Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Villains

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week we talk about our top ten with a different topic provided by Jana. This week’s topic is top ten – Villains (favorite, best, worst, lovable, creepiest, most evil, etc.) I’m going to go with a combination of all the options. This list will include some of my favorite villains, who are the best and the worst at the same time, but also loveable. Some will be the evilest and maybe a little creepy too. Villains are some of my favorite and a great Spooktober topic!

 

1. The Darkling, Grisha Verse by Leigh Bardugo – Anyone that knows me knows that I miiiight be a little obsessed with this series and the Darkling. He’s such an excellent villain. Attractive and mysterious, he lures you in before pulling you into the dark side. A backstory that gives him a human side. He’s excellently developed and I just love him.
2. Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling – Creepy, downright evil, this guy is just the worst in all the best ways. He’s a character that I love to hate.
3. Maven Calore, Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard – A loveable villain in the first book. Before we’re blindsided by the fact that he’s actually the villain for this series. I loved him in Red Queen and HATED him the rest of the series. Aveyard made him loveable and personable and I still love him a little even though he’s pure evil.
4. Tea, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco – Tea is made out to be the villain in this story but as we read we find out that she’s doing what she really believes in, despite the fact that she knows it will upset pretty much everyone. The minute she finds out she’s a bone witch she’s already given a stigma of being bad.
5. BeiTech, The Illuminae Files by Aime Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – I think this interesting twist of making a corporation the villain of the story is really cool. Though there’s more to this villain I won’t spoil anything. I think this was a well thought out and well-executed villain.
6. Empress Celestine, The Shattered Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima – There’s still much to learn about this particular villain, but so far she’s very intriguing. She’s the worst, but I find myself liking her more as we get deeper into the series.
7. Nova/Insomnia, Renegades by Marissa Meyer – The main character who is a villain, but seems to start to have conflicting feelings about being a villain once she finds herself surrounded by heroes.
8. Martin Chatwin, The Magicians by Lev Grossman – Martin is just the worst. He’s basically psychotic on top of being pure evil.
9. Adelina Amouteru, The Young Elites by Marie Lu – Adelina was one of the first characters that made me realize I might like villains more than I thought.
10. King of Hybern, ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas – This guy sucked. He was actually the worst and I hated everything about him. Greedy and selfish, not satisfied with what he already has so he has to stir up all kinds of drama.

Who are your favorite, best, worst, most evil villains?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

I Heart Characters!

I Heart Characters! is a weekly meme hosted by Dani @ Perspective of a Writer to showcase our book blogger love for characters! Each week she’ll supply a topic and you’ll supply the character. Post on whatever day suits you, about characters from whatever media you love (books, movies, K-dramas, television, manga, anime, webtoons, whatever!) and link up on Thursday so you and others can blog hop and share the character love.

This weeks topic is Bam! The Opposite Sex (A character you’d like to read about but the opposite sex of what they identified within the original story!)

Amanda

I have two choices for this weeks topic. I just couldn’t decide between the two, but one option was a female main character and the other choice was a male main character so I thought it worked out well.

The first is from my favorite book, Looking for Alaska by John Green. Our main character, Miles Halter (also known as Pudge) goes off to boarding school where his whole life changes. He makes new friends and does things that he’d never done before, smoking cigarettes, pranking other students, drinking. He falls in love with a girl and learns a lot about himself, about love, and about life. I have always wondered how this story would be different or the same had the main character been a girl instead of Miles. I think I may write this story one day, but I wonder how Miles experience would differ from the boarding school experiences of a female.

The second choice I have for this topic is my favorite series, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. So I’d really love to read this series from Rhysands perspective, but that’s not really the question I’m being asked. I also think it would be so interesting and totally change the whole story had our main character, Feyre, been a male main character. This would be interesting because I think all the other roles would need to be reversed as well. So Rhysand would need to be a female and being a High Lord that might mean that all the other High Lords would be made female as well to have the story make sense. This role reversal would be excellent.

Antonia

Oh, man. All of them? I think gender-swaps are fascinating.

I think Bloodlines by Richelle Mead would be really cool if Adrian and Sydney’s roles were reversed. While they’re very complex, their personalities definitely fit with what you might typically expect as male and female. I’d love to see those stereotypes erased. Have a female vampire who’s kind of a player and a guy who’s a little neurotic and body-conscious.

Book Tag – Courts of Prythian

Now that Antonia has finally gotten around to reading my favorite series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, we can do this fun book tag. I love all things ACOTAR related. So I’ve been dying to do this one.

