wondering why the heck I have two reading devices, well today I'll inform you as to why. I had my nook first because I love Barnes and noble. Like I seriously could live at that store! Also it made it easier on my mom to just let me order the books off of there than having to go to the store every week to get new books, I can seriously read a book any size within a day. I was very against e-readers at first because who doesn't love just holding onto an actual book and reading it? I eventually caved and got my nook. Well a year later the kindle fire came out and I was just planning on using it for a tablet. Well that didn't happen. I got the kindle fire but when I noticed how cheap some books are I started to get a little cray cray. I mean a book for .99? Come on who can ignore that. So for awhile I just used my

Kindle and my poor nook just sat there unused. Well eventually I decided to make one e-reader for the more expensive books, nook, and one for the cheaper books, kindle. Well now Barnes and noble has a lot of the cheap books too so it gets hard but I try and stick to what I designated them for. I love to use both of them and I still love going into Barnes and Noble to buy actual books. 

What is on my Kindle/Nook

So I am going to start something new and show all you fabulous readers what I currently have on my to read list. On goodreads I have like a million books to read but this list is what books I have purchased recently and plan to read! I am a very big YA lover so most of the books I choose are going to be in that category and they are also Kindle books so they tend to be 4.99 or less which is great for me since I am a broke college student. I posted links to their Goodreads websites so you can check out the plots for each and see what you think! I'll post reviews of these books as I finish them up!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17379473-blackmoon-beginnings

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17402117-branded

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16081141-elemental-shining

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13047090-onyx

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13606710-or-cle

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11700785-everblue 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16155642-hidden

Vacation!

So this past week I got to travel to another state! Colorado! I don't know if I said this before but I have never been out of the state of Texas and this summer I have been to 4 states! This is super exciting for me! I have been staying with my sister, brother in law, and my new niece in Nebraska. Most of the time I'm just chilling in the house with my sister and niece while my brother in law works. I help watch her while my sister naps or does stuff around the house, I guess you can call me the nanny! While in Colorado I got to see the mountains for the first time and we even drove up them to Estes Park! It was so beautiful but so annoying on my ears. I'm very sensitive about them so having them pop wasn't fun for me! I got over it and Estes was so awesome I love it! I can't wait to go back in August! Oh another great part was seeing the Stanley Hotel aka the shining hotel! I can't wait to take a tour of it! Well I have been reading the lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and will be putting up a review of the first two books up soon! 

Feudlings by Wendy Knight

Plot:

Nothing makes a new school suck worse than discovering the guy you’re in love with is your prophesied nemesis.

Ari is the most powerful flame-throwing sorceress ever, and her people’s last hope in an ancient war. But she’s also a seventeen-year-old girl, and in her free, not-hunting-nemesis times, she jumps from school to school, trying to figure out regular people her own age and pretending she’ll get the chance to graduate.

Shane lives a double life. He goes to school and masters the art of popularity, hiding the fact that he has a fate with a slim chance of his survival. He’s destined to end a 300 year-old war by killing or being killed. He knows he’s hunted by a powerful enemy who’s not afraid to die. Only problem? He has no idea who that enemy is. 

When Ari shows up at Shane’s school, angry and sullen and determined to keep him at arm’s reach, neither of them realize they are supposed to be killing each other, not fall-ing in love. Until Ari does realize it, and she almost dies – by Shane’s hand.

Review:

At first I was a little skeptical about this story. I ended up loving this story! The characters were very great and added so much to the story. Ari is hardcore in my opinion, yet she has troubles with what she is doing. She doesn't like the killing but her grandpa is so horrible that she does it. She does try to avoid killing the enemies by trying to scare them but they are relentless. She wants to escape her grandpa so she goes to boarding schools pretty much once a year. She is used to keeping to herself but then she gets roped in on helping decorate the gym for a school dance. She ends up falling and gorgeous Shane ends up saving her and from then on they are hooked. She makes friends and starts opening up to them until she finds out just exactly who they really are. 

There is quite a bit of action and I loved it. I also loved that we got to see a little into what Ari's relationship is with her grandpa and then her brother. One thing I know some people have trouble with is how Ari and Shane can't tell who the other is especially since they can see magic traces. Neither of them really uses magic around the other so they cant tell that the other person is the enemy. When they do finally realize it things get a little crazy. I'm not going to spoil exactly how because it's pretty important to the story so you will just have to read it. I loved this book and absolutely can't wait until the next one!

Runes by Ednah Walters

 

One thing I love about Amazon is the fact that you can find really awesome books for cheap! This book was one of them! The story was so captivating I couldn't stop reading once I started! 

