Currently reading:The Maelstrom
Pages read: The Maelstrom- 18 pages
Mini-challenges: 1:Book Pairings hosted by My Overstuffed Shelves, tweeted
Comments on posts:1
New blogs: 1 My Overstuffed Shelves
Participated in the Twitter chat!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Bout of Books Update Day 3
Currently reading:The Maelstrom
Pages read: The Maelstrom- 18 pages
Mini-challenges: 1:Book Pairings hosted by My Overstuffed Shelves, tweeted
Comments on posts:1
New blogs: 1 My Overstuffed Shelves
Participated in the Twitter chat!
Bout of Books 10 Update Day 2
Currently reading: The Maelstrom, If I Should Die, Angels in the Dark
Pages read: The Maelstrom- 28 pages, If I Should Die- 14 pages, one short story in Angels in the Dark
I did not take half of my allergy/sinus medicine today and paid the price. I had a bad sinus headache and could barely read anything for most of the night. Work was pretty busy and I had my last elementary school visit of the school year, which was a little sad. However I usually see several of those kids during the summer, so it was not as sad as when I last visit with other schools. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better reading day, but I may have to sit in on board meeting, so a little less time to read.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Bout of Books 10 Update Day 1
Currently reading: The Maelstrom, If I Should Die, Angels in the Dark
Pages read: The Maelstrom- 12 pages, If I Should Die- 27 pages, one short story in Angels in the Dark
Mini-challenges: 1: If you like X, try Y hosted by the Book Barbies
Comments on posts: 2
New blogs: 0
I went on one of my last school visit for this school year today. It is always kind of sad, but hopefully I will see several of the students at the library during the summer, especially during Summer Reading. I almost killed a turtle this morning. I pulled out of my garage and was waiting for the door to finish closing, because I am always paranoid it is going to shoot back up, when I looked up and saw a turtle a few inches away from the tracks where my tire had just been. His head and feet were out, so I just knew I had run over him, but when I checked, he just looked at me and went slowly on his way. I really like turtles, so I was glad he was okay. Reading went okay today too. I did not have much time to read, but I manage to get a few pages in. Hope you all had productive days!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Bout of Books 10 Goals and Reading List
I would love to finish at least 2 books or at least 500 pages for this read-a-thon. I am slowly starting to read and finish books again, so I hope I can meet the reading goal. I also want to do at least 2 mini-challenges and comment on 10 bloggers' posts and maybe find 2 or 3 new blogs to follow.
Now for the reading list:
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Perfect Lies by Kiersten White
The Maelstrom by Henry Neff (book and audio)
The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels and Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond
Illuminated by Erica Orloff
The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman
Girl with the Windup Heart by Kady Cross (in e-ARC and not pictured)
If I Should Die by Amy Plum
Novellas: (ebooks)
Angel in the Dark by Lauren Kate
Spartan Frost by Jennifer Estep
Good luck to everyone participating and I can't wait for the read-a-thon to start!
Cruel Beauty and Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge
Cruel Beauty was my Random Read pick for March and I decided to review the novella Gilded Ashes with the review of Cruel Beauty. Hodge sets both stories in the world of Arcadia, a world ruled by the Gentle Lord and his demons. I received Cruel Beauty free from HarperCollins imprint: Balzer +Bray as an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love the covers of both of these!
Gilded Ashes takes place before Cruel Beauty and is a twist on Cinderella. Maia's mother bargained with the Gentle Lord to always be around to protect her daughter. Her wish, as all the Gentle Lord's bargains are, is twisted and she is little more than a ghost who uses demons to "protect" her daughter. Maia tries to not get close to anyone including her stepmother and two stepsisters, so that no one else will become a victim to the demons. When her stepsister makes her deliver letters to the Duke's son Anax, Maia and Anax began to fall for each other. Maia will do anything to protect those around her, including give up her own happiness.
This was a great novella just the right size to care about the characters and short enough to be a quick read. I loved Maia's character and her willingness to protect those she loves. She also makes a very wise choice in the end.
Favorite Quote: "'Love is madness,' I say. 'Doesn't everyone agree that you'd do anything, endure anything to be with the ones you love?"
