Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. (Goodreads)

Okay, so I read this a few weeks ago and I just never got around to actually reviewing it! I am fairly behind in my reviewing which I plan to change now! Starting with this book. This was one of those books that I didn’t really go into with open arms because I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t like it. When I eventually got out of it on the other side, I was converted.

This book took me a while to actually get into and I found myself actually putting it down to go and do something else. I think I got into the book about half way through and then I was itching to get back to it. I was worried, going into this book, that the essence of what Cinderella is (being my favourite Disney of my childhood) would be ruined – plus the hype monster! However, the important points to Cinderella and what made the story that it was remained, even if there was a major twist going on.

I think what took me so long to get into this book was the onslaught of information. We are suddenly being thrown into this world that is significantly smaller than ours, with android and cyborgs and who knows what else running around. Then there is the Letumosis, a deadly disease, and the idea that there are things (namely Lunars) living on the moon. Yeah, headache! When I actually got used to all of the crazy things going on, I felt like I could finally understand what was happening and enjoy the book itself.

The easy banter between Kai and Cinder was probably my favourite part of the book. They drew out the easy smiles and laughs from me and I genuinely believed that they had a good relationship going on. Of course there were moments where I wanted to shake one and slap the other, but in which book does that not happen??

What I am not sure I understand, even after having read all three instalments, is why the Lunars have that weird glamour thing going on? Was it a result of some form of genetic mutation, was it science? Why doesn’t it work on cameras, mirrors and the like? I understand the concept of not being able to trick them, but surely with that amount of technology they would have found a way by now to trick them??

I mostly enjoyed this book, despite the fact that it took me ages to actually get into. I went and read Scarlet straight afterward! I gave this book 3/5 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Hey people! Time for another TTT. Is it just me, or does it seem like this year is flying? It feels like yesterday when I wrote last weeks TTT. Oh well, this weeks TTT is Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR. My summer TBR is a list that seems to be constantly updating itself, so while this is what I am currently hoping to read this summer, it may change based on books that I add to my TBR or books that I actually get. Without further ado, and in no particular order:

10.  Those Girls by Lauren Saft. I added this book to my TBR a few weeks ago, and it made my summer TBR 🙂

9.  Spelled by Betsy Schow. Who doesn’t love a retelling of childhood fairytales?

8.  P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han. I loved To All The Boys I’ve loved Before and I have been waiting for this book for ages! I actually already own a copy and I will be cracking it open after I have finished reading A Storm of Swords!

7.  Beautiful player by Christina Lauren. Again, another series that I have adored so far and again a book that I already own but need to read!

6.  The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. I added this to my TBR list after reading a glowing review of it! Plus, I am adding it to my British Books Challenge – definitely a book that I want to read over the summer!

5.  The Fill In Boyfriend by Kasie West. Anything Kasie West has written is perfect Summer reading and I literally cannot wait to open this book! I have loved every book that she has written and she is definitely on my favourite authors list.

4.  Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. As a Black Swan fan and as a current PLL binge watcher (although I was a fan quite a while back), these two definitely need to meet! Who doesn’t enjoy reading about bitchy girls?

3.  They All Fall Down by Roxanne ST. Claire. Again, PLL meets Final Destination. I know what Final Destination is about but I have never actually seen it! Either way, this is definitely on my summer TBR.

2.  The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen. I find books about revenge fairly funny and enjoyable and they normally remind me of John Tucker Must Die and they are, at least for me, feel good books! Schadenfreude…

1.  The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. I guess this is really a summery book, rather more of a halloween read. However, this is being release late summer and it is a book I NEED!! It looks so cool! So, to hell with normal, cutesy summer reads and bring on the horror! 🙂

That’s it guys! I could have easily carried on beyond the realms of ten books, but I stuck to the rules. *pats back* Now, I am off to have a lay down before attempting to eat again… What are your summer TBR’s this year? Feel free to leave your comments and links below and I will check them all out! 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Hi guys! Can’t believe we’r halfway through the year already – where is it going??? This weeks TTT is top ten books that I’d like to see as films/TV Shows. This is a hard one, especially (and we all know it), the books are always better than the films! However, here are my choices, in no particular order:

10.  Dragonlance by Magaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I have read both the Chronicles series and the Legends series and I think, if done right, these books would make epic films! Just like Lord of the Rings!

9.  The Walls Around Us by Nova Suma. Not entirely sure how they would film it to get the right atmosphere, but I reckon this could be quite creepy!

8.  Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. For anyone who knows me/follows my blog etc. will know that I absolutely adore this series! I would love to see what they could do with it on screen!

