Review: “The Rose Society” by Marie Lu

~o~Rating~o~


Warning: This is the second book in the Young Elites series. The following contains spoilers for the first book, The Young Elites.

“Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends.
Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all…”

With authors like Marie Lu, who has written one of my favorite Young Adult series (Legend trilogy), I tend to let my expectations soar. With one of their series on my I-will-recommend-this-book-to-everyone shelf, I don’t even consider that they might be letting me down. With Marie Lu at-least, that is not the case. The Rose Society is the perfect sequel. If you thought The Young Elites was dark, Rose Society is going to be a big (and hopefully pleasant) surprise. Adelina is no doubt the most morally ambiguous YA protagonist I have read about.

This book introduces some new characters and old characters reappear. The characters, old and new alike, are developed in a very believable way. Adelina’s personality deteriorates so quickly, it’s hard to root for her. Teren, who may or not be the book’s villain (I’m actually not quite sure), is definitely Adelina’s villain but even his character has a rich backstory. The Daggers, who are supposedly the “heroes”, are not always very heroic in what they do (but their intention is the most good out of the three sides). Basically, everyone’s evil and should die (yes, I’m joking).

As dark and disturbing as this was, it felt like a very quick read. (It’s always funny how I just make the time to read when I really like a book, shoving aside all schoolwork. Probably not the best idea…).

This book was great This review no where near describes how much I loved it. Go read it!

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

I was fully expecting Maeve to bring Enzo back after that little glimpse of her in the first book. I don’t know how I feel about that yet… I didn’t like Enzo in the first one but his character certainly got more interesting.

I wanted more Raffaelle in the book. He’s such a complicated and intriguing character; I was a little disappointed he didn’t have more chapters. Teren’s point of view was also very interesting. His “godly mission” to destroy all malfettos is completely delusional but fascinating.

In the end, I think it will be Violetta who takes away Adelina’s power. It’s clear she will never be satisfied. For the first time, I really want a main character dead.

I am VERY excited for the next book. But I have a feeling I’ll have to wait another year.

"The Opposite Books" Tag

Hello, everyone! This is The Opposite Books tag created by minhaestante over on Youtube. I was tagged by Stellah in The Little Book Nerd's Life.

The first book in your collection and the last book you bought.

The earliest book I have in my collection right now would be Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. I loved and still love the Ramona books to death. Those books are hilarious and heart-warming and the perfect series to hook a young mind to reading. The last book I bought would be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I found it at Goodwill and jumped in joy. Jane Eyre is fantastic and one of my absolute favorite classics.

A cheap book and an expensive book.

Let's see... I have bought A LOT of books from used book stores so I don't know which one the cheapest is. My copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was only $0.25. The most expensive book would be Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan; it was $19.99 dollars of pain and disbelief. I regret buying that book to this day; it was highly disappointing and I refuse to take it as a legitimate conclusion.

A book with a male protagonist and a book with a female protagonist.

For male protagonist, I will choose I Hunt Killers series by Barry Lyga. These books are about Jasper Dent, the son of the most notorious serial killer in the world. Jasper is set on clearing his name when murders, very similar to the works of his imprisoned father, starts again in their area. These books are intelligent, violent and downright scary at times. I see Jasper as almost a teenage version of Sherlock (from the BBC show, not the books). For a book with a female protagonist (which is more than 90 percent of YA books these days)... I'm just going to go with a childhood favorite, Junie B. Jones. I have read every Junie B. Jones book, and if Barbara Parks chose to write more, I would still read them.

A book you read fast and one that took you long to read. 

A book that I read fast... I think that would be the Twilight series which took me roughly a week and a half to read in the sixth grade. A book that took me a long time to read would be Game of Thrones; I love that book but it took me almost two months to get through that whole thing.

A book with a pretty cover and one with an ugly one. 



I love the cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. It's a YA Sci-Fi, about Marguerite, whose physicist parents have made a machine that can take you to parallel universes.










Winger by Andrew Smith. I like this book, but the cover is awful. The boy has a bloody napkin stuffed in his nose!





A national book and an international book. 

By national, I'm assuming it means United States (since that's where I am). I guess I'll go with Hunger Games since it is supposed to be a future United States. For an international book, I would choose Written in Stars by Aisha Saeed. It's about a Pakistani-American teen names Naila whose very strict parents takes her back to Pakistan after they find out she has a boyfriend. I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did.