Plot:

Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life

Review:

What book about mythology doesn't make you want to read it? I loved the concept of this story. I wont tell you what she finds out about Torin because that would spoil the fun of this book but it is awesome! I never thought about these things as being in a story so I got to learn some new information. The characters were absolutely amazing. Raine is very strong and wont stop until she finds out what is going on. She questions Torin from the beginning and soon ends up finding out everything. In this story she has two best friends Eirik and Cora. They are great additions to this story and they are very caring for Raine no matter what. Raine is dealing with her dad disappearing and trying to get Eirik to see her as more than just his friend, then Torin comes along and everything changes. Torin is very mysterious and intriguing especially to Raine. Soon Raine has battling feelings for Eirik and Torin and she just can't decide especially when Torin says all the right things to her. The mystery of the story was just amazing. I couldn't figure out what they were until they finally revealed it. It took on a new look at mythology for me. There wasn't a part of this book that I had a moment where I knew where everything was going, that is rare for me especially since I read a lot of books. I loved this story and can't wait until the next one!  

Summer

Well I was supposed to be taking summer school classes online but this college didn't get my new transcript in. I sent it in the beginning of may. Oh and they don't answer their phones either. Oh well looks like ill be able to work on my book! :)

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The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I just finished this book and let me tell you it was amazing! It was entertaining right from the beginning! I couldn't put it down at all. So pretty much the story is about a 16 year old girl named Cassie who is currently on her own. She had parents and a little brother, a high school crush and cell phone, then one day the aliens came (well technically their mother ship was the only thing the humans got to see) and they ruined everything. These catastrophes that devastate the human population happen in waves and in the story we are finding out about the 5th wave. There aren't any signs for the humans and they don't really know what these aliens actually look like. By the time the story takes place Cassie is trying to keep her promise to her baby brother, Sammy, to come find him. He is taken away by soldiers with a bunch of other kids to head to a refugee camp. Well when the buses with the kids leave everything goes crazy and it leaves Cassie on her own. She is left with two guns and her brother's teddy bear. She heads off towards the camp where they were headed when she meets Evan Walker who wants to help her. While we get this story of Cassie we also get to see the POV of a boy at this refugee camp.
I just have to say that The plot was amazing and gripping. I kept wanting to read more and see what would happen next! I loved that you don't get this flat out hint about what is actually going on! There was a great amount of action and romance, more action than romance but not too bad. The characters were very believable especially with the circumstances that they are in. Cassie is such a strong girl and I kind of wish I was more like her. She is very driven and wants to keep her promise to her little brother. She isn't very trusting of anyone and I can't blame her, you don't exactly know how to distinguish the humans from the aliens and then even some of the humans have gone wacko. When she meets Evan no matter what she isn't very trusting with him and she even flat out tells him that. The other characters you meet in this story are also very strong and tough for what they are going through. They are very human about what is going on with them and what else can you expect. Some will be too trusting of others and some wont trust anyone.
The writing was great and very easy to follow. Like I said I was entertained from the beginning, it's a very gripping story and I cant wait to see what happens next! If you like post-apocalyptic novels then you need to read this one!

Story writing and such

So I have been working on a new story of mine and I am 22 pages in! That's the most I have ever written before and it is super exciting! My best friend Ashleigh is currently writing a story too and I have to say it is amazing so far! She gives me stuff as she goes so I'm stuck with a million cliffhangers but I do the same to her so it's all fair. ;) I really hope one day both of our stories are published! I know it'll be a long and difficult process but having your dreams come true usually is and it'll be worth it in the end!

Partials by Dan Wells

I finally decided to read Partials and let me tell you it was awesome! Just the whole idea of some crazy virus killing off most of humanity and not allowing any babies to survive was mind blowing but add in pretty much cyborg type beings that look like any old human and it turns out wayyyy awesome! I will warn you though there is romance but it isn't the main part of this story and it fit well! I was happy with how it was done because to Kira, the main character, that''s how romance is for her. She has a boyfriend who she loves but there are bigger things going on than having to be all mushy gushy. One thing I thought was crazy but I could totally see happening is this law that makes any female 18 years and older have to get pregnant. They seriously get no choice it's a law. In the story there is talk of changing that age to 16, umm say what?? These are desperate times for these humans so I guess it is understandable? Anyways Kira goes and looks for a partial, the cyborg type being, gets one and tries to study it to see how to cure this virus. Oh yeah did I mention they pretty much caused it? Kira gets close to this partial whose name is Samm, and yes it is with two m's. She was born to hate these things and this one just changes everything. Nothing romantice really happens with him, I mean she does have a boyfriend, but I kind of wish something would happen between them. It just seems great but if it doesn't I love Kira's boyfriend anyways.

This story was awesome and even though it was a little slow at the beginning it got way better. It was also slow because you have to get introduced to the characters and what is going on in this world so it isn't too bad. There is a great amount of action and it was awesome! The writing of this story was great! I am so excited to see what happens to these characters in the second book. I really kind of want to know about the relationships too, I can't help it I love a little romance :) You wont be bored when you read this story so go out and grab a copy!

