Waiting on Wednesday | The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Breaking The Spine.

The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Expected Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Pages: 400
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

Why I'm Waiting

After reading the description and looking at the cover I immediately thought of Once Upon a Time and after double checking I realized this series is going to be a retelling. The evil queen vs a version of Snow White. I guess retellings are the current popular genre. I like that the main character, Lorelai, isn't made to seem like she's helpless. She is going to do everything in her power to get what she wants. This sound like such an exciting read and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Top Ten Tuesday #10

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish.

The theme for this week is a Thanksgiving themed freebie. For this week I decided to go with :

Top 3 Things I'm Thankful For

1. My family! - As much as I might complain about some of the problems I have with my family, I'm happy with the family I ended up with. My family is always supportive of the decisions I make. No matter what happens or what's going on in life, we will always be there for each other.

2. My Friends - I'm so grateful for the best friends I've made over the years. I didn't feel like I had someone I could call a best friend until almost the end of high school. When I finally found people that I could truly call best friends, they all accepted me and all my weirdness. They are all pretty much like family to me and I'm sure I will be friends with them for the rest of my life.

3. Books/Being able to read - I didn't have the most friends growing up and my friends all had family that they hung out with a lot more than me so I was by myself a lot of the time. Being able to read allowed me to explore a lot of different things without having to go anywhere (which I'm sure a lot of readers feel that way). I'm glad I was able to do that.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead | Review

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: November 13, 2008
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 443
Source: Purchased
First Line: "His fingertips slid along my back , applying hardly any pressure, yet sending shock waves over my flesh."
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa - the last Dragomir princess - must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken...

Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most... but will her choice mean that only one can survive?

My Thoughts

This review will be probably end up shorter than some of my others. I reread this book a few months ago so I will be going through a summary to share my thoughts. Since this is the third book in this series there will be spoilers.

In the opening of Shadow Kiss Rose is struggling with the death of Mason and not being able to be with Dimitri. While trying to seem like she isn't extremely affected by everything that's happened, Rose along with all the other novices are prepping for their qualifying exam. Throughout the book Rose has moments of seeing people who are dead. There are also moments of extreme, uncontrollable anger from Rose that can't be explained.

In this book I feel like the Strigoi were an even bigger threat then they have ever been. In Frostbite there was a glimpse into what the Strigoi were planning but I think in this book everything becomes more real and widespread. The end of this book was heartbreaking. The first time I read it I knew something was going to go wrong but I was hoping it would be something that I, and the main characters, could live with.

Shadow Kiss was a fast-paced read and another great installment to the series. I am really enjoying my reread of this series. 

Waiting on Wednesday | What's Broken Between Us by Alexis Bass

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Breaking The Spine.

What's Broken Between Us by Alexis Bass
Publisher: Harper Collins
Expected Publication Date: December 29, 2015
Pages: 241

Goodreads Description

Alexis Bass’s heartbreakingly beautiful second novel is a tale of love, loss, and learning to forgive, perfect for fans of Gayle Forman and of Robyn Schneider's The Beginning of Everything.

A year and a half ago, Amanda Tart's brother got behind the wheel drunk and killed his best friend. Today, he's coming home from prison.

Amanda's been the one living with the fallout, made worse by her brother's recent unapologetic TV interview. People think he's a monster. Still, she loves him. It's her dark secret, until she starts getting close to Henry again--whose sister is paralyzed from the accident.

A year and a half ago, her brother destroyed his life. Now Amanda has to decide if she'll let his choice destroy hers.

Why I'm Waiting

The selection of YA books being released in the last two months of the year is very limited. I kinda stumbled upon this book while looking through the Goodreads giveaway section. I scrolled past it a few times but once I saw quite a few people were trying to win it, I decided to go read the description. It sounds like an interesting story and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Has anyone heard of this author or read her other book? Any opinions?

Top Ten Tuesday #9

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish.

