Review: Wicked by Jennifer L Armentrout

Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely adore Jennifer Armentrout's books. They have a way of just making themselves home in your head and living there, completely consuming all of your thoughts. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE PARANORMAL ASPECT IN WICKED!!!! Not going to lie, it is probably partially just because I love these creatures in general, but still. I freaked the heck out when I realized what we were dealing with here. I'm going to go straight into a spoiler section because I can't stop spazz-ing about this one, but I would recommend this to everyone (of a mature age) who loves paranormal, New Orleans :), or Jennifer's books in general.


 SPOILERS AHEAD
THEY ARE DEALING WITH FAE!!!! DO YOU PEOPLE REALIZE HOW MUCH I LOVE THOSE CREATURES????!?!?!!!! I totally went crazy when I read that those were the things they were hunting. And I'm not going to lie, I was hoping that the love interest was going to be fae (the Orlando Bloom description...LOVE LOVE LOVE)..... but. Ren. He's pretty amazing too, even though he's not a supernatural being. He is however, quite special in his own little way, with the whole I'm-in-a-secret-society-within-a-secret-society thing. I actually really loved the dynamic that was between Ren and Ivy. It just seemed extremely real to me because of Ivy's past and how she reacted to being in another relationship for the first time after all of that happened. And Ren's reaction to Ivy's freaking out was also just incredibly real to me, with how he was kind of pissed and demanded an answer. 10 out of 10 for realism.

There was also, I felt, a lot of action in this one. They didn't necessarily interact with the fae as much as I wished they would have, but they were always doing something, or there was something else progressing or developing. And the fighting seemed pretty cool. In the beginning when the fae just pulled out a gun, I loved Ivy's "Oh ****" reaction. And it took me longer than usual to figure out the betrayal, which I appreciated. Jennifer just did a really good job keeping so many character's suspicious to me with their unknown actions and motives. Ultimately, I did figure out that it was going to be Val, and I was slightly annoyed how Ivy just doesn't grasp this concept, but I'm thinking (hoping) that it gets developed more later. With this, I really, REALLY hope that we get to interact with the fae more. Especially that fae prince. ;) He was going to spare her without knowing that she was a halfling. Motive=bit of humanity??

TINK. He gets his own paragraph. I absolutely adored this little brownie. He's sassy, funny, and he is like the best annoying roommate anybody could have. He is supportive of Ivy, was ready to kick serious butt for her, and is also (now) even more vital to everything than he originally was. I want him to have a little brownie friend.

Sadly, there were a few things that I was like "eeehhhhhh.......". The primary one being the character traits within this story. I've read quite a few of Jennifer Armentrout's book by this point, and I hate to say this, but I feel like a repetition is coming up for her characters. Their traits, lines, and personalities are starting to all look really similar. Don't get me wrong, they are usually really strong, sassy, and have hilarious statements. But after reading a few books with this, I think I would like to see some more diversity. The other thing is the ending. I was not surprised at all with her discovering that she's a halfling. Like- at all. I'm honestly not even that worried about it..... watch her die now, but still. I'm just kinda blase about that situation, I think, because I was expecting it.
SPOILERS OVER
 
[
THEY ARE DEALING WITH FAE!!!! DO YOU PEOPLE REALIZE HOW MUCH I LOVE THOSE CREATURES????!?!?!!!! I totally went crazy when I read that those were the things they were hunting. And I'm not going to lie, I was hoping that the love interest was going to be fae (the Orlando Bloom description...LOVE LOVE LOVE)..... but. Ren. He's pretty amazing too, even though he's not a supernatural being. He is however, quite special in his own little way, with the whole I'm-in-a-secret-society-within-a-secret-society thing. I actually really loved the dynamic that was between Ren and Ivy. It just seemed extremely real to me because of Ivy's past and how she reacted to being in another relationship for the first time after all of that happened. And Ren's reaction to Ivy's freaking out was also just incredibly real to me, with how he was kind of pissed and demanded an answer. 10 out of 10 for realism.
There was also, I felt, a lot of action in this one. They didn't necessarily interact with the fae as much as I wished they would have, but they were always doing something, or there was something else progressing or developing. And the fighting seemed pretty cool. In the beginning when the fae just pulled out a gun, I loved Ivy's "Oh ****" reaction. And it took me longer than usual to figure out the betrayal, which I appreciated. Jennifer just did a really good job keeping so many character's suspicious to me with their unknown actions and motives. Ultimately, I did figure out that it was going to be Val, and I was slightly annoyed how Ivy just doesn't grasp this concept, but I'm thinking (hoping) that it gets developed more later. With this, I really, REALLY hope that we get to interact with the fae more. Especially that fae prince. ;) He was going to spare her without knowing that she was a halfling. Motive=bit of humanity??
TINK. He gets his own paragraph. I absolutely adored this little brownie. He's sassy, funny, and he is like the best annoying roommate anybody could have. He is supportive of Ivy, was ready to kick serious butt for her, and is also (now) even more vital to everything than he originally was. I want him to have a little brownie friend.
Sadly, there were a few things that I was like "eeehhhhhh.......". The primary one being the character traits within this story. I've read quite a few of Jennifer Armentrout's book by this point, and I hate to say this, but I feel like a repetition is coming up for her characters. Their traits, lines, and personalities are starting to all look really similar. Don't get me wrong, they are usually really strong, sassy, and have hilarious statements. But after reading a few books with this, I think I would like to see some more diversity. The other thing is the ending. I was not surprised at all with her discovering that she's a halfling. Like- at all. I'm honestly not even that worried about it..... watch her die now, but still. I'm just kinda blase about that situation, I think, because I was expecting it.
(hide spoiler)] Jennifer Armentrout's books will make you laugh out loud and simultaneously make you worry about the fate of the story and the world that she has created.Thanks for reading!

