Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray is the second book in the Firebird trilogy following Marguerite Caine as she travels through different universes to save her friends, family, and her own universe. That’s really all I can say as a synopsis since this is a second book in the series. But I devoured this book as well. It’s such a fast-paced read and left me wanting more. I am so disappointed that I don’t have money right now to buy the third book in the series, but I’m even more disappointed that my library doesn’t have ANY books from the Firebird trilogy.

*SPOILERS*

Marguerite is such a bada$$ character. I don’t know if I would be able to do everything that she did to get Paul back and help Theo. I probably would’ve given up. But she is such a strong person and nothing can get in her way. Not even Paul’s that hate her in other universes!

I love thinking about the concept of other universes, so I absolutely loved the stories of Marguerite in other dimensions. But I feel like I would feel like I’m violating my other me’s by going into my body in another dimension. So, when I found out that Marguerite got the Russiaverse’s Marguerite pregnant, I felt so bad for that Marguerite! She didn’t even get to enjoy that Paul and now she has her baby to raise by herself. I probably wouldn’t have been as sad had that Paul been alive.

I couldn’t believe it when we found out that the Marguerites in other universes were actually able to recall everything that happens to them. Like, now they can feel even more violated and helpless! But, it added to the story and made me think even more of the concept.

The original reason Triad started this whole thing to get Marguerite to participate is RIDICULOUS. They are being so selfish in wanting to destroy other dimensions! I can’t imagine the pain they feel, but how do they think they could ever pull this off? I really hope our Marguerite can fix this!

My last thoughts, I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW because the Marguerite from the original Triad figured out how to get into our character’s body. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN?!?

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley was a surprising read for me. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, yet it wasn’t the most amazing book that those who recommended this book to me made it out to be. This book is focused on Cullen Witter, who lives in a small town in Arkansas. Nothing ever happens in this small town, until a birdwatcher comes to town and claims to have found a type of woodpecker thought to be extinct. Upon the claim that this man has seen the Lazarus Woodpecker, the town goes wild. They create new ways to bring tourism to the town from this bird, including Lazarus haircuts, Lazarus burgers, and even a Lazarus Festival. During the chaos of trying to find this bird, Cullen’s little brother disappears without a trace. Multiple viewpoints tie together to show how and why Cullen’s brother disappeared, and follows Cullen’s journey to finding his brother.

I was certainly surprised by this book. I loved the writing style and the way the story was told. But, as much as the multiple viewpoints helped to tie the story together, I felt as if they were not necessary. I had a hard time connecting the dots as to how each character connected to either Cullen or his brother’s disappearance. I feel like I would have enjoyed the book more if it would have had only Cullen’s perspective, although I do understand why the author wanted the other perspectives.

I gave Where Things Come Back a 3.75 stars.

*SPOILERS*

I found Cabot Searcy to be a little too insane. I really could not imagine someone being insane enough to fly to a little Arkansas town and after his wife tells him to leave, to not actually leave but try and stalk her date. It was very unexpected to me that Cabot wouldn’t even try and verify that Gabriel was Cullen. I have read quite a few psychological thrillers, yet I have never seen someone so insane not think through a crime as big as this.

OwlCrate June Box

Last week, I got one of the most highly anticipated book boxes, according to myself, in my mailbox. I finally did it! I ordered an OwlCrate subscription! Now, what led me to this decision was a variety of factors. First, I saw that there was going to be a bath bomb in the June box; then, I saw that they were including a second book in the box as well. A second book, but the price was still the same?!? I thought I’d stumbled upon Heaven! While debating if I should really get this subscription or wait until I had more money, my aunt sent me the amount I needed as a “thinking of you” because I was having a surgery at the beginning of June. So, I decided “hey, I’m getting my stomach cut into, so I’m gonna treat myself with an OwlCrate!” And I have never been happier that I decided that! The box was all that and even more than what I expected. And I will continue to subscribe to OwlCrate for as long as funds shall find me.

