Book Tag – Inside Out

Hi, friends! We’re back with another book tag! They’re just too much fun to stop playing. With so many different themes and ideas. I loved the movie Inside Out, so when I saw this one I knew Antonia and I just had to play. I found this tag done by Jenny @ Jenny in Neverland. We’re not going to tag anyone at the end to play, but feel free to do this book tag & tag us in it!

Joy – What book brings you the most joy?

Amanda- This answer isn’t going to surprise anyone unless you’re a new follower. I’m going to have to go with A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. There’s just so much development and love and happiness and wonderfulness by the end of the series. Check out my reviews here – ACOTAR, ACOMAF, ACOWAR, and ACOFAS.

Antonia- The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. This will always be my favorite. I’ve had to get new copies because I wore out the old ones and I read it at least once a year. For me, it’s just one of those books that feels like an old friend every time I open it.

Fear – The book that scared you more than anything?

Amanda- This is another easy one. I found this book on my Kindle through my book subscription. I was so spooked by this book that I ended up reading an entire book afterward because I needed something else on my mind before I tried to go to sleep. Secret of Mckinley Mansion by K.F. Breene was such an interesting read but had me turning on the lights so I wasn’t scared in the dark.

Antonia- This one’s easy for me because I avoid scary books and movies like the plague. When I was about fifteen though, I received the book The Devouring by Simon Holt as a gift and it scared the crap out of me.

Disgust – What book grossed you out the most?

Amanda- Hmm, I think for this one I’m going to go with Come Sundown by Nora Roberts. I’m answering this one with ‘grossed out’ being more disgusted by something. There was a kidnapping aspect of this story that lasted way too long and it was honestly just disgusting to read the things that this awful human put one of the characters through. Check out my review here.

Antonia- My high school boyfriend wasn’t much of a reader but when he did read, he’d usually try to get me to read it too and I’d say yes to try to encourage him to read more. Hellbent by Anthony McGowan was one of those books and I hated it so much that it actually made me like my boyfriend less for liking it. A teenage boy dies and goes to hell then proceeds to try to work the system in his favor; which might have been a cool storyline if it didn’t include disgusting humor that young boys tend to enjoy, i.e. fart jokes and way too much mention of bodily waste.

Sadness – Which book make you cry the hardest?

Amanda- This is either going to be Looking for Alaska by John Green because I reread this book once a year usually and it makes me cry every time or it’s the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova because I cried for a solid hour after certain events in these pages.

Antonia- Way too many. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman was probably one of the first. The Shack by William Paul Young was another that made me inconsolable. Maximum Ride Forever by James Patterson was really bad; I’d cry after the fact just talking about it.

Anger – Which book pissed you off?

Amanda- Triangles by Ellen Hopkins (reviewed here). This is one I read recently. The book itself didn’t piss me off. It was a really good book, but specific characters within the stories just made horrible choices that I don’t like or respect and it really pissed me off.

Antonia- Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima. I adore her books and I was so excited for this book to come out (it’s the first in a spin-off series from The Seven Realms series). I couldn’t wait to see older versions of all my favorite characters and then something terrible happens to one of them in the first chapter. I was so mad and upset about it that I immediately put the book down and refused to finish it for a really long time.

What books make you feel all the Inside Out emotions?

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite Novellas

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week we’re given a new prompt for a top ten list of all things bookish. This week is top ten of my favorite novellas or short stories. I’m going to be listing my favorite novellas because I don’t frequently read short stories unless they’re for college (and those aren’t usually too fun.) I’m not sure that I will have a full ten, but I’m going to do my best.

1. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas – If any of you even slightly follow my posts then this one is obvious. I’m obsessed with the ACOTAR series and not sorry about it in the slightest.
2. Fairest by Marissa Meyer – I read this forever ago, but I remember really liking it because it gave us a different point of view of the villain from this series.
3. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists by J.K. Rowling – I went a little crazy after my last HP reread and bought all of the novellas on my Kindle.
4. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies by J.K. Rowling – I loved the little inside details that were within these novellas.
5. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide by J.K. Rowling – Again, from my novella buying spree on my Kindle.
6. Dorothy Must Die novellas (0.1-0.9) by Danielle Paige – I bought these novellas on my Kindle after my last reread of this series once the final book was released. I really enjoyed getting some more background on these characters.
7. Stephanie Plum novellas by Janet Evanovich – There are quite a few different novellas in this series that are holiday themed, from St. Patrick’s Day to Christmas. They’re all fun little additions to the series.
8. The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare – A book full of novellas? Yes, please.
9. Tales from the Shadowhunter’s Academy by Cassandra Clare – I’m not sure if this counts as another book of novellas but I loved reading about Simon.
10. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas – Okay so I haven’t actually read this book. I just finally got around to buying it last week and I will for sure be rereading the whole Throne of Glass series (starting with this book) before the last book is released this fall.

