The Rosie Effect- Graeme Simsion

Book 15 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 2/5 stars

After reading The Rosie Project at the beginning of this year, I really wanted to enjoy this book. However, I felt so disappointed with the outcome.

I found the whole thing boring, and at times I had to sit down and make myself read a large chunk of the book, because otherwise I knew that I wouldn't finish.

The only reason that I managed to give this book 2 stars was because I love the character of Don even though in this book, I found him predictable at times but sometimes a bit funny.

I really hated Rosie throughout this whole thing. I just didn't understand any of her reasons for leaving Don and then deciding to stay with him at the end. It was just so inconsistent and I felt so sorry for Don that he had to be put through that whole ordeal. He was obviously struggling with becoming a father, Rosie is not the only one who needs help when going through the pregnancy stages of having a baby. The father needs some support too and I don't think that Rosie understood that which led me to being so annoyed by her.

I am keeping this review short because I don't have many good things to say about this book and I do not want to start ranting.

I will say this though, The Rosie Effect should not have been written. It would of been much better if a chapter at the end of The Rosie Project was dedicated to explaining what their life was like and that Rosie was pregnant and just end it there. I feel that this has ruined the whole story for me.

The Ask and The Answer- Patrick Ness

Book 13 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 5/5 stars

When I began reading this book, I wasn't expecting great things, I liked the first book, The knife of never letting go, but I normally find that the second book is a let down but I tried to keep an open mind throughout.

Needless to say, I loved this book! The whole idea of the secret organisation which is fighting for the cause of good really appeals to me, especially at the begging when there was so much secrecy and speculation over what the Answer is. I love it when a book keeps me guessing throughout.

I feel like there is going to be something romantic between Todd and Viola. If I am honest, I am not particularly keen on either of the characters and I think it would just mess up the book if they were to get involved. I like the way this book is written and it does not evolve around the relationship of the two main characters. If anything, I would much prefer Viola to get with Lee who seems like such a nice guy.

I had such conflicting emotions about Mayor Prentiss and Davy. At the beginning, the Mayor was nice to Todd and Viola and I actually started to get the feeling that he was doing what was best. Oh, how wrong I was. Obviously he was just playing with them the whole time I don't know why I didn't see it coming. On the other hand, Davy was horrible to begin with but then he began to grow on me and I started to like him. In the end I just felt sorry for him, all he wanted was for his father to approve of him as he felt like he was such a disappointment his whole life and he was so happy that he found a friend in Todd. It was sad that his father ended up killing him. He makes a much better character than Todd.

I preferred this book, in the way that both sides of the story were told as they were running along side each other. It meant that I could learn more about Viola and her intentions as well as what the other side are doing.

On the whole, this book was much better than The knife of never letting go, and now I hope that the third book lives up to expectations.

The Knife of Never Letting Go- Patrick Ness

Book 12 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 4/5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it didn't take me long to finish it. This is a book which is an easy read and great if you want to sit down for a day or two and finish a book quickly. It is easy to get enveloped into the story as events begin quickly in the book, and it doesn't take 2 or 3 chapters of background information before the story actually begins.

As I started this book, I noticed the grammatical errors. This was not a problem for me as it quickly became easy to read and I have recently read 'Blood Red Road' which is also written similar with the errors to point out the characters lack of education. In some ways, I like this as it makes me feel closer to the character in some way and you feel like they are actually speaking in your mind. (My opinion anyway. Other people may find this very annoying.)

Normally with a book, I always get attached to the main character. Unfortunately , I didn't feel this with Todd and I just found him very annoying and I just didn't connect with him. The same with Viola really. This is one of the reasons why this book got 4 stars and not 5 stars for me.

Another reason why this book got 4 stars is that the one character in this book that I did like, which was Manchee was killed. Todd left him to die by Aaron's hand to save Viola which made me hate Todd even more. I would much rather he of handed Viola over than let Aaron kill Manchee. I don't think I will forgive him for that.

I hope that in the next book (As I will continue with this series) is just as good, if not better, as I would like to see how the story develops in New Prentisstown.

Also, I just found out that this book is going to be made in to a film. That could be interesting and I would like to see how they do that.