Here is a list of everything that came in the box, and my thoughts on them: (SPOILERY)

• ·      An Ember in the Ashes magnet created by Little Inklings Design to “channel your inner bravery” (I am getting these quotes from the Spoiler card I received). I absolutely love magnets, and this past school year I lived in an apartment. I was really upset because I didn’t have any cute magnets to put on our fridge, I just had the magnets my school gave me. So now I am so excited to go back to school to decorate my fridge with An Ember in the Ashes gorgeousness!

• ·       A double-sided bookmark from Hey Atlas Creative. This bookmark was inspired by ACOWAR by Sarah J Maas; the spoiler card says this is because “When thinking about survival, Feyre from A  Court of Thorns and Roses series definitely comes to mind!” I normally don’t spend money on bookmarks, and most of mine are from independent bookstores. So, this is by far my favorite bookmark I own (along with my Lillytales bookmark!)

• ·       The bath bomb was created by Fizzy Fairy Apothecary and is Divergent inspired and “contains a charm which will sort you into one of the different factions”. I have yet to use this (I can’t take a bath because of my surgery), but I am SO EXCITED to use this!! I have actually thought about just filling up a sink and seeing which faction I’m in, but I love bath bombs too much to not actually USE it.

• ·       This next item was my favorite item in this whole box (despite the books). It is a zombie sleep mask from Archie McPhee! Because “You’ll need your rest to survive the apocalypse!” I have about ten sleep masks and I am one of those ‘high-maintenance’ people that sleeps better with a sleep mask on. I am so excited to go back to school and surprise my roommate with a zombie sleep mask! (Ignore the low-quality picture, my camera is not letting me edit any of the pictures I took of this mask, and this is the best one I have).

• ·       The last item was an iron-on patch from Laserbrain Patch Co. This was inspired by The Giver and  “features the red apple that Jonah discovers in the book.” I thought this was a unique item, and although I don’t have anything to iron this patch on, I am going to keep it on display on my bookshelves! I first read The Giver when I was 12, and Lois Lowry was my favorite author growing up, so this patch has significant meaning and nostalgia for me and I can’t wait to show it off in my #shelfies!

• ·       The second book that was included in this box was New World Rising by Jennifer Wilson and published by Oftomes Publishing. According to the synopsis of this book, it is a dystopian featuring Tribes that live outside of the city and the motto is “Join or die”. The main character wants to survive and doesn’t know who to trust. I had previously heard of this book from Benjaminoftomes on Youtube, as he published this with his company. It sounded interesting and I put it on my Goodreads TBR as a book to get in the future, but now I have an immediate reason to read it!

• ·       The featured book in this month’s OwlCrate was The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson. This book also has an exclusive OwlCrate cover design, signed bookplate with a letter from the editor, and exclusive The Sandcastle Empire stickers, as well. This is also a dystopian, and it follows Eden, who was alive before a revolution that changed the world. Before this revolution, Eden lived in what sounds like a world that is close to what we live in today, which is a new take on dystopian that I am excited to read. One of Eden’s friends goes missing and she and her friends brave the post-revolution jungle to look for this friend. I had only heard of the title before I received this book, but now after receiving the book and reading the synopsis, I am really excited to read this! I am one of the few that did not get burnt out from the dystopian craze, so I’m excited to have more dystopian books in my hands!

Next month's OwlCrate theme is Wanderlust!

This post is in no way sponsered by OwlCrate, I just really loved the box and wanted to put my thoughts on it out to the world.

If you'd like to check out OwlCrate, here is a link: https://owlcrate.com/

City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson

City of Saints and Thieves, by Natalie C. Anderson, follows Christina aka Tiny Girl and her adventure throughout Africa to find her mother’s killer. Along the way, Tina finds out the truth about her mother’s past before coming to Kenya as a refugee. Tina is a thief involved in a gang called the Goondas, and she enlists her gangs help to get revenge on the man who killed her mother. But… things don’t end up going quite per plan as she learns more and more about her mother’s life.

