Bookshelf Tour: Favorites Shelf Part 2

PART 2 OF MY FAVORITES SHELF

Part 1: Bookshelf Tour: Favorites Shelf Part 1

This is part 2 to the Favorites shelf tour. In this post I’ll be sharing some of my favorite books with you. If you missed part one then go ahead and click that link above to find more books that you might enjoy. Unfortunately there are loads of amazing books that I have read that I do not own, so you might not see all of my favorites. ;( With each book I will include the author, a short synopsis, and a picture of the cover. After reading feel free to comment some of your favorite books in the comments down below. Enjoy all the scrolling down!

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Inner Layer:

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The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

Genres: Science Fiction/Dystopian

You all knew it was coming. 😉 Though most of you have probably heard of the plot and/or have read the series I’ll still include a synopsis for consistency. In the future where North America used to be, the Capitol of Panem keeps its hold on its 12 districts by yearly forcing them each to select 1 boy and 1 girl, called Tributes, to compete in a nationally televised event called the Hunger Games. All other citizens must watch as the youths fight to the death until only one remains. District 12’s tribute Katniss Everdeen doesn’t have too much going for her, other than her hunting skills and sharp instincts, in an arena where she must weigh survival against love. Dun Dun Dun… This series involves lots of action and surprises along the way. Only thing I disliked were the frequent deaths, but hey, what do you expect from a book about a fight to the death between kids…

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

Genres: Fantasy/Mythology/Adventure

This is the series that really got me to love reading. Though it might not be a young-adult book, it’s still super interesting and even educational (Killing two birds with one stone 🙂 ) Percy Jackson is not a normal kid. After being kicked out of multiple schools before even entering middle school, he is so excited after sixth grade ends and summer begins. But that excitement doesn’t last long, as he soon learns that he is a half-blood: half-human, and half-god. He is taken to Camp Half-Blood in New York, a camp for other kids just like him that is safe from monsters that he never knew existed. While at camp, Percy learns more about himself: his father is the Greek god Poseidon, the god of the Sea and brother to Zeus and Hades. When Zeus’s master bolt is stolen, Poseidon is blamed for the theft, and since Poseidon is busy with other godly things he sends Percy on a quest to retrieve Zeus’s master bolt. Will Percy retrieve the bolt in time or will he have to face the wrath of the angry Zeus? Find out by reading this book 😀

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The Heroes Of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan

Genres: Fantasy/Mythology/Adventure

As you can tell, I might have a slight (BIG) obsession over Rick Riordan. 😉 This is the follow-up series to the Percy Jackson series also by Rick Riordan, though it does not necessarily have to be read after. Since I don’t want to spoil anything from the original Percy Jackson series I’ll just provide my thoughts on the book rather than a summary. First of all, be warned that this book has lots of plot so just get ready to be slightly confused at first. The increased plot actually pays off throughout the novel as you slowly start to piece things together. My feelings about the characters changed a lot through the series for some of the characters (*cough* Leo *cough*). I have to admit, I did not like all of the characters right away, or ever (*cough* Jason *cough*), but that happens in all series. The relationship development for all the characters was amazing and overall an action-packed series.

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Gone series by Michael Grant

Genres: Science Fiction/Supernatural Fiction/Dystopian

Click this for my review on this book. 😀

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Song of The Lioness series by Tamora Pierce
Genres: Fantasy

The cover might be super ugly, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts right? This is probably my all-time favorite series. Which is a lot to say considering all the books I’ve read. This is one of those Mulan stories. Alanna lives in a world where only boys can become knight, while women only heal and cook. But she knows what she wants, and that’s to be a knight. On the day that the kids are to leave for their education for their career Alanna switches with her brother Alan and goes to train as a knight, but she soon realizes that it’s going to be harder than she thought to hide her deep dark secret. Can Alanna follow her dreams while still undercover as a boy or will her inner-girl take over and ruin it all. Find out in this awesome series. Seriously read it… or else

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That’s all for this post. Share your thoughts about these books or some of your favorite books in the comment section below. Have a great day! 🙂

Book Review: The Young Elites

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

http://www.marielu.org/

Fantasy

4.5/5 Stars

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Background Info:

“I am Adelina Amouteru. I belong to no one. On this night I swear to you that I will rise above everything you’ve ever taught me. I will become a force that this world has never known. I will come into such power that none will dare hurt me again.

