Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1 

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read from my own copy  from January 15-29 for a read-along)

 

Summary:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl...

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

Ok, so I absolutely love sci-fi, I always have. Maybe it's because I grew up watching the Star Wars trilogy again & again, I couldn't get enough (and I still can't I guess) ;) I also love fairy tale re-tellings, so you'd think that the moment I heard about Cinder, I'd read it right away the moment it was published, but I didn't. Why? I have no idea. I kept reading such an amazing reviews, and I still haven't read it. So, when I saw the Cinder Read-Along, I decided it's time :) I also decided to stick to the schedule (it was mostly 2 chapters a day) but that wasn't an easy thing to do, so I'd read 2 chapters some time before midnight & then I read 2 right after midnight & then wait until it's time to read another 4 ;) until I failed a few days ago & read it through to the end.

And what did I thought about Cinder? I absolutely loved it! First of all, I loved the world. Yeah, I love sci-fi, so it wasn't a surprise I loved the world Marissa has created :) So, great world-building >>> checked! I also loved Marissa's writing style! And I loved the story, even if it was just a story, without the Cinderella re-telling elements, I would've loved this book. But, yeah, I loved the way Marissa incorporated the fairy tale elements in a futuristic world, it was done perfectly! And the pacing of the story was perfect, too. And I loved all the characters, they were all so fun & sweet & so, so great! Even Iko, she was an android, but she was so funny, she made me laugh more then once :D So, yeah, I loved everything about this book!

But, I'll say this, although I wasn't at all surprised from everything that happened, I didn't mind it, because I loved the journey. As I said, I loved Cinder as a character, and I absolutely loved Kaito, he was such a sweetie, I can count on one hand the boys in YA books that had been so sweet & amazing, so yeah, he kinda stole my heart a little ;) And the interactions between Kai & Cinder - so sweet & amazing, I loved every second of it!!! Mostly I had a smile plastered on my face while reading this book, good thing I only read it at home, or people would've thought I was crazy ;)

I can't recommend enough Cinder! It's a must-read for everyone! One of the sweetest stories, and definitely one of my most fav books now, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Scarlet, because I need more from that world & those amazing characters!!!

Challenges:

2013 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Title: Poison Princess

Author: Kresley Cole

 

Series: The Arcana Chronicles #1

My rating: 4 of 5

(Book read from my own copy (thanks Adriana) from January 5-22 for a read-along)

Summary:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces The Arcana Chronicles, post-apocalyptic tales filled with riveting action, the dark mysticism of Tarot cards, and breathtaking romance. 

 

She could save the world — or destroy it.

Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future — and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux. 

But she can’t do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him? 

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side…

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

What did I think of Poison Princess? In the end I loved it. I didn't love everything about it, but I absolutely loved the author's idea of implementing the Tarot & the Arcana in a post-apocalyptic world, it was amazingly done, so yeah, I loved the world-building.  

Poison Princess is told mostly from Evie's PoV, and a little from Arthur's PoV. We meet Evie before the Flash, we get to know about her life & we get to meet Jack, too. Now, as always, I won't be going in details about the story, but Jack & Evie meet again months after the apocalypse, and they try to survive together.   

For most of the book, I didn't like or dislike Evie at all, but at the same time, it's not like I didn't care at all about what was happening to her. She was a well-developed characters & with all that she was hearing, dreaming & seeing, it was obvious there was more to her. It actually wasn't a surprise who she is, and the way she always seemed so helpless, usually a character like that would've irritate me, but she didn't, and my most fav part in the book was near the end when Evie started to kick some butt :D So, yeah, in the end I really liked her as a character and I was a little bit disappointed when the book ended, but only because it ended, I just wanted more, so yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.   

As for Jake, he was also quite a complex character, he's been through so much, and yeah he was hot, and quite the bad boy, but I didn't swoon over him, but it's actually not easy to make me swoon ;) Anyway, I guess I'd call him almost likable & although kinda overprotective, still not irritable. As for the romance, it was ok, although I didn't really care about that, I was more interested about what was happening around them. I really liked Matthew as a character, he was such a sweetie, as for Selena, I wasn't a fan of hers, and yeah, Arthur was quite the psycho.

So, overall, the story was pretty good, the reason about the apocalypse & the post-apocalypse was really great, I think that this is a first one ;) the pacing was good, it will keep you going, and to be honest, if I hadn't decided to stick to the read-along schedule, I would've breezed through it quite fast :) I guess I actually did, only with a week-long pauses in between :) And the most important thing, Poison Princess will leave you hungry for more :)

So, do I recommend Poison Princess? If you're a fan of creepy, freaky & interesting post-apocalyptic worlds, then this is a book for you!

