Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn’t

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own top ten list based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn’t

I like this topic!  Granted, I could only come up with 9 because honestly?  For the most part, I couldn’t remember a lot of the books I may have wanted to DNF at one point.  Still, I managed to come up with almost a full list, and I’m really glad I read these books to the end!

  1. Daughter Of Smoke And Bone by Laini Taylor.  I’m really glad I didn’t give up on this one!  It was hard getting through the first chapters, but I’m glad I stuck with it, because this one interesting book!
  2. Soulless by Gail Carriger.  It took me a couple tries to actually get through Soulless!  The first time, I read it, and put it down, because I wasn’t interested.  But I tried listening to the audio book a few months later, and I have since enjoyed the hilarity that is Alexia Tarabotti.
  3. The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead.  When I first read Vampire Academy, I thought it was okay.  But after seeing the movie, I decided to give the series another chance…and I’m glad I did because Rose did get a lot more tolerable as the series went on.
  4. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.  When I first reading this one, I almost put it down because I didn’t feel smart enough for it.  I really felt like I was missing some essential piece of history that would help me understand the book better.  But it’s a really interesting take on Beauty And The Beast, and I’m glad I stuck with it.
  5. The Rise And The Fall Of The Third Reich by William Shirer.  So, I decided that listening to the audio book would be a really good idea for this book.  I mean, it’s 57 hours long, and I felt like I really accomplished something by finishing it.
  6. The Pact by Jodi Picoult.  It’s rare for me to talk about books from my pre-book blogging days, but I knew I had to include this one!  There was a point where I just wasn’t able to handle it emotionally, so I put it down, took a break from it, and eventually picked it back up to finish it.
  7. Drowning Instinct by Ilsa Bick.  At one point, I downloaded a sample chapter of Drowning Instinct, and realized that it’s a book that needs to be listened to, and not read.  I like that Jenna’s narrating her story into a recorder, but if I had to read her speaking into something…let’s just say I wouldn’t have finished this book.
  8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I almost put The Help down because I just wasn’t into it at first.  But I stuck with it, and found myself getting pulled into the story.
  9. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  It took me a while to get into The Night Circus but I’m glad I didn’t put down this magical book!

Book Review: Counting Backwards

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Counting Backwards CoverBook: Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso

Published August 2012 by Atheneum Books For Young Readers|187 pages

Where I Got It: the nook store

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Counting Backwards on goodreads & Laura Lascarso on Twitter & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Three weeks ago I tried to run away from home. Now all I want is to go back.

When troubled Taylor Truwell is caught with a stolen car and lands in court for resisting arrest, her father convinces the judge of an alternative to punishment: treatment in a juvenile psychiatric correctional facility. Sunny Meadows is anything but the easy way out, and Taylor has to fight hard just to hold on to her sanity as she battles her parents, her therapist, and vicious fellow patients. But even as Taylor struggles to hold on to her stubborn former self, she finds herself relenting as she lets in two unlikely friends–Margo, a former child star and arsonist, and AJ, a mysterious boy who doesn’t speak. In this striking debut, Laura Lascarso weaves together a powerful story of anger and self-destruction, hope and love.

What I Thought:

Counting Backwards is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while, but I never managed to get around to it until now.  I liked Counting Backwards but not as much as I was expecting.

A big reason why I didn’t like it as much as I thought is Taylor herself.  Her time in a psychiatric correctional facility is interesting, especially because she has a lot of issues to work through.  But I really wish we saw more of her life before she ends up in court.  Her issues with her parents definitely come up, but I really wanted to see a bit more of her relationship with them before.  I think it’s because I wanted a bit more context and history.

I do like that we see how she deals with things and how she manages to find a couple friends.  We don’t know what her life is like after leaving, but it does seem like things are headed in a good direction for her.  I do wonder if she keeps in touch with Margo and A.J. afterwards.  And I like that pretty much the entire book is set in the facility she’s at.  Even though she’s fighting this the entire way- even saying what she thinks they want to hear- she does finally start to make changes because she really wants to change.

