December DNF

Just one that fit my criteria for the month of December, I think.

Latitude Zero by Diana Renn
51 pages
I didn't get very far into this one. I read and reviewed Renn's debut, Tokyo Heist, last year. While I didn't love it, it was alright. This one, however, I just couldn't get into. I think it was mostly for personal reasons. The writing didn't really pull me in, but more than that it was that I disliked the main character from the start, because I really, really don't like people who don't stick to their guns. Tessa was just a pushover, and let herself be convinced to do things despite knowing they were not only wrong, but dangerous to herself and others. I assume that she grows throughout the novel, but no aspect of it pulled me in enough to stick around an see it.

2014 End of the Year Book Survey

The End of the Year Book Survey is hosted by Jamie at the Perpetual Page-turner.

Number Of Books You Read: So far 50. It was not a good year for finishing books for me.

Number of Re-Reads: More than the number of books I've read for the first time. This has been an year of rereads.

Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy.

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

The Winner's Curse, I think. I'll be mentioning it a lot.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

I was kind of disappointed by Trust Me, I'm Lying. Also, Blood of Olympus was much less than what I was expecting.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? 

Rites of Passage. I don't usually enjoy contemporaries, and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I do.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

The Raven Boys? Maybe. I don't even really keep track of what books I recommend to who recently. I probably ought to, no?

 5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

The Winner's Curse was the best book starting a trilogy that I read in 2014. World After was my favourite sequel. My favourite series ender was Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan, despite some problems that I had with it, or Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo. 

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

Probably Marie Rutkoski.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I don't generally read a lot of Historical Fiction, but I really enjoyed A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller. Also, as I mentioned before Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley.

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I went through Rites of Passage pretty quickly, among others.

 9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Blue Lily, Lily Blue will definitely get a reread next year. Probably in anticipation of the Untitled final book. I feel like all these books benefit from several reads. 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

I actually liked a lot of the covers for books that I read this year. Blue Lily, Lily Blue has a lovely cover, so do Sea of Shadows, A Mad, Wicked Folly, World After and Cress. Talon is overall really well packaged.

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

Kestrel from The Winner's Curse, or Kami & co. from Unmade. 

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

The Winner's Curse, or Blue Lily, Lily Blue. 

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?

Little Brother had some very thought provoking moments, despite it's other flaws.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?

Poison Study. For something that was on my list for a significant about of time, it certainly took me a while to get to.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

I always have such a challenging time with this one... I really ought to commit these things to memory in advance. Part of the issue is that I have a lot of passages I love for a lot of different reasons. I'm still not sure. Here's a couple that I remember loving:

• The end of The Winner's Curse I really liked from a storytelling perspective, because it adds a lot of suspense without saying "Bam! Cliffhanger!" And really sets up the next book.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Shortest: The Secrets of Lily Graves and The Assassin's Curse tie, at 298

Longest: City of Heavenly Fire at 725

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

I wasn't really all that shocked by too many books this year.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Kestrel and Arin from The Winner's Curse, I'm a fan of couples that feel like equals. Also Penryn and Raffe from World After... talk about a battle couple (possibly I'm still hung up on that time when Penryn fed and Archangel cat food. Maybe). 

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Kami and Angela from Unmade have an amazing friendship. Unmade was my champion for this, this year, apparently, because I also loved Kami's relationship with her father John. 

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

As in book not a part of a series I'm already reading? So part of a new series, or a new stand alone. Sea of Shadows was really enjoyable, and Rebel Belle was a fun read.

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

I don't generally have people recommend books to me... I might not have picked up A Mad, Wicked Folly when I did if I hadn't at the time been doing the debut author challenge, though, so maybe that counts.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

Another year goes by and still nothing. This question gets more awkward every year... would it help if I said I still lack a celebrity crush too? Or would that make it worse? There are a lot of characters that I admire, but I don't think that's the definition of a crush-way...

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

A Mad, Wicked Folly

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Winner's Curse was interesting. Also, as always, I loved the world of Ruin and Rising.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

I feel like I've been mentioning a lot of the same books so let's bring a new one. Rebel Belle had its fun moments.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?

Unmade was a lot of ups and downs.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Hmm...  I don't really think I had one.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Unmade has its moments, though my soul wasn't that crushed. Souls are very had to crush. 