Seasonal Courts

Spring Court – High Lord Tamlin

“Beautiful, everlasting spring but with a bit of a dark side, much like its High Lord, who you might have loved when the series started and rooted for him and Feyre but now you feel completely different.”

Name a book or series that you loved in the beginning and ended up hating.

Amanda- House of Night by P.C. & Kristin Cast. I loved this series so much in the beginning, but after so many books I just couldn’t bother keeping up and finishing it.

Antonia- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I wouldn’t necessarily say hate, but I was obsessed with these books when I was fifteen and after the movies I just couldn’t do it anymore. I tried to reread them years after the movies came out and couldn’t get past the first couple chapters.

Summer Court – High Lord Tarquin

“A court that wants equality for all fae and is working on achieving that. A place that receives everyone.”

Name a book or series with the most diverse characters that you’ve read.

Amanda- Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima. (reviewed here). This is book three in the Shattered Realms series. This series is full of diverse characters from all over their world. People with powers, people without powers, dark-skinned islanders, light-skinned northerners, LBGTQ characters and dragons of course.

Antonia- Most recently I’d say Year One by Nora Roberts. It follows several characters during the apocalypse and they’re all so unique. Even the supporting characters had their own distinct personalities.

Autumn Court – High Lord Beron

“Filled with conflict and power struggles under the rule of ruthless High Lord.  Most likely where we will be going in the next books in the series.”

Name a book or series that you could not put down because you had to know what happened next.

Amanda- I’m going to choose an audiobook for this question. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I could NOT stop listening to this book. It was read by the narrator wonderfully and the story was absolutely incredible. I’m still not so patiently waiting for the second audiobook be available from my library. Read my review for this story here!

Antonia- Well I’d like to say ACOTAR but in an effort to not be too redundant I’ll pick The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan. This entire series had me hooked but I absolutely could not stop with this amazing conclusion.

Winter Court – High Lord Kallias

“A beautiful and cold landscape and very hard to read people.”

Name a book or series that you picked up because of its cover and it ended up being hard to read.

Amanda- The Princess series by Alexa Riley. I found these on my Kindle and loved the pretty dresses on the covers. I’m a sucker for some pretty dresses. But these were just not good. They’re super short so I read a few, but they were just bad and hard to read.

Antonia- The Everneath series by Brodi Ashton. I absolutely love these covers and bought them immediately but now I find myself really reluctant to actually pick them up for some reason.

Solar Courts

Dawn Court – High Lord Thesan

“Healing and inventions are the core of this court.”

Name a book that lightens your mood after reading it.

Amanda- Any of the books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They’re funny and entertaining and never fail to make me laugh.

Antonia- Anything by Nora Roberts or Julia Quinn usually does it for me. They’re funny, have swoon-worthy romances, and fantastic characters.

Day Court – High Lord Helion

“The court of light and knowledge.”

Name a book that you found to be the most inspiring.

Amanda- A book that my aunt forced me to borrow, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. This was an incredible story of hardship and struggle and I’m super glad I read it. Check out my review here.

Antonia- The Shack by William P. Young. I first read this in high school and, especially at a time when I was trying to figure out who I was as a person, this book really made me question what my beliefs were; not specifically religious beliefs, it more made me look outside of myself and the little world I lived in. It really inspired me to form my own opinions about life instead of constantly listening to what other people told me I should think.

Night Court – High Lord Rhysand & High Lady Feyre

“With its two subcourts, it’s the perfect example of the dual nature of everything.”

Court of Nightmares 

“Just as the name states this court is full of monsters and evil intentions.”

Name a book, series, or character that you hate with a passion.

Amanda- I don’t usually hate books and if I do I certainly don’t continue reading the series. So a character that I hate with a fiery passion is Maeve from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. She’s a crazy lady that needs to be put down. I’m so psyched for the final book to come out later this year.

Antonia- Fallen by Lauren Kate. You can read my review of this one here.

Court of Dreams

“The utopic court, where we all would love to live.”

Name your favorite read of the year (so far). A book that blended everything you were looking for.

Amanda- Air Awakens by Elise Kova. Strong female lead. Crazy adventure. Hunky book boyfriend. Crazy cool magic. Five stars for sure.

Antonia- Once again, I’ll resist choosing ACOTAR. I think the Talon series by Julie Kagawa. All of the books exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend them.