Cruel Beauty is a twist on the story of Beauty and the Beast. Nyx knows her one purpose in life is to free Arcadia from the Gentle Lord. She is forced to become his bride by her father's foolish bargaining and trained by her father and others who want the downfall of the Gentle Lord. She is trained to destroy the Gentle Lord and his labyrinth of a house. She knows that means doing all her wifely duties while scheming to lock him and herself in the collapsing house. However things don't work the way they are supposed to and Nyx ends up befriending Shade, who is the shadow of the Gentle Lord. Nyx realizes Shade is a prisoner like herself and begins to fall for him. Her feelings are complicated by the Gentle Lord coming to her rescue one night and she suddenly sees that he may too be a prisoner to the Fates. Nyx must decide if destroying the Gentle Lord and saving Arcadia is her true destiny or if she can save everyone without destroying her own heart.
This was a wonderful twist on Beauty and the Beast and I enjoyed it very much. The path of love is often rocky and Nyx and her love definitely have to suffer throughout their journey. I love Hodge's writing style which is perfect for twisted fairytales. She is very descriptive and gives her characters the old world style of fairytales but makes them current enough to appeal to a modern audience. Lovely is the best word to describe her style.
Favorite Character: Nyx. She is perfectly flawed. Stubborn, loyal, angry, and loving. She is not a sweet princess character, but the strong heroine.
Favorite Quote: "But you know what you are, and what you deserve. You lie to me but not to yourself. That's why I love you." "I wanted to hit him again and I wanted to cry. Most of all, I wanted to forget my mission and lose myself in the embrace of the one person who had ever seen my heart and claimed to love me after."
This is a perfect love story of two people who are perfectly flawed, but love each other flaws and all. The end was a bit different and confusing at first, but it fits with the story. A beautiful retelling.
Both of these are definitely 5 cups of cocoa! I can't wait to read more by this author and I am excited that her next retellings based on Romeo and Juliet are in the works!
I love the covers of both of these!
Gilded Ashes takes place before Cruel Beauty and is a twist on Cinderella. Maia's mother bargained with the Gentle Lord to always be around to protect her daughter. Her wish, as all the Gentle Lord's bargains are, is twisted and she is little more than a ghost who uses demons to "protect" her daughter. Maia tries to not get close to anyone including her stepmother and two stepsisters, so that no one else will become a victim to the demons. When her stepsister makes her deliver letters to the Duke's son Anax, Maia and Anax began to fall for each other. Maia will do anything to protect those around her, including give up her own happiness.
This was a great novella just the right size to care about the characters and short enough to be a quick read. I loved Maia's character and her willingness to protect those she loves. She also makes a very wise choice in the end.
Favorite Quote: "'Love is madness,' I say. 'Doesn't everyone agree that you'd do anything, endure anything to be with the ones you love?"
Cruel Beauty is a twist on the story of Beauty and the Beast. Nyx knows her one purpose in life is to free Arcadia from the Gentle Lord. She is forced to become his bride by her father's foolish bargaining and trained by her father and others who want the downfall of the Gentle Lord. She is trained to destroy the Gentle Lord and his labyrinth of a house. She knows that means doing all her wifely duties while scheming to lock him and herself in the collapsing house. However things don't work the way they are supposed to and Nyx ends up befriending Shade, who is the shadow of the Gentle Lord. Nyx realizes Shade is a prisoner like herself and begins to fall for him. Her feelings are complicated by the Gentle Lord coming to her rescue one night and she suddenly sees that he may too be a prisoner to the Fates. Nyx must decide if destroying the Gentle Lord and saving Arcadia is her true destiny or if she can save everyone without destroying her own heart.
This was a wonderful twist on Beauty and the Beast and I enjoyed it very much. The path of love is often rocky and Nyx and her love definitely have to suffer throughout their journey. I love Hodge's writing style which is perfect for twisted fairytales. She is very descriptive and gives her characters the old world style of fairytales but makes them current enough to appeal to a modern audience. Lovely is the best word to describe her style.
Favorite Character: Nyx. She is perfectly flawed. Stubborn, loyal, angry, and loving. She is not a sweet princess character, but the strong heroine.
Favorite Quote: "But you know what you are, and what you deserve. You lie to me but not to yourself. That's why I love you." "I wanted to hit him again and I wanted to cry. Most of all, I wanted to forget my mission and lose myself in the embrace of the one person who had ever seen my heart and claimed to love me after."