I didn’t read the synopsis at all before reading this book, I just knew it involved a thief, and I honestly thought it would just involve a heist. But this book is so much more than that. When I first read that the setting is in Kenya, I was very surprised, but excited to read a book in this setting; as I hadn’t read any books in this setting before. I love learning about other cultures, so books set in other countries interest me. But my expectations did fall a little short. I loved the integration of the Swahili language into this book.  Besides this integration and the author stating that the setting was in Kenya, I felt that this could be set in any country, despite the war on gold. I honestly imagined Sangui City to be like any city in the United States, and it very well may be like that in the author’s mind. I expected more of a cultural influence in the book, though, and I feel as if I didn’t learn much about the cultures of Kenya and Congo.

This is a great story, and a very quick read. I did enjoy it. Overall, I’d give this book a 3.75 stars.

*SPOILERS*

The story itself was great, and I found little about it that I didn’t like. I felt like Tina is a strong character, and you can see that in the way she cares for her sister; like when she went to such depths to save Kiki from Omoko killing her. However, I thought the characters needed a little more description when being introduced. This may just have been me not catching on, but it took me until around 300 pages to figure out that Mr. Greyhill was a white man from the United States. I thought he was born and raised in Africa, and could not figure out why someone would call Michael a mulatto.

Another aspect of this book that I found lacking was the suspense. I felt as if the author was trying to bring suspense into the book, but I only found myself holding my breath when Christina was breaking into Mr. G’s office. There was some suspense when Boyboy couldn’t get hold of Mr. G, but I had faith that he would have a plan. 

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare is the second book in The Dark Artifices series. This series is set in the Los Angeles Institute (and the characters travel to the London Institute), and follows Emma Carstairs and her friend, Julian Blackthorn, and his family. It’s hard to describe this book without spoilers, but it starts off where Lady Midnight ends, with Malcolm Fade’s death. I absolutely loved this book, as much as I love all of Cassie Clare’s other works. However, I did feel I liked Lady Midnight more. There was a ton of action scenes in this book, which I love, but I felt the middle of the book moved too slowly for my liking. This could honestly be because I decided to read this book while I recover for surgery, so I couldn’t just sit down and binge it; I was interrupted from my reading by my need to sleep and my pain. Overall, I gave this book a 4.75 stars.

SPOILERS

Right away, the book started off with a bang when the gang had to fight off some sea demons. The fight scene on the Ferris wheel was the perfect depiction of what I imagine a fight on a boardwalk would look like.

I absolutely love Kit, and I’m excited to watch him grow as a Shadowhunter and teach Emma and the Blackthorns more about modern life. As an example, I knew from Ty’s behavior in Lady Midnight that he is autistic, as I’ve grown up working alongside autistic children my whole life. I literally dropped my book when I read the scene where Kit pointed out that Ty is autistic. I’m so glad that Cassie is incorporating not just diverse sexualities, but diverse ‘disabilities’ as well (I use the term disability lightly here). I was so excited when Julian mentioned that Kit has a family now. I have heard some theories about Kit and Julian as a ship, but I did not get that vibe at all from this book. I honestly spent this whole book thinking about what a great parabatai couple Kit and Ty would be.

Now, Zara and her Cohort; I hated them. From the beginning, I knew that she and her friends would bring nothing but trouble to LA. I was very angry when Zara made the claim that the kids at the Institute could do the Centurions laundry while they were out doing more important things. Emma and the others are just as much Shadowhunters as the Centurions. And I was irritated that they could not help with the case, even though they were the ones that figured everything about Malcolm out. And I am still enraged that Zara is claiming she killed Malcolm the second time.

