If you missed what I was reading last month, worry not! You can find my April Wrap Up here, and if you want to find a little something for yourself, I put together a list of stand alones you might be interested in. Let's get into the books!
Stats:
- Books Read: 9
- Genre:
- Fantasy: 6
- Contemporary: 1
- Non-fiction: 2
- Page Count: 3,378
Books:
The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
Julie Kagawa strikes again! Yes, I read two Julie Kagawa books in a row, bite me. (Get it? Because dragons and vampires are both known for their bite??? I'm not funny.) Since this is a sequel, and it's been a year and a half since I read the first book, I had some trouble remembering the events from The Immortal Rules but Kagawa did a great job up gradually bringing me up to speed as to avoid an info dump. The Blood of Eden series is set in a world where vampires control the cities and humans, who are considered the vampires' "bloodbags," understandably do not like them very much. So much so that people are willing to live on the fringes of the city, unregistered, to avoid having to answer to the Prince of the city. Their so-called freedom costs them a steady food source and protection from rabids, failed vampires, and other roaming vampires. The plot of the first part of the book mainly consists of Allison going on a journey to free her master from his captor. One of the obstacles they run into, however, is a new strain of the virus that wiped out a lot of the human population many years ago called the Red Lung. The catch is that now it affects both humans and vampires. With everybody at risk, it's a race against time to find the cure and get everyone safe. There's lot of action and plot twists and humor and just wow. The world and the characters are well developed and there's just enough romance to keep me sated. I'm eager to find out what happens next and I'm definitely hoping to get to The Forever Song sometime this year.
Zeke's Letter to Allie by Julie Kagawa
This is "book" 2.5 in the Blood of Eden series and it's literally a one page PDF (with no cover, unfortunately) that's linked in the blurb of its Goodreads page. This single page took me on a emotional roller coaster ride, mainly because I know the events that follow the completion of this letter. All I want to do is hold Zeke as close to my heart as physically possible. Everything hurts. There's something about people, guys especially, writing letters to express their feelings. They're particularly touching when they don't think anybody is going to read it. Excuse me while I cry the pain away. (I feel like this is cheating but hey, if it works for Goodreads, it works for me.)
Girl Online by Zoe Sugg
This book was problematic (insta-love, mostly, but the scenarios were very unrealistic) but for what it is, it isn't bad. I love Zoella and I could see a lot of her life reflected in the themes of this book. Despite how unrealistically dramatic this book was, I couldn't help but get attached to Penny's charming clumsiness. I also loved Bella and Sadie Lee but Elliot was unnecessarily butthurt and immature for too much of this book. Definitely could've done without that. One of the little details that kept nagging me was the age difference between Penny and Noah. Noah is eighteen, which is fine and dandy, until we find out Penny is fifteen?! In the grand scheme of things, three years isn't that big a gap, but it is especially significant during these teenage years. Whenever their attraction to each other was described I was swept into their dreamy fairy tale until I remembered their age gap and I couldn't help but feeling grossed out. The way Penny was written she seemed a lot older than fifteen in this book but fifteen is fifteen. I think Taylor Swift illustrates how Penny should look back on the events in this book nicely. Don't let my rant turn you away from this book, though. It's a good first effort on Zoe's part and if you ever need to up your Goodreads book count, this is a quick, fluffy read that'll leave you feeling warm and fuzzy (and, surprisingly, very invested in Penny) on the inside.
An Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
I am still processing this book. Wow. So good. I was shocked when I found out this book is a stand alone because the end set it up so well for a sequel. I guess that one loose end (there were at least two, actually) is left to the reader's interpretation. This fact should not turn you away from this book, though! (On May 18th, it was announced that there will, in fact, be a sequel to An Ember In the Ashes! (Thank goodness because I was trying my best to put a good spin on it and I just couldn't do it.)) There are complex relationships and complicated characters and the world is based off Ancient Rome. Personally, that was the detail that piqued my interest in the first place. There are two main characters in this book. Laia, the slave, and Elias, the soldier. But like all protagonists, they aren't like the others. Laia is a freewoman posing as a slave to spy for the Resistance and Elias has no intention of serving the Empire. An Ember In the Ashes was full of great storytelling and it had a map at the front AND back. I did have a little trouble catching on to the history of the Empire (and while I was reading, I figured that was fine since I had at least two more books to learn about this world before it would be cruelly taken away from me (I was wrong) (I was only half wrong)) but Tahir slipped some of the details into the reading experience. Speaking of the reading experience, a lot of the time I know the book I'm reading is just a story so when the stakes are high, it doesn't really get to me. This book was a whole 'nother story. The emotions I felt were so strong and intense that I actually had a hard time falling asleep after I put my book down. I could go on about the characters and the relationships and the cover (I seriously find something new every time I look at it) but I have a feeling this portion of the book talk is going to be the lengthiest of them all. To wrap up An Ember In the Ashes, I would recommend this book to almost anyone who loves getting lost in a good fantasy novel. I say almost because, fair (possibly trigger) warning, there are many mentions rape (although it never happens to any of the characters) so if that bothers you or that's a sensitive topic for you, it's probably best if you take a pass on this one.