A thin book and a thick book.

Hmm... the thinnest book I have read would be The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson. It takes place during the post-Reconstruction era in America, and follows the journey of a biracial man having to choose between being black in a openly racist society or passing as white and betraying his heritage. The thickest book I own (as in the book with the most pages), would be A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin.

A fiction book and a non-fiction book.

Seeing that 98 percent of what I read is fiction, I'll go with my go to answer and say Harry Potter. One of my favorite non-fiction that I've read back in middle school is Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah. It's about her experience growing up in China during WWII, in a family that considers her bad luck because her mother died two weeks after giving birth to her.

A way too romantic book and an action book. 

I think, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi had too much cringe-worthy romance without needing to. Needless to say, I do not like those books. For an action book, I will say The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. It's sci-fi/Fantasy in a world that has been taken over by aliens who look like humans. It follows Cassie who for a long time believes she is the only human left on the planet.

A book that made you happy and a book that made you sad.

I think a lot of the times, the same book makes me both happy and sad. In the Afterlight, the conclusion to the Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken, made me feel both extremely happy and very sad. It was the perfect conclusion, but as with all my favorite book series, I never wanted it to end.

Want to do this tag? Go right ahead.      

Review: "Free to Fall" by Lauren Miller

~o~Rating~o~


This book pleasantly surprised me. Judging by the title and synopsis, I was sure it would be another YA romance taking place in the future to assign itself the sci/fi genre. What I found was a gripping story of an intelligent protagonist unraveling the mysterious past of her mother. To my immense relief, the romance didn’t take over the plot and what was there was relevant to the story. And it’s not often you find a Young Adult sci/fi standalone these days.

The concept of this world is fantastic and slightly eerie because I can definitely see our world turning into a completely technology dependent one. The way people are turning to their phones every two minutes, we are already headed there. While reading this book in the lunchroom in school, I would look up every few minutes and see most of the student body glued to their phones at all times. And seeing how there is an app for almost everything, we are not far from creating a decision making app that makes your decisions for you.

I’m not giving it five stars because I wasn’t a big fan of the character interactions. Rory’s relationship with both Hershey and North could have been developed a lot more.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

Even though he was barely in there, Beck was the character I liked the most. He thought for himself (very unlike Rory in the beginning). I was devastated when Rory met him at the Gnosis place and he had transformed into this submissive Lux user. A big part of the reason I was rooting for Rory to be successful was to get Beck back to normal.

Even though the solar flare was completely coincidental and a little too convenient with its timing, I really liked the ending.

Inside & Out Tag

Hello everyone! This is the Inside & Out Tag created by MathomBooks over in BookTube. I was tagged by Stellah in The Little Book Nerd's Life (you should check her out, she's awesome).

I Inside flap/Back of the book summaries: Too much info? Or not enough (Discuss)
It honestly depends on the book. Some books give you a glimpse of the entire plot while some don't give any clue as to what the story is about. Personally, I like to know the premise of a book before starting it to see if it is something I would be interested in. It annoys me when all a book blurb has is dialogue or a few sentences from one scene that occurs somewhere in the book because the entire time I'm reading the book, I'm waiting for that one scene so I can put the blurb into context.

N New book: What form do you want it in? Be honest: Audiobook, E-Book, Paperback, or Hardcover?
I love holding new hardcover books. Not even reading but just holding because those things are beautiful. So yes, hard-cover. 

S Scribble while you read? Do you like to write in your books, taking notes, making comments, or do you keep your books clean clean clean? (Tell us why)
Not in the least bit. Writing in books is a huge pet peeve of mine. I don't even like writing in my most loathed school books, using post-its instead. Books are meant to be read, not written on.

I In your best voice, read for us your favorite 1st sentence from a book.
Slightly impossible since whoever's reading this cannot hear my voice. One of my absolute favorite start of a book though:

"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get."

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I love this book to death; it's one of the very few books I can reread as many times as possible and not get bored. (Even though Orson Scott Card can be kind of a jerk).

D Does it matter to you whether the author is male or female when you're deciding on a book? What if you're unsure of the author's gender? 
No, it does not matter at all. And it's something that shouldn't matter when you're deciding on a book.