The theme for this week is :

Top Ten Quotes I Loved From Books I Read In The Past Year

"I imagine it's hard to go back once you've felt the continents in your palm." 
- Paper Towns

"As much as life can suck, it always beats the alternative."
- Paper Towns

"After all, having something to complain about is not a valid reason to complain." - Trespassers

"Still, the image haunted his dreams throughout the night: a lovely girl gazing at the stars, and the stars who gazed back." - Throne of Glass

"If wishes were fishes, we'd all throw nets, right? Isn't that what they say?"
- Opal

"I learned that sometimes when someone says something so devastatingly perfect, there isn't a need for a response. The words said it all."
- Opal

"Will you choose to become a demon with a human face, or will you fight your demon until the end of time, knowing you will forever struggle alone?"
- The Immortal Rules

"Here's to the fucked up world of waiting for the right moment and then realizing you waited too long." - Roomies

"I thought people in small towns were supposed to be nice, not act like the son of Satan." - Obsidian

"His crime was an anchor weighing him safely in time."
- Native Son

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout | Review

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: December 11, 2012
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Sci-Fi
Pages: 382
Source: Purchased for Kindle
First Line: "I wasn't sure what woke me."
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

My Thoughts

The third book in the Lux series picks up right after the end of the last one, so if you haven't read the first two books I would strongly suggest you not to read this review until you catch up. I will be spoiling a lot since I wanted to talk about this the first time I read this and I didn't have anyone to talk about it with. So much happened in this book so I will try to only talk about a few things.

At the end of Onyx Dawson comes home but as can be expected he isn't the same as he used to be. His family and friends are having a hard time accepting that. Katy is the only one who follows the moment whenever she encounters him and tries to get everyone else, especially Daemon to see things from his point of view. Although a lot didn't seem to happen, I really enjoyed the relationship between Dawson and Katy. They were very supportive of each other when it was needed and Katy help Dawson open up so he could reconnect with his family.

I didn't like how Dee didn't want to be friends with Katy. Katy did make some bad choices but everything that happened wasn't completely her fault. Even though Katy wasn't the one that decided not to tell Dee about her new powers in Onyx and Katy didn't kill Adam Dee still blamed her for everything. Dee used to be one of my favorite characters but after this I was really irritated with her.

Oh yeah, and Blake is back.



Not only does he come back after everything that happened in Onyx. He blackmails Daemon and Katy into helping him get his Luxen. Then he tells Dawson so they really have no choice if they don't want Dawson to go running off and get captured again. I never did like Blake and how he acted during this book didn't help his case at all, especially when he was sneaking into her room and sleeping with her at night. I didn't even feel sorry for him when she did. I never believed Blake was on their side and I was right.

I think Luc is one of my new favorite characters. When he was introduced I thought he was creepy and there was more to his story than he was telling. Since I'm rereading the series I already know what it is and I'm not talking about it until it comes up. If you haven't read this series you should be giving him this look.



The last thing I want to talk about is Daemon. So much has changed in Daemon and Katy's relationship by this book. Daemon becomes that almost perfect boyfriend that every girl wishes for. He isn't perfect because to be honest that would be boring. Daemon makes it very clear that Katy is the only one he wants. There arguments over little stuff was frustrating but that was because I felt like I was the one arguing with Daemon over those things. Everything that happened between them made the relationship seem real. My heart broke for Daemon at the end Opal!

I'm always looking for people to discuss with, so if you have already read this book/series or you are currently reading it feel free to leave me a comment and we can talk! I'm also thinking about starting one of Jennifer's other series so if anyone has any recommendations for me, leave those in the comments as well!

I was trying something new with the gifs, trying to break up the paragraphs. Do you like it it or is it too much?

Waiting on Wednesday | Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer
Publisher:  Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 10th 2015
Pages: 832

Goodreads Description

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Why I'm Waiting

Even though by the time this post goes up this book will have already come out I decided to still use it for this week's Waiting on Wednesday. Can I truly be waiting on a book when I haven't read any books in the series? Yes! I have been wanting to read this series for about a year now. When I actually had access to Cinder, I didn't have the time to read it. Now that the series is ending, I want to start it even more. I don't really know too much about the story but I want to leave it that way. I don't want to start the series knowing too much.

Have any of you read the series so far? Are you looking forward to Winter?

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Breaking The Spine.

Top Ten Tuesday #8

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish.

