Monday 30 March 2015

The Night Circus - Review

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgernstern
Part of a series? No, unfortunately:(
Synopsis: The Circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it...It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.
Rating: A million ★ out of five.

Oh. My. Goodness. This book was just..incredible. Everything was beautiful: the cover, the insides of the cover, and the writing. Every passage flowed wonderfully for me; every description was clear and the characters were so individual. This book has now become one of my all-time favourites, something I was not expecting!

*The rest of this review will contain spoilers, so read on at your own risk!*

Ok, so. Where to start? I've literally just finished the book about an hour ago, and I want to read it again. This is one of the first books that I've genuinely felt sad about finishing! This is also the first time I've used sticky notes to mark my favourite passages. Some of my most loved parts are the ballroom scene when Marco kissed Celia, when he made the book-ship-thing (all of the magical aspects really), and this:

"Do you remember all of your audiences?" Marco asks.
"Not all of them," Celia says. "But I remember the people who look at me the way you do."
"What way might that be?"
"As though they cannot decide if they are afraid of me or they want to kiss me."
"I am not afraid of you," Marco says.

*Cue loud fangirling*

The characters in The Nigt Circus were well-developed, my favourites being Marco, Poppet, and Bailey. I seriously loved Bailey and his kind-of-almost-possibly-more-than-a-friendship with Poppet. Marco and Celia's relationship was gorgeous, although I was worried for a minute that one was just pretending so they could win the game.

Speaking (well, typing) of the game, I never predicted that Tsukiko would be the winner of the previous game. The ending of the book was as strong and mysterious as the beginning, and I loved how there were the small passages of second person scattered throughout the book. Combined with the detailed descriptions of all of the amazing exhibits really brought the circus to life. The magical elements of the book were very interesting as well.

One thing that didn't bother me but I did think of after reading this was that I was never 100% sure of the age of the characters after the second or third part. There was one point where Celia said something about he game having gone on for almost thirty years which made me go, "Has it?"  However, I think that added to the mystery and atmosphere of the book and worked with the fact that no one in the circus seemed to age.

The Night Circus is definitely worth a read (and a reread, and a rereread...) and I am so glad I have read it! Let me know what you thought of it in the comments.  I'd love to hear you opinions!(:

Sunday 29 March 2015

Shadow Kiss - Review

Title: Shadow Kiss
Author: Richelle Mead
Part of a series? Yes, the third in the VA series.
Rating: 4

*This review will contain spoilers for Vampire Academy books 1-3*

After reading Shadow Kiss,  I finally understand why everyone loves Vampire Academy, and I finally understand why people ship Romitri! I think the more I read VA books, the more I love them. It's taken me a while to get used to Richelle Mead's writing style again, but I'm almost there.

My favourite scene from this book would have to be when Christian and Rose were fighting the Strigoi together. Richelle Mead writes fight scenes really well,  so I could picture them easily. I loved the way they became friends (ish) in this book.

Onto Dimitri, Lissa and Rose! They were so good together, and I would have cried about Dimitri if my friend hadn't told me that he became a Strigoi. Lissa and Rose's farewell nearly did make me cry as their friendship is so strong and Lissa relies on Rose completely. It'll be interesting to see how she manages without Rose in the next book.

One thing that I really didn't like is the way Rose treated Adrian. In case you hadn't spotted this in my review of Frostbite, I love Adrian. A lot. He is one of my favourite male characters, probably out of every book I've read. So it upset me when Rose tried to flirt with him just so he would help her. She even says that it's "low of her", and I was so annoyed with her!

All of the threads in the story were interesting: the Măna, the Queen's plans for Adrian and Lissa, the Dhampirs preparing to be Guardians.  I especially loved how Rose can see ghosts now,  and how seeing Mason helped her accept she wasn't fully responsible for his death.

I have about three more books to read before I go back to this series and read Blood Promise, but I'm excited to continue with it.

Monday 23 March 2015

Book-buying Bans, TBR Jars, and Camp NaNoWriMo Confusion

Somewhere on this page is (hopefully) a picture of my latest book haul, containing: Cinder by Marissa Meyer(I WILL read the Lunar Chronicles before the fourth book comes out!), The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton(I'm not going to lie, I bought it mainly for the cover; I know it's set in Amsterdam and everyone loves it, and that's it), Lola & the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, and These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

For those of you who don't know(probably most of you), I'm currently on a book-buying ban, as my TBR books have gone from one small pile to three rather large piles in a worryingly short space if time. Well, I'm meant to be on a book-buying ban, but I broke it(again) at the weekend. Now, I thought I'd share how I plan on changing my ban so it's easier to keep, along with my TBR jar rules.

My book-buying ban was originally meant to be all year, with exceptions towards any books I've been waiting for for ages (like Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray-roll on July!). This failed within...well, by February, because I apparently have no self-control! Now, however, I've come up with a new plan which will hopefully be easier to keep up with.
March-on the ban (we'll just let my most recent book haul...*shoves books to bottom of back pile of TBR pile* what book haul?)
April-off the ban
May-on the ban(probably for the best...I need to focus on exams:/)
June-on the ban(exams again:/)
July-off the ban
August-off the ban
September-on it
October-off it
November-off it
December-on it

I will no doubt break this by the second of May, but at least I can say I tried! For my TBR jar, I use the system of reading five books picked by the jar and then choosing one myself. I also give myself two or three picks from the jar if I don't feel like reading the first one.