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

I really enjoyed the blended mythologies in Sea of Shadows. Its really unfortunate that mythologies like Native American don't get more time to shine on their own, but it was nice to see elements in this. (By the way, if anyone has some good books based in lesser-known mythologies, leave a comment, I would love to read more of them).

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

*let-down authority figure voice* I'm not sad, just disappointed. *end voice*. No I'm actually pretty angry. Blood of Olympus. The only thing that worked for me was the Nico and Reyna parts, and I even had qualms about a few of the narrative decisions there. 

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014? 
I don't actually know which ones I found this year. I love the layout of Snuggly Oranges, who I found very recently.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014? 

Often when I look back at my review I don't like them. I've really enjoyed doing the mini-reviews. 

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

My personal favourite was the How To Dislike a Book post, solely because it was a) getting something off of my chest that had been bothering me a while and b) kind of fun to write (also c) let me show off my incredible talent with Microsoft Paint *sarcasm*). 

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I did nothing this year, physical world-wise. Actually nothing. There were two events that I really wanted to get to, but it didn't work out... it was at a bad time- they both conflicted with busy times for classes. I did do several read-a-thons that I really enjoyed, though.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?

I'm part of a book club/read-a-long thing on Twitter (oh, right, I got a Twitter this year), and I always enjoy the chats at the end of those.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

One of my Top Ten Tuesday posts actually: Top Ten 2014 Debuts I'm Excited For. Interestingly, neither of the ones on the list that I actually did read made my favourites.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Some of the reviews, maybe? I always struggle with where I am as a reviewer (I feel like my reviewing style is constantly evolving), and they take me a long time to write sometimes... so it would be nice to know what other people thought of the book.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Book Depository. I had heard it mentioned before, but this was my first year visiting this site.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

2014 Debut Challenge: No. I instead have a pile of DNFed debuts. I attempted a lot of books.
Goodreads Challenge: Not quite. Things happened.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?

Try an incredibly long list of books. Death Sworn has been on my list for a while. 

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?

I have a list. For books that are not part of an existing series: The Darkest Part of The Forest, most immediately (it comes out in January). 

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Either Red Queen or An Ember in the Ashes.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?
Right now probably either The Winner's Crime or the untitled last book of The Raven Cycle.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?

Figure out HTML and CSS. I'm no good at it (anyone know a good book on intro. programming?)

6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

I haven't read any yet... I don't really request a lot of ARCs...

Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015

Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly feature created at The Broke and The Bookish.

1. Do more read-a-thons. I did a couple this year, and they were really enjoyable. I would love to do more next year.

2. Relatedly, do more reading challenges. Even if I don't succeed at all of them, it pushes me a little out of my reading comfort zone. Perhaps not the Goodreads challenge though...

3. Comment more. I still feel sort of weird about commenting on other people's blogs? Is that just me? (Because, you know, if you feel weird about commenting on my blog, you'll obviously comment to let me know. That's clearly how things work.)

4. Timely reviews. That's a carry-over from last year. I think I've (for the most part) gotten a little better, but I still sometimes put off reviewing a book for quite a while.

5. Figure out some HTML and CSS. I've tried before, but I'm not very good at it. Hopefully I'll manage better the next time I try to learn. (Anyone know some good resources?)

6. Do more non-review posts. I didn't do enough posts that were just spontaneous, one-off posts this year, but I enjoyed the ones that I did (like this one... I got to show off my amazing skills with Microsoft Paint too).

7. Cultivated more of a reviewing style. I'm still settling into one I like... I've tried a couple of new things this year, and I think I'm finding a way that I enjoy writing reviews. Its an ongoing process.

8. Organise my Goodreads. I have reviews that I haven't posted on Goodreads, I have duplicates in my lists... suffice to say it isn't exactly pretty over there.

9. Organise everything else. I have a 2015 calendar just waiting to be updated. With things.

10. On the subject of things. Do things. Like actually going to a book fair/ signing/ thing in 2015.

Review: The Young Elites

Title: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Series: The Young Elites
Volume: 1
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: Adelina Amouteru survived the devastating blood fever, only to emerge scarred- and marked with white hair and lashes. She's one of the malfetto, children who survived the plagues but are now dogged by suspicion and rumours that they have unnatural powers. When these rumours are proven true, Adelina is thrust into the world of the Young Elites, and a group led by Enzo Valenciano. Adelina has been hurt and betrayed many times in her life, and she's done taking all of the abuse from the world. She's ready to start paying people back.