This is a perfect love story of two people who are perfectly flawed, but love each other flaws and all. The end was a bit different and confusing at first, but it fits with the story. A beautiful retelling.
Both of these are definitely 5 cups of cocoa! I can't wait to read more by this author and I am excited that her next retellings based on Romeo and Juliet are in the works!
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep
This is the fourth book in the Mythos Academy series and the review will have spoilers for the first three books. I am now addicted to the series and it is definitely a guilty pleasure.
Gwen Frost barely survived her encounter with Loki and is now on alert for any signs of the Reapers. She is completely blindsided when the Protectorate, warriors who lead and protect others from Reapers, blame her for freeing Loki. They believe Gwen wanted Loki freed and did everything to bring him back and they parade Gwen in front of the whole school and turn almost everyone against her. Gwen will have to stand trial and possibly die if found guilty. In the meantime she is free to stay at school, but is assigned a protector who will make sure she does not try to leave. Alexei, a Russian warrior, is assigned to Gwen and he and Oliver are trying to be a couple while on opposite sides of Gwen's guilt. Gwen knows she can not give up or let her guard down, as the students turn against her and Reapers attack the library. When Gwen learns their sinister plan for one of her friends, she will stop at nothing to keep Vivian and a traitor protector from carrying out their goal. The price may be too high for Gwen to pay, but as Nike's champion she knows she must fight on.
I enjoy these books more and more as the series goes on. They are quick, fluffy reads, but they do have strong female fighters and strong friendships. I like that the characters are not quite the same airhead, cliquey people as they were in the beginning and that they have started to mature. I love her myth elements and Gwen's new goal in the fight against the Reapers.
Favorite Character: I still like Gwen, who is loyal, strong, and funny. She has matured so much since the first book. She can be stubborn and a bit self-sacrificing at times, but she will defend her friends to the end.
Favorite Quote: "Weapons and armor may have power, may have magic, but in the end, that is all they are-weapons and armor. It is the people and creatures who wield them and their intentions that really matter. It is their free will that makes the ultimate difference."
I loved this one and the series is so addicting! I think this one was a 5 cups of cocoa book and my favorite in the series so far.
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| K-Teen |
Gwen Frost barely survived her encounter with Loki and is now on alert for any signs of the Reapers. She is completely blindsided when the Protectorate, warriors who lead and protect others from Reapers, blame her for freeing Loki. They believe Gwen wanted Loki freed and did everything to bring him back and they parade Gwen in front of the whole school and turn almost everyone against her. Gwen will have to stand trial and possibly die if found guilty. In the meantime she is free to stay at school, but is assigned a protector who will make sure she does not try to leave. Alexei, a Russian warrior, is assigned to Gwen and he and Oliver are trying to be a couple while on opposite sides of Gwen's guilt. Gwen knows she can not give up or let her guard down, as the students turn against her and Reapers attack the library. When Gwen learns their sinister plan for one of her friends, she will stop at nothing to keep Vivian and a traitor protector from carrying out their goal. The price may be too high for Gwen to pay, but as Nike's champion she knows she must fight on.
I enjoy these books more and more as the series goes on. They are quick, fluffy reads, but they do have strong female fighters and strong friendships. I like that the characters are not quite the same airhead, cliquey people as they were in the beginning and that they have started to mature. I love her myth elements and Gwen's new goal in the fight against the Reapers.
Favorite Character: I still like Gwen, who is loyal, strong, and funny. She has matured so much since the first book. She can be stubborn and a bit self-sacrificing at times, but she will defend her friends to the end.
Favorite Quote: "Weapons and armor may have power, may have magic, but in the end, that is all they are-weapons and armor. It is the people and creatures who wield them and their intentions that really matter. It is their free will that makes the ultimate difference."
I loved this one and the series is so addicting! I think this one was a 5 cups of cocoa book and my favorite in the series so far.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Spring Into Horror Read-a-Thon Wrapup
I was able to finish one book (Crimson Frost) this week and get a good start on another. I had a couple of really slow reading days, but I finally feel more motivated to read, so I am happy! I read a total of 361 pages. Thanks again to Michelle for hosting!
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