At the same time, though, Taylor starting to work through things…I didn’t quite believe the changes she started to make. It wasn’t fake or inauthentic, but she spent so much time resisting it that it didn’t seem as believable as it could have been.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked Counting Backwards but not as much as I was hoping.  I did like see how much Taylor changed, even when I found those changes to be not quite believable.  Counting Stars gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Splintered

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Splintered CoverBook: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Published January 2013 by Abrams, Harry N., Inc.|303 pages

Where I Got It: nook store

Series: Splintered #1

Genre: YA Fantasy/Re-telling

You can find Splintered on goodreads & A.G. Howard on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

What I Thought:

I’ve been looking forward to reading Splintered for a while, and finally managed to read it!  I definitely liked Splintered, but not as much as I was hoping.

I definitely like that it’s such an interesting take on Alice In Wonderland and that it’s very connected to her family.  And  that Wonderland and Alice’s trip there started this HUGE thing.  Also: I love that the women in her family seem to be some variation on Alice.  because it makes it seem very connected.  However, I disliked that Alyssa kept calling her mother Allison.  I get she doesn’t really know her mother, but it always took me a while to remember who Alison was.

I thought all of the tests were really interesting, but as we’re talking about Wonderland, things are not what they seem. Because this Wonderland is pretty scary, especially after all of the Alice stuff that happened and the curse on Alyssa’s family. And the truth about what really happened, which I should have seen coming. But didn’t, of course.

What I also really like about Splintered is that it stands alone on it’s own so well!  I mean, there’s certainly a lot there, and I can certainly see a sequel or two.  But while I like Splintered, I’m not sure if I’m interested enough to keep going.  Especially because Howard does such a great job at writing a story that stands alone so well.

I also like how everything is described, but I couldn’t clearly picture this Wonderland well.  And I could picture a lot of the characters really well, and I liked seeing how different they were from how Lewis Carroll wrote them.  It was definitely interesting to see Howard’s fictional characters different from the original characters.

 Let’s Rate It:

Splintered is a dark but different and interesting take on Alice In Wonderland.  I didn’t love it as much as I thought, but I still liked it!  Splintered gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Wild Awake

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Wild Awake CoverBook: Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

Published May 2013 by HarperCollins|259 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Wild Awake on goodreads & Hilary Smith on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

In Wild Awake, Hilary T. Smith’s exhilarating and heart-wrenching YA debut novel, seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd has big plans for her summer without parents. She intends to devote herself to her music and win the Battle of the Bands with her bandmate and best friend, Lukas. Perhaps then, in the excitement of victory, he will finally realize she’s the girl of his dreams.

But a phone call from a stranger shatters Kiri’s plans. He says he has her sister Suki’s stuff—her sister Suki, who died five years ago. This call throws Kiri into a spiral of chaos that opens old wounds and new mysteries.

Like If I Stay and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wild Awake explores loss, love, and what it means to be alive.

What I Thought:

Wild Awake is definitely a book I was intrigued by, but it’s also a book that turned out to be just okay for me.

I kind of felt like Wild Awake was a bit scattered and wasn’t sure where to go.  I felt really disconnected from what was going on, and I couldn’t completely connect with Kiri.  She seems all over the place, and I felt like she was just going through the motions.  There are quite a few issues we see in Wild Awake- like love and grief and mental illness, but they all see to be randomly thrown together and oddly disconnected and disjointed.  It definitely meanders, and that made it a hard book to get into because I wasn’t always sure what was going on or where the book was headed.

Usually I have no problem talking about why I feel the way I do about books, but Wild Awake is one of the books where I have a lot of trouble pinpointing my feelings about it.

I will say, I don’t get her parents.  They won’t let their daughter drive, because they’ve told her that her sister Suki died in a car accident, but they go on a cruise for 6 weeks, and leave her by herself. And as it turns out, Suki was murdered…I mean, I get her parents have to be gone and leave a 17 year-old girl by herself for weeks on end in order for things to happen, but it just makes no sense to me.  Even if Suki did die in a car accident…why would you leave your 17-year-old daughter home alone for 6 weeks with no one to check up on her?  And they didn’t seem surprised that she finally learned that Suki was murdered. I felt like they were all, “oh, you found out Suki was murdered? That’s nice, that you finally know.”  At least, that was my impression.