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I finally decided to read The Host by Stephenie Meyer and let me tell you it was one of the best dystopian type novels I have ever read. The story takes the point of view of Wanderer who is inserted into Melanie Stryder's body. At the beginning you get to see memories from Melanie's life. Even though Wanderer is in control of the body Melanie is right there with her for this journey. What begins as hate for each other turns into friendship. Melanie was part of the resistance and headed to Chicago to find her cousin who she happened to see on TV. When she gets there she gets pursued by some of the aliens who have taken over others and she jumps out of a window and pretty much dies. Her body is healed by their alien medicine and Wanderer is put inside. They kept her body because they wanted to use her memories to find the rest of the humans in the resistance and have their bodies taken over too. When Wanderer is put inside Melanie she isn't supposed to be able to talk to or feel Melanie's presence but she does. This gets tricky for her and he appointed Seeker tries to get her to reveal information about the resistance, specifically info about her brother Jamie and her love Jared, which Melanie blocks from Wanderer. Wanderer decides to go south and get a healer to take her out of this host body and into a new one when Melanie gets her to help find the compound her uncle created and where she assumed Jared and Jamie went. This entails walking through the desert and almost dying. She is found by her uncle practically dead but he helps her even though he sees her eyes have the glow from the alien. She is taken to their hiding place and she finds Jared, who seeing her eyes is pretty much disgusted by her but wont kill her. She is help pretty much a prisoner for days until Melanie's uncle decides to take her around. The other humans start to be accepting of Wanderer and even start calling her Wanda. Jamie finds her and soon realizes that Melanie is indeed still there.

This story was so well written I still can't get over it. It was mature writing so some younger teens may not want to read it but it is so worth the read. This story I'd have to say was so much better than the Twilight saga. I did buy this book because the movie was coming out and my best friend told me it was amazing and I'd have to say she was correct. Once I started I couldn't put it down, the story grabbed me right from the start. All the characters were great and I really enjoyed the relationship between Wanderer and Melanie, it was probably the best relationship. I loved how Jamie pretty much figured out what was going on. I really got annoyed by how rude Jared was but I can totally understand that this was his love and someone else has taken her body, but I knew Melanie was alive inside and I just really wanted him to know she was there. Ian was a great character too and you cant help but love how his beliefs get changed by just getting to know Wanderer. Wanderer or Wanda was awesome and the fact that she was this great alien to all the others and ended up falling in love with the humans in the resistance was awesome! This story didn't make the romance a big thing either, it was mainly Wanderer dealing with being a human and having Melanie talking to her in her head.

I don't want to write more because I am afraid I might give some things away but I highly recommend this book. It is completely different than Twilight and I'd have to say was wayy better written. Pick this book up you will not be disappointed!

Chosen at Nightfall by C.C. Hunter

I am going to start by saying this series was one of my top 5 favorite series and to see Kylie's story end made me pretty sad but that didn't last long once I began reading the story. We pick up a little after Whispers at Moonrise, Kylie is at the chameleon camp and she is missing Shadow Falls. Kylie has learned to control her patterns some and has learned to become invisible. What an awesome thing to be able to do! Everything is normal at the chameleon camp when guess who shows up? Burnett and Derek show up looking for Kylie and she decides to head back to Shadow Falls! Yay :) During the story Kylie has to deal with the impending fight with the mean old Mario, her feelings between the two hotties Derek and Lucas and a few surprises along the way. Oh did I mention another ghost who wont give up on her! I wont say the surprises but we do get a new camper! Kylie is still mad at Lucas for the whole engagement to the other werewolf even though he begs her to forgive every time he has a chance to. Derek tries to get her to try their relationship again too. Della comes back with a secret of her own. Oh and a huge awesome surprise awaits Holiday and Burnett who happen to be planning their wedding throughout this story. This ghost that Kylie deals with is very persistent with Kylie and Holiday and Burnett want her to get rid of it. Kylie being the nice girl that she is decides against it and ends up getting some fighting help from her.

This story was amazing, even though I was sad when I first got it that it would be ending I couldn't wait to see what would happen. Everything I wanted to happen happened! :) The writing of this story was absolutely incredible and there were some amazing twists to the story that made it that much better. The characters have all really grown and have learned to deal with everything very well. Burnett was awesome in this book especially with showing how much he cared for not only Holiday but Kylie as well. Miranda and Della were great and very helpful with everything that was happening with Kylie. Kylie's transformation was probably my favorite. She was very independent and self sacrificing. She understood what had to be done and took the precautions to make sure she would be okay in the end.

This series has put me through ups and downs but that's what a good series should do. I feel like I got to know these characters well and was along for the ride. I would recommend this series to everyone I can and I will! If you have read the first 4 then you need to read this one, you def wont be disappointed!