7.  Splintered by A. G. Howard. I reckon Tim Burton’s imagination could handle this – what do you guys think?

6.  The Selection by Kiera Cass. I guess this one is technically cheating since Warner Bros recently bought the film rights for this series – but I am still looking forward to it!

5.  Say Her Name by James Dawson. My life is missing a decent horror movie – or maybe I just don’t scare easily? Either way, this could make for a good horror movie! 🙂

4.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Again, this could be a great film – if the film industry could handle such awesomness…

3.  The Iron Trials by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. This would be a challenge because of the high risk that it would be just like Harry Potter!

2.  Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley. With a little bit of everything in this book – it could easily be a crowd pleaser if done right.

1.  Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Again, another challenge. If they got the psychology right and portrayed it in the right way, this could be as enjoyable as the book.

That’s it! What do you guys think? Feel free to leave opinions, answers and links in the comments section below.

British Books Challenge – update

The British Books Challenge is being hosted by Fluttering Butterflies.

Hey guys! I realised that while I was checking out some books via Goodreads and other blogs, I noticed that I hadn’t done an update of the British Books Challenge since I started! Now, I know that this isn’t a requirement of the challenge, but I think it is a good idea to update it so that I have an idea of what I need to read and you guys have an idea of how far along I am. I haven’t actually read one book per month written by a British author – which I guess almost defeats the point. I will still, however, have read 12 books by the end of the year and hopefully more! I am going to add some books to the original list and I am going to leave links to the reviews that I have already written and, obviously, links to the Goodreads page themselves!

 Stolen: A Letter to my Captor. I have actually already read this… So to speak. I had such high expectations of this book, but it just didn’t deliver and I ended up DNFing it! Here is a link to my review with the reasons why.

 You Against Me by Jenny Downham. I still have to get a copy of this book and actually open it! However, this, I think, is one of those books that you really have to be in the right mood for and, till now, the mood hasn’t really taken me! Hopefully it will do soon!

 Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson. I actually have a copy of this book sitting and waiting for me to open it. I am planning on doing that fairly soon!

 Hurt by Tabitha Suzuma. I fell in love with Suzuma’s writing after reading Forbidden. Again, this is a book that has to be read when in the right mood.

 Me and Mr J by Rachel McIntyre. As someone who had both a high school crush on a teacher and was in the position of having a student crushing on me when I was their teacher, I am looking forward to seeing just how close to the mark this book is!

 Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Even thinking about this book has my skin tingling! I adored this book, just like I did Dangerous Boys and I feel like I need another one! Even if it is in the form of Dangerous Babies… I just want another! Here is my review!

Cruel Summer by James Dawson. I should have probably guessed from his name that James Dawson a British author is. I just didn’t – I am a fail of an English person! I adored his book Say Her Name and I recently decided to add this book to both my TBR and my British Books Challenge.

 A Kiss in the Dark by Cat Clarke. I have had this book on my TBR for absolutely ages now – and I only recently realised the the author is British! Win win! Time to take this book off of my leaning tower of TBR!

 The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein. So, my dad actually has the limited addition “Lord of the Rings” book, which has all three books with illustrated pictures to go along with it. He also owns each book separately – which are all looking a bit worse for wear. However, his second book went missing quite a while back (I’m assuming after some little tyke ruined it and made it unreadable), and I was forced to take his limited edition book under threat of death if I creased on page or even marked it in any sense or form. I have now had this book for absolutely ages – I think going on 2 years – because I started the second book, but never actually finished the book. I guess this is a good time to finish said book and a challenge gives me an incentive to read it sooner rather than later.

I think that is it for now! I should probably go and find some more authors to add to this list! Or, if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below

Every You, Every Me by David Leviathan

In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he’s been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan’s starting to believe it’s Ariel that’s behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author. (Goodreads)

David Levithan is for me an author who is always worth a read. It seems like anything he turns his hand to comes out pretty good, mostly excellent, going by a lot of the reviews that I have read on blogs and Goodreads. My first experience of Levithan was last year, in Italy while I was cooking my skin golden brown in a bikini next to the pool. Since then I have wanted to read more of his work, but trying to find any decent book written in English where I live is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. So, when I got the opportunity to read this, I jumped – figuratively speaking. I read a few reviews on Goodreads before starting and it seems to me that this book is a bit like marmite; people either loved it or they hated it, there was no in between. Personally, I am a marmite lover and I was also a fan of this book. Again, try and find marmite in Germany… you can’t (but I do have a pot in the cupboard!).