These are my top ten favorite novellas! Do you have any favorites that I didn’t include in this list? Let me know what your favorites are below in the comments!

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Best of 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week we’re given a new prompt for a top ten list of all things bookish. This week is top ten best books I’ve read in 2018 (so far). I’m excited about this one because I have a post on other social media where I post the best book I read each month. I’m obviously only through June so here I can add a few more! Here’s my list of the ten best books I’ve read so far this year.

1. Air Awakens by Elise Kova – I found this as a boxed set on my Kindle so it was like reading one giant book even though it was five books. This series made me laugh and cry and It’s only been a few months since I read it and I already want to read it again.
2. Moon Chosen & Sun Warrior by P.C. Cast – It honestly took me forever to actually read these but they were AMAZING and I can’t wait until Windrider comes out in October.
3. Scythe & Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman – This was an incredibly creative story. I’m excited to see where the third book takes these characters.
4. Renegades by Marissa Meyer – Superheros, duh!
5. The Paper Magician series by Charlie N. Holmberg – I loved all of these books, even the fourth that has different characters in the same word. The world is so interesting and well thought out and just incredible.
6. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson – I found this book in the ‘popular books’ section of my Kindle Unlimited subscription and thought it sounded interesting. Boy was it. The plot in this story was so confusing and funny and heart wrenching all at the same time somehow.
7. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas – The newest book (novella) in my favorite series, so yeah, it obviously makes this list.
8. The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline – It was such an emotional and just all around powerful story. I didn’t think I was going to like this book nearly as much as I did.
9. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon – I was so surprised by this book. I thought this was one that was overly hyped and it wasn’t really ever on my TBR list. But I found it at the library and said why not. I’m glad I gave it a chance because this story blew me away.
10. Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts – My first audiobook ever. I’ve been super excited for this book to be released because Nora is an auto-buy author for me. I honestly hadn’t even read the synopsis. So when I started listening and the mall shooting happened, I balled my eyes out for the first like half an hour that I was listening.

These are the top ten books that are my favorites for the year so far. I chose to only list books that I read for the first time this year, otherwise, my favorite series would overtake this list. What books are your favorites for 2018 so far?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme formerly hosted by Should Be Reading and was revived by Taking on a World of Words. To play along, answer the following three questions and share a link to your post in the comments on her page. Enjoy!

What are you currently reading?

Amanda – I am currently reading Come Sundown by Nora Roberts. I just got this the other day at Target. I’ve been in a reading slump and Nora can always get me out of those. I needed something I knew I was going to like that would be a relatively easy read.

Antonia – I just started Rogue by Julie Kagawa. It’s the second book in the Talon series. I’m rereading this one so mostly I’m just excited to get to the third book.

What did you recently finish reading?

Amanda – I mentioned above my reading slump. So, sadly, my answer is the same as last week because I haven’t been able to get into any of the books I’ve tried to pick up in the past week. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas, which I just posted my review for (so click here and check it out!) is what I read last.

Antonia – I just finished Talon by Julie Kagawa. As you might have guessed, this is the first book in the Talon series. You can expect my review of it on Thursday.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Amanda – I actually have no idea. I just bought a ton of new books and got a few from my aunt that she lent me because she really liked them. There’s also a few I’d love to reread because it’s been a while and they’re books I haven’t reviewed before. So I guess you guys will find out when I post reviews.

Antonia – Soldier by Julie Kagawa. Are you seeing a theme here? My plan is to read the five books in this series right in a row so you can expect to see me talking about them for a little while.

We’d love to hear your own answers to these questions. Feel free to comment what you think or even leave a link to your own post. Thanks for reading!

