April Wrap Up and May CR!

Better later than never xD As I keep telling myself with everything lately haha

April Wrap Up

I was hella busy the last two or so weeks of April so didn’t get much time to read but I did finish one manga volume and the book Branded, which I gave 2 stars to even though it had an amazing start.

May Currently Reading

For May I’ve already finished Elantris (which I LOVED!) and one more manga volume which I’ll continue reading cos I’m seeing the Stage of it next month so I must be all caught up on i << that’s how my OCD works xD I’m also still working on the Japanese version of Oyasumi Jack the Ripper which I like anyay but it’s so weird!

And that’s all. How was your April and May?

January – March Wrap Up and April CR!

I have been neglecting this blog WAY too much and I sincerely apologise. If you’ve written any blogs the past three months that you’re proud of and want me to see then please let me know, cos I want to read them!! So let’s get this done!

January Wrap Up

 I read a bunch of shorter novellas in January so I could get an easy head start on my reading goal incase I feel behind (which already happened xD). I also finished the heartbreaker than is Orange and I intend to make a review of the entire series, as well as finishing Mistborn after a 3 year journey ❤ Reviews for the novellas can be found here but I still haven’t made reviews for anything else just yet – sorry!

February Wrap Up

I had some down time with in February and took my time (not really cos I was hooked) reading The Martian all month. Review yet to come sorry =/

March Wrap Up

I marathoned and finished the last 12 volumes of Gantz this past week! I am so happy I’m finally done with the series after reading it for like 4 years xD I’ll make an overall review of the series when I have time. In March I continued and caught up with Kuroshitsuji and Shingeki no Kyojin (I was about 4 or 5 chapters behind on both of them!)

Currently Reading

During March I started Elantris and I’m enjoying it a lot so far and I love how it’s one a three-character-POV-cycle and I love the world and I’m excited to know more! I also started Branded this week (it’s an ARC I’ve had for like 3 years!) and I have to say, I’m pleasantly enjoying yet another YA book. It’s even had me want to cry at least twice too! Other than that I started two manga series in March too and still reading them. They are Makai Ouji- Devils and Realist (watch the anime last week and I intend to see the stage play of it in June!), and Oyasumi Jack the Ripper (already bought my ticket to watch the stage play of it on April 22nd so had to do my research and homework before watching it!).

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And that’s my massive update done!! I am currently at 21 books out of 45 for my reading goal which is great but I understand some people would see ALL the manga and class manga as cheating but I really don’t xD Once again I apologise for the lack of updates but I’m just so busy. If I’m not working I’m either reading, watching TV, writing movie/drama reviews, translating, studying or going to concerts/stage plays/musicals/baseball games. So I am very sorry!

What are you reading this month?

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Quickie Review:  3 out of 5

I enjoyed this book a lot! I’ve never read an Angel book – no wait, I have read ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ but did not like it but not because of the angels. I didn’t think they’d be my thing even though I love Supernatural, and I ended up enjoying this book! I really liked the amount of mystery it gave, I like how it didn’t shy away from topics like sex, worrying about being raped and stuff like that, it was gritty and dark, something I personally rarely see in YA and it made is all feel a lot more real. Josiah was by far my favourite character! ^_^ The writing was easy, I loved the world building – especially with the club and the angel fashion aspects.

My only real negative is Peryn, I didn’t like her. Her only redeeming quality is her fighting skill but my god, she has no common sense what so ever and just made dumbass decision after dumbass decision. There is nothing good about her except the fact she can fight. I also hated how Peryn felt the need to describe Raffe body all the damn time! A 17 year old girl can think of a thousand more things before repeatidly mentioning someones body! -_- AND, I am certainly not feeling the romance. I don’t see any chemistry there at all.

A fellow GR-er pointed out and made me realised that this is the typical YA plot of ‘save the sibling’ and also, I felt a similarity to The Hunger Games where Katniss is knocked out and misses as the action -_- Yes Peryn missed out on the biggest juiciest part of the action, but I’m so glad she was still conscious for it and witnessed it – unlike Katniss -_-

There’s a lot of things intruging me about this series and so I will definitely carry on! I seriously wanna know wtf those scorpion things were! EWWW! xD

The One by Kiera Cass

Other Reviews of Books in the Trilogy:
The Selection (#1)   The Elite (#2)   The Prince (#0.5)    The Guard (#2.5)

I finally got around to reading this book!

