OTP Book Tag

I haven’t done a tag in a while! And I love tags! The OTP Book Tag was created on YouTube by Kristin Reads. I wasn’t tagged by anyone but this seemed like fun!

1. Pick an unpopular OTP that you ship:

Not exactly unpopular but a couple a lot of people disagree with: Cassie and Evan from the 5th Wave. I think they’re great and they help each other get through a lot.

2. Pick an OTP that you didn’t ship at first but now you do:

Simon and Isabelle from The Mortal Instruments. I wasn’t sure about them at first, I was very against them actually. But they grew on me.

3. Pick your most hated OTP:

Eleanor and Park. I don’t understand the hype around this book. I wouldn’t say I necessarily hate their ship, I just don’t get the obsession.

4. Pick an OTP that took way too long to get together:

Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from the Anne of Green Gables series. The first couple I ever shipped! I don’t remember completely but I believe it took them three books to get together.

5. Pick your favorite non-cannon OTP:

Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood! I know I’m in the very minority of Potterheads who ship these two, most people don’t even know Druna is an actual ship, but wouldn’t it be wonderful??!! Think about it!

6. Pick your favorite BROTP:

Heronstairs!! No bromance will ever beat Will and Jem from The Infernal Devices.

7. Pick an OTP you adored in the books but not in the show or TV adaptations:

Harry and Ginny in the movies were nowhere near the awesomeness they were in the book. Also Alec and Magnus in the show Shadowhunters. I LOVE them in the books but the show is destroying them! 

8. Pick a popular OTP that no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t ship:

Clary and Jace in the Mortal Instruments. I just can’t. Their relationship honestly makes me cringe sometimes.

9. Pick your favorite LGBT+ OTP:

SOLANGELO!! Yes, yes, I know. Technically Nico and Will aren’t actually together YET. But they will be! (I can’t wait until The Hidden Oracle comes out! I need to know what happens!) Book Malec is a close second though.

10. Pick your all time favorite OTP:

It’s really hard to pick one so I’ll go with a classic and say Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. They’re just wonderful and have the cutest love story!

I tag anyone reading this! What are some of your OTP’s?

Review: "The Scar Boys" by Len Vlahos

~o~Rating~o~

Goodreads Synopsis:

Playing in a punk rock band brings peace to a bullied teen in Len Vlahos's debut novel.

A severely burned teenager. A guitar. Punk rock. The chords of a rock 'n' roll road trip in a coming-of-age novel that is a must-read story about finding your place in the world...even if you carry scars inside and out.
In attempting to describe himself in his college application essay--help us to become acquainted with you beyond your courses, grades, and test scores--Harbinger (Harry) Jones goes way beyond the 250-word limit and gives a full account of his life.

The first defining moment: the day the neighborhood goons tied him to a tree during a lightning storm when he was 8 years old, and the tree was struck and caught fire. Harry was badly burned and has had to live with the physical and emotional scars, reactions from strangers, bullying, and loneliness that instantly became his everyday reality.

The second defining moment: the day in 8th grade when the handsome, charismatic Johnny rescued him from the bullies and then made the startling suggestion that they start a band together. Harry discovered that playing music transported him out of his nightmare of a world, and he finally had something that compelled people to look beyond his physical appearance. Harry's description of his life in his essay is both humorous and heart-wrenching. He had a steeper road to climb than the average kid, but he ends up learning something about personal power, friendship, first love, and how to fit in the world. While he's looking back at the moments that have shaped his life, most of this story takes place while Harry is in high school and the summer after he graduates.

~o~Review~o~

Don’t judge a book by its’ genre is a lesson I am starting to understand. I have only recently started reading more contemporary books and they’re actually not all that bad. I went into this book expecting it to be a two star, three at most. So when it ended up being four star worthy, I was joyous!

Harbinger (Harry) Jones went through a traumatic childhood experience in which he was tied to a tree during a lightening storm. On top of that being absolutely terrifying, he was literally and metaphorically scarred for life. His face was deformed and he was forever cast an outsider.

The Scar Boys is basically Harry’s story of how he became comfortable with himself. It’s about society and what being different really does to someone’s confidence. It’s about friendship and how much impact friends have on your identity. It’s a search for identity story told through a college admissions essay.

Short review, I know. Read it though!

Review: "Cruel Crown" by Victoria Aveyard

~o~Rating~o~

Warning: This review contains spoilers for  the first book in the series Red Queen.

Goodreads Synopsis:

If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different.

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.
But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.

~o~Review~o~

After being horribly disappointed with the first book, I don’t know why I continued reading this series. Actually, I do know. I just can’t stay away from people with cool powers no matter how tiring the story is. The first book had potential so I guess I wanted this series to get better. Where did that leave me? Horribly disappointed again. I don’t understand why people are so obsessed with these books.

Most of Glass Sword was just plain boring. So many new characters were introduced but none of them were given any depth. The descriptions were heavy and there was a lot more telling than showing. Details in a book are generally good but huge information dumps are just confusing and… well, annoying. Even the action scenes seemed to drag on to the point where I would just start skipping paragraphs of unnecessary description.