E Ever read ahead? or have you ever read the last page way before you got there? (Do confess thy sins, foul demon!)
No, reading ahead is another one of my pet-peeves. It ruins the fun of uncovering the book's secret as you keep reading.

&

O Organized bookshelves, or Outrageous bookshelves?
Definitely organized bookshelves. I don't have a specific order in which I put my books; they're mainly where they are based on size and whether or not the shelf has room.

U Under oath: have you ever bought a book based on the cover (alone)?
I don't like buying books I haven't read in case I don't like them, so no. I have checked out books from the library based on their covers though (like A Thousand Pieces of You and These Broken Stars)

T Take it outside to read, or stay in?
I take my books everywhere and I do mean everywhere. My purses have one requirement, they have to be big enough to hold at least a paperback.

I tag anyone who wants to do the tag. Tag away!
  

Review: "These Broken Stars" by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

~o~Rating~o~


These Broken Stars takes place in a future society where inter-dimensional travel is common and humans have "terraformed" quite a few planets already. The beginning of this book has a very Titanic feel to it. Lilac Rose LaRoux is the daughter of the richest man in the galaxy and Tarver Menrendsen is a decorated soldier from a humble background. The story starts with them atop the newly built Icarus, the largest inter-dimensional ship (I think that's what it's called) in the world. The ship is somehow pulled from hyperspace and "sinks". The two main characters escape on one of the escape pods and are stranded on a strange planet that appears to be terraformed but has no signs of life.

One of the main reasons I picked this book up is the writing. I started reading the first chapter in the library because I was bored and I was hooked instantly with the picturesque descriptions and the amount of details the two authors put into this world they created. Unfortunately for me, the descriptions seemed to get less detailed as the book goes on.

The romantic aspect of the book bothered me. I was already expecting it to be more romance than sci-fi but it just seemed very out of place considering their situation.

All in all though, it was a good read.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

I didn't get attached to either of the characters which is strange for me. Maybe subconsciously I expected something to go wrong so I just didn't open up to either of them. Honestly when Lilac "died", I was more happy then sad. And I really don't understand how the "whispers" brought her back to life. Not quite sure on what the "whispers" are either. I guess I'm obligated to read the next book then to get my answers.

Review: “A Thousand Pieces of You” by Claudia Gray

~o~Rating~o~


I liked this book but not as much I thought I would. I was expecting more sci-fi and less romance but overall it was a nice read. The book follows Marguerite whose parents have figured out how to travel in between dimensions. Her father had recently died and she sets out to find the killer Paul Markov who travelled to another dimension and kill him.

The entire time I was reading this book, I kept comparing it to “All Our Yesterdays” by Cristin Terril. Great book if you haven’t read it and both books have similar concepts. And I really loved the overall story line but it could have been a lot better. And there were still a lot of questions that need to be answered but there will be more books so I’m hoping the next installations will be more thorough.
And I have to say, this was the best book cover I have seen in a while. It is absolutely beautiful!

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~
 
The idea of all these different dimensions existing was terrifying. A single decision you make could create an entire different dimension. And honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was proven to be true sometime in the future.

I thought Marguerite was way too impulsive at times, too quick to judge and made some rash decisions. And I really thought she should have told her physicist mother about the other two Firebirds because the mother would have most likely figured out the whole Theo-is-the-spy thing sooner. I mean, the woman figured out how to travel to other dimensions.

And a lot of the decisions Marguerite made as her other versions would have made things difficult for them. The Marguerite of Russia was to be married off to the Prince of Whales as a virgin bride. It seemed like Marguerite just did what she wanted and then went “Oops”. (For her sake, I hope Russian Marguerite remembered what happened.) And it was also because of her that Lieutenant Markov died. If she hadn’t ordered him to back to the encampment, he wouldn’t have had to go fight.

I wish the author developed their characters more. I understand their basic personalities but they weren’t in depth. Paul was the only character I loved in the book. He is intelligent and very loyal to Marguerite and her family who have pretty much adopted him as their own. He seemed more real to me than even Marguerite. And it wasn’t their dimension’s Theo’s fault but I still dislike him.

I am looking forward to the next book to see what happens with Triad and the dimensional spies.

Ultimate Harry Potter Tag

I've been seeing this tag for a while now in both BookTube and the blogosphere and I have no idea why I've waited so long to do this. I am a HUGE Potterhead so this should be fun.