Quickie Review [Non-Spoiler]: 2/5 stars on GR.
This series had so much potential but it fell short and into predictable hands. This book could’ve gone anywhere, shit could’ve gone done, HUGE reveals could’ve happened, her dad has SO much more potential too!, relationships could’ve really fucked up, but what I got was something safe and predictable. I never felt the characters were in danger, I never felt the ending was going to be anything but what it actually ended up being. Disappointing… There was no danger, mystery, suspense which made it boring and even more predictable.

But there were some cute moments, for example the relationships and moments between the girls of the selection; loved those moments!, and the queen was always sweet (although she’s pretty passive, that frustrated me) and some of Maxon and America’s moments were cute, especially the rain and photo scenes.

However, most parts that should’ve been expanded (rebellion, world-building etc) were too short and parts that should’ve been short (the ENTIRE selection and the romance and the decision making on the romance) were dragged. This could have easily been a duology as it dragged hella long. Or could’ve been a trilogy with more of the rebellion, war and world-building, because to be honest, that was the most interesting part! America doesn’t annoy me as she has done for most reads but she’s definitely a dumbass, immature, selfish and undeserving of both Maxon and Aspen.

Will I carry on? No. For me, this was a trilogy not a series and I’ve had quite enough of it. Meh, it was an okay but it fell flat from the huge potential is had.

Did you read this? What did you think? Carrying on with the series? Let me know in the comments and/or link me to your The One review!

Top Ten Tuesday #32

And finally we’re back to topics I have interest in!! ^_^ This one was ideal for me as I started seriously reading in 2012, so it all fits perfectly!

This Week’s Theme:  Top Ten Books You Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years (2012 – 2014)

Some obvious ones here aren’t there? Any you didn’t expect? While I have mostly Fantasy (6), I also have SF, Non-Fiction and a Classic! =] So that’s all good I guess ^_^

BUT, it is a little shocking that I haven’t read Harry Potter in over 3 years

Got any Top Ten books that I haven’t read yet? Done a TTT? Let me know in the comments below!

Same Time, Maybe Next Week?

The Storm by Virginia Bergin

Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review – thank you NG!
Book One – The Rain – Review
RELEASED 26TH FEBRUARY 2015!

Quickie Review [Non-Spoiler]: 3 out of 5 stars.
Stop eating the biscuits!
This book was so much more action packed and crazier than the first book! It still terrified me just like the first book did as well! Seriously it was so mysterious and crazy! Great! I loved Ruby’s development between the first and the second book and I love her vast knowledge and how strong willed and adult-like she is in this book! Though it is a shame that the situation forced her to grow up xD Loved how Ruby would put in loads of different knowledge and be like (I learnt how to use that word!) and feel proud of herself =] However, a 3 star rating means I had problems. Firstly the ending, I felt it was really rushed, especially as it felt like it had the atmosphere of ‘we’re gunna give you a cliff hangar and a third book!’, it ended way too easily and too fast and left me with a lot of questions =/ I did want to see more Ruby/Spratt/Princess moments also =/

Overall, an action packed, crazy ride, not as good as the first book but Ruby’s development very much makes up for what it lacks plot wise.

Have you read it? What did you think of it? Did you enjoy the first book? Let me know!!

Review [Spoiler Section!]:

MockingJay by Suzanne Collins

This is a reread for me, so you can read my original review here (original rating: 1 star). Now onto my review and feelings of it this time…

Quickie Review: 2 out of 5 stars.

I found myself reading it faster and enjoying it to an extent. I think because I’m older I was able to appreciate the politics, propaganda and the military strategies.

However, I wish Suzanne had extended on the Finnick telling secrets segment, I wish she’d written it out longer and told us a few. And like a lot of other people; it felt very rushed towards the end, around the last 100 pages just seemed to run instead of spreading out at the crucial parts. Also, multiple povs or 3rd person would’ve been better for this trilogy, I think.

Also, fuck Gail; he really is an ass in this. And Katniss still pisses me off. HATE how they skimmed over Finnick’s last part so quickly -_- also ‘I don’t know why his voice reaches me when no one else’s does‘ are you fucking kidding me Katniss? You’re nearly 20 years old and you can’t spot the fact a. you love him, b. he’s given everything up for you and to protect you all this time that it’s obvious that you’d believe him and no one else?! Now I remember why I gave it 1 star the first time I read it. And ONCE again Katniss misses all the fucking action -_- ANOTHER reason why I hate HG. ‘And that’s when another explosion went off’ so you miss all the fucking best parts again of the capital losing! -_-

Overall, The story still has way too many problems with it concerning the writing, the telling and not showing, Katniss, the pacing etc. But it is definitely confirmed now that I am not a fan of the series. I think I still stand by everything I said in my first ever review of this book, just the reading experience this time was a little more enjoyable due to being older now to understand politics and such.

