Review: Ruin and Rising (The Grisha #3)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 417
Rating: 7 out of 10

**Spoiler Alert: This is the third in this series. Check out the review for the first book, Shadow and Bone HERE**

Summary (Goodreads version): The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

Thoughts for this novel: I have never wanted to punch a character in the face quite like I wanted to punch the Apparat in the nose. He was deserve it. Hardcore. However, I did love the adventure of the escape despite having to wait a little while in the beginning on the novel. It was a bit slow to start but necessary. It picked up speed.

I was glad for the change in locations. The map at the front of this novel showed me the extent of the world the author created it. I wanted to get into the world and see where we could go with it. I got that wish fulfilled.

I'm not sure how I feel about the end of this novel. On one hand, it made me happy but it also kind of didn't. I think I expected more even though everything was wrapped up well. I loved that everything was tied up. It continued to look into the future and how their lives will turn out. Novels that do that are perfect.

Thoughts about this series: Overall, I thought that this series turned out well enough. I liked that the death of characters wasn't avoided. I like that, even though it was only for a short period of time, we were encouraged by the author to play with fire. Not literal fire, mind you, but we were allowed to imagine multiple outcomes based on the love interests in this novel. I like that we were allowed to fall in love with the bad guy for once. We were also welcome to imagine what a world with magic and its creatures would be like. I enjoyed the series a lot, as did Kristen.

Basically: I cannot put my finger on the exact thing about this series that I enjoyed. There were simple yet opened up another world for me to explore. I loved that there was almost every genre in the books at some point or another. These novels truly have something for everyone, all tucked nicely behind beautiful colours. What could taking a look hurt?

P.S. I'm so sorry this review was useless, I waited to long to write the review. I promise that I'll do better in the future, as soon as I catch up on all my reviews that is...I'm so behind!

Life of a Blogger [10]

Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature that I found through the amazing Rebecca at Vicariously! ,  hosted by the lovely Novel Heartbeat. Each week a subject will be chosen and we get to talk about it. The topics will be non-bookish so that you can get to know each other on a more personal level! Make sure to add your link on the linky list! 

This week's topic is: Ten Things You'll Never Do
So, I'm in a very lame-spiring mood and I don't want to say I'll never do anything, but I mean these are the things that are probably pretty unlikely in my life

1. Eat a spider. Or any gross insect for that matter. Those bug lollipop things, ew. God, need I say more? Nope, nah, never. 
2. Tightrope walk. That just seems needlessly dangerous and I have bad knees. 
3. Forget sunscreen. (This isn't true; it'll happen.)
4. Camp by myself in the middle of nowhere. I watch Criminal Minds, okay. 
5. I will never allow anyone ever to touch my neck. Seriously. Plz don't.
6. Go to space. I mean, I'd like too. I just don't have like 20 million laying around. 
7. Mess with a ouija board
8. Go to a cemetery at  night. I'm not about that ghost life, man. 
9. Go to a World Cup. Way too many people and way too little interest in soccer. 
10. I will not eat Rooster testicles in Taiwan. (I looked up a list of 100 things to do before you die for some inspiration... it worked) 

What about you guys?

1. Juggle...I just can't do it.
2. Ride a unicycle...I can hardly ride a normal bike.
3. finish this list.   Apparently I did that...work in a McDonalds. I'd fail miserably.
4. Walk on water...I'm not Jesus.
5. Let a boy hit me without getting hit back, twice as hard.
6. Practice sword swallowing...who ever thought it was a good idea?
7. Wear heels voluntarily.
8. Own a cat...I have allergies.
9. Swim in the Detroit river...again.
10. Have a pet unicorn...but I wish.

-- Kelsey 
EDIT: (I just want the world to know Kelsey called herself a writing genius for this list)

Top Ten Tuesdays [10]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list and everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

November 18: Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait To Get

Kristen's List 
1. ANY 
2. AND 
3. ALL 
4. THINGS 
5. PUBLISHED 
6. BY 
7. CASSANDRA 

8. MOTHER 

9. TRUCKIN 

10. CLARE 

Kelsey:
1. Ensnared by A.G. Howard
2. ENSARED BY A.G. HOWARD!!! *** (FOR REAL) (Two times as bad as anything else)
3. The Descent by Alma Katsu
4. Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano
5. Exposure by Kathy Reichs
6. Vitro by Jessica Khoury
7. I really want another Sarah Dessen book
8. and Jackson Pearce who seemed to move on to middle school aged books to my great dismay
Those last two might have been cheating but whatever...
9. Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons

10. Stay With Me by J. Lyn 
I don't have too many series working right now. This is why this list sucks. I'm so, so sorry.

