Feature and Follow Friday #4

This meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee , just click on their names and follow the links. The point of this meme is to make new friends and gain new followers. There are a few rules to follow when participating in this meme so just click here to find out more.

I have decided to do the question I missed out on I think last Friday? I am not a big Twitter user so this weeks question doesn't really apply to me and I like to write long winding answers and have a proper discussion rather than just say, I don't use Twitter...that would be boring.

So here is the question I will be answering:

Do you read more than 1 book at a time, and if so, how, like a certain amount of pages per book before moving on to the next one in the queue? -SUGGESTED BY: Words I Write Crazy 

LONG ANSWER:

I was never one to read several books at a time and when I use to see people on Goodreads reading, sometimes, 5 books at a time I just could not wrap my head around that. I did recently buy an iPad though and I travel quite a lot for college purposes (at the moment I have to get a train to Dublin which is Just over a 3 hour train journey from where I live, at 5.30 every Monday morning and get the train home at 7pm - I have several hours in between classes and my trains, the train times do not suit me at all, so I have a lot of time for reading - just not while I have these two essays to write for Monday :-/). I was reading Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout on the Kindle app while travelling but I was really hating it and so while I was at home I started reading The Kiss of Deception. It is the only time I have read more than one book at a time (apart from when I was a kid) and the only reason was my extreme hatred for Wicked which I really don't think I can finish...Yeah Ren is sexy, I GET IT.

SHORT ANSWER:

I rarely ever read more than one book at a time, unless I read a Graphic novel along with a novel or I am reading a Kindle book that I am not that into while travelling and a different physical copy while at home.

So what about you...Do you read more than one book at a time? Leave a comment below and a link to your post as I would love to check it out.

Book Review: Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

    Title: Well of Ascension
    Author: Brandon Sanderson
    Publisher: Gollancz
    Published: December 10th 2009
    Pages: 763
    Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler – the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years – has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves. 

As Kelsier’s protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin’s Mistborn skills sharp, but it’s the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn’t run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier’s crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won’t get easier with three armies – one of them composed of ferocious giants – now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler’s hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

REVIEW

27/01/2015 My feelings for this book are quite mixed. For the first half of this story I was actually fairly disappointed. I trudged through the first, at least, 200 pages of the book hoping that something, ANYTHING would happen. This part of the book was pretty void of all action and was more concerned with the planning stages, discussing problems and how they would solve them. 200 pages of this was excessive and rather boring and this is the reason that I simply could not give this book 5 stars as I did for the Final Empire.

I am glad that I continued on with the story as the last 2/3 of the book were significantly better. The action scenes were exactly how I expect them from Sanderson, epic and detailed. The battle scenes are so fantastically vivid and believable - it is so easy to fall into this world and believe in it and that is a truly rare feat of genius that only a handful of authors can achieve. The fantastic world-building and simple, yet effective descriptive writing that I came to love in the Final Empire were all evident in this book also.

However, and this is a big however, the character development (or lack there of) of one of the characters was very disappointing. For anyone who has read the story I am sure they know who I am talking about, and that is Vin. I was so disappointed with Vin's character in this story. She became so needy, constantly wanting Elend's attention and doubting herself.Throughout Vin's POV we hear how worried she is about Elend leaving her and if she isn't thinking about Elend she is either thinking about pretty little dresses or what a shit-hot Mistborn she is. The independent and feisty Vin of the Final Empire is a distant memory. At one point Vin discusses cutting her hair with Elend but when he tells her he likes it longer that is all she needs to hear and is happy to keep it long. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER VIN. Gawwwd cut your damn hair if you want to cut your hair....SIMPLE.

The most pointless and irritating scene of the entire book was perhaps the dress shopping scene - what in the name of all that is holy was that about except portraying Vin as a shallow TWIT. I want the Vin who enjoys flying threw the mists not mourning over pretty dresses and fancy balls. Bring back the old Vin.

The last half of the book was by far my favourite and I flew through that part of the book. The action, suspense and plot twists were fantastic and it made me excited about the story again - I was not expecting that ending. The last half of this book deserved 5 stars but the slow start means I could only give it 4 stars.

I was not expecting the ending...

   

Waiting on Wednesday: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My Most Anticipated Book of the Coming Months:

    
    Title: The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1)
    Author: N.K. Jemisin
    Publisher: Viking Juvenile
    To be Published: August 4th 2015
   

Goodreads Synopsis:

This is the way the world ends. Again. 

Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze—the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization's bedrock for a thousand years—collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman's vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.

Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She'll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

Why I am eagerly anticipating The Fifth Season:

I fell in love with this book once I had read the synopsis. For one, I love fantasy and this sounds like it could be a great Fantasy novel. Also, my favourite fantasy books, so far, have all been written by men so I think it will be a nice change to read a female-written fantasy. I also really just love the concept - a woman chasing after her husband who has killed her son and kidnapped her daughter in a fantasy setting - this is not like anything I have ever read before. Essun seems like a really strong female role model and I don't think there will be an annoying love interest that turns her into a blundering fool like a lot of books I have been reading lately. 

