Ensnared by @A. G. Howard

 

 

I have been waiting for this book for what feels like years! I LOVE what A.G. Howard does with this spin on Alice in Wonderland. The details and creatures that come to life in this whole series are pretty amazing.

 

This is the last book in the series. I usually get nervous for the last book of any series because it's either a hit or miss. It can dampen the whole series. I am so glad this book did not disappoint. It was really amazing. I love the way that Alyssa went a bit mad and did what she had to do to for everyone but herself. Her love is just so powerful and amazing to see. There is a love triangle in this series and I usually have a clear front runner of who I want her to end up with. Throughout the first two books I was pulling for Morpheus. This last book had me completely torn on who I wanted her to end up with. I really was worried on how it would end. I'm actually pretty happy with the end results. Thinking about it makes it seem completely perfect for the series.

 

The writing in this book is fantastic! I love how fast paced it is and how I get sucked in this world. I picked up the book and decided to read for an hour and ended up reading for 3 hours and didn't even realize it. A.G. Howard does tremendous job bringing her world to life. She's bringing in all these different characters and is able to give details in a few words, that have you picturing them clearly. The story is just hauntingly beautiful. I might have used that before. There are some creepy insects and creatures that she describes but makes it sound beautiful.

 

The character growth is great in this book. Alyssa, Jeb and Morpheus are just completely different and changed from book one to book three. They grow up and become more powerful, self-sacrificing, and have so much more depth. I am really amazed by Morpheus. He really had the most growth throughout the series.

 

I'm really happy with this ending and I LOVE this series. I'm so glad that I picked up the first book. The covers to all of these books are just as beautiful as the writing inside. So in this one instance, I'm glad that I judged a book by it's cover. ;) I would highly recommend this series!

Friday Finds 1/17/15

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

My Finds:

             

Ice Kissed- Amanda Hocking

Crystal Kingdom- Amanda Hocking

The Importance of Being Alice- Katie Macalister

The Ever After of Ella and Micha- Jessica Sorensen

The Girl On The Train- Paula Hawkins

The Conspiracy of Us- Maggie Hall

Share you finds below!! I can never have enough books on my TBR list! :)

Crewel- Gennifer Albin

 

 

 

 

 

I'm on the fence with this book. I went back and forth between 2.5 and 3 stars. I must admit, my gut felt much better with the 2.5 stars. A new thing I'm trying to do, is wait for the whole series to be finished, before reading it. So I entered the giveaway for the third book, thinking I would never win. Well I did! So... I'm starting from the beginning. This is a different take on the dystopian/fantasy world that I've come across lately.

 

I was drawn into the story right away. What are her parents trying to hide from her?! Why is she trying to pretend she doesn't have a gift?! I definitely was interested but then I kind of got lost in the middle of the book. 

 

There's secrets, lies, betrayal and all kinds of good stuff. I still don't know who to trust and what's really going on. This book was all in an alternate universe above Earth. Where there are people controlling everyone else. It kind of reminded me of the Giver. How a select few can control everything about the population. They control who lives, dies, gets certain jobs, how many kids and so on. I really felt like it took from the world The Giver gave.

 

The main character is supposed to have this amazing gift to weave time. The thing is that she can do it without a loom. So she quickly rises above the others that are "chosen." Although, she really doesn't do much of it at all in this book. I was a bit disappointed in that. I felt like the plot just kind of went in all kinds of directions without any type of formula. I got pretty confused and things started to get slow and boring. I wasn't sure if it was just not interesting or if it's just the writing style. Maybe it's a bit of both.

 

That being said, the end of the book did make up for some of it because it kept me interested. Things picked up and you got to learn a bit about what was really going on. Although, you don't get much of it. There is a love triangle in this book and it's a tad annoying. I have no idea how it will all work out in the end. Things are really messy and I am really interested to see how Albin will clean it all up.

 

I have started book two and so far it's been a lot more interesting. There's more going on and a lot of things coming to light. I just hate being in the dark about everything! I usually like it when a book will give me some clarity about something at the end. Just a little bit to make you really get the story to come together. I didn't get much of that from this book. I don't know that I would continue this series, if I did not have the third book to review. I would most likely put this series aside and never think of it again. Since I cannot do that, I'm hoping that the series picks up and gets better!

