Book Tag – Halsey

halsey book tag.jpg

Hi lovelies!

Back at it again with another book tag. I love Halsey so when I saw this book tag done on Downright Dystopian’s page I knew I had to play too! This tag is originally created by Paper Riot. Now, onto the book tag!

castle

Amanda- Aelin Galathynius for sure. She’s from Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. She’s kickass and doesn’t take anything from anyone. She even has the choice to not become queen and abandon her throne but steps up and shows the world that she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Antonia- Definitely Raisa ana’Marianna from The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. I just loved watching her grow throughout this series.

coming down

Amanda- I’m going to say all of the scenes written by Lynsay Sands. Sexy vampires from Atlantis? Yes please.

Antonia- Hmm… this is a tough one because I read a TON of romance. I’ll say anything by Julia Quinn because her love stories are just the best.

control

Amanda- The Darkling, for sure. He’s from Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy. I don’t know what it is, but momma loves some Darkling.

Antonia- Queen Savilla from The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. She’s the queen of the endarkened (demons) and is simply evil. I just love that she has no redeeming qualities. She’s terrifying and awful and makes a fantastic villain.

drive

Amanda- This was the hardest one for me out of all of these questions. I’ve decided to go with the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Our main character is forever trapped in a love triangle between the (mostly) marriage material  Joe Morelli and the sexiest man alive, Ranger. I wouldn’t say that there’s a lack of communication, more like a stalemate. They communicate but not enough for Stephanie to be able to actually make a decision between the two. (Though I don’t think I ever want her to actually make that final choice.)

Antonia- Kvothe and Denna from The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. I really enjoy them together and wouldn’t mind seeing them actually get together in the future but they keep so many secrets and they’re both so mysterious that it gets in the way of them ever actually having a relationship.

empty gold

Amanda- Tamlin and Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I talk about this in my reviews for this series, linked here. Though I’m sure many people feel this way. This is the couple that popped into my head as soon as I read the question. I loved them so much in the first book and then Tamlin just, ugh.

Antonia- Ember and Riley from The Talon Series by Julie Kagawa. I wanted them to be together for the first couple books so bad then somehow I ended up loving Garret so much that I stopped wanting her to be with Riley. (I still love Riley though.) And me changing my mind about characters that drastically really doesn’t happen often.

ghost

Amanda- This may be biased because of my pregnancy hormones. But when I read the breakup scene in the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova I literally spent a solid hour crying. To the point where my husband wasn’t sure what to do with me and just hugged me while I cried for an hour. I’m pretty sure he thought I was never going to stop.

Antonia- For me, this will always be Lyra and Will’s breakup at the end of The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I was around twelve when I first read it and cried for days. I still cry hysterically every time I reread it.

haunting

Amanda- Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. Every once in a while I say to myself, “you know what was a good book, Love Letters to the Dead. I should read that again.” I have recently bought it on my Kindle (I got it from the library the first time.) and I’m planning to reread it soon.

Antonia- All of them. This is actually a huge problem for me because I continue to think about books long after I’ve read them; it actually keeps me up at night. It’s why I reread so many books over and over again.

hold me down

Amanda- Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. I’m super not sorry about this either. The whole series is being written and released from Christian’s perspective. I have the first two and am waiting for the third to be released. While I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed, I will absolutely be buying and reading the third so I have all six books.

Antonia- Dark Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I actually need to catch up on this one but since I first discovered these books I’ve been a little obsessed with them even though there’s now 29 books in the series and Kenyon’s still writing.

hurricane

Amanda- If you read my posts on a regular basis you should already know the answer to this question. Looking for Alaska by John Green. If you haven’t read it read my review here.

Antonia- Beastly by Alex Flinn. This will forever be my favorite Beauty and the Beast adaptation. I reread it at least once a year and it always just gives me this light, happy feeling inside.

is there somewhere

Amanda- Every and all of the couples we find in The Shade of Vampire series by Bella Forrest. This is a 50+ book series that spans over a ridiculous amount of years, several generations, and many worlds. Every couple we meet and read about has to go through some (usually life-threatening) struggle before they get their happy ending.

Antonia- Adrian and Sydney from The Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead. One of my favorite book couples but they struggle so much to keep their relationship going when both vampires and humans judge them for it. At one point Sydney’s actually institutionalized by her family for it.

new americana

Amanda- I try not to use the same book over and over when I do these tags, but I can’t help it for this. I would LOVE to be part of the Night Court squad from A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas, reviewed here. It’s from the ACOTAR series, but we don’t get to meet them until the second book, so I’m using that one.

Antonia- The Demigods from The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. Awesome magical powers? Check. Funny and amazing and need to be my best friends? Double check.

roman holiday

Amanda- Hazel and Augustus from The Fault in our Stars by John Green. See my review here to get a more detailed post of my thoughts on this book. I love Hazel and Gus together because they’re both just kids that had to grow up too fast and spent too much time thinking about death. Then they found each other and had a bright spot in their lives, a reason to live if you will.