When I saw the rating on Goodreads I was really surprised that it already had only 3.58 rating. Turns out that this book has been pushed back quite a bit and people were not happy and started giving it one star reviews while others started giving it five star reviews because they were so excited for it. That is one thing I don't think people should be allowed do, is rate a book before they ever read it, it just doesn't make sense.

Have you read anything by N.K. Jemisin? What did you think about her writing? Do you rate a book before you ever read it on Goodreads? What book are you most excited for?

Novella Review: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Throne of Glass 0.1) by Sarah J. Maas

    Title: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
    Author: Sarah J. Maas
    Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
    Published: January 12th 2013
    Pages: 70
    Rating: 1 Star

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Throne of Glass novella. 

On a remote island in a tropical sea, Celaena Sardothien, feared assassin, has come for retribution. She’s been sent by the Assassin’s Guild to collect on a debt they are owed by the Lord of the Pirates. But when Celaena learns that the agreed payment is not in money, but in slaves, her mission suddenly changes—and she will risk everything to right the wrong she’s been sent to bring about.

REVIEW

I was just so bored by this. Caelena has to be the least likable character I have ever read. She is arrogant, self-righteous and instead of being a bad-ass character I found her to be more of a pain-in-the-ass! The only thing I took from this story is that Caelena thinks she is the most beautiful and skilled girl on the earth.

The plot was predictable, and far too easily and unrealistically solved. I really hated the Throne of Glass and Crown Of Midnight but for some reason I thought I might like Caelena when she was an assassin that ACTUALLY killed people. Turns out I really didn't...You might like this one if you liked the other books in the series but I honestly found this one so boring, which really wasn't my problem with ToG and CoM.

I could not continue on with the rest of the short stories in the Blade of Assassins book but at least I can say I really gave this series a try.

Stacking the Shelves #6 and The Sunday Post #3

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. To find out more just follow the link: Sunday Post Meme 

NEWS

This week was the week that I finally took the plunge and bought myself an iPad.

I was really unsure for awhile whether I wanted to buy a Kindle or go the whole hog and get myself an iPad. I also wasn't sure if I would like reading ebooks and that was my main motivation behind possibly purchasing the iPad. In the end I decided to go for it and got myself the iPad Air and I am now completely obsessed with it and even love reading on it. It will be perfect for my next piece of news...

I AM GOING BACK TO SCOTLAND!!!

This time, however, I will be travelling the Highlands and it will be a solo journey. I just booked my flights from Dublin to Iverness today and made sure that I would be there during the Highland Games. I won't be going until after I finished my second work placement in July but I am sooo excited. Look how beautiful Scotland is -

That is pretty much all my personal news for the week, now onto the book related news.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG

• Book Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

• Waiting on Wednesday: Half Wild by Sally Green

• Book Review: Tithe by Holly Black

• Feature and Follow Friday

• My Weekly Reading Recap in a GIFfy

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

• Novella Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

• Top Ten Tuesday

• Waiting on Wednesday

• Book Review: The Furies of Calderon

• Feature and Follow Friday

• Sunday Post + Stacking the Shelves

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK

I read a few books this week, 3 in total and also one graphic novel. If you want to see a quick overview of what I thought of these books through GIFs just follow the link: here.

• Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

• Saga Volume Three by Brian K. Vaughan

• Under my Skin by Shawntelle Madison

• Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

CURRENTLY READING

Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Goodreads Synopsis:
A princess must find her place in a reborn world.
She flees on her wedding day.
She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.
She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.
She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Goodreads Synopsis

Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.

Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.

Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.

But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme created by Tynga's Reviews. It is "all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks". If you would like to find out more about this meme click here. 

Well, you saw that I just bought myself an iPad so of course I immediately downloaded the Kindle reading app and then proceeded to buy a few kindle books: in total 9 full books and one sample. Oops.

Physical Books:

I bought the Bane Chronicles for my sister for her birthday and I had just finished the Sea of Monsters and had a 2-hour wait at the train station along with a 1 and a half hour train journey so I bought myself the next book in the series.

If you are interested in any of the books above just click on the picture and you will be brought to their Goodreads page.

If you have a joined in on either of these two memes this week, leave a comment below and I will be sure to check out your post.

My Weekly Reading Recap in a (Gif)fy

I was inspired to create this feature by the wonderful ladies over at The Starry-Eyed Revue where they have a feature that consists of GIF only reviews. They have this feature for certain books such as, ones that they intend to write full reviews of later or just ones that are hard to put into words. You have to go check out their GIF only reviews, they are hilarious and just so entertaining.

I thought this was such a fantastic idea but I wanted to do it in a slightly different format. At the end of every week, on a Saturday, I will be posting a weekly review of the books I have read. The catch is that I will only be able to use one GIF per book to describe all the FEELS and no words...yes this will be difficult but I also think it will be a lot of fun and a great weekly wrap up. If you would like to join me in this just leave a link below in the comments and I will be sure to check it out.