 

 

Until Midnight- Melissa Landers @MelissaLanders

 

Ah, I've missed this world! I was excited to see that we would get a little bit of Cara and Aelyx before Invaded releases (I can't wait). I got through this so fast. My ONLY complaint is that it was TOO short. I know, I know. It's a short, duh. I just wished there was more. Not a negative thing but I just personally want more!

They are about to be separated for a year and are spending their last day together. Aelyx is trying to give her a Christmas, a little early. Of course, things get in the way of them spending time together. I really can't wait to get more of Troy's story. Also, the dynamic between Cara and Troy is pretty fun.
I am worried that Invaded will have a lot less of Aelyx and Cara, since they will be on separate planets. This was a cute refresher! Can't wait for book 2!

 

The Body Electric- Beth Revis @BethRevis

 

 

 

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book.

I started this yesterday and finished today. I could not put this down. I LOVE the fact that this is a stand alone book. It's so refreshing! It seems like almost every YA book has a trilogy or more attached to it. This book was great! It was fast paced and so interesting, that I couldn't put it out of my mind. I hated going to work because I just wanted to know what was going on! To me, that's a great book. When I can't concentrate on anything else but the book.

I read the Across the Universe series and liked it. I thought it was just okay. This book was so much better then that whole series. Beth Revis did a great job with the characters and plot of this book. I mean the storyline itself is unique. She makes the world seem like it's real and you know exactly what she's talking about. It was just so vivid. Ella and Jack are such strong characters. You can feel the way that Ella feels about her fathers loss and how deeply she feels it. The same way about Jack and his feelings for her.This book is definitely more of a sci-fi than anything else. I usually have a hard time with those and I did not have this problem.


This book was fast paced and it never got boring for me. Something was always happening and there was always another twist or turn. There's definitely a romance but it's really not the focus of this story. It's more of a background story and that's also refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I love a romance, but sometimes a book can become just the romance.

One of the downfalls for me was the ending. It was just abrupt. I was about 15 pages out and thinking, how in the world is she going to end this?! I just happened really fast and I would have liked a little more. The ending made me feel like I was missing something.


Overall, I really enjoyed this! I wasn't sure that I would read this because I didn't love her previous series. I'm glad that I did. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Teaser Tuesday #12

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teaser:

"Neeve said, "We have to do it at the same time to get the fa --"

Piper reached out and touched it before Neeve could move.

"Wake up." "

 

Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Maggie Steifvater, 98% finished on kindle.

 

 

I'm so glad to be back!! Woohoo!! :)

Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue- Maggie Stiefvater

 

I want to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This book took me 4 months to read! Not because it was bad or I didn't enjoy it. I received this book right before we purchased our first home! With packing, moving, unpacking and hitting the Holidays, I had no time to read. With that being said, I really enjoyed this book!

   I actually skipped the second book because I got so tired of waiting for it at the library. I have to say that it wasn't too damaging not to read it. I got along with the storyline just fine and they were pretty good and getting me up to date. I really love Blue's character. She's so full of life and strong willed but yet you get the sense that she can be fragile. You really get so much more of her character in this book. I loved it. She's such a badass but at the same time very caring.

I loved the way all the characters really grew in this book. The author does a great job of separating them but keeping the storyline together, at the same time. Adam really grows a lot and learns a lot about himself in this book. He comes into his own and it's refreshing. All the snubbing of help was getting a little irritating. Not everyone thinks it's charity when they are trying to help or be a friend! Yay, he finally got that at the end of this one.

There's a lot of serious, complicated things going on in this book. Although, Stiefvater does a great  job with the humor. I love the banter between the boys and Blue. It keeps the seriousness of the book lighter.

One of the things that I didn't like about this book is that some of the details were a bit overwhelming. Mostly, when it came to Adam. Sometimes I found myself kind of tuned out. I mean there's a lot of different things going on in this book. We have some added characters too. So sometimes when Adam was going off into his head, it would feel like an information overload.


I really enjoyed this book and that ending!! I can't wait for the next book. I was sure this was the last book. I usually try to wait until all the books are out before I start reading a series. It's a new thing, that will make it easier. I hope. I'm not sure how many more books will be in this series. I'll have to look into that.

 

Happy New Year!

It's a New Year!! I now am completely unpacked and ready to start reading again! Yay!

I found this awesome Reading Challenge that I think I'll attack. It looks interesting and will give a wide range of books to read. :)