Book: This Shattered World, Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Series: Starbound #2

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Release Date: December 23^rd, 2014

Rating: 5 stars

The beginning of this book reminded me a lot of Scarlet from The Lunar Chronicles series – it was a different story with different protagonists, and I resented that at first. I wanted to read more about Tarver and Lilac, not these two different people, just like I resented Cinder not being the main character in Scarlet. But, just like in Scarlet, I came to really love Flynn and Jubilee’s characters, if not more than Tarver and Lilac.

Just like in These Broken Stars, the book has dual points of view between our two main characters, which I loved as it really added depth and allowed the readers to really get a glimpse of exactly how Flynn and Jubilee felt about each other.

All Flynn and Jubilee have known their entire lives is war.  They come from two different sides of war on their planet Avon – Flynn is a rebel who wants to live in peace with his people, while Jubilee is a soldier who follows orders as she knows it’s what’s best for the civilians on the planet. What neither of them realise is that they’re part of a much bigger war with a different and much more dangerous enemy. They have to learn to work together to defeat this enemy to bring peace to their planet.

Romance wasn’t a huge aspect of this book, however Flynn and Jubilee grow to genuine care for each other and open their hearts to the possibility of love. They know that they’re most likely going to die young, and are realistic about their chances of actually getting together. But that doesn’t stop them from helping each other out while getting in a few make out sessions in their spare time.

Mystery and action was the main aspect of this book, and there was enough in it to keep me invested, while I taught up theories and gasped when the mysteries were solved.

The story developed incredibly nicely, and I loved how it tied up with Tarver and Lilac’s story. Their minor role was simply perfect and I know we’ll see more of them in the final book.

Flynn and Jubilee’s story finished here in a great way, but the overall story isn’t finished yet, and I can’t wait to meet our new protagonists in the final book and see all our characters come together to defeat LaRoux Industries once and for all.

Book: These Broken Stars, Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Series: Starbound #1

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Release Date: December 10^th, 2013

Rating: 5 stars

This book reminded me of what might have happened if the Titanic had been set in the future. We have the rich, daddy’s-little-princess known as Lilac, whose only problems stem from finding the perfect husband to match the perfect pair of shoes.

Tarver is a soldier who has experienced way too much death for his age but has inarguably made him tougher in a way a non-soldier could never be.

The story begins when Lilac and Tarver lock eyes from across the room at a crowded party aboard the huge ship Icarus which is floating through space. They’re immediately drawn to each other, despite the fact that Tarver has no idea who Lilac is and Lilac knows that she will never pursue anything with a soldier.

But then disaster strikes when the Titanic Icarus is pulled out of hyperspace. Its chaos aboard the sinking ship and it’s thanks to good luck and quick thinking that Tarver and Lilac manage to escape and land on a seemingly deserted planet. Tarver and Lilac have to work together to survive on a planet that doesn’t seem very people-friendly, without any sign that rescue is going to come.

I’d heard so much about this book and it had been on my TBR shelf for what seems like forever, and when I finally got around to reading it I was afraid that all the hype would make the book appear unenjoyable. But I was wrong, I really enjoyed it!

Tarver and Lilac are both really great characters. While Lilac starts out as this petty, spoilt little girl who only care about her clothes and what her daddy thinks of her, trying to survive on the lone planet makes her realise what’s important in life. She becomes stronger both physically and mentally. She thought she knew how to survive in life thanks to her father, but she soon comes to realise what’s truly important and really grows as a character. This is thanks in part to Tarver.

Tarver had already been on the battlefront as a soldier so while he was out of his element on the Icarus, he knows exactly what to do when stuck on the planet. It’s thanks to him that he and Lilac are able to survive. He teaches Lilac how to be better and never gave up hope that help would come. He took what was an impossible situation with a bratty companion, and somehow turned it all around to make the planet someplace that they could live, which you can’t help but revel at.

I really loved Lilac and Tarver’s relationship, too. They started out hating each other, yet they eventually found a way into each other’s hearts and it was great to read.

I loved how the author corresponded what they thought of each other:

Lilac: “I could slap him. God, I could kiss him.” Then, a few pages later…

Tarver: “I could shake her. I could kiss her.”

I believe it made their relationship all the more plausible and more enjoyable to read.

I would recommend this for lovers of sci-fi, romance and survival stories. While the book got a little slow at times, I still really loved reading this and can’t wait to read the sequel!

Book: The Forever Song, Julie Kagawa

Series: Blood of Eden series #3

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: May 1^st, 2014

Rating: 5 stars

Anyone who read the first two books of this series should know what Julie Kagawa’s stories are like, and anyone who has never read her books should be warned that you are about to be taken on an uphill rollercoaster of feels with a huge drop down.

When we left Allie, Kanin and Jackal, Allie had just received devastating news about her beloved Zeke. After losing the only human she had ever opened her heart to, Allie takes a 180 turn and decides to close off her heart for good. She begins acting like the monster she always refused to be, and it broke my heart. All she can think about is making Sarren suffer for his evilness and inhumanity and cruelty and she will go to any lengths to end him. Even Kanin and Jackal are getting worried about her behaviour, and as Jackal always puts himself first, that’s really saying something. But it made for some great reading and I really couldn’t get enough!

Allie continues to be an amazing protagonist, always trying to do what’s best and tame the monster within her who always tries to escape, and you can’t help but cheer when she beats the beast. She often refers to what she would’ve done as a human, but to be quite honest I can barely remember her as a human; her vampire status completely overshadows her humanity, and in the best way. While the characters always seem to talk about vampirism as a curse, sometimes it can lead to some people finding their purpose in life as they discover what it is they’re supposed to do.