When a deadly illness called the blood fever swept through the nation thousands died. None of the survivors were adults, and the few kids that did survive were left with markings to forever remind them of the horrific event. Adelina Amouteru is one of those survivors. Her once raven-black hair is now as pale as the moon, and a rough scar now stays where her left eye once was. Her father is cruel to her, as all those who survived the blood fever with markings are considered malfettos, which brings down the family’s good name and fortune. But markings and death aren’t the only things that the blood fever left behind, as it is believed that some survivors are said to possess mysterious gifts and powers. Nobody knows exactly who these kids are, but they have built quite a reputation for themselves and the people have made a name for them. The Young Elites.

Teren Santoro is not the man that everyone thinks he is. His job as the Lead Inquisitor is to find and destroy all malfettos, before they destroy the entire nation.  Easier said than done, especially when those who you are hunting down have powers beyond explanation.

If not for Enzo Valenciano, Teren would’ve succeeded in killing many more malfettos. Enzo is a member of the Dagger Society, a secret sect of Young Elites that search and save others like them. But what he finds isn’t at all what he was expecting.

What will happen when their paths all collide? Find out in The Young Elites. 😀

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Thoughts on Book:

Ah, the good ol’ Marie Lu, author of the well-known Legend trilogy. She never ceases to amaze me. While this book was extremely different from her previous books, it was still a great book. Her writing style is so unique and the direction that the plot went in surprised me very much, which is something that I love about Marie Lu. One of the reasons I, and many others, have loved this book and even the Legend trilogy is how unpredictable they are. You never know what’s going to happen next. Her ability to write fight scenes is also something I like about her. Especially during the end of the book I loved reading the fast-paced action scenes. It was also nice how she didn’t focus on romance too much (there was still enough for my liking), which gave more time to focus on the main plot. There were, however, two things that hindered me from giving it 5 stars:

#1– The world building was not the best during the first half of the novel. When I read a book I want to feel like I am there. I want to be able to visualize the characters and their surroundings, and unfortunately that didn’t happen while I read the first half of this book.

#2– I was a little confused at some parts, as Marie Lu switched from first to third person quite often during the book. It wasn’t a big enough problem to change my thoughts that much, but it did take me a while to get used to, as well as lots of re-reading to make sure that I fully understood what was happening.

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Thoughts on Characters:

The characters in this book were so unique that it really improved the book as a whole. Adelina’s story and personality was so captivating as you never knew what she was going to do. She could be smiling one second and then suddenly turn into godzilla or something like that. I loved the fact that she had so much darkness and hatred inside of her from her early life (especially towards her father) and she really used that to her advantage. It was interesting to see her try to figure out who she really was inside and who she strived to be. Thinking about it now, there are lots of differences between Enzo and Adelina. Enzo acts tough but on the inside he is still healing from the loss of Daphne, while Adelina is very strong on the inside, but it is hard for her to let it out at first. Please tell me that I’m not the only one who immediately thought of Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender after reading about Enzo. They’re personalities are so similar as well. That ending was just brutal and I still can’t believe that Marie Lu would do that. (WHYYYYYYY) As for my favorite character, I would be split between Enzo and Raffaele. Though Enzo’s teaching methods were not very… safe, it was so nice to see the wall that he built around his heart break down a little everytime he was with Adelina, and Raffaele was just so sweet and so strong for learning how to accept his life and who he was. There were some characters that I really disliked though. The main two being Violetta and Adelina’s father. Adelina’s father was so cruel and disgusting that I was leaping in joy when he got what he deserved (This no spoiler thing is really hard ughhhhh). The way he tricked and baited Adelina was just not okay, but don’t get me started on Violetta. I didn’t like her from the beginning, but my spite for her seemed to increase throughout the novel. Let’s just say she might have some secrets of her own. Overall the characters really made this book a great one, and in all of the YA books that I’ve read I’ve never read about a protagonist or side characters like these ones.

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Related Books:

I have never read it, but many people say it is very similar to The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.

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Favorite Quote:

“Don’t cry. You are stronger than that.”

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Final Remarks:

A book that has too many twists and turns to count, and characters that have more to them than what meets the eye. A very good fantasy book for those action-lovers out there!