Wild Awake is definitely different, and there is, I suppose, something very different about the chaos that is Kiri.  It’s definitely something people are going to either love or hate, and it’s not the book for me.  There is something compelling about Wild Awake, but I couldn’t tell you compelled me to keep going, other than a bizarre need to see what was going to happen next.

Let’s Rate It:

Wild Awake is an okay read for me, for reasons I can’t really pinpoint.  I think what I expected was something different than what I found in Wild Awake.  I couldn’t completely get into it, and nothing really stands out.  Wild Awake gets 2 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Covers I’d Love To Have As Art

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own top ten list based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Book Covers I’d Love To Have Framed As Art

There are some really interesting, amazing, beautiful book covers out there, and it be be amazing to have them hanging around the house.  And while there are some great covers out there, some definitely work better as framed art than others. So here are my (11!) picks for covers I’d love to have frame as art.

Covers As Art 1

  • Cruel Beauty by Rosmund Hodges.  There’s just something about the red and black that make this cover eye-catching.
  • Queen Of Hearts by Colleen Oakes.  I don’t know why I want this framed as art, but I think this would be awesome framed and hanging up.
  • Wild Awake by Hilary Smith.  While I thought Wild Awake was okay, I can’t help but want the cover framed.  I just love the colors and how vibrant it is!

Covers As Art 2

  • Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara.  I love the colors.  Plus, there’s something about the snow and the tree that’s absolutely beautiful.
  • That Time I Joined The Circus by A.G. Howard.  I love the colors and the lights and everything going on in the cover.
  • Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.  We’re talking the redesigned one, which is actually really pretty. Pretty enough to be frame and on a wall somewhere in my house!

Covers As Art 3

  • Seeing Light by Michelle Warren.  All of the covers in this series would be awesome as framed art, but this cover is my favorite in the series.
  • The Unearthly Series by Cynthia Hand.  They’re all so pretty that I honestly can’t pick which one I’d want.  Besides, they’d look great as a collage.

Covers As Art 4

  • Wild Children by Richard Roberts.  This is another cover that’s different, but it’s also a different I want hanging on my wall.
  • Crash by Nicole Williams.  There’s just something about the ballerina on a hardwood floor next to what appears to be Converse.
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  Because I couldn’t help but include an 11th cover!  The Night Circus is a magical, dreamy book, and the cover goes so well with that!

ARC Book Review: Camelot Burning

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Camelot Burning CoverBook: Camelot Burning by Kathryn Rose

Expected Publication is May 8, 2014 by Flux|Expected Number Of Pages: 397

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Metal & Lace #1

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy Steampunk Re-Telling Of King Arthur

You can find Camelot Burning on goodreads & Kathryn Rose on twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

By day, Vivienne is Guinevere’s lady-in-waiting. By night, she’s Merlin’s secret apprentice, indulging in the new mechanical arts and science of alchemy. It’s a preferred distraction from Camelot’s gossipy nobility, roguish knights, and Lancelot’s athletic new squire, Marcus, who will follow in all knights’ footsteps by taking a rather inconvenient vow of chastity.

More than anything, Vivienne longs to escape Camelot for a future that wouldn’t include needlework or marriage to a boorish lord or dandy. But when King Arthur’s sorceress sister, Morgan le Fay, threatens Camelot, Vivienne must stay to help Merlin build a steam-powered weapon to defeat the dark magic machine Morgan will set upon the castle. Because if Camelot falls, Morgan would be that much closer to finding the elusive Holy Grail. Time is running out and Morgan draws near, and if Vivienne doesn’t have Merlin’s weapon ready soon, lives would pay the price, including that of Marcus, the only one fast enough to activate it on the battlefield.

What I Thought:

When I first heard about Camelot Burning, I was really intrigued.  A steampunk re-telling of King Arthur is definitely different and unique, and I really like the idea of steampunk and magic colliding.  I didn’t like it as much as I was expecting, but it did more interesting in the last chapter or two.

