2014 Wrap-Up: The End (Blog-A-Thon Day 1)

This is a celebratory post to the series that have ended this year and a wrap up of my thoughts to all of them because I suck at writing reviews for all of them.  I didn't manage to catch the end of EVERY series of 2014 (cause girl can only read so many of them) but these are the ones I finished.

*This post only applies to series that ended in 2014. I might have read some series late and didn't finish them in time. I'M SORRY TO THOSE ONES IF I REALLY LOVED YOU I PROBABLY TRIED TO WRITE A REVIEW TO YOU GUYS OR ACTUALLY WROTE ONE

**Also I don't count novels that are companion novels to each other as a series (like Anna and the French Kiss, Lola the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After) but it doesn't mean I don't love them.

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Article 5

Series review found here.

Oh jeez I forgot about this series haha. I read Article 5 in my fetus dystopian rage trend years and I blew through SO many dystopians and Article 5 certainly did not escape me with it's haunting and gorgeous covers. I loved it at the time while my more rational friend Summer (who some of you may remember from that one cameo review she wanted to do on the blog) thought that the characters lack dimension. Obviously me being me, I shrugged it off. By the time Breaking Point came out, I had calm down a little on the dystopians and gotten a better grasp of what my standards are of a series.

 It's a very simple classic dystopian stories without too many crazy twists, really focusing on the main idea of what a dystopian novel is, but that also comes with a con of it not having something extra unique to its world setting.

Shatter Me

Series review found here.

Chapter 55. :3

Under the Never Sky

Series review found here.

I have such fond memories of this series. It certainly is not the most well written or thrilling dystopian series out there but Veronica Rossi does it right with her well rounded characters with relationships that you can't help but feel for, and simple basic premise that doesn't overly complicate everything. It's clean, thorough, and angst free, making it an easy feel good series for the dystopian fan.

(Also the covers and the titles!!)

Blood of Eden

Series review can be found here.

I hope by now you guys know how much I love Julie Kagawa because holy cow can that lady write. I love her Blood of Eden series way more than her Iron Fey series and the fangirling was REAL. #thestruggle
 SHE LITERALLY SPARES NO FEELS. A cruel cruel writer (for fangirls) and so good at GOOD cliffhangers. (*cough The Eternity Cure) Just a wild ride. I just finished her new book on her new dragons series and I want to just take my feels and strangle Julie Kagawa with it because ASDFGHJKL. Highly recommend this one.

The Mortal Instruments

Review for City of Heavenly Fire here.

The fact this has ended is like mind blowing to me. LIKE IT ENDED. IT ACTUALLY ENDED. It's been so long and such a great ride and just. Ah. There's a lot I want to say but the one thing I can really say about this novel is nostalgia. I started the series just before finishing elementary school and I've been looking forward to a new TMI book every other year (as TID crossed in inbetween) and now it's just.  Over. There's a lot to love about it but it's also not everyone's cup of tea. Obviously I was a MAJOR fangirl at the start and now while I still love the series, it's no longer my obsession, but I'm still so glad that I read this because it lead me to The Infernal Devices which is one of my favourite series EVER.

The Syrena Legacy

Series review can be found here.

This series is a roller coaster. It literally threatens to kill me with everything it throws me with. I'm not a huge fan of mermaid novels, but by far this is my favourite series for mermaids. Now this series isn't without it's flaws, completely suffering from the second book curse, but there's something about the setting and the characters that just almost makes up for all of it.

Mythos Academy

Series review can be found here.

Oh gosh another long time series come to an end. I started Mythos when Kiss of Frost had came out so I think I've been following this series for.. two years?  While there are definitely rocky moments in this series and it could've been shorter, it is a great norse mythology series and I definitely really enjoyed it.

Also Known As

I love this series. It's adorable and quirky and brings back those early Gallagher Girls' series feels. The characters are loveable and endearing and the plot is well paced and mixed perfectly with serious espionage and funny moments. Recommended if you're a fan of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series or Heist Society series.

Everneath

I won't lie, I started this series purely because Everneath was a gorgeous cover.
#judgeme
But it turned out to be a pretty good series. Nothing shocking or amazing, but it held its own. I enjoyed it for what is was, but it's nothing mindblowing. Good characters, plot and premise. Simple, cohesive and thorough. I will say though the covers are amazing.

The Steampunk Chronicles

I meant to do a series review on this but never got around to it. I haven't read a great deal of steampunk but of what I've read, I like this series quite a lot. It starts off very strong with The Girl in the Steel Corset, and though it takes a bit of a div around the third book of the series, the fourth one wraps up everything in a very satisfying conclusion- although I will say the fourth one shifted focus of the main characters a bit.

The Grisha Trilogy

Series review found here.

This series is fantastic. It's high fantasy that's dark, edgy and sexy in all the right ways and has a fantastic premise and set up. Leigh Bardugo does not disappoint when it comes to writing, and a strong heroine who has flaws. And let me tell you, a villain to die for. Fantasy done right.