Out of Ten: 6/10

Review at a Glance: An opening to a dark fantasy series whose characters I could not invest in.

Review: I enjoyed Marie Lu's debut Legend as well as its sequels Prodigy (review) and Champion (review), and was intrigued by her preliminary art for this series (like this). On the other side, I'm not sure how I feel about it. There were a lot of things about this book that I really didn't enjoy, but I don't think they are a result of poor writing or storytelling.

These mixed feelings are best explained by- and perhaps rooted in- the character of Adelina. She is overall not a very likable character, and isn't really intended to be. She's bitter and vengeful, and generally enjoys the torment of those whom she feels have wronged her. It made her an aggravating character to read, as well as making her someone whom I found myself unable to root for or connect to. However, that does not me she is not a vivid, multi-faceted character, because she is- she just isn't a very good person.

The other characters were generally as vividly formed as Adelina and were quite diverse, although also difficult to connect to, especially as a result of Adelina's narration and view of them. The romance was also difficult for me to invest in, and felt stilted and underdeveloped. Adelina and Enzo did not seem to know, much less trust, each other at all and didn't really seem to like spending time with each other.

The plot was overall straight-forward, both a plot in itself and a set-up for a larger story, as this is the first book in a series. It is closely interlinked with introducing the world and magic system, which is still somewhat unclear- to the characters as well as the reader, as the powers are fairly new to the world. This set's up Adelina's back story, which is more of a villain's origin story than that of a hero. The world itself is fairly well defined, and is set up to be explored more in the following book.

This is, as I have mentioned, a part of a series, that I am, at present, unsure if I will continue. I did not really enjoy reading much of the book, and actually found myself losing interest occasionally, even into the climax. Overall, I feel like this book was alright as a piece of writing, but really wasn't for me. The characters are somehow both very vibrant and very hard for me to invest in.

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind As A Gift This Year

Top Ten Tuesdays are a weekly feature over at The Broke and The Bookish.

1-3. Airborn, Skybreaker and Starclimber in the new covers. I already have copies of the books in fairly good condition, so I can't justify buying them for myself right now, but I really, really like the tenth anniversary editions.

4-5. Angelfall and World After. I haven't bought them... for no real reason in particular. I really enjoyed them, I think they were never quite on the top of my list, but always near the top. I will probably purchase them at some point in the new year. I'm kind of wondering what wings will be on the last one.

6. Manual of Aeronautics. This is another one that has been on my list for a while. I own the Leviathan trilogy, and this is a companion to it. I haven't read it, but I enjoyed the illustrations in the trilogy, and I would enjoy seeing them in colour.

7-8. For Darkness Shows the Stars and Across a Star-Swept Sea. I was waiting for them both to be out in paperback before buying them, and I haven't purchased them yet. I will probably do that eventually.

9-10. Fullmetal Alchemist Omnibus Editions Vol. 8 and 9. I haven't bought either of them yet. I've read the whole series, but I haven't bought all of the books yet (I waited for the omnibus editions because they were less expensive). I don't really read much manga (I mean, comparatively), but I really enjoyed FMA.

Review: Rites of Passage

Title: Rites of Passage
Author: Joy N. Hensley
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: Sam has always had a weakness for dares, which is how she finds herself enrolled in the first female group of students at Denmark Military Academy. It is the last dare that her brother ever gave her, and is will be the hardest one for her to follow through, because there are people who don't want the school open to women. People willing to do anything that they can to get her out.

Out of Ten: 8/10

Review at a Glance: A strong debut driven by character, as well as by plot, though it felt somewhat incomplete.

Review: This was another of the few debut novels that I enjoyed this year. It was a bad year for me as debuts go. It was also a contemporary which I don't usually read, but I enjoyed it more than I was expecting.