Review: Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Eileen Cook
Format: Paperback
Pages: 261
Rating: 5 out of 10

Summary (Thanks for existing Goodreads.com): 
Popularity is the best revenge.

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn’t dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

My Thoughtless Ramblings: This cover is ugly. It is so important for me to say this that I'm going to say it first thing. The cover of the copy I have is beautiful. I had a two-for-one type deal called Used To Be which had two novels by Eileen Cook in it. I liked it much more. I would never have picked a book up off the shelf that had this cover on it. Yes, I judge books by their covers, deal with it.

So, anyway, getting revenge...I understand wanting to get back at people but I don't think I will ever understand wanting to destroy a person's life especially over what the slight was in this novel. It sucks yes, but JUST MOVE ON. I thought the whole plot of this novel was a huge waste of time. It was an interesting concept. It might have been okay if the thing that caused it wasn't so stupid. To Helen, it may have been big, in the moment. It was hardly something to let consume your life. It just didn't seem like a big enough thing to cause all that followed. That's my opinion.

Also, this chick is crazy! Who would do all of this to a person? She couldn't killed Lauren a few times over. I kept thinking, "oh my gosh, Helen is a sociopath!" She didn't seem to be worried about any consequences for what she was doing and I can think of so many right now. The top two would be homicide or suicide or jail time. Those are just the big ones. Having your life messed up is hardly worth ruining someones over. Helen had the opportunity to do just fine with her life but she lost a lot of credibility when she became the cruel person. It's hard to relate to someone who would stoop so low. 

The love interest in this was good. I liked him. I liked him and I liked a couple of the other friends Helen makes at the school. I thought they were way more thought out than the revenge plan. They were honestly my favourite part of the novel, no matter how poorly Helen treated them or the fact that they let her treat them so badly and remained her friends. I wouldn't have been so nice to her, I think.

So: This novel was a quick read and light enough. I didn't appreciate the plot all that much but other than the main character, I liked the people that were found on these pages. I find myself not blaming the author for my dislike of this novel. It's just what it was. I won't be reading it again but I would read more from this author in the future.

Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

►Well, isn't that photo nice and blurry for all of you.

I asked my cousin to do an honest review of this book so that our followers could get another perspective than the usual views of Kristen and myself. Just a little background. My cousin is a girl and is 13 years old. This might be important knowledge when reading the following review. Please enjoy!
     - Kelsey

Kelsey's review for this same novel is right HERE

Reviewer: A secret grade 8 student who shall remain nameless
Author: Lewis Carroll
Pages: 327
Format: Paperback

Summary (borrowed from Goodreads but hardly a full description as the novel reviewed was comprised of both the first and the second in this series): Bored on a hot afternoon, Alice, a bright and inquisitive child, follows a white rabbit down a rabbit-hole, and finds herself in Wonderland, a very odd place indeed. This unique story mixes satire and puzzles, comedy and anxiety, Mock Turtles and Gryphos to provide an astute description of the experience of childhood.

Cousin's Thoughts on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: [some editing]

I specifically asked Kelsey for this book because of its weirdness and original story line. Though sometimes I had to read over some things just because of the way things were described or told. At one point I had my mom read a chapter to me just so I would understand what was happening.

Overall I think the writing and describing was very well done seeing that what he was writing was so original and unique. The book really caught my interest because the book itself is described so well and it’s a classic. That just cant be beat!

I do have to say that like any book it did have its ups and downs. My least favorite part was when Alice grew too big in the White Rabbits house because it was kind of confusing when all the creatures were talking. Enough of what I didn’t like in this book! My favorite part was when the three cards where trying to paint all the roses red because they accidentally planted white roses instead. This totally reminded me of all the things that I have done on accident and had to fix before anyone saw. Like the time I spilled something on the carpet and had to race around the house trying to find the carpet cleaner to get the stain out before my parents got home.

For the record, I loved all the characters in this book, but there are two that really stood out to me. The crazy and confused Mad Hatter was one, for always ending up in places he shouldn’t be and for his historically acclaimed question, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” And the snippy March Hair for all his remarks to Alice when she came to the tea party.

I think anyone who wants to read this novel needs to be a good reader and need to be able to think while they're reading. Keep in mind that if you over think this, you’ll give your self the biggest headache ever!! Plus, you can’t find any other book like this great original.

Cousin's Thoughts on Through the Looking Glass: [some editing]

Since I liked Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I was compelled to read the second story of her travels. To me, this one was easier to understand than the first. I’m not sure if it was because I was so used to reading the first book and the way it was written or if this book was generally easier to understand. The writing was just as good in this book as it was in the first one. I liked the story line in this one better because it was all planed out [via a chess board] in the beginning so you sort of know what to expect (depending on if you could remember).

