Legend- Marie Lu

Book 19 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating 5/5 stars

This book has been on my wish list for quite some time since I saw a lot of hype over this trilogy on social media. So when I found this book in the library there was no chance that I would miss an opportunity to read this book and see what all the fuss is about. I am glad that I did pick up this book because I loved it!

On the front cover of the edition which I got it says 'If you liked The Hunger Games, you'll love this'. Now, when I see these sometimes I feel slightly put off by the book. I really enjoyed the hunger games and when a book claims to be better then I have high expectations for the book and sometimes feel a little let down that it didn't manage to meet the high expectations which I have. But I think that it is safe to say that I was not disappointed in the slightest. Was it better than the hunger games? I'm not sure. It has been years since I read the hunger games and since the movies came out my opinion of it has declined but at the time I really enjoyed it. Maybe this is on the same level?

Found on the back of this edition I was told that this book is 'Based on a retelling of Les Miserables. I had no idea what would be in store when I read this as I never watched Les Miserables as I'm not a huge fan of musicals and I would of found it boring. When I read that my first reaction was 'Oh no, here we go.' but I was pleasantly surprised.

Now onto the story, I thought that it was fantastic. I loved the two different POV so that events which were happening simultaneously were told from the perspective of both of the main characters. Their feelings of their roles were also conveyed through this and it allowed me to get attached to both characters and not just the main character who's point of view we were experiencing.

This book was not predictable. It is harder and harder to find a book now a days which is completely new and you cannot guess what is going to happen at the end. It was obvious that Day would manage to escape but the thing with John surprised me. I expected him to make it out if I'm honest. I also loved the secrecy with June's brother and her having to find the clues to the message that he sent her. I do love a good twist.

This book was so easy to get into and I easily found myself reading a large section of it in one day (even though I had work. If I didn't I would of read this in a day.) All in all, I loved this book and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who read and enjoyed books such as The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner or Divergent. (Or books along those lines)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone- Laini Taylor

Book 18 of My Summer Reading Challenge

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

I try to avoid doing .5 stars when I am rating books as I prefer it to be a whole number but in the case of this book, I just couldn't do it. I thought that the book was too good to be given a 3 star rating but at the same time, I think that it didn't just quite mange to make it to a 4.

While reading this book, I really enjoyed it. I thought that the whole concept of the plot line was really well written and it was quite an easy read, considering that I managed to read a big chunk of the book in one day. The amount of pages which I can read are an indication of how much I enjoyed this book since I just couldn't put it down for very long without wanting to pick it back up again. I would probably of managed to read this book in one day if other things didn't get in the way.

However, the reason that this book didn't get a 4 star rating from me is due to me finding this book a bit slow in areas and my mind kept wondering off during certain parts of the book so it got to the point, where I missed a few pages and didn't know what was going on, but maybe that is down to me so I cant blame the book.

I felt that the book managed to pick itself up again at the end where Madrigal's story was told. I thought it was great that we were getting some more knowledge on the whole world and what happened with her and Akiva in the past.

Another part of the book I really enjoyed was the beginning with Kazimir. Honestly, I wanted to see more of him in the book, even if he was a bit of a jerk, I thought he was a good character who offered more to the book.

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.

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.

My summer reading challenge!

So, recently I have been unable to read much due to the pressures of exams which are close! However, I have been slowly reading throughout this time even though it is not much. Currently I have been reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and I am loving it, I'm just trying to pace myself so that I can still do revision.

My exam is on the 19th May and so after this, I do not have to go to school anymore (Yippee!). This gives me the opportunity of 4 months to relax and get ready before university in September, which means that I can go on a book binge!

I have so many unread books which I need to get round to reading but I always end up ditching them for books which I really want to get into and I just end up forgetting about them. But no more! For I have created my own summer reading challenge which I will take part in during these 4 months.

I am going to write all of these books on pieces of paper which will be folded up and put into a pot which will then be picked out from random, so that I can see how many of these books I can read during my four months.

However, I have so many books on the go at the moment which I have not finished so I am hoping to read as many as I can before I do this challenge. These include:

~The Infernal devices (Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess) By Cassandra Clare

I have only recently started reading these and I am enjoying them quite a bit so I would like to finish them off, as well as The bane Chronicles which I have.

~ The Kill Order by James Dashner

I was reading this book not too long ago and due to revision it got left on the side. Honestly I was kind of disappointed but, oh well. I will get over it and finally finish the book!

~ Firesong by William Nicholson

This is the last in The Wind on Fire series which I really enjoyed reading last year. Unfortunately, I really wanted to read A Song Of Ice And Fire which meant this book got put aside and was never picked up again. :(

~ Son Of Neptune by Rick Riordan

I LOVED the Percy Jackson series. I have no idea why I never finished this book! So silly of me! But now that the last book has come out I am hoping to finish this series and enjoy it even more!

~ Demon Road by Derek Landy

Okay, so I know that this book has not come out yet but I don't care, Derek is one of my favourite authors and I love his books! This is a must for me to read over the summer when it is released!

Now onto the books which are being involved in my summer reading challenge!

~ Uglies (Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras) by Scott Westerfeld

~ House Of Night (Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, Burned, Awakened, Destined, Hidden, Revealed and Redeemed) By P.C. and Kristin Cast

~ The Demonata (Lord Loss, Demon Thief, Slawter, Bec, Blood Beast, Demon Apocalypse, Death's Shadow, Wolf Island, Death Calling and Hell's heroes) by Darren Shan

~ The Saga Of Darren Shan (Cirque Du Freak, The Vampires Assistant, Tunnels of Blood, Vampire Mountain, Trails of Death, The Vampire Prince, Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night, Killers of the Dawn, The Lake of Souls, Lord of the Shadows and Sons of Destiny) by Darren Shan

~ The Thirteen Treasures (13 Treasures, 13 curses and 13 secrets) By Michelle Harrison

~The Caster Chronicles (Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

~ Morganville Vampires (Glass Houses, The Dead Girls Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade out, Kiss of Death, Ghost Town, Bit Club, Black Dawn, Bitter Blood, Last Breath, Fall of Night and Daylighters) By Rachel Caine

~ The Demon Trappers (Forsaken, Forbidden, Forgiven and Foretold) by Jana Oliver

~ The Immortals (Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland, Dark Flame, Night Star, Everlasting) by Alyson Noel

~ Iron Fey (The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen and The Iron Knight) by Julie Kagawa

~ The Winter Trilogy (A Witch in Winter, A Witch in love and A Witch Alone) by Ruth Warburton

~ Echo by Alyson Noel

~ Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

~Inkheart Trilogy (Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath) by Cornelia Flunke

~ Shiver Trilogy (Shiver, Linger and Forever) by Maggie Stiefvater

~ Books of Faerie (Lament and Ballad) by Maggie Stiefvater

~ Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

~ The Cursed Ones by Nancy Holder and Debbie Vigue

~ Tempest by Julie Cross

~ Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

~ Dust Lands (Blood Red Road, Rebel Heart and Raging Star) by Moria Young

~ Teardrop by Lauren Kate

~ Weather Wardens (Ill Wind, Heatstroke, Chill Factor, Windfall, Firestorm, Thin Air, Gale Force, Cape Storm and Total Eclipse) by Rachel Caine

~ His Dark Materials (Northen Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) by Phillip Pullman



Lets face it, I am not going to get all of these books finished over the summer but that isn't this point of this, It just means that I don't have to try and work out which book to read next. Fate will decide. Most likely I will get lots of new books at some point over the summer which will then  also go into this challenge. Lets see how many I can finish!!

Happy Reading :*