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Review: A Shade of Blood

A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest

Book Review 

4 of 5 stars

Finally got to finish reading this!!!! Long story short- A friend was letting me read her copy, then stopped letting me read her copy. But I found another one so I was able to start over and read it all!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!! The beginning was slightly slow, but then things picked right back up and all was good. Well, good reading at least. ;) I would definitely recommend this one and I'm hoping (fingers crossed) to finish the series. There's quite a few of them though, so it may take me awhile.....
Seriously though guys, there's a lot of them.
The world that Bella Forrest has created with this series, even with the first two books alone, has completely captivated and intrigued me. I am definitely looking forward to the other books.
Because also.... Derek Novak.......

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Me Before You Book Review WITH SPOILERS

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Book Review

5 our of 5 Stars

SPOILERS AHEAD

I can truly say that this book has impacted me in a way that very few books have. Not only does Jojo Moyes write in a style that keeps you awake and wanting more, the story she weaves in this book is simply enchanting and is somehow both a completely unique situation and yet totally relatable in other aspects of it. I don't want to say much more, because I was lucky enough to not have been spoiled by anything, for anything, and I really think the experience was amazing. So, everything else will be spoiler-y :) Warning- it's quite long. 

To be completely honest, I'm wasn't sure how to start this review, because in just over 350 pages, the author was able to create an incredibly full story with so many different layers and themes to it. However, I think this worked out well, going over the formatting of the book, the relationship between Will and Lou and the morality of euthanasia, my few complaints, the familial connections running through it, and then finally, the title and what I think may be one of the most important lessons that this book teaches its readers.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the layout of the book. I don't think anyone can argue that Jojo Moyes is a brilliant writer, but at first when the POV switched, I wasn't sure if it was the best. Based on the tone of the book, I had been thinking that it might have been better to keep it with one character so that we could feel more connected to them, but this actually worked out really well because we got to see a few other perspectives.

I am an absolute sucker for a good ship. ;) Of course I wanted Lou and Will to be together. They were able to connect on a level of true understanding and companionship that everything became so natural for them. I also really loved the impact that they had on each other, with Lou making Will's life so much better and him encouraging her to live hers. With this relationship though, we saw two different views on the notion of Will taking his own life. Previous to reading this, I was like Lou: I was absolutely against the idea of assisted suicide, for anybody. After reading it though, and seeing it through Will's perspective, it has made me look at those values again and think things over. I still don't have a solid opinion on the topic yet, and I don't know if I ever will again. But I do know that because of this, I was forced to think, "Who am I to determine the quality of somebody else's life?" Now, clearly, there are so many moral themes running through this, and I think that it is so hard to form an opinion on it, partially because everything is so circumstantial, especially today with all of the medical advances. I don't think the phrase "playing God" only refers to the taking of life anymore, but also the extending of it.

There were two things that I was not a huge fan of. The first being that there were a few moments that reminded me of TFIOS. That in itself isn't actually a complaint against the book, just against the connections I made between them. The other one was Treena's chapter. She is a really interesting character, but I think in that part of the book that she was narrating, I would have liked to know Lou's POV instead.

Lou's family is in and out of the story and a direct part of it the entire time. We see them interacting everyday and I really like how it showed the sacrifices that they were making for each other. Not every family is perfect, but they are still family, and the story did a really good job of portraying that, both in Lou's family and Will's. I especially loved the relationship between Lou and her sister because it is so realistic. Sisters are a pain, and they are constantly at each other's throats and vying for attention, but they also will always have each other's backs. They fight and argue with each other, but they also fight and argue for each other.