Speaking of Malcolm dying a second time. I think I am the ONLY one that didn’t see that coming. At the end of Lady Midnight, I figured he wasn’t dead for good, but I thought that he wouldn’t come back until later books in the series. I was shocked when Annabel killed Malcolm. I could not wrap my head around why she would do such a thing. I thought she had been persuading him to give her life again so that she could kill him and get the Black Volume, but I was wrong. Upon hearing her reasoning, I don’t blame her for killing Malcolm. But, I still hate her for the ending. LIVVY WAS SUCH AN INNOCENT CHILD THAT DESERVED TO LIVE. I still don’t understand why it was Livvy, though, I hope her death is explained and avenged in later books.

Now, Kieran. I sighed with relief when Mark said he wouldn’t save Kieran. I expected him to drop everything to go back to save his love. Although, I did have a feeling he would try and sneak out and do it alone anyway. I figured Cassie wouldn’t put this scene in the book if Mark did not go after Kieran.

With Emma’s battle to get Kieran, I knew Emma would win, but I was expecting more of a struggle. It seemed her only struggle was when she saw it was her dad she was fighting; although I knew it was an illusion. I thought that was so cruel of the Unseelie King, but have now learned not to put anything past him. I mean, he was going to kill his own son…

I still am unsure of Diego, if I like him or hate him. I don’t trust him, that’s for sure. I understand his reasoning for being engaged to Zara, and that’s awesome of him to be able to put up with her, but I still feel like he has to have feelings for her.. And Jaime seems way too suave, I don’t trust him either. I really think they were lying when they took Kieran away at the end of the book. Where did they really take him? Was the whole thing planned?

And what is with the token? What is it?

I was so excited to know that Julian figured out that there is a curse between parabatai love, and thought he and Emma could figure it out together now that they both know. Then, we find out that if you destroy one parabatai bond, you destroy them all?! Who would do such a thing? Now I don’t know if I should root for them to destroy it or want them to hate each other so the other parabatai can stay together. And finally, upon watching Emmmabooks review on Youtube, she reminded me that since Robert Lightwood is dead, so is the chance of him helping Emma and Julian figure out the curse. Now I have no idea which way Cassandra Clare is going to take this problem in the next book.

This book took me on a wild ride, and I cannot wait another two years for The Queen of Air and Darkness.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

OVERVIEW: I'm going to try and keep this short, because I think that if you read it without knowing everything, it makes the book better. So, Lady Midnight is about Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorn family five years after the Dark War from TMI. I would suggest reading TMI before reading Lady Midnight, but I don't think it would be hard to figure out what's going on if you don't. But, Lady Midnight did feel like a continuation.

MY THOUGHTS: I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. Cassandra Clare has grown so much in her writing since City of Bones came out, and you can really tell in reading Lady Midnight. The plot was so complex. I was so glad that some of the characters from the other Shadowhunter books were mentioned in LM. I feel like that's all I can say without spoiling the book.

SPOILERS: So, I thought that Malcolm was being really odd about the investigation, BUT I did not see him as being the Guardian!! I honestly thought the Guardian was Diana, and I'm still confused as to why she's been going throughout the entire book. At first, I thought the relationship with Julian and Emma was kind of immature, and only because they lived together. But, as the book went on, I felt really bad that they can't be together. I still don't understand why it's such a big deal, I feel like the Clave should want powerful Shadowhunters. But, if it drives them to ruins, that makes sense. I went back and forth throughout the whole book thinking that Mark would stay in the Institute or go back with the Wild Hunt. I thought that Mark would fall in love with Christina, and she would be the reason he stayed. But then Diego ruined that for me! I could go on and on about how much I loved this book, and how many plot twists I experienced, but I already feel like I'm rambling. So, I'm going to leave with WHAT DOES MARK MEAN WHEN HE SAYS "Why pretend?"?!?!?!?

I give this book a 98%!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

OVERVIEW: Aristotle is a loner, he calls himself a pseudo-only child because his siblings are all 10+ years older than him, and his brother is in prison. Ari has no clue about his brother, his family never mentions him; they don't even have any pictures of him on their walls. When Ari meets Dante, his life changes. Dante teaches Ari to swim and they become best friends.