Antonia- Amanda and Chris from Beheld by Alex Flinn. I talked about them in my review (here) and I just loved them together so much I think I actually squealed while reading it.

strange love

Amanda- Chaol from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas is a good one for this I think. So many people hate him after certain events in the series. I understand why he did what he did and still love him even though it cost him his relationship with Celaena.

Antonia- Fire from Fire by Kristin Cashore. I’ve read quite a few reviews from people who didn’t like her which kind of astounds me because I adore her.

trouble

Amanda- Rose and Mason from the Rose Gardner Investigations by Denise Grover Swank. I wanted to put them for an OTP with obstacles, but honestly I don’t think they’ll end up together no matter how much I want them to be.

Antonia- None. Toxic relationships are pretty much an instant DNF for me. I’ve read about a lot of flawed relationships (e.g. Quentin and Margo from Paper Towns by John Green) but nothing that I would actually consider toxic. Even with examples like Quentin and Margo, I enjoyed reading about them but still didn’t ship them.

walk the line

Amanda- Shadows of the Immortals by Marina Finlayson. This series is a super interesting twist on the Gods (from all different cultures) which is a topic I really like. I couldn’t put this series down once I started it.

Antonia- Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. This is a retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon and is still one of the most unique fairytale retellings I’ve read.

young god

Amanda- This one is easy. Lyss and Hal from Cinda Williams Chima’s Shadowcaster (reviewed here) are both totally falling in love (if they’re not already in love) with one another. But neither will admit it.

Antonia- Hazel and Frank from Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. They get together later on in the series but for pretty much this entire book, they both are secretly pining for the other. It was adorable.

gasoline

Amanda- Adelina Amouteru from The Young Elites series by Marie Lu, reviewed here. I hate to even say this because I love her but I also really hate her. I guess I love to hate her. Okay, I lied. I don’t hate to say it. She’s totally my favorite destructive character.

Antonia- Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. He’s so focused on his revenge the entire time that he ignores the chance to make a better life for himself but at the same time, his revenge plot is absolutely insane and amazing at the same time.

 

Antonia’s Top Ten Tuesday- Series I’ve Given Up On

top10tuesday

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 series I gave up on or do not plan to finish. This is mostly going to be series I gave up on but would probably revisit eventually because I don’t have a ton that I’d refuse to read again.

  1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon– I read the first book and liked it but as soon as I found out the main characters are apart for 20 years between the first and second books, I refused to read further.
  2. The House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast– This is one I’d absolutely be happy to reread eventually. It just felt like the series was being dragged out so much that I completely lost interest in waiting for the new books to be published.
  3. The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich– This is one that Amanda continuously pushed on me. I read a few and, while I really did enjoy them, I never loved them quite enough to read the entire twenty-five book series.
  4. The Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout– I love her books and really liked the start of this series but for some reason couldn’t get past the second book when I first got them a few years ago. I’d like to actually get through this series finally.
  5. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare– I loved these books but couldn’t make myself finish the last two. There was just so much happening and it felt like it went in a direction that I thought was unnecessary. I’ve always kind of thought this series should have stopped after the first three books.
  6. The Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands– This one I absolutely still plan on picking up again. There’s just so many books that I got a little sick of it for awhile. She’s currently working on book 29 and I stopped somewhere around 16.
  7. The Halo series by Alexandra Adornetto-I liked the first book and Amanda loved the rest of the trilogy; I just never liked it enough to take the time to read the other two books.
  8. The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith– This is another one that I felt dragged on too long. I always thought the original series was perfect until more books were added on and they brought in ghost writers and all that nonsense.
  9. Evernight by Claudia Gray– This is another series that Amanda loved but I couldn’t get into despite liking the first book.
  10. A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin– I tried reading the first book. I tried starting from where I’d left off in the show. I absolutely could not get into these books and do not plan on trying again.

 

Well these are y top ten for this week. I’d love to see your own list. Thanks for reading.

-Antonia

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Favorites in Genre X

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post giving our top ten on different topic. This is hosted by THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. This weeks topic is Top Ten All Time Favorite Books in Genre X. I thought this was a really interesting topic and I really had to think about which genre to pick. The genre I came up with isn’t technically a genre, but I’ve decided that I’m using it anyway. I’ve decided on my top ten all time favorite vampire books. Here’s what I came up with:
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1)Twilight by Stephenie Meyer– The fifteen year old reader in me is putting this on my list. This was the book that started my love of paranormal books. I have great memories enjoying the pages of this saga.

2)Bloodlines by Richelle Mead– If you’ve read any of these books you know why this is on my list. I’m obsessed with this series and I can’t wait for the next to come out.

3)The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead– Vampire Academy came in a very close second to Bloodlines. I love both stories.

4)Evernight by Claudia Gray– This is another addition from fifteen year old me. I got really attached to this series when I was younger.

5)The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa– I just love anything Kagawa writes. I love the Blood of Eden series. I’m also beyond excited for The Forever Song to come out this April.

6)A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands– Really of the Argeneau novels are included with this. They’re on the more trashy romance novel side, but hey who doesn’t love a good romance novel every now and then.