The title was a puzzle to me for the longest time. Halfway through the book, I though it meant that the two main characters put themselves at a disadvantage first before others so that they can do whatever they can for those other people. I suppose in a way that they do, but by the end of the book I realized what the title meant. "Me Before You" is a way to point out the evolution of the two characters and the profound impact that they had on each other in such a short amount of time. In the beginning, Will was horrible and depressed, but by the end of the book, Louisa has gotten him to travel again and laugh and see some of the good around him. He dies a happier person. Before she met Will, Louisa was perfectly content living in her small village with a boyfriend that was safe(?) and ordinary. She didn't seek out any thrills or life experiences and had no major plans or goals for her life. Within those six months though, she is completely changed. Will convinces her to take advantage of her life and to truly live it to the fullest. He tells her that it was her duty to life to fill it up. I love that. These two people only know each other for a short span of time, and yet they have completely changed the other for the better.

Of course, I probably missed something, or have stepped on somebody's toes, but all I can do is beg people to read the book for themselves because my head is still spinning, hence the crazy review.

Thanks for reading!

Review: Me Before You NO SPOILERS

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spoiler Free 

I can truly say that this book has impacted me in a way that very few books have. Not only does Jojo Moyes write in a style that keeps you awake and wanting more, the story she weaves in this book is simply enchanting and is somehow both a completely unique situation and yet totally relatable in other aspects of it. I don't want to say much more, because I was lucky enough to not have been spoiled by anything, for anything, and I really think the experience was amazing. I implore people to read this. The movie is coming out soon- close to the summer I believe- and I think you should pick up the book before the movie. :)

[
To be completely honest, I'm wasn't sure how to start this review, because in just over 350 pages, the author was able to create an incredibly full story with so many different layers and themes to it. However, I think this worked out well, going over the formatting of the book, the relationship between Will and Lou and the morality of euthanasia, my few complaints, the familial connections running through it, and then finally, the title and what I think may be one of the most important lessons that this book teaches its readers.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the layout of the book. I don't think anyone can argue that Jojo Moyes is a brilliant writer, but at first when the POV switched, I wasn't sure if it was the best. Based on the tone of the book, I had been thinking that it might have been better to keep it with one character so that we could feel more connected to them, but this actually worked out really well because we got to see a few other perspectives.
I am an absolute sucker for a good ship. ;) Of course I wanted Lou and Will to be together. They were able to connect on a level of true understanding and companionship that everything became so natural for them. I also really loved the impact that they had on each other, with Lou making Will's life so much better and him encouraging her to live hers. With this relationship though, we saw two different views on the notion of Will taking his own life. Previous to reading this, I was like Lou: I was absolutely against the idea of assisted suicide, for anybody. After reading it though, and seeing it through Will's perspective, it has made me look at those values again and think things over. I still don't have a solid opinion on the topic yet, and I don't know if I ever will again. But I do know that because of this, I was forced to think, "Who am I to determine the quality of somebody else's life?" Now, clearly, there are so many moral themes running through this, and I think that it is so hard to form an opinion on it, partially because everything is so circumstantial, especially today with all of the medical advances. I don't think the phrase "playing God" only refers to the taking of life anymore, but also the extending of it.
There were two things that I was not a huge fan of. The first being that there were a few moments that reminded me of TFIOS. That in itself isn't actually a complaint against the book, just against the connections I made between them. The other one was Treena's chapter. She is a really interesting character, but I think in that part of the book that she was narrating, I would have liked to know Lou's POV instead.
Lou's family is in and out of the story and a direct part of it the entire time. We see them interacting everyday and I really like how it showed the sacrifices that they were making for each other. Not every family is perfect, but they are still family, and the story did a really good job of portraying that, both in Lou's family and Will's. I especially loved the relationship between Lou and her sister because it is so realistic. Sisters are a pain, and they are constantly at each other's throats and vying for attention, but they also will always have each other's backs. They fight and argue with each other, but they also fight and argue for each other.
The title was a puzzle to me for the longest time. Halfway through the book, I though it meant that the two main characters put themselves at a disadvantage first before others so that they can do whatever they can for those other people. I suppose in a way that they do, but by the end of the book I realized what the title meant. "Me Before You" is a way to point out the evolution of the two characters and the profound impact that they had on each other in such a short amount of time. In the beginning, Will was horrible and depressed, but by the end of the book, Louisa has gotten him to travel again and laugh and see some of the good around him. He dies a happier person. Before she met Will, Louisa was perfectly content living in her small village with a boyfriend that was safe(?) and ordinary. She didn't seek out any thrills or life experiences and had no major plans or goals for her life. Within those six months though, she is completely changed. Will convinces her to take advantage of her life and to truly live it to the fullest. He tells her that it was her duty to life to fill it up. I love that. These two people only know each other for a short span of time, and yet they have completely changed the other for the better.

Of course, I probably missed something, or have stepped on somebody's toes, but all I can do is beg people to read the book for themselves because my head is still spinning, hence the crazy review.
(hide spoiler)]

Thanks for reading!

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Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As far as novellas go, this one was different in that the series's main characters were not the main characters of the novella, which I though was really interesting. This is the story, or the vampire story, of Bree Tanner, the minor minor character that we meet in Eclipse. It gives insight to the newbloods that are in book 3 and I thought that it was really interesting to see how they were raised and what they were told, and how that affected their lifestyle and their ideals. The thing I like most about this book is that I started to wonder, how do you know when you have a mate? With the exception of Bella and Edward, most of these vampires and their mates meet when they are already in their second life, right? So it there like a certain way to tell whether you found a mate? Do they have to last for forever? Or can you like "break-up" with your mate if things don't end up well? I'm curious.... Anyway, the novella was good. A bit longer than what I'm used too, but I thing this length worked for it because we had to get to know a whole new lot of characters. Thanks for reading!

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Breaking Dawn Book Review WITH SPOILERS

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Book Review

4.48 Stars out of 5

WITH SPOILERS

I'm not really sure why, but it took me a really, really long time to finish this one. It was good- a nice ending- but it took me longer than I expected to finish it. I think maybe it dragged a little bit too long with the middle part and towards the end, some parts just seemed unnecessary and others seemed like they were placed very conveniently to make a nice little bow for the end. The plot in this one was my favorite out of all the books. I just felt like there more happening and an actual cohesive point and purpose behind the story that was driving it. The characters are rounded out nicely and were given very nice finishing touches. One of the things I really like about this one, is that we meet so many new vampires from so many different areas. It is no longer just the Cullens and the Volturi, and that just added in another really interesting element.



When I first opened the book and I saw "Book One", I was sooooo confused. But then I flipped ahead to the title page for "Book Two" and saw "Jacob" underneath, and I got so excited. I loved that kid- he is easily my favorite character in the entire series. Like I already stated, I thought the middle part dragged out a bit. It is in Jake's POV, but the pregnancy just didn't seem to end, which is ironic because it was shorter than normal pregnancies. But then Jake IMPRINTED on Renesmee and I just thought, "I'm pretty sure that was the entire point of Bella getting pregnant: sink one ship by giving Jake another ship".

 At then end, we meet all these vampires, I think it is so convenient that Eleazar can predict extra powers. And that Bella happened to be a shield. But, it did work out very nicely for the story, and I liked the ending. The one biggest complaint that I had is that nobody fought! I watched the movie first (*sad face*) so I was expecting it to be like the movie, foolish me. BUT I STILL WOULD HAVE REALLY LIKED A FIGHT SCENE! Seriously, there is literally just tension, then more tension, then angst on top of even MORE tension, and it all is resolved so peacefully without anyone having to move from their side of the battlefield. It was really diplomatic, and I just wished there were even a few sassy comments thrown in before it was all resolved.

Thanks for reading! Go pick up the books!!!

Review: Breaking Dawn WITHOUT SPOILERS

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not really sure why, but it took me a really, really long time to finish this one. It was good- a nice ending- but it took me longer than I expected to finish it. I think maybe it dragged a little bit too long with the middle part and towards the end, some parts just seemed unnecessary and others seemed like they were placed very conveniently to make a nice little bow for the end. The plot in this one was my favorite out of all the books. I just felt like there more happening and an actual cohesive point and purpose behind the story that was driving it. The characters are rounded out nicely and were given very nice finishing touches. One of the things I really like about this one, is that we meet so many new vampires from so many different areas. It is no longer just the Cullens and the Volturi, and that just added in another really interesting element.  
[
When I first opened the book and I saw "Book One", I was sooooo confused. But then I flipped ahead to the title page for "Book Two" and saw "Jacob" underneath, and I got so excited. I loved that kid- he is easily my favorite character in the entire series. Like I already stated, I thought the middle part dragged out a bit. It is in Jake's POV, but the pregnancy just didn't seem to end, which is ironic because it was shorter than normal pregnancies. But then Jake IMPRINTED on Renesmee and I just thought, "I'm pretty sure that was the entire point of Bella getting pregnant: sink one ship by giving Jake another ship". At then end, we meet all these vampires, I think it is so convenient that Eleazar can predict extra powers. And that Bella happened to be a shield. But, it did work out very nicely for the story, and I liked the ending. The one biggest complaint that I had is that nobody fought! I watched the movie first (*sad face*) so I was expecting it to be like the movie, foolish me. BUT I STILL WOULD HAVE REALLY LIKED A FIGHT SCENE! Seriously, there is literally just tension, then more tension, then angst on top of even MORE tension, and it all is resolved so peacefully without anyone having to move from their side of the battlefield. It was really diplomatic, and I just wished there were even a few sassy comments thrown in before it was all resolved.
(hide spoiler)]
Thanks for reading! Go pick up the books!!!


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