MY THOUGHTS: I was really excited to read this book because 1. the cover is GORGEOUS and 2. it was really hyped up. But I did not enjoy this at all. The storyline was okay, but I felt that both Ari and Dante were very immature, which really annoyed me. I felt like their wasn't even any character growth in the book at all, Ari was still as immature at the end as he was at the beginning. And the writing style of this book was unappealing to me. The author uses mainly simple sentences, with ten words or less. I felt like that made it difficult for me to even connect with the characters or even get into the story.

SPOILERS: So when I say Ari was still immature at the end, I mean, he really didn't change. He just accepted the fact that he was in love with Dante. And the whole story was revolved around their relationship, but I honestly just wanted to know more about why the family never mentioned their brother. When it was revealed that Bernardo was in prison for killing someone, all I could think was, that wasn't even like a big bomb drop. It was very anti-climatic, as was the rest of the book for me. I went into this book knowing that it was about two boys in love with each other, but they didn't even acknowledge their love until the last chapter. I feel like that made it even harder to get into.

I honestly don't even know what grade I'd give this book; but I did give it one star on Goodreads.

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

OVERVIEW: Hayley Kincain hasn't had the most normal of lives. After her mother died, and her father was sent to fight in the war, Hayley was placed with her father's new girlfriend. Years later, Hayley and her dad settle down in her grandmother's house after spending years traveling the country in a semi. Hayley now has to go to regular school, while worrying about her dad's PTSD and bad habits.

MY THOUGHTS: This book was kind of confusing to me at first; Hayley couldn't remember anything of her childhood, and that wasn't explained. I wasn't sure if she had brain damage, or a traumatic incident that made her block out the past, so I was unsure of the instances when she was having flashbacks. I'm honestly still not positive on why Hayley blocked out her past. The story was otherwise easy to follow, and a fast paced read. The one thing I was very disappointed in was that there were a multitude of editing mistakes that hadn't been accounted for, such as the author leaving out the word 'other' when saying 'each other'. This didn't make the story harder to understand, but it was kind of annoying to me since there were more than five instances of this.

SPOILERS: I honestly have no idea how Hayley could have kept her dad's behaviors and addictions hidden for so long. It would make me mentally unstable. I was honestly scared for Hayley when her dad found her in the car almost kissing Finn. I was sure Finn would understand something was up and report it, but I understand that he didn't because he had problems of his own. The fact that Hayley wouldn't let anyone help her until the conclusion, though, really annoyed me. I felt like she should have been more willing for help. Overall, I liked this, but didn't love it.

I give this book an 80%.

George by Alex Gino

OVERVIEW: This story follows George, a transgender fourth grader. It's a very quick read, following George's thoughts and process of him telling everyone he believes he's a girl.

MY THOUGHTS: This book was so heart-warming! It was a quick, but very good read! It's definitely a book that will stay with me forever. This was the first book I read with a transgender narrator, and I'm glad it was the first book I read. It gave me more perspective on transgender people, and helped me understand their thought process more. I feel like this is a really short review, but it's really hard for me to describe what a good and impactful book it is.

SPOILERS: I felt so bad for George throughout the entire book, but she is so brave! My only thing I wished the author would have done was show how the mom and brother adapted to Melissa; were they okay with it? Did they support her through everything? I wanted to know how supportive her mom turned out to be since she was reluctant about the idea at first. But, I did love how accepting Kelly was. It was such a great portrayal of how kids aren't born judgmental.

I give this book a 95%.

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

OVERVIEW: This book is about a boy with depression. This boy, Craig, checks himself into a hospital; the book chronicles Craig's stay in the hospital. This is pretty much all I think one needs to know before reading it.