7)Shadow Falls Series by C.C. Hunter– Shadow Falls has more than just vampires, but I wanted it on this list because I loved reading the Shadow Falls series. I flew through the books, loving every page.

8)The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts– These also have more than just vampires but these books were exciting and fun and crazy.

9)Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz– Cruz put an interesting and unique twist in her vampire series. I put off reading the series for quite a while because I knew I needed to read them all together.

10)The House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristen Cast– I wasn’t a huge fan of this series toward the end. The last one is coming out this year and I might give them a try again.

These are my top ten all time favorite vampire books. What are yours?

Keep on reading lovelys, Amanda.

Antonia’s Top Ten Tuesday- Sequels


It feels like forever since I’ve posted a Top Ten Tuesday. (Probably because it has…) For those of you who are new to it, it’s a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s prompt is top ten sequels I can’t wait to get my hands on.
I ended up only doing nine because any other books I can think of at the moment aren’t part of a series.

1. The 2nd book in the Dragon Prophecy Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory- There is no release date… There isn’t even a title… But this book will come out eventually and when it does I will have it immediately.
2. Age of X Book 2 by Richelle Mead- This book also has no title or release date. The first came out pretty recently though so some information will hopefully be released soon. The first book left me with so many questions that I desperately need answers to.
3. Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout- August 15, 2014 ………The end of the previous book was not even close to being okay. It may be physically and mentally impossible to wait until next summer for this book.
4. Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead- November 19, 2013 TWO WEEKS!!! I can’t contain my excitement for this book. This series literally makes me feel so many emotions that I might spontaneously combust.
5. The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn- Apparently, this book is already out. I thought it came out in a few weeks; but when I was checking the release date it said October 29. So I’m going to have to make an emergency trip to the library tomorrow…
6. Three Weeks With Lady X by Eloisa James– March 25, 2014 I am super excited about this book. I was introduced to Eloisa James through her Desperate Duchesses series which has long since been over. Until now. This book is loosely connected to the original series. The male main character is the firstborn son of my favorite character from the first series.
7. Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon- September 2, 2014 It is impossible for me to not read one of her Dark Hunters books. I love them all. I can’t help myself.
8. Vampire Most Wanted by Lynsay Sands- February 18, 2014 I need to catch up on this series a bit, but she’s one of my autobuy authors. Her books are like my guilty pleasure.
9. Revealed by P.C. and Kristin Cast- This is already out but, like Amanda, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. The House of Night series is one of the first that Amanda and I shared so we’re particularly attached to them, even if the series dragged out a bit more than I think it should have.

So those are my picks. Let me know if you share any of these choices or any different ones you might have. Do you prefer reading series or standalone books? I like both equally but would love to hear everyone’s opinions.
-Antonia

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Sequels

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where every week we give our top ten on a specific topic. This weeks topic is Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait To Get My Hands On. I’m a little excited for this one because there’s so many series that I read that I just can’t wait for the next book.

1)Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout– This is the final book of the Lux Series. I fell in love with this series within the first couple of pages of Obsidian. This is a series I think anyone and everyone should read. Opposition is expected to come out August 5, 2014

2)The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead– Ah! I just want this book to come out already! Number four of the Bloodlines series is expected to come out November 19th, 2013 which is very soon. I just don’t want to wait anymore!

3)Age of X Series by Richelle Mead– The second book in the Age of X seems like it doesn’t exist. There’s been no title released, or date of expected publication. The first, Gameboard of the Gods, came out this year. So, there’s probably a while to wait for the second.

4)City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare– What I believe is the final book of The Mortal Instrument Series is expected to come out in May of 2014. I can’t wait for this book. Mostly to see how the series will close and where everyone is going to end up. If you haven’t read any of The Mortal Instruments Series you should give it a try.

5)Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare– This is the first book in a series of three. It’s expected to be published in 2015, but there isn’t anything more specific than that. The trilogy is supposed to be kind of a companion to The Mortal Instruments. The series is called The Dark Artifices. I’m excited to read them and see how things turn out.

6)Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich– I’m obsessed with the Stephanie Plum series. I’ve read every single one of them. Most more than once. I’m excited for the twentieth book to come out because I know it’ll be good. It’s release date is posted as November 19th, 2013.

7)Unsouled by Neil Shusterman– Unsouled is the third and final book of the Unwind Trilogy. This book is actually currently out, I just can’t afford it yet. I’m excited to read it though, when that does eventually happen.

8)Vampire Most Wanted by Lynsay Sands– Expected to come out February 18, 2014 the twentieth book in the Argeneau Series will be just as good as the nineteen before it. This series doesn’t need to be read in order. Just pick one up and let it take you on the ride that is the Argeneau’s.

9)Revealed by Kristin and P.C. Cast– This is another book that’s already out that I’m too poor to afford. I’m happy for this series to finally be over. I think it was dragged on a little too long. But I’m excited to see where it’s left off.

10)The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey– The sequel to The 5th Wave is expected to come out in May of 2014. I’m especially pumped about this book coming out because I was really attached to The 5th Wave. It was an amazing book, and I’m hoping the second will be just as amazing.

These are my top ten, what are yours?