So, lets get this started.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan 

Creep.....

Saga Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan

Under my Skin by Shawntelle Madison

Who doesn't love Chloe?

 

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan 

This one is perfect as he looks just like how I imagine the homeless/sea dude Nereus would look haha

Hope you liked this way of recapping my reading week. Sometimes it is so much easier to understand a person's opinion on a book with just GIFs - no need to read through all my ramblings.

Feature and Follow Friday #4

This meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee , just click on their names and follow the links. The point of this meme is to make new friends and gain new followers. There are a few rules to follow when participating in this meme so just click here to find out more.

Today's feature and follow question is:

Hard print (real thing) or Kindle/Nook, which is your favorite? -SUGGESTED BY: The Realm of Books 

This was the perfect week for this question as I just received my first iPad in the mail. Prior to this I had never read a kindle book and I had pretty negative views towards kindle books and was a hardcore physical book fan. Now, however, I can easily say that I see the benefits in both.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PHYSICAL BOOK VERSUS THE KINDLE BOOK

Physical Book	Kindle Book
Collectable on bookshelf	Accessible immediately after purchase
Easier on the eyes	Highlight and notes option
Doesn't run out of battery	Can read in the dark
Beautiful	Easier to hold

So as you can see each one has its advantages. I don't think I can pick which one I prefer but I do know that if I really love a book I read on my Kindle I will probably buy the physical book so I can keep it on my shelf. I really do love to collect books. I have only been reading Kindle books since Monday but so far I have been reading one kindle book and one physical book at a time. I have bought too many books this week due to my new iPad so stay tuned for my Stacking the Shelves post Saturday! 

I was certainly very anti-Kindle books until I downloaded the app myself so what are your thoughts? Do you prefer the physical book or the kindle book? Leave a link to your post below and I will be sure to check it out.

Book Review: Tithe by Holly Black

    Title: Tithe
    Author: Holly Black
    Publisher: Simon Pulse
    Published: April 1st 2004
    Pages: 331
    Rating: 2.5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. 

There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.

REVIEW

I wanted to like this, I really did. I loved Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I mean LOVED it. Her writing style, characters and plot were so refreshing and everything I wanted from a book. So, I guess you could say I had really high hopes for this book, like, really high. Unfortunately, I didn't like this book all that much. Firstly, I will talk about what I did like. For one, the cover, it's so pretty, but yes do not judge a book by its cover. I also really enjoyed some of the characters in this story, particularly, Kaye. She wasn't your typical YA female character, there was something much more real and gritty about Kaye. The characters in many of the books I read don't really reflect the teenagers of today, Kaye, however, does. She likes to hang out with her friends, she goes to parties, she drinks, she smokes (not all teenagers do these things but lets face quite a few do). She is very different to the lead characters in most YA and in that sense was quite refreshing to read. , also enjoyed how the story really reminded me of my youth, this kind of story would have been something I would have read and loved as a child - minus the twisted, gorey, dark aspects! 

I feel like this story was quite childish, but at the same time not at all child-friendly. Ok, let me explain...Kaye is a normal enough girl, with not too many friends but she does however have fae friends, three little faeries who visit her throughout her childhood. She then meets a mysterious knight who she falls hopelessly in love with (yes, there is insta-love, very disappointed). However, mixed in with this story are a lot of dark details. A knight with an iron band embedded in his forehead with a cloak of thorns who ravages a human boy. Little faeries being pulled apart by monstrous fae, and several more deaths in between. I personally would not have had a problem with the story's darker elements, my problem lay in the more middle-grade like plotline which I didn't find all that interesting.

It was, however, the inst-love that ruined it altogether for me. It is the one thing I hate in a story. I also wasn't too fond of the character Roiben and had no real interest in him or the romance. The love connection betweeen Kaye and Roiben just wasn't believable, why did Kaye love Roiben? It seems to me it was because she thought he was hot and why Roiben loved Kaye, I have no idea.

In saying all of this I did read the entire book so it wasn't completely awfully it just wasn't what I hoped it would be.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My Most Anticipated Book of the Coming Months:

    
    Title: Half Wild
    Author: Sally Green
    Publisher: Viking Juvenile
    To be Published: March 24th 2015
    Pages: 400
   

Goodreads Synopsis:

"You will have a powerful Gift, but it’s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad." 

In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, seventeen-year-old Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most powerful and violent witch. Nathan is hunted from all sides: nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted. Now, Nathan has come into his own unique magical Gift, and he's on the run--but the Hunters are close behind, and they will stop at nothing until they have captured Nathan and destroyed his father.

Why I am eagerly anticipating Half Wild:

I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series, Half Bad. I haven't read Half Bad in a while but I remember loving how dark it was and the fact that the book focused on a male witch. It was quite different to other books I have read and the writing style was really enjoyable. I will be reading Half Bad soon and will hopefully have a review up for it, as I never reviewed it the first time I read it.

Have you read Half-Bad? What did you think about and will you be picking up Half Wild? What book are you must excited for?