Sam was such a strong character. Raised in a military family, she's familiar with a lot of the demands of that life, as well as being under constant pressure from her father, a well respected officer. She enrolls in the DMA knowing that the stakes are against her- there's a lot of people who don't want a girl at the academy, and will do just about anything to send her packing. But Sam is tough as nails, and doesn't back down from anyone. She's incredibly determined, though not without her struggles. While the attempts of the boys to scare her off don't shake her, the dynamics within her family make her insecure. She had her vulnerabilities, and they made her seem human, when her determination and strength might have made her seem inhuman.

I don't usually read contemporaries, but I did enjoy the plot of this one. While Sam herself was the main force that pulled this novel along, she wouldn't have shone without the plot. She's up against a lot, on top of the rigors of the military school (which are intense), it isn't just a few malcontents trying to get her out of school- it is a secret society, and they seem like they're everywhere. There aren't a lot of people who she can trust. Sam was amazingly tough, and someone who I found myself really rooting for.

I didn't end up minding the romance in this one. I was a bit worried about a love triangle, but it didn't really end up happening, so that was nice. I did like that the relationship between Sam and Drill was good in that it was very much based on trust and respect, and was overall quite well done. Sam's relationships with her family were, as mentioned, troubled, especially due to her attending the DMA and her brother's recent death. She does also form some relationships with some of her classmates, but some of them felt a little inconsistent (or possibly cliche?) in their arcs.

Really, for me, my only complaint was that it felt unfinished. There isn't a planned sequel, but it felt very open to another book, and I really would prefer that it have one. There were some aspects that were a little too open ended, more as if certain things had not been touched on (her brother's death, and her family situation were something that I felt could have had more focus). It just felt like there was more to the story, that some things were either wrapped up too easily or not wrapped up (and I couldn't tell which). I think this was part of why I had minor issues with arcs of some of the minor characters. I suppose it was just that I was expecting more.

I greatly enjoyed Sam's character and the plot, though I felt like there was more to the story than what was given when the book wrapped up.

Top Ten Books I Read In 2014

Top Ten Tuesdays are a weekly feature over at The Broke and The Bookish.

I think my top ten books fluctuate by mood. Here's what they are right now.

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater.

A Mad Wicked Folly by Sarah Biggs Waller.

Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong.

Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund.

Cress by Marissa Meyer.

World After by Susan Ee.

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan.

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.

Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley.

Review: A Thousand Pieces of You

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You
Author: Claudia Gray
Series: Firebird
Volume: 1
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, romance
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: Marguerite Caine has just lost her father and his killer got away... to another dimension. Marguerite's parents were a team of brilliant physicists and inventors, and together they created the Firebird, a device that allows a person to transport their consciousness from one version of themselves to another, in another dimension. Grieving her father and desperate to get some justice, Marguerite takes a prototype Firebird and follows the last person she would have expected to hurt her father, her parent's assistant Paul into another dimension.

Out of Ten: 7/10

Review at a Glance: This novel has an interesting premise, and, though it ended up being carried more by plot than character for me, it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Review: Overall, I enjoyed this one, it was quite engaging, though there were some things that pulled me out of the story. (Also, look at the cover. It's lovely.)

I enjoyed the science fiction component of the story- I don't know too much about multi-dimensional theories, and, though the idea of the Firebird is likely far-fetched in physics terms, it was a fun "what-if," which is really a main component of sci-fi. The dimension-jumping was interesting, and I would like to know more about that at some point. It was described well enough that the idea worked within the world Claudia Gray introduced.

The characters were fairly engaging, but not ones I really connected to. There was enough going on plot-wise, that this was less of a problem than if the novel had been entirely dependent on being character driven, though it reduce how invested I was in the story and its outcomes.

The romance... was convoluted. Part of it, for me, was that my reaction was basically, "Wait-what-suddenly-romance?" Possibly because I don't really buy that you can be the same person when your entire world is different, because, you know, nature vs. nurture, the environment a person is raised in dramatically alters them- their outlook, many aspects of their personality... So to me, when Marguerite was in alternate-dimension Russia, it was as if she took very little time and very few encounters to be utterly, completely in love with someone she had just met. So I essentially understood the idea of it, but it didn't really work for me.

There are a lot of different worlds introduced, and were generally pretty well-formed, though more more background for how each dimension had diverged from the one Marguerite calls home would have been interesting. This is the first book in a series, and I'm looking forward to exploring more of this world.