I think my biggest issue is that I felt like I knew nothing about this Camelot and what it looked like.  Camelot is barely described, and even though Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot and crew are figures I know, but I feel like I didn’t really get to know any of them at all.  I did feel like I knew a little bit about the world, but even though, it didn’t feel like much.  In comparison to what else we know about about the characters and Camelot, however, it felt like a lot.

I couldn’t tell you anything about what Camelot looks like, and I couldn’t tell you anything about the characters.  But I like that Merlin turned away from magic to mechanical arts and had an apprentice or two. I liked that there were protection spells for Camelot and I liked how the Holy Grail and Avalon were incorporated.

I was slightly disappointed that I truly didn’t get interested until the last chapter or two.  It was a hard book to get through, and I think a lot of it is because there’s no description, which made it hard to picture everything, especially the really cool inventions we saw throughout the book.

I also couldn’t get into the romance.  I just didn’t care about Vivienne or Marcus, and I didn’t particularly if they had their own obstacles to overcome.

Let’s Rate It:

I LOVE the idea of a steampunk version of King Arthur, but Camelot Burning was a hard book to get into.  I felt like everything could have been described so much better, because I felt like I didn’t get to know the characters and I feel like I didn’t really get to know Camelot as a place.  Camelot Burning turned out to be a book that isn’t my cup of  tea, but I may be interested enough to keep reading the rest of the series.  Camelot Burning gets 2 stars.

Novella Round-Up #2: The Shatter Me Novellas

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I’m never quite sure what to do with novellas- I want to talk about them but they’re so short that doing a full post for one tiny novella seems weird…so I’ve decided to do a novella round-up after I’ve read a few.  Today’s round-up focuses on the novellas in the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi.  You can find the Shatter Me series on goodreads and Tahereh Mafi on Twitter and her website.

Destroy Me CoverDestroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5, you can also find Destroy Me on goodreads)

Written by Tahereh Mafi:

Format: e-book/Nook store

Published October 2012 by HarperCollins

Pages: 101

Summary: In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of…

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

After reading the Shatter Me series, I knew I had to read Destroy Me because so many people seemed to like Warner after reading it.  I wasn’t super-into the romance in the series, though I did warm up to Warner by the end it, and I was hoping Destroy Me would magically change my feelings towards Warner.  Which it really didn’t.  I mean, I understand Warner so much better after reading it, and what it was like for him after the events of Shatter Me.  But I didn’t fall in love with Warner the way I thought I would.  I’m not sure if it’s because I maybe over-hyped it a bit or if it’s because I read the entire series before reading it when I really should have read it after reading Shatter Me (but before reading Unravel Me) or something else entirely.  I did like it, and I liked seeing things from Warner’s perspective.  Destroy Me gets 3 stars.

Fracture Me CoverFracture Me (Shatter Me #2.5, you can find Fracture Me on goodreads)

Written by Tahereh Mafi

Format: e-book/Nook store

Published December 2013 by HarperCollins

Pages: 67

Summary: As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam’s focus couldn’t be further from the upcoming battle. He’s reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend’s life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James’s safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It’s time for war.

On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam’s newly discovered half brother, won’t be that easy. The Reestablishment can’t tolerate a rebellion, and they’ll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.

I knew I’d also want to read Fracture Me, because I was hoping I’d understand Adam better.  Which I did, and I liked that all he wanted to do was protect his brother James.  But I actually found him even more irritating in this novella, which made me glad I waited until I had finished the series before reading this one.  Because if I actually had read Fracture Me before Ignite Me?  I think I would have MAJORLY disliked him.  And he really isn’t the one for Juliette.  I also liked this novella, not just because I got to see his relationship with Juliette from his POV, but also because we get to see the battle in Unravel Me from a different perspective.  And because we get to see the aftermath instead of just hearing about it.  Fracture Me gets 3 stars.