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
I am not sure how I want to put this book into words. All I want to do is talk spoilers but I don't want to ruin the fun for you guys. I actually read this one so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to update the "currently reading" portion my Tumblr description. Red Queen is the first installment in a duology and while it doesn't include a map, it is still a great fantasy novel. The way the world is described in the blurb, it makes it sound like there are Reds, who are ordinary people with red blood, and Silvers, people with magic that have silver blood. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered these "powers" were more akin to the Mutants in X-Men. There were twists and turns that caught me way off guard but the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that if I had read this slower, I would have caught on to the biggest plot twist. Since I didn't, I find myself clenching my fists as if I were clutching a steering wheel as I stare into the distance. This book changed me. This world is really cool (if you're a Silver) and all I wanted to do after finishing this book was test myself to see if I had powers as well. (Allison and Emily know all about that.) I have to say that the best part might have been the epic showdown at the end. That's really all I'm looking for in a book with Mutant-like powers.
Rogue by Julie Kagawa
The Natural History of Puget Sound Country by Arthur R. Kruckeberg
This is the textbook fro my 50 Shades of Green (aka environmental science) class this quarter. The chapters were really long but there were a lot of pictures and charts and the font was pretty big so it wasn't that bad. I still didn't really enjoy reading it though. It felt a little bit like, throughout the chapter, the same points were being reiterated. Maybe I'm just dense when it comes to environmental science. This wasn't the best textbook and I "read" a lot of it (aka let my eyes glaze over and looked at the words) but I did like that the focus was on the Puget Sound area. It was very informative to say the least. Film: A Critical Introduction by Maria Pramaggiore & Tom Wallis
Another textbook I had to read this quarter, and while it wasn't the most exciting read, I did learn a lot. It gave me a new perspective on film that I hadn't thought to explore before. Granted, that probably would've happened anyway even without this textbook since I'm taking a film studies class. I loved that this book was chock full of examples from both older and more recent films so I could get a good grasp of the concepts and techniques associated with cinema. However, that territory does come with spoilers. Thankfully, the spoilers were for films that I probably would never watch on my own and if they were, it was my own fault for not having seen them yet. The mentions of X-Men (at least twice) and various Disney movies definitely bumped up my enjoyment of this textbook. It was weirdly rewarding when I understood a reference or could pinpoint what the author was talking about in a movie I'd actually seen.
The Heir by Kiera Cass
Man, was I anticipating the release of this book. I am happy to announce that it was well worth the wait. I sped through it because it was just so addicting. My favorite aspect of the book probably was Eadlyn's relationship with brothers. It made the ending so much more painful. Eadlyn can be difficult (resistant to change and closed off) but I see a lot of myself in her.I can totally see why some people wouldn't like her, and while I don't love her (probably because she's similar enough to me), I really can't hate her either (for the same reason). She's very different from her mother, which is a refreshing change. While some might see her as selfish and stubborn (which she is), she also knows what she wants and doesn't apologize to anybody for it. Some people may describe her as bratty at times but I think that's to be expected of a girl who has three brothers and is expected to be queen. It isn't as Selection-y as I expected but we got a lot of character development for the boys instead and I think I prefer it that way. Henri, from Swendway, and Erik, Henri's translator, immediately captured my heart. You know how much I love my Scandinavians. Hale and Kile have also charmed their ways into my heart. Ean is a little sketchy but I'll go with it for now. I am dying on the inside because I oh so desperately need the final book. Then again, do I really want it to end...? (Oh, if you wanted to know anything about the plot, it's basically Princess Eadlyn, daughter of King Maxon and Queen America (protagonists of the first three books in the Selection series), is forced to host a Selection of her own. Chaos ensues.)
I actually had to slow my roll come the end of the month because I already had so many books to write about and I was starting to overwhelm myself. Who knew I'd have that problem based on my reading performance thus far?! Have you read any of the books I've talked about in this Wrap Up? If you have, let me know what you thought! I'd also love to hear about what you've been reading this past month. If you want to keep up with what I'm reading in real time, add me as a friend on Goodreads!
Heads up for Sunday, the final #hairoftheweek for Spring 2015 will be posted and by that time, voting will have been opened. It actually opens the moment I post the #hairoftheweek on Instagram so be sure to follow me there if you want to get your vote in as soon as possible. When the Spring 2015 Recap is posted (June 10th at 4:00pm PDT), voting will be open for only three more hours so you have to act fast!
Talk to you soon!
Now I'm gonna listen to Fifteen and cry for a little while. Thanks bae <3
ReplyDeleteAnytime.
DeleteFor the stats part in the beginning, you need a line that says "Books by Julie Kagawa: 3". Also, An Ember in the Ashes does have a really cool cover.
ReplyDeleteYES. She should just have her own genre or something. An Ember in the Ashes has the kind of cover that you can judge the contents of the book by.
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