1) Favorite book?

It's a tie between Deathly Hallows and Order of Phoenix. I love the final scenes in DH, I think it was a great ending for the series. And I love OoP mostly for the twins and all their pranks at Hogwarts before leaving for good. 

2) Least favorite book?

Half-Blood Prince. I love the book but not as much as the others.

3) Favorite movie?

Deathly Hallows Part 2. I think the directors and the actors did a phenomenal job with the ending. There are some scenes that I would like to change but overall, it was my favorite. 

4) Least favorite movie?

Half-Blood Prince. They left out so much stuff from the book and mostly focused on the romantic aspect; they could've done a lot better. 

5) Favorite quote?
There are so many quotes I absolutely love.  

"I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry," said Luna unexpectedly. Everybody looked at her. "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're planning to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease."

 I do love Luna 

6) Favorite Weasley?

Molly Weasley. That woman is the kindest most wonderful person and does not get enough credit. She pretty much adopted Harry as a son (even though they were tight on money) and was as much as his mother as Lily Potter was. 

7) Favorite female character?
Luna Lovegood

8) Favorite villain.
Dolores Umbridge. That woman deserve to be eaten by centaurs. Fenrir Greyback is a close second.

9) Favorite male character?
It's a three way tie between the twins and Neville Longbottom

10) Favorite professor?
Professor McGonagall. She is an awesome woman

11) Would you rather A) wash Snape’s hair or B) spend a day listening to Lockhart rant about himself?
Wash Snape's hair. Listening to Lockhart rant about himself seems way more trying. 

12) Would you rather duel A) an elated Bellatrix or B) and angry Molly?
Definitely Bellatrix. You do not mess with the Weasley mother

13) Would you rather travel to Hogwarts via A) Hogwarts Express or B) Flying Car?
Hogwarts Express. I've been wanting to ride that train since I read the first book. And the flying car is way too unpredictable.

14) Would you rather A) Kiss Voldemort or B) give Umbridge a bubble bath?
Give Umbridge a bubble bath; maybe I'd have a chance to drown her. 

15) Would you rather A) ride a Hippogriff or B) ride a Firebolt?
I would love to ride a Firebolt. And giant birds terrify me.

16) Is there a character you felt differently about in the movies?
Ginny Weasley. Book Ginny is WAY more awesome. 

17) Is there a movie you preferred to the book?
NOPE

18) Richard Harris or Michael Gambon as Dumbledore?
I think they both did a wonderful job portraying Dumbledore.

19) Your top thing (person or event) that wasn’t in the movie that you wanted there the

most?
I have a few. 

• That scene in Deathly Hallows where Dudley says Harry wasn't a waste of space. I really wanted that scene in the movies because it showed that there was still hope for at least one Dursley. 
• The fact that it was Marietta Edgecombe who betreayed the DA in the book and not Cho Chang
• A lot of the memories Dumbledore had collected of Tom Riddle got left off in the movies

20) If you could remake any of the Harry Potter movies which would it be?
Half-Blood Prince. I'll make it closer to the book or just add in more scenes; I have no problems with long movies.

21 Which house was your first gut feeling you’d be a part of?
Hufflepuff. I loved that house since the very beginning. Us Puffs don't get enough credit.

22) Which house were you actually sorted into on Pottermore?
To my immense joy: Hufflepuff. 

23) Which class would be your favourite?
Charms or Arithmancy

24) Which spell do you think would be most useful to learn?
Accio (the summoning charm); I'm a lazy person. 

25) Which character do you think you’d instantly become friends with?
Hermione Granger or Luna Lovegood. They're very different but I love them both. I'm bookish like Hermione so we'd get along. And Luna seems like she would be a very loyal friend. 

26) If you could own one of the three Hallows, which would it be?
Invisibility Cloak. Raising the dead is scary and I'm not a dueling person. 

27) Is there any aspect of the books you’d want to change?
No

28) Favourite Marauder?
Moony. I think Remus is like the brains of most of the Marauder pranks but people just don't blame him.

29) If you could bring one character back to life, which would it be?
Fred Weasley, no doubt. I can't imagine George's life without his other half.

30) Hallows or Horcruxes? 
Hallows. Splitting my soul isn't really my thing. I'd much rather master Death.

If anyone actually read this whole thing, thanks! If you have a blog, do the tag!