The Lux Series

(I refuse to acknowledge the cover change of the fifth book. No. No. IT DOESN'T MATCH THE REST OF MY BOOKS ASDFGHJKL)

Oh gosh another Jennifer Armentrout series. She sure knows how to write paranormal romance. (or sci-fi in this case) I adored this series in the beginning. The beginning is the strongest of the series, as it is for most of Jennifer's series as I found. I didn't particularly love Origin or Opposition but it wrapped up the series. If anyone's who's looking for a snarky steamy series that pushes the boundaries of YA a little... wellllll :))

The Heroes of Olympus

Series review here.

THANK YOU RICK FOR LEO VALDEZ. BLESS YOUR SOUL.
And what are the chances we'll get more Percebeth???!!!!

(Honestly if you haven't read Percy Jackson... REALLY!! Even I did it okay I like procrastinated on this series until The House of Hades)

The Darkest Minds

I literally just finished this a while back. ALEXANDRA BRACKEN. WHY. WHY DO YOU LIKE TO TORTURE US. HUH. DO OUR HEARTS NOT MATTER??!!
*breathes
That aside, this series has such a cool premise, well written, AND UNBELIEVABLY GOOD CHARACTERS. Honestly you get so attached to them. I had a few issues with pacing, feeling like it dragged a little in the middle, but the characters are so worth it. The last book was a good conclusion but I wanted a little more out of it.

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DAY 1 OVER. Oh my gosh I forgot how much work these are with the picture formatting *drowns in self-pity for sucking at technology

Thanks if you made it to the end of such a long post!
Tomorrow will be my monthly post, and then two more days of Blog-A-Thon. WHEEEE.

Blog-A- Thon 2014

I'M ALIVVVE YESS



I lived through my exams. Holy crap this isn't even my last year of high school yet. I AM NOW TERRFIED FOR NEXT YEAR. ASDFGHJJKL


BUT ANYWAYS. I AM DONE. I AM EXCITED TO BE ON BREAK.
So like last year, I'm going to be doing Blog-A-Thon again! Three days of posts to end off the year! Usually consisting of a year-end wrap of reviews for series, awards, and my top ten of the year. I'm going to throw in one more post this year. (A very opinionated end to the year... hehe)

SO DATES: Janurary 1st will be my usual monthly post. I'm going to split Blog-A-Thon up a bit so the dates aren't to crazy. I will have one post on December 31st and then Janurary 2nd, 3rd, 4th will be the rest!


Other than I'm going to see if a) I can finish off my reading challenge and b) if I can actually blog something.

OKAY LATERRR

Blog Tour: The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer by Laxmi Hariharan (Review + Giveaway!)

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Book: The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer
Author: Laxmi Hariharan
Rating: 4.25/5 stars - a suspenseful thriller but needs some backstory
Synopsis:

A girl desperate to rescue her best friend.
A cop willing to do anything to save the city he serves.
A delusional doctor bent on Bombay’s annihilation.

When Ruby Iyer’s best friend is kidnapped by the despotic Dr Kamini Braganza, she will do anything to rescue him. Anything, including taking the help of the unpleasant Vikram Roy, a cop on a mission to save Bombay.

The city needs all the help it can get, and these two are the only thing standing between Bombay and its complete annihilation by Doctor Braganza’s teen army.

As Bombay falls apart around them, will Ruby be able to save her friend and the city? Will she finally discover her place in a city where she has never managed to fit in? And what about her growing feelings for Vikram?

Get it on Amazon, shelf it on Goodreads.

Review:

*Much thanks for Laxmi and her publicist Ally for sending me a copy of the novel so I can participate in this blog tour. Apologies for the post being a bit late as I had technical difficulties.

I had not previously read of Laxmi's novels, but The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer was quite exciting.

I would've gotten to this novel sooner had it not been something called finals, but when I finally found like to sit down and enjoy this novel, I finished it in one sitting. Laxmi has such wonderful control on the tension and the plotline of this story. It's tense in all the right places, and nothing too revealing is given away which keeps the plot fast paced and leaving you to want more.

Our main character Ruby Iyer is a likeable protagonist who we can sympathize and understand through the story. There are hints to her childhood that give us an idea to why she is who she is today, and it shows why she has such loyalty to her best friend because of her own past. Also. BAD. ASS. Can I please have her fighting skills. PLLLLLEASE?

My own issue was the book was I felt like it needed a bit more to it. I wanted more on Ruby's childhood and backstory, as well as more on the other characters, especially her best friend Pankaj. He's an equally interesting character and there were more things I wanted to know about him! Perhaps they will be explained in the second novel... (BUT I WANT IT NOW).

While the romance was not what I was particularly interested in throughout the story, it certainly didn't take away from the story. So don't worry if you're concerned that it becomes the main issue of the story!

There were so many elements to the story that I did wanted to get some more information on. No spoilers, but I wanted to know why certain things were the way they were or a little more on why this happen the way it did. Whether or not it was because we needed to wait until the second book, I don't know, but I would've like a little extra background to go with everything.