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Reading Slump

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week there’s a new topic where we get to choose our top ten and write about it. This week’s topic is top ten books that pull me out of a reading slump. This may or may not just turn into a list of favorite books. So here’s my list in no particular order.
1. Any of Nora Roberts books – I would list some specifics but then this would just turn into a list of my favorite books by Nora.
2. Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich – These books are always funny and interesting. They’re books that I can read super fast and can always pull me out of a funk.
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green – I just adore this book. I adore these characters. I adore all the feels it gives me. Even though I know it’s going to make me cry this is one of my go-to books when I’m in a reading slump.
4. Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands – These books are fast paced, interesting and just trashy enough for me to read no matter what mood I’m in.
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – I love these series too much. Like, honestly I worry sometimes about how much I love these characters. Reading these books are like going to spend time with my best friends.
6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – I don’t know what it is about Maas and the characters that she writes, but I adore all the characters in this series. They impress me and make me laugh. There’s never a dull moment with this series.
7. Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson – I’m a sucker for a good mystery. A bit of mystery and suspense, throw in a handsome male character and you’ve got a book that I’ll read in almost any situation.
8. Crank by Ellen Hopkins – Hopkins’ books are fast-paced and thrilling. I used Crank for this list but really I could put any of them. Her books are almost always about heavy hard hitting topics, but the way they’re written make them quick, but intense reads.
9. A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest – This is a sixty plus book series. I can read three of them in a day. They will always get me out of a reading slump because they’re unique and funny and the action never stops.
10. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – This was a recent read for me. But if all of her books are as good as this one was, I have no doubt I will turn to her books in the future when I find myself in a funk. The characters were funny and ridiculous and made it so I couldn’t put the book down.

Here are my top ten books that get me out of a reading slump (so basically a list of my favorites.) What would you put on your list for this week’s topic? Do you think I missed any? Let me know in the comments.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

I Heart Characters!

I Heart Characters! is a weekly meme hosted by Dani @ Perspective of a Writer to showcase our book blogger love for characters! Each week she’ll supply a topic and we’ll supply the character. Post on whatever day suits you, about characters from whatever media you love (books, movies, K-dramas, television, manga, anime, webtoons, whatever!) and link up on Thursday so we can all blog hop and share the character love.

This weeks topic is – A Creature You’d Want to Adopt (An animal or creature character you’d want as a companion.)

Amanda- I’m going to choose Bryaxis from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. This is one of my absolute favorite series and there are so many different creatures. Bryaxis was one of my favorite creatures that I’ve read about in quite a while. So terrifying that Cassian won’t even describe what it looks like to anyone else, so old that the only thing it desires is someone to talk to and a window to see the stars. I would love to talk to Bryaxis and learn the things that it has seen through its life and get it to share some of its knowledge with me. I don’t know that I would want Bryaxis as a traveling companion or anything similar but I would love to be the person to spend time in the library fulfilling the agreement made with it for someone to talk to. I’m so intrigued to see where this part of the ACOTAR story goes once the next book/series comes out.

Antonia- For me, this will always and forever be Shalkan from The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. He’s a unicorn; you’re probably thinking pure, fluffy being of joy and goodness, right? Well you got the fluffy part right. Shalkan is sarcastic AF, stubborn, badass, and all-around not what you’d expect from a unicorn. I love him so much.

Thanks for reading bookworms! What creature would you choose for this week’s topic? Feel free to let us know in the comments!

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Summary: Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s manoeuvrings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit – and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places. 

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

Review: Once again, I hardly know where to start. I have so many thoughts and feelings about this story and characters that I’m overwhelmed by it. In a good way. As soon as I finished I knew I had to get A Court of Frost and Starlight, and I never read novellas. My love for these characters is so great that I’ll take any chance to read more about them.
Let’s start with Feyre. I’ve liked her from the start but that’s somehow continued to increase throughout the books. First from her selfless bravery, then from the way she grew throughout the second book, and now because she’s an absolute badass. I spent the first few chapters just cheering her on while she spied on/ sabotaged Tamlin and the spring court. Later, when she was finally able to be High Lady of the Night Court, I only admired her more. She’s become confident in herself, her love, and her court and I loved watching her interactions with pretty much everyone. (Note: Unless you’ve read at least some of these books, you probably won’t understand what it really means that Feyre has become a High Lady; take it from me, it’s a really big deal.)
I still don’t like Tamlin. Some people think his actions by the end of the book are enough to redeem him at least a little but not for me. I think he’s a complete jerk who builds a “poor me” bubble around himself and how could anyone possibly believe the worst of him? How? Because you literally did everything possible to make everyone think you were the enemy. I don’t know how he could be surprised that people treated him as such.
Rhys is still my favorite book boyfriend. I adore his and Feyre’s relationship. They’re a team; they treat each other as equals and even when one of them goes off on their own or makes a mistake, they respect each others decisions whether they agree with them or not. Their love is what I think everyone should aspire to have.
Mor is amazing. She’s tough and fun and has the most tragic backstory. The one thing I didn’t like is the secret she’s kept from the group for hundreds of years. (Don’t worry, it’s not something that really affects the main storyline.) It just seems like, because the group is so close, that she should trust them not to judge her or to let it change the group’s dynamic. The fact that she doesn’t bothers me a little.
Cassian and Azriel are also fantastic. They have fairly opposite personalities; Cassian’s more in-your-face about pretty much everything while Azriel hides in his shadows and doesn’t really let anyone in. Getting glimpses of the softer side of Azriel is the best though. I just want to wrap him up in a bubble and protect him forever.
Amren is probably my favorite of the Inner Circle. She’s an all powerful being from another world trapped in a High Fae body. Her powers are limited in her current form but you frequently get glimpses of what she is by the way others behave around her. The fact that this tiny little person terrifies everyone she meets just makes me so happy.