MY THOUGHTS: I overall enjoyed this book. There were parts I, as a person diagnosed and treated with depression, really connected with. Although Craig and I are completely different people, with different morals, I really felt like I knew exactly how he felt because of my struggle with depression. There were certain scenes in the book that I felt were unrealistic, which I will describe in the spoilers. But, overall this was a good, quick read. Many reviews stated that the book was funny, and I don't know if this is because of my struggles with depression or something else, but I don't think it was very funny. There was a few characters I thought were funny, but I really thought that it was a serious book, with a serious topic and tone.

SPOILERS: I completely connected with Craig and his stress over getting into school, as I just went through applications for college and the stress of wanting to get perfect grades since I started college. I really give Craig props though, for being able to admit he has depression and get help, because it is HARD. As for what I thought was unrealistic, the part where Craig takes Nia to his room and KEEPS THE DOOR OPEN to make out with her. I have never been in a mental hospital, but I really think it would be difficult to bring a girl to your room.. Muqtada did make me laugh when he interrupted them though! Craig deserved it!! At the end, when it said that this story was inspired by Vizzini's five day stay at the hospital, I was really moved. It made me really sad to know that he had to go through all that, to get the idea for his book. It's a very serious topic, but Vizzini tackled it well and mostly realistically!

I give this book an 80%.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

OVERVIEW: This book is a continuation of the Throne of Glass series, the second book. In this book, Celaena is now the King's Champion. The king commands Celaena to assassinate a man she knew in her life before Endovier. Before Celaena does the job, she tells the prince she wants more time for this job so she can find out more about the rebel group this man is in. This book follows Celaena's journey of trying to uncover the secrets of this rebel group, and to save her old friend.

MY THOUGHTS: First of all, OH MY GOSH WAS THIS AMAZING. There were so many plot twists and unexpected events. I read this book on my laptop, and I literally dropped my laptop more than once because of everything that happens in this book! It's so CRAZY. Celaena's relationships with Chaol and Dorian develop even more in this book than they had in TOG. And I honestly feel like Celaena matured more throughout this book, even if she's still an assassin. Maas's writing is so thrilling, it's hard to describe! I feel like I'm literally in the world and had to adjust when I stopped reading and went back to the 'real world'. This is honestly, so far, one of the best series I've read in a while! I highly suggest the Throne of Glass series, and I'm only on book two of six!

SPOILERS: Once again, I am neither Team Chaol or Team Dorian. Chaol is just really cocky, in my opinion, and I can't stand that. I think Dorian is really sweet and wants to do good, but with him being the Crown Prince and Celaena being a criminal/assassin and pretty much against anything the King says or does, I know a relationship between the two could never work out.
I was SO pissed when Nehemia died, I wanted to go into the world to take care of such injustice! Like, I feel like I should have known it would happen since she's a princess and is also against the King (although he doesn't know it), but I still loved her character! The one thing that did surprise me though was that Archer killed her! I honestly thought that the King paid someone to off her..
AND THE ENDING, WOW. That's about all I can say; Celaena is part fae and Dorian has magic; the King is an asshole and WOW.



So, I've been watching some booktubers and one of the channels I like uses a "Grading" System instead of the Star system, and I think I'll like that better so I'm going to do that instead. Because, as she pointed out, I could really like a book, and still give it four stars. I could like a book and give it three stars, but hate a book and give it two, there isn't much room for people to actually know how wonderful you think the book is.

My "Grading" System rating is a 97%.

Front Lines by Michael Grant

OVERVIEW: This book follows three different young ladies in an alternate history of World War II. In this reality, women were also drafted into the war. These three different girls come from different parts of the United States with different backgrounds. There is one white girl, an African American girl, and a Jewish girl; these three all enlist into the army before they can be drafted. The first half of the book follows the girls' decisions to enlist and their time in boot camp. The second half follows the girls' to Tunisia, North Africa, to the front lines.

MY THOUGHTS: I was so disappointed with this book. World War II is one of my favorite historical fiction subjects so I'll read almost anything with high expectations. This book did not meet my expectations. I felt that the plot was really slow, with no twists or turns or unexpected events. I couldn't even pick out what the climax was. The one thing I did find interesting was the setting of Tunisia, I have never read a WWII book set in Africa, so I did like that perspective.