Some More Thoughts On Both Novellas:

Destroy Me is definitely the one that everyone seems to be talking about in regards to the Shatter Me novellas.  I’m not quite sure what I expected for either novella when I started reading them, but I think a part of me was wishing that I would have warmed up to either Adam or Warner after reading them.  As much as I love romance, and as much as I think that Warner really is the better guy for Juliette…I’m still finding that I don’t particularly care about the romance in this series.  I know it’s really important for Juliette, given that she has this ability to hurt/kill people just by killing them.  But…I still really am more interested in her journey and her being okay than I am with her relationships with Warner and Adam.  I definitely feel like I understand them better and I liked both novellas…but…I think I would have been just as fine having not read them.  If that makes any sense.

Currently Obsessed With: The April Edition

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So, Currently Obsessed With is a monthly feature that I started at the beginning of the year to talk about all of my favorite things and latest obsessions.  I can’t believe this is my fourth one already!

So: nail polish seems to be a regular occurence with these posts, which is due to the ever-awesome Julep Maven Box, which you can see in the picture below.

Left To Right: Mariska, an add-on, Bailey, Fiora and Maren

Left To Right: Mariska, an add-on, Bailey, Fiora and Maren

So, it’s not the best photo, but I liked Mariska enough to get it as an add-on, but I haven’t worn it yet.  And I haven’t worn Maren yet either, but I have worn Fiora and Bailey.  I liked Fiora more than I expected, and while I like Bailey as color…it wasn’t the best polish to actually use.  It seemed gloopy, and it felt like it took forever to dry, which is pretty unusual for Julep.  However, Monaco, which was in one of the Maven boxes (not my usual one, unfortunately) is a similar color that isn’t gloopy, so I’d honestly go with that one instead.

I haven’t been crocheting much, so I’ve only done a little bit of work on my blanket.  So, no picture of it this month.  Partly because I haven’t worked on it much, but mostly because I forgot until right now, and quite frankly, I don’t really feel like it.  😦

I haven’t been in a reading mood the last week or two, which is weird for me.  I did go to the L.A. Festival Of Books with some friends and I had fun!  It took place on a Saturday and Sunday, and we went on the Saturday.  I didn’t make it into see John Green, because I didn’t get a ticket online, and I figured there would be no way I could get in to see him.  But I did see a panel on the YA stage with Kelley Armstrong (whom I haven’t read), Rachel Hawkins, Neal Shusterman, and the guy who wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles.  It was actually a great panel, and I liked hearing all of them talk!

I also went to the panel that Tahereh Mafi was on (with a couple other people I now want to read).  It was such a fun panel, and Tahereh is so adorable!  Actually, it was a pretty interesting, entertaining and hilarious panel, and I’m really glad I went to that panel.  It’s definitely a cool event, and there are a ton of booths.  I kind of wish I had gone to more panels, because you can only wander the booths so many times before you get a bit tired of them.  There is definitely a lot to look at, and I think one of my favorite things was this huge wall type thing where people could write what books inspired them.  I really wish I got a picture of it, because it was so amazing to see what books inspired people.  Plus, I went to Roscoe’s for the first time, and they have amazing waffles!

I haven’t been in much of a reading mood, but I have been in a t.v. watching mood.  I’ve been catching up on Nashville, which is cool, but I’ve spent a lot of the week making my way through Breaking Bad.  I know I’m way behind a lot of other people as far as Breaking Bad goes, but I can’t stop watching it!  While I do like to watch things live (because I weird like that), I’m also glad I don’t have to wait to watch the episodes

And I think I’m going to wrap this up with some music!  I’ve been listening to Lindsay Stirling a lot, and I am such a huge fan of hers!  Also, I’ve only listened to her new album once, but I’m already in love with it.  I even pre-ordered her album.  I rarely buy full albums, much less pre-order them, but I was just so excited I couldn’t help it!

1- Electric Daisy Violin from her self-titled debut album.  I could totally listen to this song on repeat!

2- Crystallize from her self-titled debut album.  Also a great song I could listen to on repeat.

3- Beyond The Veil from Shatter Me.  It’s such a great song, and while it’s different than her previous songs, it’s a good kind of different.

4- Shatter Me from Shatter Me, with Lzzy Hale.  Oh my god!  This is one of my new favorite songs!

5- Moon Trance from her self-titled debut album.  It’s a good song for Halloween, but I like that there’s this creepy feel to it.