**MINOR SPOILER ALERT**

What I don’t get is how anyone can believe Amren would betray them at the end. After seeing the way this family interacts throughout books two and three, I had no doubt that she had a plan and wasn’t actually betraying Feyre. Anyone who thought she would actually do that isn’t giving her enough credit.

**SPOILER ENDED**

I still can’t believe Hybern turned Elain and Nesta into High Fae. Elain just made me sad throughout the entire book. She’s like a tiny puppy being kicked. I really liked Nesta however. She’s still prickly and a little annoying and just mean to everyone but that’s just the shield she wears constantly. I think she grew a lot during this book and is one of the main reasons I want to read ACOFAS, to see how she’s doing after the war.
Lucien I really loved for the first half of this book. Then he disappears on his mission and you don’t see him until the end. I found this part irritating. It felt almost like Maas sent him on a wild goose chase so she wouldn’t have to figure out where he fit in with the rest of the Inner Circle. I would have liked to have seen more of him.
Overall I loved this book to the point where this series is definitely a new favorite of mine. It has the best characters and a really intricate plot. The final battle was intense, bloody and literally had me screaming at my husband to stop interrupting me. I’d recommend this series to everyone. The first book is a little more YA romance but the other two are far more complex and action-based. Tell me what you think in the comments because I could talk about this book for days. Thanks for reading!
-Antonia

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Mash Ups

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week there’s a new topic where we get to choose our top ten and write about it. This week’s topic is top ten books I would mash together. I think this is a wicked interesting topic. I’m not sure how I’m going to go about it, so in no particular order, here goes!

1. Rose Gardner Investigations by Denise Grover Swank & Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich – These are books about an aspiring private investigator and books about a bond enforcement officer. I think Rose and Stephanie would make one hell of a hilarious pair.
2. Renegades by Marissa Meyer & Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti – Two different types of superhero books. Both with similar abilities, sort of. But the worlds they take place in are pretty different. I think it would be interesting to see these two worlds collide.
3. Meant to be Broken by Brandy Woods Snow & One Small Thing by Erin Watt – Both are novels involving girls who are struggling with their feelings about a guy. Both thinking that their feelings are wrong and should be stifled and ignored. I think the two female main characters would be great friends and would be able to help one another immensely by sharing their experiences.
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson & The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith – These are both murder mystery sort of books but with a ton of different subplots along the way. I think they would be interesting to see together. Seeing the characters with their hugely different personalities would be funny.
5. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson & Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson – This is a choice for similar reasons to above except these are young adult murder mysteries. Again, the personalities in these stories would make for an interesting read.
6. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas & Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch – If the Sara(h)’s wrote a book together I would be able to die happy as soon as I finished it. These specific books would be so cool to see together. In ACOTAR, there’s Fae with seasonal courts and magical abilities and in Snow Like Ashes there are different kingdoms for the seasons with different sorts of magical abilities. I think they would mesh well together with the similarities in the stories.
7. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare & A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest – Both of these series have a great variety of supernatural characters like vampires and werewolves and others unique to their books. Their also both full of headstrong characters that strive to do the ‘right’ thing at all costs. I would love to see these characters and worlds collide.
8. The Young Elites by Marie Lu & Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – These two came together in my head because of their magic systems. Both books have people with abilities that are not accepted in their worlds. Both have fantastic villains. Now that I’m typing this, I would LOVE to see the Darkling and Adelina join forces and run the world.
9. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins & Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow – I really think that Charlie could have been another character in Impulse. She for sure could have been a fourth perspective in that story. These characters could all relate for sure.
10. The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead & A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands – I obviously had to throw my two favorite vampire worlds together. I think these worlds would be awesome to see together because of the different ways that vampires are created and the similarities that are already there.