The theme for this week is :

Top Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I'm Looking Forward To or Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch

Since I don't usually get around to watch too many movies in theaters, I figured it would be best to do 5 of each. 

5 Book to Movie Adaptations I Still Need to Watch

1. Paper Towns - This came out on my birthday this year but no one in my family wanted to go see it so I still haven't watched it yet. I finally read the book at the end of the summer. It was a good book but it wasn't my favorite. 

2. Insurgent - When I wanted to go see this I couldn't, then I heard so many many mixed reviews. The people who read the book were basically saying WTF (and since I read it, I was worried) and the people who haven't read the series loved it. Eventually I will buy the DVD and watch it.

3. The Martian - This is a pretty recent release and I know I will not get around to watching it for a while. Besides, I want to read the book first.

4. Room - I recently heard a booktuber talking about this book and warning not to watch the movie trailer because it gives away the book. The book sounds interesting so this is another one that I want to read the book before watching the movie.

5. The Maze Runner - I haven't read the series and I've heard mixed reviews when it comes to the books and the movie. I was interested in checking it out because I like to have my own opinion but I'm not sure how soon I will get around to that.

Book to Movie Adaptations I'm Looking Forward To

1. Mockingjay Part 2 - I seen all the previous movies and I think this was one of the best book to movie adaptions that I've seen. I'm really looking forward to this!

2. The 5th Wave - I haven't read this book yet but I've heard so many good things. I plan on reading this before the movie comes out and I'm excited to see how it is done. 

3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - This is another series I haven't read yet but I've heard so many good reviews.

4 The Darkest Minds - I haven't started the series yet but I have the first book and will be starting soon. I didn't even know this was going to be a movie until I started looking for book to movie adaptions coming out in 2016. I'm excited about this one as well.

5. A Monster Calls - I haven't read this book yet either. I plan to pick it up as soon as possible. Although I don't know what it's about, I'm still looking forward to it.

*None of the others have movie posters :-(

Any book to movie adaptations you still have to see or are looking forward to?

Tainted (The ARC #1) by Alexandra Moody | Review

Tainted (The ARC #1) by Alexandra Moody
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: November 15, 2014
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Pages: 194
Source: Free on Kindle
First Line: "There was a time when I was afraid of being tested."
Find on Goodreads



Goodreads Description

The ARC: the world's last chance for survival, but this underground fallout shelter is the last place you want to be.

At the tender age of two Elle Winters lost everything, when the day of impact transformed Earth’s surface into an icy, desolate wasteland. Fifteen years later, all she has ever known are the cold, artificial confines of underground fallout shelter, the ARC. Under the Council’s rule, ruthless officials roam the hallways and community comes first. Everyone lives in fear of failing their annual testing and those that do are deemed tainted—taken away without any warning or a word of goodbye.

No one has been taken in over six months and the remaining citizens of the ARC have slowly begun to forget the danger. Elle remains wary, but even she is beginning to wonder if it’s finally safe to succumb to her feelings towards her closest friend, Sebastian.

But, no one is ever truly safe in the ARC. Elle is about to experience her own personal apocalypse and with nothing left to lose, she will finally attempt to uncover the truth about the tainted.

Will she find what she’s looking for or are some secrets better left buried deep underground?underground?

My Thoughts

The first thing I want you to do, before I even get to the review, is ignore this cover. I'm at the point where I'm over see people's faces on the cover, especially if it has nothing to do with the story. I first found out about this book through the author. She sent me a message on twitter letting me know I might be interested in her book so I decided to check it out.

The overall concept and how the author would tell the story really intrigued me. Everything about the world and the little details that make it unique but I feel like the reader wasn't always let in on what needed to be known. For example, they are living deep underground (or at least it seems that way) and they still seem to have unlimited electricity and oxygen. I understand that since all of this is happening in the future anything can be possible at this point but how are they able to get a signal while that far underground to make phone calls through the cuffs.

While I enjoyed this book, this book had the potential to be so much more than average. One way this could have been achieved was by expanding the story. The story felt rushed and adding in a few details throughout the story might have changed that. I was still trying to process how or why one thing might have happened when the main character was already moving into the next situation. I would have liked to know more about what it meant to be tainted in the ARC and how exactly they were able to tell who was tainted. It was a little of a cop out when Dr. Wilson just stopped talking about it. It could have even been revisited when Elle asked for his help but it wasn't. There are so many more little details that I can talk about but that would take forever. 