The Hero of Ages- Brandon Sanderson

Book 11 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 5/5 stars

I have no idea where to start with this, I have just finished the last book in this amazing series and I am utterly speechless. That was an amazing ending.

Lets start with the fact that these book covers are so beautiful!

In book 2, I felt so sorry for Zane and I wanted to know more about him and how he thought he was insane and it was revealed that he wasn't in the end. Now that I know he was being controlled through the whole thing I understand why he did what he did and it makes me love him so much more and then I get sad that he died. So vicious.

When  it was revealed in the Final Empire that Reen had died trying to protect Vin, I never believed that he was dead and I just hoped that he would always show up and save the day because I thought he was so kind for protecting Vin all those years even though she thought he hated her. When Ruin showed up as Reen I got so excited that he was back. Until I realised it wasn't him. This was the same reaction I had when Kelsier showed up to Spook. I should know by now not to trust books.

Throughout this whole series, I have loved Sazed. I always thought that he would have a larger part to play in this than just being a keeper and thank god he turned out to be The Hero of Ages. He will be a great god.

Marsh. I loved Marsh in the first book, and then in the second book I hated him for betraying them and helping Ruin. And now I love him again. I know he still tried to kill them all but that was down to him being controlled by Ruin so I think that I can forgive him for that. At the times which he was of his own mind he did want to kill himself though to protect the world so Ruin wouldn't take control.

I will never forgive Sanderson for killing Elend. Vin I can live with. But not Elend.

Anyone else getting a Game of Thrones vibe with the amount of deaths?

Lord Ruler! This was a great series! Definitely will be investing in finding some more!

A Court of Thrones and Roses- Sarah J. Maas

Book 10 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 4/5 stars

I really struggled to give this book a rating, throughout this book, my feelings varied for it between 5 stars and 3 stars so I thought that I would go in the middle of the two and give it 4 stars.

There were parts in this book where I just didn't enjoy it. It felt more like a chore to read through it, maybe due to the fact that I read this as a group read so it may of been that if I read it on my own accord I would of enjoyed it more.

The only reason that this book didn't get 3 stars was the end when Feyre was in Amarantha's court. I found that the three tasks were interesting and I wanted to continue reading to see how this played out for the characters and if they managed to take of the masks in the end. Before this, I just found that the story was a bit tedious with sections which were just added to bulk out the book.

I found Rhys very interesting, I want to learn more about him and his motives for what he was doing with Feyre, Did he do it to annoy Tamlin? Was he trying to protect the Spring Court? Or does he have some feelings towards Feyre?

I think that I would read the next book when it is published as I would like to see how both the story and the characters develop and how Feyre is handling the Fae life and how she will cope in the Night Court with Rhys. The Hades and Persephone retelling appeals to me.

I would recommend this book, but I don't think that it was much of a YA novel by some of the scenes I read and would probably go into the NA category.

The Well of Ascension- Brandon Sanderson

Book 9 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 5/5 stars

Normally in a trilogy, I am faced with a boring second book which is added to fill up the story which can be kept going so that it sets up the third book for a wild ride. I did not get that with this book. I absolutely loved the story of the first book and I was not disappointed at all with how this book played out. My emotions went through a up and down ride as I read this story and there were so many events which I didn't see coming and were a complete shock.

This is a brilliant example of a book which you pick up and you never want to put it down. Every spare moment I had was taken up by the adventures of Vin and the gang and when I was not captivated in this world, I was wishing that I was.

I still miss Kelsier, this book just felt weird without his presence. All the time, I was just wishing that he would pop up and save the day to tell them all where they were going wrong and how to put it straight again.

Throughout this book, I just kept wondering "Where the hell is Marsh?" he just vanished near the beginning and he never showed up until the end. he better have a good reason for doing what he did. Poor Sazed.

I feel so sorry for Sazed. He has got to be one of my favourite characters in these books, he is just so sweet. How could Sanderson do that to him?! He finally manages to get someone whom he loves and they are happy and they he rips her away from him! It made me so angry and sad at the same time.

I was really starting to like OreSeur as well, him and Vin were just getting a connection, and it turned out to be TenSoon! I suppose TenSoon also had a connection with Vin since it was him all along and in the end he helped her against Zane.

Zane, lets talk about Zane.

I don't know where to begin. I was starting to like Zane as a character! and then he dies. The thing that got to me the most was he thought that he was insane and the last thing that he hears from the 'God' in his head was that he wasn't insane at all and it left me with so many questions that were not answered BECAUSE HE IS DEAD! That really played with my emotions.

Now that I have finished this book, The Hero of Ages is calling me from my bedside desk, and I shall not delay before being sucked into the Mistborn world once more.

Rebel Heart- Moira Young

Book 7 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 4/5 Stars

It is no secret that when there is a good book at the beginning of a series, this causes the sequel to be disappointing. However, I feel like this didn't happen with this book. There was still so many twists and turns with surprises along the way which kept me on my toes and it pushed me to read further.

The only reason that this book did not get 5/5 stars, is due to the fact that I thought that it wasn't completely up to the standards which was set from 'Blood Red Road' even though I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I just found that it was slower-paced than the first book and there wasn't as much going on.

The Jack story was interesting as throughout the book, I constantly kept changing my mind as events occurred. "He obviously got forced into it" or "He has some reason for doing this and has a plan."

Let me tell you one thing, I was expecting there to be a love triangle somewhere in this book, because main characters are never able to have a happy relationship without something coming in between them at some point but I definitely was not expecting there to be a love square. That was an interesting touch.

The characters have developed so much in this book, such as with Lugh who actually has a main part in this book and he obviously has some secrets which he is keeping which just makes him more intriguing.

I would like to read the next and final book of this trilogy, but I do not currently own a copy and I will not go out of my way to get one, so if I manage to find a cheap copy of this book in the near future, I most definitely will purchase it to find out what happens in the end. especially with DeMalo.

Blood Red Road- Moira Young

Book 6 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 5/5 Stars

If truth be told, I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, especially when starting the book with the bad grammar which I found hard to read and understand what was being said but as the book progressed I found that I was able to understand it better and I was reading it as I could read a normal book and I thought that it was a god way to get the feel of the character.

Nero is one bad ass crow. By far my favourite character of this book. without him they would be most likely dead, he is just so cunning and is almost like a human. From the start, I knew that he would have some significance and a larger part to play later on in the story.

I do not feel that this was one book as I look back on the story. there just seems to be that so much happened and it all managed to fit into the book perfectly without having it rushed and crammed in so that the writer is able to get down all of the story that they want. For this I say well done to Moira Young. the book was fast paced and there was always something that was going on which had me sitting up straight on the edge of y seat wanting more.

Needless to say that it was hard for me to put this book down as I started and I managed to finish the book in two large parts. I had to be physically be brought away from the book because I just wanted more and to see what the outcome would be at the end.

With most stories, the first book is amazing which causes the second book not to be up to standards. I shall be starting the second book tomorrow and I just hope that the standards and the storyline can live up to the high expectations which I have due to this book being brilliant.

It isn't hard for me to say that this book deserves the film which it is receiving from Ridley Scott, because it certainly well does. Think about all the books which have been made into films such as The Hunger Games, this book was much better than The Hunger Games and therefore, without a doubt deserves all of the praise which it is getting.

Ike :'(

The Scorpio Races- Maggie Stiefvater

For some reason, this book review was not published as it is was not updated and was still a 'draft' in my posts, so I have updated this review and re-posted it. (If it ever got posted in the first place.)

Book 5 of My Summer Reading challenge

My rating:

Okay, so I am attempting something different in this review as I am going to do a day-to-day review on what I have read and what I thought.

Started this book on 29th May 2015

29.05.15: Page 51 (Chapter 7)
Okay, so far I am not really sure what to think of this book, I find the whole story line kind of interesting and I would like to see how it carries on. This is my first Maggie Stiefvater book so I have no books which I am able to compare too meaning that this is a total shot in the dark for me. It could be a great book or completely terrible. I am still trying to wrap my head around some of the things which are happening and I am slightly confused at this point, (Mainly because I wasn't paying too much attention to the book as I was reading it) but I am willing to put that aside from now on and see where this book takes me.

30.05.15: Page 286 (Chapter 38)

After spending a few hours reading this book it has allowed me to really get my head around what is going on and what it is all about. There are still a few things which I would like the book to mention, especially how the Scorpio Races were created which will allow me to get my head around why it is done. Surely they just wouldn't think one day "Hey, lets race these really dangerous water horses down the beach and see how many people die."? And where is the race? I am more than half way through this book and all that has happened is Puck training a few times and a race with Sean. I was expecting a series of races but hopefully this will come later on in the book. Just need to wait and see.

"No one notices what the third sister, Annie, looks like because she's blind."

Okay, so what is the deal with that? I got so confused. So no one knows what she looks like because she cant see people or because she doesn't come out of the fist floor which is mentioned later on in the book? I think Maggie needs to explain this when it is mentioned and not later on.

31.05.15: Page 339 (Chapter 44)
At this point, the races still haven't happened and I cannot help but feel disappointed about this as I would feel that this is the main part in the book and would be a good area of the story. There are also parts where I feel that Maggie has only added parts to this book so that the book will be longer and dragged out and some of the parts of the story are irrelevant.

01.06.15: Finished
Now that I have finished the book, I can give my overall opinion. Throughout the book, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that the story of the races took a long time to actually come about and the fact that the races lasted for all of 10 pages was so disappointed due to the fact that I expected it to be much longer. However, even thought I found some parts of this book disappointing, I gave this book 4/5 stars just for the fact that the chapter of the race was so thrilling and I was sitting on the edge of my seat refusing to move until I found out the outcome of the race.

I love the idea that Puck has to overcome the fact that she is a woman and she wants to take part in the races which is mainly dominated by men. It really shows what a woman needs to go through to be accepted in some areas of life.

Another reason for my high score of this book is the ending. I found it so touching and I actually felt tears welling up in the corner of my eyes. and it was so different to the ending of books which I have read before. Also, the fact that the relationship between Sean and Puck isn't a main factor in this book really appeals to me as many YA books do.

The Bane Chronicles- Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson

Book 4 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 3/5 stars

As Magnus was my favourite character from The Mortal Instruments series, I think that It is safe to say that I was expecting great things from this collection of short stories which revolved around Magnus's life before and during the time in which The Mortal Instruments was set.

 



However, this book did not meet the high expectations which I had and I was left feeling very disappointed. It got to a point, where this book was a chore to read and I only put up with it due to the fact that I was on holiday and was the only book that I had with me that I had not read.

The reason that this book has 3 stars and not any less is because there was a few good points about this book, especially What Really Happened In Peru which I did find hilarious and my parents got annoyed with me as I sat there giggling at the events which were taking place.
I also enjoyed the stories with Alec in as I have always loved this couple and it was fun to see how that managed to get through their first date in The Course of True Love which was never talked about in TMI.

Overall, this was most likely another way for Clare to extend the Shadowhunter books and I would only recommend reading these if you are an absolute fan of the work by Clare. Otherwise this is most likely just a waste of your time. In my case, I will probably read all of the short stories which are being released on kindle at the moment when they are put into a book version just so that I have all of the shadowhunter books on my shelves. Otherwise, this is a no-go.

Clockwork Princess- Cassandra Clare

Book 3 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 5/5 stars

WARNING: This book will most likely cause you to cry. (I am not ashamed to say that I cried towards the end of this book.)

Cassandra Clare gets a load of hate for her Shadowhunter books, especially after the first three Mortal Instrument books as people think that she is only writing more books to get more money out of the franchise, but all of that aside, I do not really care if she drags on the book series as long as I am completely compelled by the books and they leave me wanting more which is exactly what this book series did for me.

As this is the finale book in the trilogy The Infernal Devices which was a series which I have enjoyed recently, I sis have high expectations of this book and let me tell you, all of these expectations were met. The writing was beautifully written, and I had trouble putting this book down so I had to find every possible time to get a chance to read this book.

In my opinion, there was one minor fault that I found in this book, and it is so minor that I am not even willing to drop down my rating of this book. This was the fact that I already knew that [Spoiler alert!] Jem was a going to be a Silent Brother and that he was Zachariah which took away the suspense for me when Tessa and Will found this out for themselves. But I suppose that isn't a fault in the book but because I read City of Heavenly Fire before I read this series.

I must of cried a few times during this book as I sat there trying to stop myself from crying so that my parents didn't notice. It wasn't when Jem was saying goodbye to Tessa but it was when Will and Jem were saying goodbye to each other I found it so emotional.
It was obvious that Will was going to grow old and die while Tessa stayed young but when this was mentioned at the end and about how he died in her arms it somehow made it all real and I just couldn't control myself.

Even if Tessa couldn't choose between the two boys in this love triangle, at least she got the opportunity to spend a lifetime with both.

(I still prefer Will though)

I think it is safe to say that I shall definitely be reading The Last Hours when they are published which is a series which is dedicated to the shadowhunter generation after Tessa, Will and Jem.

For anyone who is struggling to decide to read this series or not, I highly recommend it. Even if you were not a huge fan of The Mortal Instruments, this series is a heap lot better!

Clockwork Prince- Casssandra Clare

Book 2 of My Summer Reading challenge 2015

My rating: 5/5 stars

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. I could not put it down at all, even staying awake late into the night. I want nothing more than to start reading Clockwork Princess right now to see how this epic trilogy is concluded but unfortunately I need to sleep, and if I start the book I know that I will not be able to stop.

Not sure why, but I enjoyed this book much more than Clockwork Angel, maybe down to the fact that I had more time to read? I found it much more exciting even if they didn't find Mortmain, but the whole Will storyline kept me fascinated. I just wanted to know that he would have it all sorted out!

"If no one really cares for you at all, do you even really exist?" - Will Herondale (By far the best quote of this book, so deep too.)

So, the ongoing battle of Will or Jem?

It has to be Will, before, I was not too sure, but in this book I fell in love with him. Just knowing that he is a t**t just because he doesn't want Tessa to be hurt is the most adorable thing.

Normally, I am not a fan of love triangles, but this one doesn't leave me gagging for some reason, I just love absolutely everything to do with this book.

Now Tessa, you listen to me! Give Jem back his pendant and you go and get Will!

Now I just hope that Clockwork Princess lives up to my expectations.

Clockwork Angel- Cassandra Clare

Book 1 of My Summer Reading Challenge 2015

My rating: 4/5 Stars

I have got to say that I loved this book, so many twists and turns which you didn't see coming so that it left me wanting more.

I would of given this book 5/5 stars were it not for the fact that I found it was very similar to The Mortal Instruments books. Don't get me wrong, I loved the TMI series and I've read it through twice but I was hoping for something new and exciting from Clare. I just found that many of the characters which were in the TMI series were recreated to fit them into this storyline.

Also, Mortmain as the Magister? Called it! I thought that it was too predictable that De Quincey was the Magister and it would of been too easy for the shadowhunters to defeat him. Also the fact that the main characters got left behind at the Institute gave a big clue that something huge was about to go down.

Towards the end of this book there was hints which Clare added so that the reader is left wanting more. such as the idea of who is Tessa's father? What is her mother? Why is this Clockwork Angel necklace suddenly alive? What is going on with Will? and why is he going to Magnus for help? All of these things are clever ways to get the reader to buy the next book.

Despite the minor problems which I found with this book, I need to say that I just cant get enough of the Shadowhunter world and I WILL be reading the next book just because I need to find out what happened!

Also, Will or Jem?

Jem is an absolute sweetheart but at this stage in the series I am kind of leaning towards preferring Will. Maybe it is just the 'Bad boy' part of him. We shall see in due course.

Introduction

Welcome, 

I have created this blog with one purpose in mind, to talk about books. Reading is a main focus of mine which I wish to share with as many people as possible, which this blog is allowing me to do. Through this I want to be able to achieve to inspire many people that reading is amazing and you can travel anywhere in the universe without leaving the beloved comfort of your bed. 

Through this blog, I aim to not only inspire people to read, but also allowing me the chance to recieve reccomendations for books which I would not normally pick off the shelf and buy. I also plan on reviwing books, while taking breaks from revision and school, which I have read which will allow others to then try that book for themseves. 

In the future, my plans fo this blog I to ensure that it is not just a blog, but it is istead a community, where those who have a passion for reading (like me) are able to have somewhere they are able to talk about the hottest new releases and what they love about them.

Thank you for taking the time for reading my blog and I hope that you will return in the not to distant future.

-Little Book Nerd