This week’s topic was a hard one for me! I had a ton of fun looking at my shelves and thinking about all the different worlds I love colliding. I tried to pick bookish worlds that already had a little bit in common. I wanted my mashups to mostly make sense. Which bookish worlds would you want to see collide?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Summary: Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

Review: As much as I loved the first book, I loved this one more. I read it in about a day even though it’s over 600 pages long and I was a little overwhelmed when I was done. Not necessarily in a bad way, it’s just that so much happened and I had so many feelings that I was a bit lost when it was over.
In my review of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I talked about how I liked the fact that Feyre isn’t your typical hero; she does what she has to to protect those she loves even if it’s not “the right thing”. Some of these actions from the first book have resulted in her having PTSD. Partly because of the awful things that were done to her or that she saw in Amarantha’s court Under The Mountain, but a huge part of it is the things she herself did Under The Mountain. Even if we completely ignore the fact she’s been turned into High Fae (she’s literally not even human anymore and that’s an insane adjustment for anyone), everything that’s happened since the beginning of ACOTAR has been traumatizing. She’s trying, and failing, to cope as she comes to terms with who she’s become. This book had some of the best character development for her, particularly because it doesn’t happen overnight. Throughout this entire book she’s changing, growing, learning who she is and who she wants to be. A huge part of that growth is influence by Tamlin and Rhysand in vastly different ways but I’ll go into more detail about that later.
I slowly hated Tamlin more and more throughout this book. This seems to be the source of some contention for fans. Readers seem to either think his personality in ACOMAF is completely different from ACOTAR and that Maas forced it that way to make room for Rhys to be with Feyre; OR readers think it’s simply an extension of Tamlin’s personality that we didn’t see in ACOTAR but that was sort of amplified by the trauma of Under The Mountain. Honestly, I’m not sure what I think but it seems to fall somewhere in the middle for me. His change in ACOMAF definitely felt just a little forced but I’m also not surprised by it. As much as I loved him in ACOTAR, I definitely got that sense that he was a little controlling, a little possessive. Part of the problem might be that in the first book, that’s what Feyre wanted. She wanted to feel protected for once in her life, not have to do the protecting but after Under The Mountain she needed some semblance of control of her own life and Tamlin wouldn’t let her have that. I understand he watched her die and doesn’t know how to deal with that but even months later after Feyre’s tried telling him what she needs, after he’s promised to be better about it, he only gets more and more controlling. All that said, I still felt a little sorry for him right up until that last scene. I won’t spoil it for anyone but his actions at the end were the final straw for me. In my mind, there’s no excuse for what he did and I won’t forgive him for it.
Rhysand. Is. Perfect. Not that he doesn’t have flaws; of course he does. His flaws just made me love him more. Everything about Rhys’s story gave me all the emotions. It’s tragic and beautiful and funny. For me though, the main reason he’s my new favorite book boyfriend is for the way he interacts with Feyre. He works so hard to give her what she needs to deal with her trauma and he listens to her and respects what she says whether he agrees with her or not. He never tries to control her and actively gives her the freedom to act for herself to the point where, if there’s danger, he lets her handle it; he might step in when necessary but he never tries to fight her battles for her. This more than anything helps Feyre grow because she finally has the freedom to do what she needs to do for her own well-being. Rhys never treats Feyre as anything less than his equal and I absolutely adore that.
Rhys’s Inner Circle was one of my favorite parts of this book. Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren are such unique, complex, lovable characters. I love that they, including Rhys and later Feyre, are a family first and the Night Court second. I’m beyond excited to see more of them in the next book.
Overall, this is one of my new favorite books. It had everything I want from a story; romance, friendship, complex character development, action, heart-wrenching moments, laugh-out-loud scenes, and an ending that just about killed me. I recommend this to everyone. Seriously. Just read this book.
I’d love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading!
-Antonia

Book Tag – Book Blogger Confessions

Yes bookworms, another book tag. We found this one posted by Sionna at Books in her Eyes, so go check out her answers to these fun questions.

The Rules – 

Answer the questions truthfully.

Tag five book bloggers to answer these questions next.

Which book did you most recently DNF?

Amanda- I make a point to not DNF books. So the closest I’ve come would be I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman which you can see my review here.

Antonia- Tequila and Tea Bags by Laura Barnard. I was really excited for this one but absolutely could not connect with the protagonist and couldn’t manage to get past about 30% because of it.

What book is your guilty pleasure?