And finally, onto Camp NaNoWriMo! I am doing it for the first time this year, which I'm quite excited about. I've set up my account, but I can't change it from April to July, when I'd like to do it. Any suggestions?
Have any of you read the books I've hauled today? If anyone is on a ban at the moment, how is it going? Let me know if you're doing Camp NaNoWriMo, and if you know how to change the dates!
(:

Monday 16 March 2015

Frostbite - Review

Title: Frostbite
Author: Richelle Mead
Part of a series? Yes, the second in the Vampire Academy series.
Rating: 3.5 stars


*This review will contain spoilers, so if you haven't read the first or second VA book and want to, do that and then read this!*


The highlight of this book for me was Adrian Ivashkov, because...well, he's Adrian Ivashkov! Having read the Bloodlines series before starting this, I was expecting him to be in Vampire Academy, so it was nice to be reunited with a familiar character. I think the fact that I read Bloodlines first effected how much I enjoyed Frostbite, because I sort of knew what the plot twists would be. For example, I was frustrated when it took Rose ages to figure out that Adrian was a spirit user as it was common knowledge in Bloodlines, and I had to keep reminding myself that they didn't know that. And, as I managed to wind up reading Last Sacrifice first (it was years ago, and I unfortunately didn't realise that it was the last in the series until about halfway through, and then thought, oh well, I won't ever read the other books. Thanks past me!), I knew that something bad happens to Mason. However, I thought the scene of his death was really moving, and I loved how Rose refused to let him go.
 
Ah, Rose. On my short Goodreads review, I put that I liked how she was a strong protagonist, and I do still like that, but there were times when she irritated me. I felt like that the sections of her analysing either what just happened or what could happen were at times too long. I'm also still not loving Romitri as much as I thought I would, though I couldn't say why.


Plot-wise, I thought Frostbite was just as exciting as Vampire Academy, if not more so. The idea that strigoi will now have help in taking down moroi sets up other books well, and the events in Frostbite matured and effected Rose clearly as the story continued. All of the new characters (Tasha, Rose's mother...ADRIAN...).


Overall, I liked this book, but I think if I hadn't have read the Bloodlines series (and if I didn't have a best friend who really loves these books), I may not have carried on with this series. But I'm currently reading Shadow Kiss and enjoying it more, so hopefully I'll end up loving VA like I love Bloodlines!


Thanks for reading(:

Monday 9 March 2015

OTPs I ♥

So, I was planning on doing a book review for Frostbite, but I still haven't finished it. I don't know why it's taking me so long, but I'll hopefully have finished it by the weekend, with a review on Monday. Instead of that, then, I've decided to post nine of my favourite OTPs, because who doesn't love an OTP? These aren't in any order, as I couldn't bear to choose between them all!

1. Story-or Rory and Stephen from the Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson. Even though there is barely any real story moments in TSC, I still love them and really hope they work things out in the next Shades of London book.

2. Sydrian-Sydney and Adrian from the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead. Oh, these two! They are so wonderful together! I love the way they bring out the best in each other; Sydney helps Adrian deal with spirit and Adrian helps Sydney accept the changes in her life. And Silver Shadows and The Ruby Circle were filled with excellent sydrian moments.

3.Wessa-Will and Tessa from the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Now, this doesn't mean I dislike Jessa as a pairing; I just prefer Will and Tessa more. I love all of the scenes Will and Tessa have together, and they are definitely one of my favourite OTPs.

4. Anna & Etienne from Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Does anyone know if they have a pairing name, or do we just say Anna and Etienne? Anyway, the way their relationship develops in this book is beautiful and just makes me want to go to SOAP and make wishes on Point Zèro and kiss in Notre Dame. All of Stephanie Perkins' novels have the cute couples in, but Anna and Etienne are my favourite.

5. Zammie-or Zach and Cammie from the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. When Zach first appeared, I did not think I would love him and Cammie together as much as I do now, but I really think they work well as a couple, and the way Zach supports her.

6. Gwideon-Gwen and Gideon from the Precious Gemstone trilogy by Kerstin Gier.  I have to admit, I loathed Gideon in Sapphire Blue  for how he treated Gwen, but in Emerald Green he redeemed himself, and by the end of the book I thought they were really sweet together.

7.  Jevie-Jericho and Evie from the Diviners by Libba Bray. The Diviners is one of my favourite books ever, and I am so excited for Lair of Dreams to come out in July. Jevie are one of my OTPs, but I have a feeling that something will split them up in Lair of Dreams...it's worrying.

These last two aren't from a book, but they are from a TV show based on a series of books, which counts (right?). They are:

8.  Spoby-Spencer and Toby
And
9. Haleb-Hanna and Caleb
From one of my favourite TV shows, Pretty Little Liars. I love both of these couples, especially Spoby, but season 5 isn't looking good for one of them, which annoys me. A lot.

That was nine of my favourite OTPs! Are there any on the list you like? Which OTPs are your favourite? Let me know!
Thanks for reading(:

Sunday 1 March 2015

Hello!

Woo, my first blog post(:
Anyway, hi and welcome to my blog. Hopefully I'll be posting quite regularly about the books I read (which are almost all YA), and other book-related things.

To start off with, I thought I'd post some bookish facts about me:

1. I've never read the Harry Potter series-shocking I know! I've seen all the films and really like them, but never got round to reading them. However, I now own the first book, and I plan on reading it before the end of the year.

2. I currently own about 240 books-I say about because there were some I forgot to count,and far too many of them are on my TBR pile!

3. When I first read City of Bones, I didn't really like it-but now the Shadowhunter Chronicles are one of my favourite series!

4. The last book I finished was The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson-and it was excellent! I love the Shades of London series. Has anyone else read it?

5. I'm currently on an unsuccesful book-buying ban-it started in January, ended in February, and is now back on track...for now.

So, that's it for this post! Thanks for reading(: