Book Review 34. Red Queen

Book: Red Queen
Series: Red Queen (#1)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Pages: 320
Published: February 10th, 2015

Synopsis: The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the center of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

“Once, I was afraid of these walls, frightened by such beauty. But I see the cracks now.” 

Book Review 33. Everything, Everything

Book: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Pages: 320
Published: September 1st, 2015

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

"There are entire worlds that exist just beneath our notice of them."

Book to Movie 2. The Book Thief

This is a new little series on this blog, where I read a book and watch the movie based on it, then review, compare, and contrast! This time I'm doing The Book Thief.

   

Book: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Pages: 550
Published: March 14th, 2006

Top Ten Tuesday. 10 Fairytale Retellings On My TBR

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week I'm telling you the 10 retellings of fairytales I most want to read! I was very flexible with what counts as a fairytale, since I included retellings of more recent novels like The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Wizard of Oz. Regardless, this is my list and I will write what I want. I also tried to only put down one retelling for each fairytale so this list didn't turn out to be 7 "Little Red Riding Hood" retellings or something.

Book Review 32. Ignite

Book: Ignite
Series: Ignite #1
Author: Erica Crouch
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Pages: 346
Published: June 11th, 2013

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Penemuel (Pen) fell from grace over a millennium ago, yet there are still times she questions her decision to follow her twin brother, Azael, to Hell. Now that the archangel Michael has returned, threatening Lucifer’s vie for the throne, she begins questioning everything she has always believed.
As Hell prepares for war - spreading a demonic virus and pilfering innocent souls to build an army - the lines separating the worlds blur. Fates erase and the future is left unwritten. Azael is determined that he and his sister will continue to serve as demons together, but for the first time in her life, Pen is not ruled by destiny. She has the freedom of choice.
With choice comes sacrifice, and Pen must decide which side she’s willing to risk everything fighting for: the light, or the dark.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Being good is hard. It takes a conscious effort to do the right thing, especially when doing the wrong thing is so simple."

Book Review 31. Mary Hades

Book: Mary Hades
Series: Mary Hades #1
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Pages: 286
Published: May 4th, 2014

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.
Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…
Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.
Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?
The first in a series of dark YA novels, Mary Hades follows on from the bestselling Kindle Single 'My Daylight Monsters'. A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Where does the story end? That's what it's all about. It's what we all want to know."

Book Review 30. Every Last Word

Book: Every Last Word
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 368
Published: June 16th, 2015

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"It wasn’t enough. But they heard every last word."

That's All Folks 1. Hippies and Debate Class

Inspired by the blog The Daily Prophecy, That's All Folks is a new series of posts where I'll give short reviews on books I want to review but don't have enough content to write a full review for.

Tag 1. Disney Book Tag

1. The Little Mermaid (character who is out of their element, a “fish out of water”)

Recently I read I'll Give You the Sun, and I have to pick Jude from it! She goes to an art school where she doesn't have any friends, and she doesn't have a very strong passion for art. She feels like she's literally haunted, and makes no effort to fit in. I could also include her twin brother, Noah, for this one. I didn;t though because he has issues being an outsider during his early teen years since he's a quiet and gay, he fits in once he gets to high school. Plus, I like Jude better.

Book Review 29. Cress

Book: Cress
Series: The Lunar Chronicles (#3)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Pages: 550
Published: February 4th, 2014

Synopsis: In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"You can help me pick out a tiara when we’re done saving the world.”