Amanda- This has to be any of the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands. They’re creative but filthy and I love it when the new ones come out. Who doesn’t love a sexy vampire romance?

Antonia- I probably would have chosen the same as Amanda but in an effort to be different I’ll pick The Dark-Hunters series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Sexy immortals and greek mythology? Yes please.

Which book do you love to hate?

Amanda- This is a tough one because I don’t have one that comes immediately to mind. After looking at my GoodReads list of books that I’ve read, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (review here) is definitely a book that I dislike (I don’t really hate any books) but I liked the second one a bunch, so love to hate I guess?

Antonia- I always think this questions a little weird. Usually I just love it or hate it, there’s not much in between for me.

Which book would you throw into the sea? 

Amanda- What bookworm in their right mind would throw a perfectly good book (or even a perfectly terrible book) into the ocean?

Antonia- Yeah, I agree entirely with Amanda.

Which book have you read the most? 

Amanda- Looking for Alaska by John Green. My favorite book in the world. I’ve reread it so many times it’s ridiculous. Check out my review here.

Antonia- A lot. If I had to guess though, I’d say The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I read it at least once a year and it’s been over ten years since I first picked it up.

Which book would you hate to receive as a present?

Amanda- Well, I wouldn’t hate to receive any books for free. But I much prefer when gift givers ask me specifically what books I need or want.

Antonia- Nothing specifically. I mostly agree with Amanda; I’d rather be able to pick out my own books with the exception of a few people who know my tastes well enough.

Which book could you not live without?

Amanda- All of them? Seriously, I’m supposed to pick just one book?

Harry Potter (all of them) by J.K. Rowling

Looking for Alaska by John Green

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Antonia- The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Beastly by Alex Flinn

The Witness by Nora Roberts

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist

And like 5,000 others.

Which book made you the angriest?

Amanda- The Young Elites series by Marie Lu (reviewed here.) The main character of this series is absolutely infuriating, but like I also totally loved her. She just made me mad like 90% of the time.

Antonia- I’ve talked about this one before but I have to choose Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima. She killed off one of my favorite characters from the previous series and I couldn’t handle it. To the point where I refused to finish it for the longest time.

Which book made you cry the most?

Amanda- I feel like I’ve mentioned this a million times at this point but, The Air Awakens series by Elise Kova made me cry for like an hour. My husband just hugged me and asked me if I was okay like a hundred times. He definitely thought I was never going to stop crying.

Antonia- All of them. Not literally of course but there’s a lot and almost always, if a book made me cry once, it’ll make me cry every time. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman has always been one of the worst. Most recently is probably Year One by Nora Roberts. A character dies suddenly which would be tragic enough but he has the same name as my husband so I found it harder to read than I might otherwise.

Which book cover do you hate the most?

Amanda- I just talked about this with someone the other day. I don’t have any specific book covers that I hate, but I don’t particularly love book covers with faces on them. The faces that their making are always so awkward and I just think they could have done better with something other than a random face.

Antonia- I also hate the awkward face covers. Especially when half the face is cut off. It just doesn’t look appealing to me in any way.

Tags – 

Danielle at YAAllegience 

Sara at Bookish Traveling Wife

Jess & Teagan at Fiction No Chaser

Ashley at Thrifty Bibliophile

Alana at The Bookish Chick

Feel free to complete this tag even if we didn’t tag you specifically and link back to our page! Thanks for reading bookworms.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Summary: Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