Challenges:

2013 Read-along Challenge

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

 

 

 

Scarlet

(Lunar Chronicles, #2)  

by

Marissa Meyer

Publication date:

February 5th, 2013

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison — even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

 

 

A Witch Alone

(Winter Trilogy, #3)  

by

Ruth Warburton

Publication date:

February 7th, 2013

Where do you go when your heart has been ripped out?

For Anna there is only one answer; into her past, where the truth about her mother, her power, and her real identity lie hidden.

But as Anna delves deeper into her history, she begins to fear that the truth about what set her mother running may be darker than she ever suspected. With the witches of the world on the brink of war, Seth gone, and her friend Abe wanting more from her than she can possibly give, Anna is in crisis.

As the clouds around her gather, Anna is torn between friends, family and rival tribes of witches and – at the last – between love and magic.

What are you waiting for this week?

 

Leave me your WoW links!

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

This weekly meme is being hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading!

What am I currently reading?

Now that I am finished with all the read-along books I've been reading, I can dedicate my time to re-reading the Demon Cycle series.

What did I recently finish reading?

I finished re-reading Divergent for a read-along, and I finished reading Cinder also for a read-along. I loved Divergent once again, so I will finally pick up Insurgent soon & I also loved Cinder, so I can't wait for the sequel Scarlet to be out. Also, I just finished Foundation by Isaac Asimov, and I enjoyed it quite a lot, it was both really interesting & amusing, so I'm already looking forward to reading the sequel Foundation and Empire.

What do I think I'll read next?

As I said above, after I finish with The Painted Man, I'll re-read The Great Bazaar and Other Stories, as well as Brayan's Gold and The Desert Spear, and then I can finally jump into The Daylight War, a book I've been waiting for for years. 

To be honest, I will be reading the US edition from galley, so that one has the cover below, and although the red dress cover is absolutely gorgeous, I think the UK publisher made the better cover choice, so I just had to put the UK cover next to The Desert Spear, because Jardir & Inevera look so awesome next to each other, so I'm really glad I own the UK editions, so I will buy the blue dress edition :)

Rachel @ Fiktshun is hosting the Don't Let It End Reading Challenge!

When I saw Jen's post @ Book Exhibitionism a while ago, I knew I must sign up, especially because I was planning to finish up all those series I've postponed finishing them this year. I was actually just about to start the last book in the Morpheus Road trilogy, but I decided to postpone it until the start of this challenge, so you now know what my first read will be :)

This challenge is only 5 months long, so my goal is to read 5 last in a series books. To be honest, I'm hoping to read more, but I was thinking that at least a book a month would be doable ;)

As for what I'll be reading, mostly YA, although I might squeeze in MG (the last Beyonders book will be out soon), as well as maybe an adult book or two :) 

I'll just list the books below as I read them!

Now, for more details about the challenge & to sign up, visit the post HERE!

 

My Reading List:

 

 1. The Blood (The Morpheus Road trilogy) by D. J. MacHale - my review
 2. Black Heart (The Curse Workers trilogy) by Holly Black - my review
 3. Hidden (Firelight trilogy) by Sophie Jordan - my review
 4. Timeless (The Parasol Protectorate series) by Gail Carriger - my review
 5. Princess of the Silver Woods (The Princesses of Westfalin trilogy) by Jessica Day George - my review
 6. A Witch Alone (Winter Trilogy) by Ruth Warburton - my review
 7. House of Many Ways (Castle/Howl's Castle/Wizard's Castle trilogy) by Diana Wynne Jones - my review
 8. With All My Soul (Soul Screamers series) by Rachel Vincent - my review
 9. I Don't Want to Kill You (John Cleaver trilogy) by Dan Wells - my review
10. Rogue Oracle (Delphic Oracle duology) by Alayna Williams - my review
11. Sparks (Anya Kalinczyk duology) by Laura Bickle - my review
12. The Storm (The Fury duology) by Alexander Gordon Smith - my review
13. Foretold (The Demon Trappers series) by Jana Oliver - my review
14. 'Twas the Night After Christmas (Hellions of Halstead Hall series) by Sabrina Jeffries - my review
15. Eve of Destruction (Dark Eden duology) by Patrick Carman - my review
16.Outside In (Insiders duology) by Maria V. Snyder - my review
17. Charmfall (Dark Elite trilogy) by Chloe Neill - my review
18. Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry trilogy) by Simone Elkeles - my review
19. The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms series) by Cinda Williams Chima - my review
20. The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelope duology) by Maureen Johnson - my review
21. Getting the Girl (Wolfe Brothers trilogy) by Markus Zusak - my review 

 

Happy Reading Everyone!!!!!