Friday, September 2, 2016

August 2016 Wrap Up

Since I start University this month, I got as much read as I could in the month of August, since I know I won't be able to read as much as I used to.
This past month I read:
  • ★★★★☆.5     The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson
  • ★★★★☆.5     Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers
  • ★★★★☆.5     The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski
  • ★★★★☆.5     Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers
  • ★★★★☆        The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
  • ★★★★☆        The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski
  • ★★★★☆.5     Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3) by Robin LaFevers
  • ★★★★★        The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski
The first book I read this month was The Well of Ascension. I really enjoyed this book, and I felt that there was great development between Vin and Elend, as well as a lot of development from other characters throughout the story. The only reason this book wasn't an automatic five star read for me was that I've found that ever since a certain someone died in the first book (avoiding names because of spoilers) the group dynamic between the characters has seemed a bit forced and very off. They don't seem to mesh together as a group as well as they once did, and they seem to be forcing themselves to work as they one were, where it had originally seemed so easy to them. Other than that though, I absolutely loved this book. The battle and fight scenes were amazing, and the ending to this book was extremely unexpected, but in a good way.

Image result for grave mercy bookThe next book I read was Grave Mercy. I've seemed to be in a massive fantasy kick this month, so I figured I would give it a go. And I absolutely LOVED IT. The characters were amazing, the storyline was brilliant, and every single aspect of the story was so well thought out, from the convent to the back stories of the characters to the relationship between every single character. I also really liked how the author didn't force any of the relationships between the characters, especially between Ismae and Duval. Their relationship, as well as those between almost every other character in this book, seemed to flourish on their own, with no force put on by the author to make it seem like they needed to be together. Lately, I've found that a lot of authors will make it extremely obvious from the very beginning of a book (or a series) who will end up together in the end, and they make their connection strong and their relationship perfect. Those always seem forced to me. In this book, however, it seemed like the actual characters made all of the decisions, and the author was there to just write it down.

I then read The Winner's Curse as I waited to buy the rest of the Grave Mercy trilogy. I really enjoyed this book too, and I found that it deserved all of the hype that is given to it. The characters were very well thought out, the relationships between them were very well created, and the story line between all of the characters, especially Kestrel and Arin, was written perfectly. I also really enjoyed how the actual novel was written; the words flowed and the story line ran beautifully. Every single thing about this book was absolutely gorgeous.

The next book I read this month was Dark Triumph, the second book after Grave Mercy. I found that this book had a very slow beginning, and as I started reading this book I had a small dislike of Sybella. As I read, however, she slowly started to grow on me, and I found I enjoyed reading about her more and more. This book is a lot shorter than Grave Mercy is, but I found that I enjoyed it more, as I understood the world and how the characters lived due to the first book. The story line was perfectly lined up with the first book, but it also showed a whole different side to the story you learn about and follow in the first book. I really enjoyed how quickly the pace sped up as you continue to read this book, as once you have quickly recovered the world and the people in the story, you begin to delve deeper and faster into the main story line. This one I enjoyed about as equally as I did Grave Mercy.


The next book I read was The Walls Around Us, which was very different from the other books I had been reading this month. I really enjoyed how suspenseful this book was, as well as how different the characters were from what I had been reading this month. The stor
y line as well is so different from anything I have read, as it takes place in a detention center. I found that this book had a great ending, and I also feel like it was the perfect length, and written perfectly, for how the author had the story play out.

Image result for the winner's crime
I then read The Winner's Crime. I was not as much of a fan of this book as I was the first one, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I felt that this book was more of a filler book for the other two in this trilogy, and although I felt that because not many things happened action wise, a lot happened relationship wise. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book, because although I feel like it was a filler book, I also feel like the trilogy couldn't have worked without it. This particular book had a lot of problems for me, as a lot of parts dragged badly for me, but I was still kept interested because of how much I am invested in the characters. I found that there were too many problems within the book, and many of them were so small and unimportant that they could have easily been left out with no problems continuing on the trilogy as it already was, but other parts of this book were so important that I feel like they defined Kestrel and Arin's relationship, as well as the relationship of the countries they were in.

I then read Mortal Heart, the final book in the Grave Mercy trilogy. This book was fantastic in every possible way. Through reading this trilogy, I have always been fascinated by Mortain, who he was as a God and as a father, and we got to see him in a way that we never have before. I absolutely love his relationship with the girls (and one particular girl) of the convent, and how beautifully it was written and described. I loved how every single girls' story throughout this entire trilogy were perfectly wrapped up, and how every single lose end and problem was accounted for. The amount of problems that happened in this trilogy makes it seem unbelievable that it could have ended so perfectly and beautifully, but I couldn't imagine it ending any other way.

The next book I read was The Winner's Kiss, the third and final book in The Winner's Kiss trilogy. This book was everything the second one wasn't; it was intense, fast-paced, and action-filled. This story was the perfect way of ending the trilogy, and the ending between Kestrel and Arin couldn't have been any better. This book concluded the series, as being the last book, and also as being a way of ending the trilogy better than how the first one started it. There was so much growth and development in these books, not only from the characters, but from the countries and the setting itself.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

August 2016 Book Haul

I'm starting University this month (which I am SO excited for!) so I went massively overboard on book buying, since I won't really be able to buy many books other than textbooks for the next couple months.
In August I bought:
Image result for cursed child
Young adult:

  1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne
  2. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
  3. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
  4. Crater by Homer Hickam
  5. Changeling by Philippa Gregory
  6. The Walls Around Us
  7. Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers
  8. Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3) by Robin LaFevers
  9. Angelfall by Susan Ee
  10. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
  11. The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
  12. The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski
  13. The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski
Adult:
    Image result for darker shade of magic
  1. The Iron King by Maurice Druon
  2. Three Blind Mice & Other Stories by Agatha Christie
  3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
  4. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
  5. Night Film by Marisha Pessl
  6. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  7. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Classics:
  1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
  3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  4. To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
  5. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  6. The Lovecraft Compendium by H.P. Lovecraft