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Summary:
Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and, with it, a hard-earned reprieve.
Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated-scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.
Narrated by Feyre and Rhysand, this wondrous tale of hope and promise picks up after A Court of Wings and Ruin and sets the stage for the thrilling events in the future books.
Review:
I have to start this review by saying that this book has been given negative reviews all over the place. This makes me sad because I loved this book for many of the reasons that others have disliked it. That being said, I really liked this book. It’s a novella that sets the stage from the end of the war to wherever it is that Sarah J. Maas is going to take this series next. This book is just over two hundred pages compared to the previous books that are all five hundred or more pages, so this review probably won’t be as long as the ones for the previous books.
The first thing I want to say is more about the series as a whole, but I noticed it in this book. A Court of Frost and Starlight starts about two years after Feyre makes her debut into the world of the Fae. I really like the pace or timeline of these books. Too many series have all this insanity happening in a month or six months and it’s just not reasonable. These books have all of the events happening in a reasonable timeline. Feyre waits MONTHS letting herself heal and become a person again before she even lets herself think about maybe having feelings for Rhysand. I’m probably ranting now, but this is something that I feel doesn’t get enough attention and Sarah J. Maas did it right.
The next thing I’d like to mention is the way this story is told. ACOFAS alternates between a few different members of the squad. We heard from Feyre and Rhys and Cassian and even Nesta and I like that. I like getting to see into the heads of each of these characters, it was an interesting change.
While many said this book had no plot or conflict, I disagree. I think they were disappointed because all of the other books in this series had some HUGE things going on like war and saving the world and everything was pretty much life or death and that’s just not the case in this shorter story. I think there are many different smaller conflicts. For example, Nesta has moved out and into her own house and makes no effort to see the family or be a part of anything except drinking in shady bars and sleeping with random men. We see a chapter from her point of view and it’s essentially her talking about how she feels absolutely nothing. Each character is going through their own personal conflict just trying to heal after the things they all went through during the last three books. So no, there was no urgent ‘the world is going to end’ conflict, instead we got a view into the more everyday or normal side of the squad’s lives, which I really liked. This book is something I’ve always wanted, while it might not be super exciting it’s amazing because I got to just sit and hang out with some characters that I just really love and that’s not something us readers get very often.
Overall this book was intended as a filler book or a transition novel to get us readers from the ending of A Court of Wings and Ruin to whatever the next book in the series is going to be. (We got a sneak peek at the end of ACOFAS. I’m super excited about it because it focuses on two different characters from the squad and I’m intrigued to see where Maas takes us next.) So, maybe you want to read this, maybe you don’t. I’m not sure that it’s necessary to any of the storylines that exist now or will be created in the future. But, if you’ve read the first three books and you love these characters as much as I do and you want to just hang out with them for two hundred or so pages then you should definitely read this.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

*Please be aware that the book cover on this post is a link to purchase this book through Amazon. Feel free to purchase with our affiliate link (just click on the book cover) to support us!

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading. To play along, answer the following three questions and share a link to your post in the comments on her page. Enjoy!

What are you currently reading? 

Amanda- I’m currently reading nothing sadly. I am in between books and honestly haven’t decided what I want to read next because I have so many new books. I’m torn between Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth or rereading Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. But that might change because I’m getting a delivery of books when my parents come to visit this weekend.

Antonia- I’m reading Master of Magic by Linsey Hall. It’s the fifth and final book in her Dragon’s Gift: The Valkyrie series. There are three series previous to this one that all connect and I really love seeing Bree’s story finally.

What did you recently finish reading?

Amanda- I finished reading A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas a few days ago. The review will be available as soon as I post the reviews for the books that come before it in the series.

Antonia- I just finished Beheld by Alex Flinn. I absolutely loved this book and will be posting my review of it tomorrow. (Review here.)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Amanda- Next I’ll be reading whatever I decide to pick up. Like I said above, I’m super torn between what I want to invest my time in next. I recently got my book collection back from being in storage  after moving all over. So it’s like having a whole new collection of books. I also bought a few new released as well as more books that are coming to me this weekend that were new when I bought them and just haven’t read yet. Someone come choose what to read for me because I just can’t make up my mind!

Antonia- Next I’ll be rereading Talon by Julie Kagawa. I read the first three books in this series years ago and now that books four and five are out I’ll be reading and reviewing all of them.

 

Tell us your answers to these questions and as always, thanks for visiting our blog.