She and Zeke continue to make each other stronger and always pulled each other up when they were close to falling into a dark, bottomless pit of despair. While not my absolutely most favourite couple ever, I still really enjoyed them and will miss them. Hell, I’ll miss all the characters in this series!

I think my favourite character definitely has to be Jackal. He completely surprised me by having me love him so much and I really couldn’t get enough. He always put on this impenetrable shield so that it appeared that he only cared about himself, but I think everyone could see right through it. You could see he cared a great deal about Allie and Kanin, as he stuck by them despite his whingeing and even asked Allie to go with him once everything was over a few times. I would love to see a spin-off series with Jackal as the protagonist as I'm not ready to say goodbye to him just yet!

Kanin continues to shine as a wise and powerful sire and teacher, and everyone looked to him for advice and help. I loved his and Allie’s relationship; she saw him as a father figure and looked up to him for help whenever she was unsure, and he saw her through a proud father’s eyes whose daughter exceeded all his expectations.

It’s really hard to review this book because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. There are some major shocks that I was not expecting and at first I didn’t think would work, but Julie totally surprised me by making the book even more spectacular and awesome. There’s some great character development, brilliant fight scenes and some parts where you’re just crying your eyes out and will cause you to ask random strangers on the street for hugs.

Definitely give this series a read if you’re into badass vampire warriors and funny, well-developed characters. You won’t regret it!

The Power (Titan #2) Cover Reveal

Guess who's back??? SETH! Jennifer L Armentrout explodes back into her beloved world that is The Titan series with The Power, the second book in her series.

I'm super excited to be sharing this cover with you guys! 

The Power returns February 23rd 2016. I know it seems so far away right now, but just stare into Seth's eyes and he'll make you feel better. Have you done it? Don't you feel better already?

Another way to cheer up is by adding The Power to your Goodreads shelf by clicking here and by re-reading The Return, the first book in the series! 

Still not satisfied? Yeah, me neither. Maybe this picture of a shirtless Seth will cheer us both up:

Oh Seth, you godly man-beast, you.

Beautiful Bloggers Award

First, I have to thank Ana over at Book Addict for nominating me! I’m super excited to be doing this and that I'm actually enough of a blogger to be nominated! I love every one of my little booknerds ;)

First let me state the rules:

• Link to the blogger who took the time to nominate you.
• List seven random things about yourself.
• Nominate seven wonderful, book-loving bloggers.   
• Notify the amazing people that you nominated for the award.

My Random Facts:

• I think it should be against the law to get up before the sun!
• I adore reading and am never not reading a book or working on my blog :D
• I have two beautiful dogs called Jess and Whitey who I love as much as books :)
• I can’t wait to connect with more bloggers and get even more involved in the bogging world which is difficult while I'm still living in Ireland :/
• My friends and family are the most important people to me ever (love you xxx)
• My favourite authors are Jennifer L Armentrout and Richelle Mead and have created some of my OTPs!
• I am normally very quiet in large groups but get me alone and I'm one of the weirdest people you’ll ever meet

My Nominees:

• Lauren & co at Obsessive Booknerd
• Mandy at The Reading Diaries
• Twirling Book Princess
• Booknut at 21 Century Once Upon A Time
• Wendy, Kim and Layla at The Midnight Garden
• Cassie at Novels and Necklaces
• Rachel at rachelcarterauthor

I can’t wait to read some of your awesome random facts!

Love, Sinead xxxx

Book: The Wicked Will Rise, Danielle Paige  

Series: Dorothy Must Die #2

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: March 31^st, 2015

Rating: 4 stars

I really enjoyed Dorothy Must Die, so was looking forward to the sequel to see how our characters had grown since the last book.

Amy has become much more confident in herself and her abilities, both physically and magically. She’s using her magic a lot more and is getting quite good at it. Like in the first book, she was quite snippy and sarcastic, and always had a comeback to every situation. I found her quite relatable and really enjoyed her narrative. I feel like we would’ve made the same type of decisions if we had been put in the same situation.  She was also very good at describing the magic by using everyday examples, as if I’m completely honest I found the magic a little confusing in this book, but she totally helped me understand it.

However, just like Dorothy did when she first discovered magic, Amy is being tempted by the darkness to turn wicked. While she tries to ignore the temptation in the beginning, it’s getting harder and harder to avoid the darkness and I can feel Amy start to give in. I loved the way Paige handled this, and how Amy grew as a character because of this darkness.

If I had any nitpicky bits, it was the romance. Just like in the first book, it was basically non-existent and when it was there, it seemed quite forced. It was like Paige believed she had to have some kind of a romance in somewhere so just created one out of the blue and just threw it in. it wasn’t believable and there wasn’t any chemistry between Amy and her so-called love interest, Nox. Sometimes they were kissing and trying to be cute and other times he was pushing her away. It was confusing at best and awkward at worst.

If you’re going to read this book for any reason, do it for the world building. For everything Paige messed up in this book, it completely cancels how completely perfectly she created the world of Oz. it was whimsical and beautiful and imaginative and had great magical twists.  We delve deeper in the both the light and dark sections of Oz, which Paige nailed flawlessly.

She also created a great cliffhanger that made me aching for more but also left many doors open for the finale of this trilogy. And I, for one, can’t wait.