I started this book last night, was forced to put it down because my body was moaning at me to go to sleep like a normal pregnant woman in the middle of the night (it was also trying to get me to get up and get a snack!), and I carried on this morning after chucking the hubby out of bed so that he would make it work on time. I had it finished before my daily morning call with my dad – usually at about 7:40 (he assumes I am awake this early in the morning!). Safe to say that this book had me hooked. Even now I am sat thinking about it (which is good since I am reviewing it!). The weird thing is though, I don’t know how to explain how I felt about this book in a way that absolutely anyone who lives outside of my head would understand. I guess I should start with the basic fact that I enjoyed it.

I was worried when I first actually opened the book that I was going to be forced to put it straight back down again. Half of the text was crossed out, which would normally bug the hell out of me. However, I was intrigued at the same time because of the authors use of language – the constant use of the word you, like I was somehow part of the story and part of the reason for the main characters suffering. I almost asked myself what I had done and then remembered that I am just a reader. I felt drawn in because of the constant use of personal references.

As I carried on reading I found that the crossed out writing wasn’t actually as annoying as it first seemed and actually added character to the book. The crossed out writing was almost like the personal thoughts of Evan, our main character. His personal thoughts (the crossed out writing) often conflicted against that which he decided to show the rest of the world – our public image. I think that no matter how honest a person is, there will always be the personal thoughts and feelings that will never get said because of either the reaction of the public or simply because it is too personal to share. Everyone upholds a public image of some form or another, and this was shown through Levithan’s writing in his own creative way.

I think the pictures also added a little bit of depth to the story because we were presented with the images that were disturbing the main character so badly, rather than having to leave it to the imagination – as is the way with most stories.  I was more worried about this aspect of the book because I was unsure if it was going to work or not. After reading Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children a while back, and finding that the photo’S did nothing to help the storyline whatsoever, I was wary about actually going into another book that had used this style of writing. It worked though *wipes forehead*.

Throughout the book, I was constant left wondering if this, the way in which the character was acting, thinking and feeling, was how people who are mentally disturbed think. If they always felt so disjointed and unravelled in the way that our main character felt. I am no expert whatsoever when it comes to mental illness and it is probably something that should rectify and study more – but I wondered how anyone could cope in any respect when they constantly feel like the characters that were presented within the book.

This book isn’t for everyone – it is one of those that you are going to have to read and experience for yourself to find out if you are a lover or a hater, but I personally enjoyed it! I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

It’s Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations.

As Anna sets out to find her friend’s killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.

As she awaits the judge’s decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine…(Goodreads)

I am not even sure where to begin with this review. I stared at a blank page for about 10 minutes before leaving the page open for a few hours and walking away from it. Now I am back again and I still have no idea where to begin. This is probably my own fault because I should have learnt my lesson reading Dangerous Boys and I should have known that this book would also leave me flailing for the words to describe how I feel/how I felt ending this book. Betrayal is the biggest feeling I have toward this book. I spent the entire book thinking and believing one thing to then be told something completely different. Again, Abigail Haas has managed to give us a story that shows some major issues within society today while still blowing us away with the story itself.

One of the big issues within this is how media in general can sway the opinion of the general public. By constantly showing negative or positive images within the media and then having some form of ‘professional’ person back up these images, public opinion is swayed whether what they are shown is the truth or not. Normally the media is more interested in selling a story and therefore show a negative image of someone going on trial for murder – for example. The consequences of such allegations on the people who are then found innocent is almost incomprehensible.

We are also shown that the judicial system is not always fair and is, in some cases, even corrupt. A lot of the circumstantial evidence held against Anna throughout the book are images taken from her social media websites. I am pretty sure that absolutely everybody could be found guilty of something if photo’s like this were taken and twisted out of the context of which they were taken. It also shows us that the people within the judicial system can tamper with evidence for the sake of their career or for other reasons, E.G. money.

Of course, we are also faced with the teenage issues that would stop most parents ever letting their children out of the door again! Alcohol and drug abuse are predominate factors within this book – a book in which a bunch of teenagers go on holiday on their own without any supervision. We obviously face the other angsty teenage issues of friendships and relationships and just how far those boundaries go after certain events have taken place. I felt extremely sorry for Anna after she was abandoned by her friends in Aruba and after Mel changed her statement toward the end.

After reading a couple of other reviews on this book, I saw a lot of references to the Natalee Holloway and Amanda Knox cases. Of course, I had to go and google them since I was a bit young when they took place; however, I think that, if the author actually took both cases and mixed them up a little bit to create the story, she has done it very well.

I need a third book. Anything from this author! Both Dangerous Boys and Dangerous Girls are very psychologically chilling and it makes you wonder if these sorts of things actually happen. I think from both of the books, Dangerous Girls has to be my favourite! I gave this book 5/5 stars.