Just like the first book, this one did have its ups and downs. My least favorite part was when Alice arrived at the store where the sheep handed her oars and they were gliding along between banks because during that time I found it very boring and a little confusing because they where in the store, but not in the store at the same time. My favorite part was when Alice was walking with the White Night, because the way the book described him was weird and original with all his inventions.

My favorite character in this book was the White Night because of all of his silly and unique ideas and just the way he acts. Plus, the way he rides a horse is just hilarious!

My overall impression of the book was very good. Therefore I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the first one.

So there you have it folks.

Life of a Blogger [9]

Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature that I found through the amazing Rebecca at Vicariously! ,  hosted by the lovely Novel Heartbeat. Each week a subject will be chosen and we get to talk about it. The topics will be non-bookish so that you can get to know each other on a more personal level! Make sure to add your link on the linky list! 

This week's topic is: Unpopular Opinions 
I freaking hate it when authors add more books to a series. Nope. If you say it's a trilogy, write it as a trilogy, and then add more books you're gonna make me mucho angry. (I'm looking at you Kiera Cass) But I mean, I'll still buy and read them so who is the real loser here?
- Kristen

I firmly believe that being in a relationship requires a reason and that you actually, really like the person. Being lonely is not a good reason, neither is wanting sex. He should never hit you or yell at you. You should never hit or yell at him. You should support each other. Also, most importantly, you are worth something without a guy. You don't need a guy. Travel. Spend time alone. Get to know yourself before you get to know somebody else. Do amazing, cool, and exciting things. Don't rush into a relationship because you're scared. This annoys me to no end.
Also, the NDP should have won the last Canadian election, I don't care what anybody says.
Also, texting is a wonderful tool for this generation.
ALSO, it's favoUrite, coloUr, and favoUr...deal with it Americans.

-- Kelsey

Review: The Bane Chronicles

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Cassandra Jean
Format: Paperback ARC
**This book was given to us in exchange for an honest review.**
Pages: 528
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (via Goodreads): Ever wondered about the enigmatic, mysterious warlock Magnus Bane? The only character to appear in every Shadowhunter book, Magnus has a past even more shrouded in mystery than his present. I’ve teamed up with acclaimed YA writers Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan to create the Bane Chronicles, the back (and front) story of Magnus told in ten linked tales.

Look for short stories like Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale; The Rise and Fall of the Hotel Dumort; Saving Raphael Santiago and What To Buy The Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You’re Not Officially Dating Anyway). Each story will be available as an ebook on a monthly basis starting April 16 with the tale of What Happened In Peru.

Each story will be released monthly online for the next ten months — and then for those who don’t read e-books, the full print collection will be available in bookstores and wherever else books are sold after the Chronicles have been finished. 

My Ponderings: Magnus was my favourite character in the Mortal Instruments series from Cassandra Clare. He was funny and sassy and never said quite what you expected him to say. That was what made him great. There was also an air of mystery about him that was terribly intriguing. I constantly found myself wondering at things he was saying or making reference too. I wanted to know what he'd lived through. I wanted to hear all about his wild adventures. What led him to where he was when we first met him? Apparently it was a great many things. As it well should be since he was so old. He had multiple lifetimes full of experiences to draw on. Each story was unique, fascinating. 

I read this novel so quickly. Kristen and I spent too much time fighting over it. It was well worth the fight. We had both been highly anticipating this novel once we found out that it was coming out. The wait was almost too much until this novel showed up at our doorstep...literally. It was a super easy and interesting read. I got into the story right away. Don't have a lot of time to sit and read? That's fine, this novel is a series of short stories that jump around in time. After all, nobody has the time to read the entire length of Magnus' life, although I'd love to give it a try. I thought that short story form was perfect for this novel. Actually, I can't think of a better way for us to receive this. I wouldn't change that.

The comics were pretty great too. I thought they were funny and beautiful and a perfect way to break up the novel. I usually don't like this kind of thing because I'm 20 years old and 20 year olds probably shouldn't be reading picture books. In this case (which didn't make the novel a picture book but only added a much needed division between stories), I loved it.

Don't like one of the story lines? Don't worry. They're short stories and will be over soon enough. It should be noted that I didn't have this problem and Kristen didn't seem to either.

Miss another favourite character? Maybe they will make an appearance...

Basically: I loved this novel. I would read it again and again in a heart beat. I loved that it was funny and serious and you get to see many sides of Magnus. It was wonderful that you see him help so many people. It also provides wonderful back story for the other series by Cassandra Clare. It's like a bunch of well-written fanfictions that know the characters perfectly. I would recommend buying this novel. Today. Because it came out this morning. Do it. Some history with Cassandra Clare's novel necessary.