And then comes my hatred for Mare. It’s not even a strong dislike anymore: I seriously hate this girl. She’s a whiny brat who thinks she is the only person in the world who understands pain. She treats all her friends like background characters, using them when needed and leaving them behind when she didn’t. She doesn’t trust anyone but expects everyone to trust her to make the “right” decisions. She just makes me angry!

Unless I’m completely out of books, I will definitely not be continuing this series.

Review: "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

~o~Rating~o~

Goodreads Synopsis:

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

~o~Review~o~

You are an ember in the ashes. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK! LOVED IT! Loved the characters. Loved the plot. Loved the setting. Basically, loved everything.

Okay, okay. How do people write all these well thought out book reviews on books they love? All I can think is

Books like these are part of the reason why I love reading. It was absolutely fantastic! The synopsis might sound like just another YA Fantasy/romance but it was so much more!

I loved that through most of the first half of the book, Laia is shown as a frightened and cowardly girl. Unlike other YA heroines, she doesn’t just suddenly find a well of hidden bravery within her and start killing people as she pleases.  She doesn’t have extraordinary intelligence or strength; she’s more of just a victim of her circumstance. She starts by taking baby steps as she gets more used to what she must do.

Elias is the Martial Empire’s top soldier but he hates being one. He was forced to join when he was young and now he is eagerly awaiting graduation so he can leave the Empire’s rules once and for all. He was also fantastic! He grew up in a tribe with a foster mother and was taken by the Empire at five. Because he didn’t grow up with other Martials, he sympathizes with the lower classes. He wants things to be different but instead of wanting to change it, he wants to escape from it.

I think they were both awesome characters! Neither have a hero complex and would rather save themselves than the world. But both are loyal to their friends and would do anything for them.

My favorite character though was Helene. She is Elias’ best friend who is also training to be a soldier. (The Empire only takes one girl soldier per year so Helene is the only girl in their year). She is loyal to the Empire, she believes in their rules and regulations even though she wishes things could be a little better. Considering she grew up with Martials in their society, I thought she was kinder than people give her credit for. And I loved her relationship with Elias!

The book kind of has a love triangle/square but not really. The book isn’t that focused on the romantic aspect so if you hate love triangles, don’t worry. It’s more focused on their two individual lives and it feels natural whenever their paths connect.

READ IT! RIGHT NOW!!

Review: "A Thousand Nights" by E.K Johnson

~o~Rating~o~

Goodreads Synopsis: Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

~o~Review~o~

I know, the synopsis sounds quite a bit like Arabian Nights (also known as One Thousand and One Nights) and the two concepts are similar but this story is nothing like Scheherazade’s.

To readers who are looking for typical YA books filled with action and romance: this is not for you. A Thousand Nights is a thought provoking, slightly eerie but beautiful book. It’s like an elegantly written folk tale. 

The story is set in a Fantasy world which takes a few traits from the early Islamic era in the Middle East. In this world, djinns (more commonly referred to as genies) roam the earth. Lo-Melkhiin is the ruler of a desert kingdom. Every girl he marries dies; everyone knows this but no one has tried to stop him from marrying because his rule has brought peace to the kingdom.

None of the characters except Lo-Melkhiin have names which, in my opinion, fits the story very well. The book starts off a little slow and full of details but the details were necessary for later chapters.

The two dynamics between the men and the women were also interesting to see. The men of-course believe they hold all the power, not realizing the strength and complexity of the women characters.

The main character is witty, determined, and fiercely loyal. She beautifies herself so Lo-Melkhiin will definitely pick her as his wife and spare her sister. I thought she was a great character. Growing up in the harsh desert land made her strong and confident in her abilities. She has rightfully earned her place as one of my favorite YA heroines.

Review: "Fake ID" by Lamar Giles

~o~Rating~o~

Goodreads Synopsis: Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight…

My name isn’t really Nick Pearson.

I shouldn’t tell you where I’m from or why my family moved to Stepton, Virginia.

I shouldn’t tell you who I really am, or my hair, eye, and skin color.
And I definitely shouldn’t tell you about my friend Eli Cruz and the major conspiracy he was about to uncover when he died—right after I moved to town. About how I had to choose between solving his murder with his hot sister, Reya, and “staying low-key” like the Program has taught me. About how moving to Stepon changed my life forever.

But I’m going to.

~o~Review~o~

This is going to be a small review. Hmm… I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It’s been a while since I read a book with a sole male protagonist since most YA books tend to have female leads nowadays. Nick and his family are a part of the Witness Protection Program and they are accustomed to always changing their identity stay hidden. Stepton is their fourth change of location.

I think Nick is smart and resourceful. The romance didn’t win me over; it wasn’t necessary to the plot. But I liked Nick and Reya well enough not to be bothered by it.

It’s clear a lot of thought was put into the plot of the book. The connections of the characters were well planned. But… the characters seemed a little static. There’s nothing wrong with static characters of course but I felt that some of the secondary characters needed more… pizzazz?

It’s a good book though guys! Some parts are hilarious and the ending actually took me by surprise.