All in all, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer was an riveting and action packed novel. I'm dying looking forward to the next novel, and perhaps try out Laxmi's other novels.

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About the Author

Laxmi Hariharan

A near life experience told Laxmi Hariharan to write. She never stopped.

Laxmi is the creator of Ruby Iyer, and the Amazon bestselling, eLit Gold winner The Destiny of Shaitan (Bombay Chronicles, 1). She has been a journalist and a global marketer with NBCU and MTV. Laxmi also blogs for Huffington Post, among others.

London is where she writes. Bombay is what fires her imagination.

Reach her @laxmi or at http://www.laxmihariharan.com/. 

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Giveaway!

'Cause who doesn't love free stuff. It's a simple as you can get: a rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

December 2014

Monthly Wish List for this month and what I've read and seen this past month.

Book List: 

*synopses may be spoilery if you have not read the previous books in the series. All synopses were found on Goodreads.

Book: This Shattered World (Book #2 in the Starbound series)

Authors: Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

Release Date: December 23rd 

Synopsis:

The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

Note From Carmen: WHO ELSE IS SUPS EXCITE FOR THIS? I'm a little sad it's not Lilac and Tarver.... but hey I'm sure it'll be just as great.

Book: Gathering Darkness (Book #3 in the Falling Kingdoms series)

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Release Date: December 9th 

Synopsis:

In GATHERING DARKNESS, book three of the New York Times bestselling Falling Kingdoms series, the stakes have never been higher as three teams push forward on a race to find the Kindred, the four elemental crystals possessing ancient all-powerful magic, first:

Prince Magnus has just witnessed torture, death, and miracles during the bloody confrontation that decimated the rebel forces. Now he must choose between family and justice as his father, the cruel King Gaius, sets out to conquer all of Mytica. All Gaius needs now are the Kindred - the four elemental crystals that give godlike powers to their owner. But the King of Blood is not the only one hunting for this ancient, storied magic...

• THE KRAESHIANS join the hunt. Ashur and Amara, the royal siblings from the wealthy kingdom across the Silver Sea, charm and manipulate their way to the Kindred, proving to be more ruthless than perhaps even the King of Blood himself.

• THE REBELS forge ahead. Princess Cleo and vengeful Jonas lead them, slaying with sweetness, skill, and a secret that can control Lucia's overpowering magic - all so they can use the Kindred to win back their fallen kingdoms.

• THE WATCHERS follow Melenia out of the Sanctuary. They ally in the flesh with King Gaius, who vows to use Lucia's powers to unveil the Kindred.

The only certainty in the dark times is that whoever finds the magic first will control the fate of Mytica... but fate can be fickle when magic is involved.

Note From Carmen: Every time I feel like I'm getting a grasp on this series and can predict what's coming and who I ship, THE BOOK THROWS ME AGAINST THE WALL and is like NOPE HAVE A TASTE OF THIS PLOT TWIST. 

Book: Zodiac (Book #1 of the Zodiac series)

Author: Romina Russell

Release Date: December 9th 

Synopsis:

At the dawn of time, there were 13 Houses in the Zodiac Galaxy. Now only 12 remain….

Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancerian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.

Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.

But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?

Embark on a dazzling journey with ZODIAC, the first novel in an epic sci-fi-meets-high-fantasy series set in a galaxy inspired by the astrological signs.

Book: Princess of Thorns

Author: Stacey Jay

Synopsis:

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love? 

Book: Transcendent (Book #3 in the Starling series)
Author: Lesley Livingston
Release Date: December 23rd
Synopsis:

LOVE CONQUERS

On a storm-swept terrace high above the streets of Manhattan, Mason Starling holds the fate of the world in her hands as her beloved Fennrys lies bleeding at her feet, his life hanging in the balance. The ancient Norse prophecy of Ragnarok stands poised on the knife edge of fulfillment. Mason’s transformation into a Valkyrie—a chooser of the slain and the one who will ultimately bring about the end of the world—is complete. Still, she remains determined to thwart her father’s apocalyptic desires. Whatever is to come, it won’t happen because of what the prophecy foretold, or what Gunnar Starling has planned, or what the fates have already decided. What happens next will be up to Mason and the Fennrys Wolf. The world had better hope they haven’t reached the limits of what their souls and swords can survive.


Perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, and set in the same universe as Lesley Livingston’s much-loved WONDROUS STRANGE trilogy, with roots in Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and Celtic myths and legends, this thrilling conclusion to the acclaimed Starling trilogy is filled to the hilt with sweeping adventure and soaring romance.

Note From Carmen: SO. EXCITED. I love Fenn way too much.

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November Obsessions:

Books:

The Perilous Sea

The Book Thief

Other Stuff:

Nothing Much to Do

Things I Read/Saw in November:

The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer (*Blog Tour coming soon!)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

*again, sad reading month much... sigh