I give this book a 2/5 stars.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

OVERVIEW: This story follows an assassin in the land of Adarlan that is imprisoned in a death camp. The Crown Prince travels to Endovier to find Celaena, the assassin, and bring her to the castle to train and fight to be the King's Champion. Dorian, the Crown Prince, really takes to Celaena and believes in her right from the beginning. Meanwhile, Dorian's friend and a guard named Chaol is very untrusting of Celaena. This book is filled with twists and turns.

MY THOUGHTS: I honestly wish that I would have found this book sooner. It is such a great, fast paced read and I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a famous YA movie series. I kind of felt like this book was like The Selection, but with killing and magic and unexpected elements. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes corrupted societies and fantasy.

SPOILERS: I thought that Nehemiah was the killer, and Cain was just on drugs. When Maas pulled magic into the book, I was mindblown. During Cain and Celaena's duel, my heart was pounding because I thought she wouldn't drink the wine and when she did I just wanted to throw my book!! I had absolutely no idea how Celaena would survive, and didn't know how the next book could continue if Celaena didn't win. But she did, and I was SO happy!! I just finished this as I'm writing this and still cannot put into words how crazy this book was for me. When Celaena "let go" of Dorian, I was kind of sad; but in a way I want her to be with Chaol, but then I'm torn. I'm excited to see where this love triangle leads in the next book, which I will be getting next time I visit my library!
**I also want to predict that something bad was in Celaena's contract and there's going to be a shitstorm ahead for Celaena, Dorian, and Chaol.

I give this book a 4.5/5 stars

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

OVERVIEW: Salt to the Sea follows four different refugees from World War Two in each of their perspectives. The perspectives are from Alfred, a German sailor; Joana, a Lithuanian nurse; Florian, an East Prussian boy; and Emilia, a Polish teenager. The four all meet on the ship Wilhelm Gustloff.

My thoughts: This is such a beautiful, heartbreaking story. I've always enjoyed historical fiction books about WWII and the Holocaust; and I absolutely loved Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray, but this book exceeded my expectations and easily become one of my all time favorite books. Before reading Salt to the Sea, I had never heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff. I would suggest you read the book before researching the Gustloff if you've never heard of it; this will ensure no spoilers. But what happened is so heartbreaking and honestly made me mad that I never learned about this event in school. While I did not cry while reading the book, I cried when I read the author's note and hearing the disturbing facts of this event. This book was so fantastic, I am having such a hard time putting my thoughts into words. I would recommend this book to EVERYONE.





SPOILERS AHEAD:

I am SO upset that Emilia sacrificed her life for others, but I SO admire the action. I just wish she was able to survive and watch Halinka grow and have a wonderful life. The fact that Alfred died made me strangely happy, he was just too corrupted by Hitler's propaganda. My favorite part, though, was that Joana and Florian ended up together and raised Halinka, along with a family of their own. Although, I was kind of hoping that Emilia and Florian would stay together.



I give this book a 5/5 stars!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

This book really surprised me. I thought it would be an engaging love story that *might* make me cry. But I was so wrong!




The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight starts with Hadley, the protagonist, being four minutes late for her flight to the UK for her dad's wedding, that she doesn't even want to go to. Because of those four minutes, Hadley has to reschedule her flight and be rushed to get to the wedding on time. While waiting for this next flight, she meets Oliver, a British boy that goes to Yale. They start talking, and end up sitting together on the plane for the seven hour journey 'across the pond'. With the third person POV, the reader can tell that they really like each other.


During the flight, Hadley keeps agonizing over not wanting to go to her dad's wedding. She has unresolved anger with her father for having an affair and leaving her. The whole time Hadley thinks that Oliver is flying out for a wedding also. She later learns that he is actually going to his dad's funeral. Hadley ditches the wedding party when she finds out one of her dad's guests is going to the funeral, and somehow manages to find the church and find Oliver.