The next major problem I had with this book was Elle. For the most part she seemed to be a reactive character. (spoiler! highlight section to read.) I feel like the only decision she makes on her own and sticks to is going after Sebastian, and to be honest that wasn't even a decision she made on her own either. Anytime someone suggested something she followed along, I didn't really feel like she had any personality of her own, especially when compared with Sebastian and Quinn. Also, are we going to see more of Ryan or is he just going to disappear? I want to know his story as well.

The end of the book left off in such a big cliff hanger with so many unanswered question, it was a little frustration. However I still enjoyed it. While I might not rush to read the sequel, I am interested in reading it at some point.

Waiting On Wednesday | November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Breaking The Spine.

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Atria Books

Expected Publication Date: November 10, 2015

Pages: 320

Goodreads Description

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

Why I'm Waiting

I think I've mentioned this is a previous post but I've never read a Colleen Hoover book. So many people say she's one of their favorite authors. I would really like to experience the excitement behind this author's name. 

Besides being interested in Colleen Hoover's writing, the story itself sounds interesting. I'm one of the many readers that dreams of having my own book(s) published one day, so that fact that one of the main characters is an aspiring novelist intrigued me. Also, I love a good love story! I'm hoping I can pick this up not long after it comes out.

Anyone else looking forward to this release?

NaNoWriMo

Hey everyone, initially this post was supposed to be a Top Ten Tuesday post but since I haven't read any debut authors this year I decided to skip it for this week. Instead I would like to officially announce that I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year! This is my first time ever participating, and I'm excited to see where this writing takes me.

Now it is already day 4 and I've only written one sentence in my new document. I'm ashamed of this but at the same time, I don't feel too bad because I have already written this as a short story so I have a general idea of how I want the story to go. Now it's all about getting the words onto the paper. 

As soon as I started looking over what I had previously done I immediately thought of ways to change it that could possibly make it better. Right now, besides sitting down and writing, the hardest part for me is to get into my character's head so I can make the story as realistic as possible.

After sitting here and typing up this posts really quick, I'm pretty sure once I take the time to sit down and write, the words will just flow out and I can just edit later. If you are participating in NaNoWriMo this year and would like to be my writing buddy add me here. And if you want, feel free to cheer me on, I can use all the encouragement I can get. I would also be willing to do the same. Hopefully the next time I do an update I can say I made a lot of progress. 

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas | Review

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Genre: YA, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance, Magic
Pages: 404
Source: Purchased for Kindle
First Line: "After a year of slavery in the salt mines of Endovier, Calaena Sardotheian was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword point."
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Thoughts

The Throne of Glass series has had a lot of hype around it, especially since the fourth book just came out. Because everyone seemed to love it so much, I was scared I was going to be that one person who just didn't like it. While it wasn't my favorite book, I still really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading Crown of Midnight.

It took me a while to really get into the book and because of this it took me almost the entire month of October to get through it. It even got to the point where I was putting off just sitting down and reading, so I just got the audio book. This helped a little because I could do other stuff while listening. About 30% into listening I switched back to reading.

Another reason why I couldn't give this book 5 hearts was because I felt disconnected from the characters. I cared about their situation and the relationships but when something tragic happened I wasn't really affected by it. I think this was because of the mood I was in while I was reading. I think I might have been in a slight reading slump but I just forced my way through it.

Calaena Sardotheian! I love her! Sarah J. Maas really did a good job on making her a dynamic character. She is only known for being an assassin but there is so much more to her than that. I also really like Dorian and Chaol. Besides Calaena, I think my favorite character is Princess Nehemia! Even though her and Dorian are both from royalty they both act so differently when situations presented themselves in the book, and I can only respect Nehemia for that.

Okay, I feel like I have already written a lot, even though I didn't really write anything lol. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read the genres that this falls under. For the people who have already read this book, what are some of your opinions on this book?

Does anyone have any recommendations based off this book?