Review: I’m. Obsessed.
Maybe not as much as Amanda is (she literally called me when I told her I finished it and asked a billion questions about what I thought), but I still loved it. I’m having trouble focusing on writing this review because I just want to start the next book.
I was a little wary going into it. Amanda’s been trying to get me to read them for the longest time and my husband just read them recently. They’re both pretty good about not giving away huge spoilers but between them and the internet in general, I knew a lot about this series beforehand. Now I don’t want to spoil it for anyone else so I’ll be kind of vague, but certain things I knew about the characters ahead of time made me worried that I wouldn’t be able to connect with them the same way I normally would. Luckily it didn’t turn out to be a huge problem. I was still able to love the characters while impatiently waiting for the story to progress to certain parts I’d been excited for.
Feyre is my favorite. She has her ‘ignorant human’ moments (is anyone else getting as sick of this trope as I am?), but overall she’s a brave, intelligent, strong character who fights to protect those she cares about no matter what. I actually really enjoyed that side of her. So often, authors try to make characters who always do the right thing; the heroes have this unwavering moral compass and that’s what makes them heroes. Feyre isn’t like that. She protects herself and those she cares about and that’s it. She’s willing to do things, for her family, for Tamlin, that weigh on her conscience and would probably make her less of a hero t some. For me, I loved her more because she was so flawed.
I liked Tamlin a lot more than I was expecting to. He’s brooding, tough, sexy but able to have gentler moments with Feyre where he lets his guard down. I definitely think there were parts he could have handled differently. He has the arrogance of an immortal which might not have been bad by itself but combined with him treating Feyre as a fragile human who needs to be protected, resulted in some really awful things that might have been avoided if he’d done things differently.
Rhysand drives me nuts. I mostly only saw him toward the end of the book and I just need MORE. I know (from Amanda and my husband) that I’m going to love him later in the books but right now he’s still acting like a jerk. I can’t wait to get to know him better in the next book.
Lucien was a really fun character who added a lot of humor to otherwise serious scenes. Feyre’s sisters, Elain and Nesta, annoyed me at the beginning but I have hopes for my feelings changing later in the series, especially for Nesta.
Being a painter, Feyre’s descriptions of the setting were vivid and detailed without being tedious which I really liked. It gave her a reason to notice her surroundings in a show-don’t-tell sort of way. It was something I appreciated because it’s why I usually have trouble with settings.
The plot was fantastic. A little slower in the middle as Feyre and Tamlin got to know each other but the last half was insane. Fast-paced and filled with drama and action that kept me on the edge of my seat. Except for the couple chapters I started yesterday, I read this book straight through in one sitting.
I’d recommend it to anyone who likes YA, fantasy, romance, and especially stories about faeries. I thought the magic surrounding them and their culture was extremely unique in this book. I’d love to hear what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading.
-Antonia

*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

Hey, bookworms! It’s that day of the week again where we participate in the wonderful bookish post that was formerly hosted by Should be Reading and was recently taken over by Taking on a World of Words. To play along just answer three questions to give an update about what you’re currently reading, going to read next and have read recently. Feel free to leave your answers in the comments or link your post!

What are you currently reading?

Amanda- I’m still working on getting through Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa on my Kindle. I haven’t picked it up since last week, but I’ll probably finish it in the next few days. I’m listening to American Gods by Neil Gaiman as I type this. I’m over halfway through and still somehow have six hours left. I’m also reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I finally picked it up and I’m glad I did because it’s super interesting and I’m only less than fifty pages in.

Antonia- A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. I cannot stop with this series. I blew through the first two books in a couple days and will probably read this last one just as quickly. I’m so glad Amanda practically threw these books at me.

What did you recently finish reading?

Amanda- I just yesterday finished Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I’m doing a reread of the series so I can finally read the last book that came out this year.

Antonia- I just finished A Court of Mist and Fury. I read this 600-something-page book in about a day. It was amazing. Expect to see my reviews of this series soon.

What do you think you will read next?

Amanda- After I finish Big Little Lies I will probably pick up Glass Sword, the second book in the Red Queen Series. I have quite a few books on my TBR list for this month but I don’t know what order I’m going to read them yet.

Antonia- I’m not sure. I barely started listening to the audiobook for The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg but got distracted by the ACOTAR series. There’s also a couple new books in The Dragon’s Gift: The Druid series by Linsey Hall that I’m excited to read. But I still have a bunch of new books from my haul from Book Outlet that I need to read so it’ll all depend on my mood when I finish my current read.

Thanks for reading! What are your W’s this week?

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Popular Books That Lived Up to the Hype

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week there’s a new topic where we get to choose our top ten and write about it. This week’s topic is the top ten popular books that lived up to the hype. This is going to be a fun one for me because I frequently buy or read books because of the hype.

1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – I read this series book by book when it was first released. But even back then there was so much hype that was all accurate. This series still gets hyped up all the time, which says a lot right there.
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – If you read any of my posts on a regular basis you already know how obsessed with this series I am. It’s one of my absolute favorites. I jumped on this bandwagon pretty early and had to wait for each book to be released which made it ten times worse.
3. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – After reading ACOTAR I knew I needed to check out her other series as well and I’m super glad I did. I can’t wait for Kingdom of Ash to be released.
4. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – I originally got these books from the library a few years ago and loved them so much I had to buy my own set.
5. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare – The first two or three books were already published and I had to not so patiently wait for the next three. But I also had to wait for the Infernal Devices and now I’m not so patiently waiting for Queen of Air and Darkness.
6. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – I am realizing that I am easily convinced to buy books. I bought this one not too long after it came out and have had to wait for each book to come out. Now that the whole series is out I somehow haven’t managed to reread them all.
7. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James – I totally bought this series for the hype. I wouldn’t say they’re the best books in the world, but I’ve enjoyed them enough to read them more than once.
8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer – I love a good fairytale retelling so when I heard the hype for these I obviously had to see what the deal was.
9. The Gender Game by Bella Forrest – Once I signed up for Kindle Unlimited (after I got my Kindle as a Christmas gift from my mother in law) I saw this series all over and eventually gave it a shot. I’m glad I did, these were fantastic books. I love everything Forrest writes.
10. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon – I was super late to jump on the bandwagon for this one. I read this last month and I was just blown away.