As I was reading the first hundred or so pages, mostly the flight, I was thinking "this is an OK book". It felt like one's fantasy on how they wanted to meet their husband/wife. But once Hadley got to Oliver at the funeral, things changed. I started seeing the book not as what many others see or what the title displays, a love story. But, a story about forgiving and moving on. I feel it was not about Hadley and Oliver solely, but on Hadley realizing that her dad's marriage is actually something good. She moves past her resentment towards her dad and his new wife, and is able to see that they really do love each other. That she isn't angry anymore. She forgave him. This book opens the eyes to a different perspective on divorce and remarrying. Although, I think the title could have portrayed that idea, it still does make sense.




I give this book a 4/5 star rating.

The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

So... I'm new at this.. I've been wanting to create a blog for awhile for book reviews, and I was pulled to create one after reading The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury.
Here goes:
The Sin Eater's Daughter follows the story of Twylla, her mother is a literal "eater of sins". When someone dies, she goes to their funeral, and eats a bunch of food to cleanse them from their sins so they can get into the Eternal Kingdom. Twylla was prone to this destiny until the queen came to her when she was young and told her that the 'Gods' have claimed she is what's called Daunen Embodied and is to marry the prince. So Twylla is told that she must drink poison during the Telling, the poison doesn't kill her, but instead goes to her skin; so whomever she touches will die instantly. To get this penalty, one must commit treason against Lormere (the nation) or the royal family. Because of this, Twylla has no friends, everyone is terrified of her. The one friend she had, 'committed treason' and she had to kill him.
So, as the story goes on, Twylla gets a new guard (she always has two guards with her). This guard, Lief, tries to befriend her. Twylla's second guard is stung by a bee and dies after weeks in an infirmary.
**SPOILER**
Lief ends up being the sole guard of Twylla, and he earns her trust. Once her trust has been earned, he starts telling her that the poison she is being told to drink, isn't even poison at all, and he proves it at the next Telling. He convinces her that she is not a murderer by touching her, then kissing her, and he never died. So they fall in love. In the end, they plan to run away together to Lief's home country.
This plan of theirs unravels when the prince, Merek, moves up the wedding date. During the feast to celebrate this announcement, the King loses control of his limbs and ends up dying, from poison. Merek tells Twylla his mom, the Queen, was the one to poison him, so she could marry Merek. Yes, the Queen wanted to marry her son. (There's a lot of incest in the royal family.) So Twylla agrees to marry Merek the next night secretly, so Merek and Twylla could rule. That night, Lief visits Twylla, to sleep with her as they do every night, and the Queen comes and finds them in bed together and arrests them. Twylla and Lief are sent to the prison cells to await a trial. While waiting, Twylla discovers the Queen's motive, to start a war with another country, and she calls for Merek to reveal this to him.
During the trial, Merek calls his mother out and they sentence her to death for treason. Before she leaves the room she yells at Lief to tell Twylla who he was. He eventually has to tell Twylla and Merek that he was paid by the Queen to seduce Twylla, so she could die without an uprising, and the Queen could marry Merek. Twylla's heartbroken, Merek still wants to marry her, and they banish Lief from Lormere. It basically ends with Twylla in solitude continuing life.


To me, this book was very unoriginal. In fact, I felt that the plot was the same as the Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. The story was very dull until the last one hundred pages. The whole book was predictable. Girl forced to marry prince, girl falls in love, girl gets betrayed, the queen is the bad guy. There was no surprise element for me at all. Even the most creative minds will question "How is it that the royal family can touch a girl with poisonous skin, yet no one else can?" Everything that happened was foreshadowed.
Normally, I would feel as if I needed to read the second book to see if the series got better. But, with this book, I don't think I will. While Salisbury writes very well, I just can't get over how overused this plot is in the Young Adult world right now.


I would give this book a 2/5 stars.