Book Review: From A Distant Star

From a Distant Star  by Karen McQuestion

Science Fiction

4/5 Stars

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Background Info:

“Sometimes love needs help from a distant star”

It has been a year since Lucas Walker was diagnosed with cancer, and during that time almost everyone has lost hope. His doctors, his friends, and even his parents are prepared for the worst. Everyone except his girlfriend Emma. She stays overnight for days by his side, talking to his unresponsive body. So when Lucas miraculously wakes up one day after months in a coma, Emma has to resist the urge to tell everyone, “I told you so!”. But Emma soon learns that this Lucas is not the Lucas that she is in love with. When Emma finds a strange object on the Walkers property the same day as Lucas’ recovery she begins to put the pieces together, but getting her Lucas back might be harder then she thought.

My Thoughts:

Okay, I have to be honest, I had never heard of this book before, but it was one of those days when you go to the library and find absolutely nothing on your TBR list so you just scan the shelves looking for something interesting. Thankfully I decided to give this book a chance instead of going home empty handed. It turned out to be a really great book, and I only gave it 4 stars because of two reasons:

#1– I felt like the language and writing style was more middle-aged level than it was young adult. It didn’t affect the plot too much, but I definitely felt like a little more detail at some parts would’ve been nice.

#2– It was a little too predictable. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy a few twists and turns here and there (as long as they don’t involve my favorite characters dying), and this novel didn’t have many of those. I don’t want to complain too much though, because though the ending was one of those “happily ever after” endings it was still very heart-warming and it just left you with this happy feeling that left you smiling to yourself in your room like an idiot. 🙂

Related Books:

This book definitely gave off strong vibes of The Host by Marissa Meyer.

Favorite Character:

Oh, this is a hard one but I think I’m going to have to go with Scout. I might be a slight sucker for those extremely innocent and gentle guys (*cough* Prince Maxon *cough*). He also really opened my eyes when he asked Emma questions about why some humans were so judgmental and cruel. Those questions really made me stop and wonder where we are heading as a civilization. It was also so amazing to see him learn feelings along the way such as love and fun, feelings that he had never experienced before. Scout was really a very sweet and caring character.

Cover Art:

I really liked the cover of the book with the space background and all, but it was slightly misleading. It kind of seemed like Scout and Emma would get together from the cover image. It might just be me, but I was slightly disappointed when they didn’t. 😦

Favorite Quote:

“Love trumps logic every time”

Final Remarks:

A feel-good book for people of all ages, especially those sci-fi lovers out there!

Character Name Spelling: Badass Edition

So I’m pretty sure right now all of you are probably thinking to yourself, “What in the world is Character Name Spelling?”. Well, it’s a good thing I’m here to explain it to you all. 🙂

It’s exactly what the title suggests, spelling my name out with fictional characters from books. I kid you not, this is one of the most fun things to do in your spare time, especially when you have a stupid letter like i in your name (which I have 2 of D; ) and it takes forever to think of a character. *sigh*

For each character I’ll include a picture of them, their name (duh), the series/book that they are from, and a quote from them that shows how badass they are.

After reading this I highly encourage you to try this yourself and put it in the comment section. Read on!

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A= Annabeth Chase

From the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

“She raised an eyebrow. “You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?”
You’d probably kick my butt.”
You know I’d kick your butt.”

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D= Daemon Black

From the Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“Dee:I can’t believe you ate all the ice cream, Daemon!
Daemon:I didn’t eat all of it.
Dee:Oh, so it ate itself? Did the spoon eat it? Oh wait, I know. The carton ate it.
Daemon:Actually, I think the freezer ate it.”

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I= Isabelle Lightwood

From The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

“What’s the point in wasting a perfectly good brick wall when you have someone to throw against it, that’s what I always say.”

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T= Tris Prior

From the Divergent Trilogy

“Any idiot can stand in front of a target. It doesn’t prove anything except that you’re bullying him. Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice.”

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I= Iggy 

From the Maximum Ride Series

“Gazzy called over to me “I can’t see anything!”
“I can’t see anything either,” Iggy complained.
“I’m rolling my eyes, Ig.” I had to tell him that because he couldn’t see me do it, what with his blindness and all.”

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Yes Done! Now it’s your turn 🙂

Spell your name out in fictional characters in the comments below.