This is my top ten for this week. What popular books have you read that lived up to the hype?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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?

I Heart Characters!

I Heart Characters! is a weekly meme hosted by Dani @ Perspective of a Writer to showcase our book blogger love for characters! Each week she’ll supply a topic and we’ll supply the character. Post on whatever day suits you, about characters from whatever media you love (books, movies, K-dramas, television, manga, anime, webtoons, whatever!) and link up on Thursday so we can all blog hop and share the character love.

This week’s topic is Anti-Establishment Group of Badasses (A group of three or more characters that belong together as they fight the “good fight” – this can be interpreted however you like.)

Amanda- This was totally an easy topic for me. I would for sure have to go with my favorite squad from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. Even if we don’t include Feyre and Rhysand – Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Armen are still a fantastic group of badasses that have hearts of gold and mostly do the right thing all while showing the world their resting bitch faces. They all have hardships that they dealt with in their past that shaped them into the good people they are today, people that fight the good fight for those that can’t fight for themselves. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I would love to be a part of this squad. They have such a fun dynamic that’s actually pretty similar to myself and my husband and our friends now that I think about it.

Antonia- I think I have to go with the group I read about most recently: Cass, Del, and Nyx from the Dragon’s Gift series by Linsey Hall. Technically, there’s three series; one for each girl, each made up of five books. After losing their memories around age fifteen, all they know is they’re being hunted by someone they call The Monster and that their powers make them criminals in the eyes of the magical government. They’re sisters by choice but I never once felt that they were anything but family. They’re strong, compassionate, badass ladies who always do what’s right even at the risk of their own lives. I’d absolutely love to be best friends with them.

Thanks for reading! What characters would you choose for this weeks topic? Let us know in the comments or leave us a link to your post.

WWW Wednesday

Hey, bookworms! It’s that day of the week again where we participate in the wonderful bookish post that was formerly hosted by Should be Reading and was recently taken over by Taking on a World of Words. To play along just answer three questions to give an update about what you’re currently reading, going to read next and have read recently. Feel free to leave your answers in the comments or link your post!

What are you currently reading?

Amanda-

ebook – Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. I don’t know why I haven’t been able to fly through this book. It feels like I’ve been reading it forever. I think it’s because it’s full of Japanese mythology which is a topic unfamiliar to me so I’m reading slowly so I don’t miss anything important.
audiobook – American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This book has been super hard to get through. It’s such a long audiobook and I actually had to return it and then put another hold on it from my library. I’ve made it about halfway through and I’m making more progress on it later today. It’s interesting but a lot of detail so it requires more of my focus than other audiobooks.
physical book – Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. When the final book in this series came out I knew I was going to have to reread the whole series (I like to reread but I also only remembered a few basic details from this series). I’ve finally made the attempt to start the series reread but I plan to read other things and not binge read these books.

Antonia-

I’m currently reading If I Should Die by Amy Plum. This series has exceeded my expectations and I’m really excited to see how it ends.

What did you recently finish reading?

Amanda-

audiobook – Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson. It was fantastic and my review will be posting sometime in the next few weeks.
physical book – Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow. I just finished reading this last night. I have already written the review and it will also be posted in the next few weeks.

Antonia-

I just finished Until I Die by Amy Plum. I’m really enjoying this series so far. You’ll see a review for this one tomorrow.

What do you think you will read next?

Amanda-

ebook – Meant to be Broken by Brandy Woods Snow. I received this in return for an honest review. I’ve heard good things about it and the description sounds super interesting.
audiobook – The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. This has been on my TBR list forever so when I saw it was available to borrow from my library’s audiobook collection I made sure to grab it.
physical book – Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. This has been on my TBR list for at least a year and I’m trying to make a conscious effort to knock off some of the books that have been on there for a while.

Antonia-

Next I think I’ll read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Amanda’s been yelling at me to read this series for forever and I’m excited to finally get around to it.

These are this week’s W’s! What’s your reading update for this week? Let us know your W’s in the comments and thanks for reading!