What did you think of HG series? Agree with me? (unlikely). Disagree with me? (most likely). Let me know in the comments below.

November 7th 2014 #FridayReads

Now that I finally finished Warm Bodies I can move on to books! =] so I am currently re-reading one book (can you guess what?) and reading an ARC (which technically already came out).

 

I didn’t like MockingJay (or any of the HG books to be honest when I first read them) but I rather enjoyed the second film and thought I’d reread the final book before the last two films come out. And see if my opinion changes or not – so far, my thoughts are more negative than what they originally were =/ she’s so fucking whiney in this last book and I don’t care. And the ARC has an interesting concept of (I assume) magic with paper and I have the first two books as an ARC so want to read those! =]

What are you reading this weekend and into next week?

Harry Potter Spells Tag

Not done a tag in a long time – sorry =/ I wasn’t tagged by anyone =[ but I tag YOU!

1. Expecto Patronum – A childhood book connected to good memories

  

My memories of reading this are in Greece and Portugal, on holiday with my family, in the hotel room during nap time (yes my family has nap-times during holidays, normally 4pm – 6/7pm) just sat there reading, glued to the book while my parents slept.

2. Expelliarmus – A book that took you by surprise

Blew. Me. Away.

3. Prior Incantato – The last book you read

Review here!!

4. Alohamora – A book that introduced you to a genre you had not considered before

Never thought I’d like crime-solving fiction; I was wrong.

5. Riddikulus – A funny book you’ve read

I don’t really read humourous books (that or I don’t get the humour when reading, for example Terry Pratchett books I love but I miss the humour completely) but this manga gives me the giggles now and again.

6. Sonorus – A book you think everybody should know about

I haven’t read much YA or Distopian so I’m not sure on how good this is to a pro-YA/Dystopian reader but I found it very enjoyable and fun to read and is one of the few YA books that I’ve honestly enjoyed, if not the only YA book I’ve read without many complaints.

7. Obliviate – A book/spoiler you would like to forget having read

I’ve never come across spoilers for books I’ve had interest in reading so I’m lucky there (besides Game of Thrones but that can’t be helped) but I’ve love to forget this book and read it all over again for the first time and get hit emotionally all over again!

8. Imperio – A book you had to read for school

Freaking amazeballs!

9. Crucio – A book that was painful to read

For obvious reasons.

10. Avada Kedavra – A book that could kill (interpret as you will)

I’m stealing the idea I saw a past blogger post here xD credit to that blogger! It was a genius idea!

11. Accio – A book that you’d always like to have with you

Try not to have GoT or Mistborn always with me? Then this is my third choice in line – Oh the memories and good times!

The Rain by Virginia Bergin

OMG A YA NOVEL THAT I LIKE?! Well this is rare…

It’s in the rain…and just one drop will kill you.
They don’t believe it at first. Crowded in Zach’s kitchen, Ruby and the rest of the partygoers laugh at Zach’s parents’ frenzied push to get them all inside as it starts to drizzle. But then the radio comes on with the warning, “It’s in the rain! It’s fatal, it’s contagious, and there’s no cure.”
Two weeks later, Ruby is alone. Anyone who’s been touched by rain or washed their hands with tap water is dead. The only drinkable water is quickly running out. Ruby’s only chance for survival is a treacherous hike across the country to find her father-if he’s even still alive.
[GoodReads]

Quickie Review: 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

I absolutely loved the premise for this novel! And I love how it delivered in my expectations for the premise and loved how the story developed. I am going to be honest it scared me! And I swear to god, the day it rains here, I know I’ll be like ‘which world is it that has the killer rain?!’ because believe me, for some reason I found the science of it and the story so believable, that I was like ‘shiiiit, what if this is actually real! I haven’t seen or been in rain for a while!’ xD

The story was interesting and kept me interested and involved in terms of the characters and their lives.

The negatives are; when I wasn’t reading it, I wasn’t thinking about it, so it didn’t have the wow factor that makes me give books 4.5/5 stars. Also, I felt that Ruby was very immature and naive for 15 years old – either that or I was a strangely mature 15 year old! – but sometimes I would stop reading and think ‘was I that immature when I was 15? Did I think those things when I was 15? Was make up and boys really that important when I was 15?’ and my main thought was ‘how would I have coped at 15’ and to be honest; don’t think I could have! So she is brave and intelligent as well, which is a plus!

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and took my time with it to enjoy it. I highly anticipate the next installment!