That’s it for this edition of what I’m currently obsessed with!  I hope everyone has an excellent day today!

Book Review: A Million Suns

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A Million Suns CoverBook: A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Published January 2012 by Penguin|318 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Across The Universe #2

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Dystopic

You can find A Million Suns on goodreads & Beth Revis on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary:

GODSPEED WAS FUELED BY LIES. NOW IT IS RULED BY CHAOS. 

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship “Godspeed.” But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He’s finally free to act on his vision–no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder learns shocking news, he and Amy must race to discover the truth behind life on “Godspeed,” all the while dealing with the love that’s growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her “New York Times “bestselling debut, “Across the Universe.” In “A Million Suns, ” Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: THEY HAVE TO GET OFF THIS SHIP. 

What I Thought:

I liked A Million Suns more than I expected!  It’s definitely interesting to see how different Elder is from Eldest and how much Elder wants to do things differently.  Elder’s job is definitely difficult given that people are rebelling and everything. Which is the result of no more Phydus.

Elder definitely changed over the course of the book, and finally started to become a pretty good leader by the end of it. And we also see quite a bit of change in Amy, who has her own stuff to work through.  Plus, there are a lot of clues left behind by Orion, who thinks Amy is the only one who can make this really big decision for the entire ship because she’s the only one who’s lived on Earth and not a ship.

I have to say that I was not expecting what Orion revealed!  Just when you thought you knew what was going on, you learned that you didn’t know everything.  It did seem the teensiest bit convenient, but I’m also a bit fuzzy on the details since I waited a bit to review the book.

Still, Revis created this really interesting world, and I can’t wait to see what awaits them off of the ship. There is a part of me that’s hoping we’ll still get a glimpse or two of life on the ship, since we’ve spent so much time there.  I’m really curious as to whether anyone who was frozen will be unfrozen at some point, especially since there’s a group leaving the ship.

On a random but sort of related note: while I love the world Revis has built, I’m getting really irritated by how much frex and chutz are being used.  It’s cool when authors come up with their own slang, I feel like chutz and frex are being overused.  And it kind of feels like they have no other words that they could use in their place.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked A Millions Suns!  This series is definitely going in a very interesting direction, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.  I thought the big revelation of the ship seem unusually convenient, but I’m still curious about what it means for the characters.  A Million Suns gets 4 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books If You Like Once Upon A Time

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own top ten list based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Books If You Like Once Upon A Time

I love the idea of recommending books based on a t.v. show or movie or play or some other form of non-bookish entertainment.  One of my favorite shows right now is Once Upon A Time, which is getting so, so good!  I thought about including other t.v. shows, but…I really love Once Upon A Time, and since I had no problem coming up with 10 book recommendations, I figured I go with it!

  1. The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa.  If you like how fairy-tales are slightly twisted on Once Upon A Time, you’ll like what Kagawa does with fairies and the Nevernever and how some fairies have evolved to be Iron fairies.
  2. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle.  This might be odd, but something about Emma makes me think of Meg.
  3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  This is one interesting circus, and all of the different storylines make me think of how Once Upon A Time is told.
  4. Wildwood Dancing by Juliette Marillier.  Something about this world makes me think of the world Once Upon A Time is set in.
  5. Graceling by Kristin Cashore.  Something about the world Graceling is set in makes me think of Fairy Tale Land.
  6. If, for some reason, you haven’t read Cinder by Marissa Meyer, then you definitely should.  Talk about a different way to tell a fairy-tale!
  7. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers.  I think assassin nuns would fit in well in the Once Upon A Time universe.  And something about the world of Grace Mercy makes me think of Fairy Tale Land.
  8. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson.  It’s such a good re-telling of Peter Pan, and now that I’m thinking about it, I’m curious about how Tiger Lily herself would fit in to the Neverland in Once Upon A Time.
  9. Poison Study by Maria Snyder.  I love the relationships in this series the way I love the relationships between everyone in Once Upon A Time.
  10. Queen Of Hearts by Colleen Oakes is great for people who loved Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.  Weird things are going to be happening in Wonderland, so it’s a great book for people who both Wonderland and Once Upon A Time.