My Weekly Book Haul: 31/05/2014

Friday Finds is something that was started over on ShouldBeReading and Stacking the Shelves over at TyngaReviews, I am in love with all of these as I love finding other blogs to follow and books to read through these! So check them all out and see what you find, Stacking the Shelves has a lot of participants as well which is great. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week. All book covers and their summary come from back of book or Goodreads.

I've had quite an up and down week this week. Book wise I am struggling to get through the Lunar Chronicles at the mo, am about halfway through Scarlet. I'm not struggling because they're bad but just because I can't seem to concentrate on reading. I think I'm just having a strange week, feeling very run down at the moment. Looking forward to some time off work as I have been working a lot and I think that's getting to me. I am requiring a few good days of sleep and relaxing with a good book.

I have been spending a lot of time with the family, can't put my new second cousin down. She's absolutely adorable and just the cutest little thing. My cousin makes me laugh though, the only new mother I know who would actually complain that their baby sleeps. She wants the baby awake more so they can spend time together, I keep telling her she'll appreciate it when she stops sleeping as much.

A new Costa machine was installed at my work and it's AMAZING! I am constantly buying hot chocolate now and it's becoming a problem. It stopped giving out hot chocolate for no reason for a day and I almost went completely insane! 

Percy Jackson & the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan 

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

I have borrowed this a million times, each time I am determined I am going to binge read the whole series and then I just don't. But, I will get there blogosphere, I WILL!

 

The House of Scorpion & The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer

Newbery Honor author Nancy Farmer wows us with this riveting sci-fi thriller about a young clone struggling for acceptance in his tumultuous, sheltered world.

Matt is six years old when he discovers that he is different from other children and other people. To most, Matt isn't considered a boy at all, but a beast, dirty and disgusting. But to El Patron, lord of a country called Opium, Matt is the guarantee of eternal life. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself - for Matt is himself. They share the exact same DNA. 
As Matt struggles to understand his existence and what that existence truly means, he is threatened by a host of sinister and manipulating characters, from El Patron's power-hungry family to the brain-deadened eejits and mindless slaves that toil Opium's poppy fields. Surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards, escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But even escape is no guarantee of freedom… because Matt is marked by his difference in ways that he doesn't even suspect.

Have heard some great things about this one, really intrigued by this one.

 

Earth Girl & Earth Star by Janet Edwards

A sensational YA science fiction debut from an exciting new British author. Jarra is stuck on Earth while the rest of humanity portals around the universe. But can she prove to the norms that she’s more than just an Earth Girl?

2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds, 18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an ‘ape’, a ‘throwback’, but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.
Jarra invents a fake background for herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra’s role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow, she has to keep the deception going.
A freak solar storm strikes the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety – no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra. The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And one is on collision course with their shelter.

Damn it! I just realised that all my talk about how I need to control the amount of series I start clearly hasn't worked. I've just borrowed a bunch of new series. 

 

Sapphire Blue & Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean.

At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.

Hoping to start this series soon now that I have all three of them. 

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

I really LOVE the look of this one. And yes, a part of that is because of the gorgeous cover. I'm sorry, I am a cover whore.

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes

This emotional, hilarious, devastating, and ultimately triumphant YA debut, based on actual events, recounts one girl’s rejection of her high school’s hierarchy—and her discovery of her true self in the face of tragedy.

Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite. Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?

This one sounds like it's going to be amazing, I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. 

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

I feel like this book is going to make me cry.

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Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: Review
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch

Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Godzilla 
Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Popular Books

Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Popular Books

Five Friday Favourites is a weekly event hosted by Book Badger, where once a week, a five favourites subject is posted and everyone is welcome to join in. You can find out more about Five Friday Favourites and the future subjects here.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Ancient old guy with teen girl...

I know people really loved this one but it just didn't work for me. I don't really understand all of the love for this book and the romance within in. I just found Ignifex to be one of the worst love interests I have ever come across. He isn't one, he's just a giant douche. Plus, he is hundreds of years older than our teenager narrator who he then sleeps with. That's not romantic, that's gross. If you want to check out my review then you can find it here. 

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Me throughout the entirety of the book. 

This book has an amazing cover and that was what first drew me to it at work. I then saw it was a book that would go into the world of Wonderland and I got really excited. I just find Wonderland really fascinating and scary and thought this book would rock. The author perfectly crafts this dark and dangerous Wonderland but I realised I don't do strange and weird. It was just too strange, too freaky and too weird and it didn't work for me. I also didn't really like any of the characters, Alyssa annoyed me, Jeb was just meh and don't even get me started on Morpheus. If you want to read my review of Splintered you can find it here.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I'm sure the Gestapo just LOVE picnic stories!

I know, I know! This is one of those books that has a huge hype around it, so much love given to it and so many people love the friendship in this book. It's one of those books that had so many people weeping. And then there was me. I wanted to either fall asleep or throw this book across the room in frustration. This book wasn't interesting, it was really boring. It also didn't really make much sense historically and therefore it just felt really, really, really unbelievable as a story. Yeah, I'm sure the Gestapo are just going to let you sit there and spend hours writing pages and pages about boring picnics and a love of motorbikes. Give me a break. Plus, I felt nothing at the end. Not even one tear. If you want to read my review/rant for this one then you can find it here.

Every Day by David Levithan

How I came to feel about D.L.

I really loved the whole concept of this book and thought it sounded fascinating. I started to really enjoy it at first but then it just went quickly down hill for me. The author seems to write a story that is all about accepting people for who they are, regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, religion or anything else. Now that is a beautiful message to have in a book. But then he has a character who's fat and this is how he chooses to describe them:
"his size comes from negligence and laziness, a carelessness that would be pathological if it had any meticulousness to it. While I'm sure if  I access deep enough I will find some well of humanity, all I can see on the surface is the emotional equivalent of a burp."
Way to practice what you preach. VOMIT! Not a fan, won't be reading your books again if your message is accept anyone for who they are no matter what, unless they are fat and then they're clearly the most disgusting human being on the planet. LOVELY. If you wish you read my review of this one then you can find it here.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

To those who found this romantic.

I just don't get why this book became popular, I'm sure the hype convinced people that they loved this even if they really didn't. It's not well written, in fact is laughable just how bad it is. It's not a romantic story at all, it's yet another book romanticising controlling relationships with partners who are basically abusive in the way they treat their partner. I hated Anna, I hated Christian and I hated the fact that this was Twilight fanfiction. This had over 500 reserves at my work at one point and that is just sad. This is why hype is such a bad thing, I'm sure there are decent, well written erotica out there but this just isn't one of them. 

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My Weekly Book Haul: 24/05/2014
Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: Review
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch

Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Godzilla 

Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Godzilla

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. I own over 500 books, I'mn a book blogger so it's kind of obvious that I love books. But the one thing I own more of than books is DVDs, I love movies, TV shows, musicals. So I think it's time to include a weekly movie review on the blog. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.


This weeks movie review will be for:


Godzilla 

I'm finding Godzilla really hard to review because it seems to be a movie that everybody loved and then my boyfriend and I both really disliked it. I just don't want my review to put someone off watching it who was looking forward to it, they'll probably enjoy it as much as everyone else did. I do feel like my review is important though because, in my honest opinion, the trailers were misleading to a fault. They can act as though it's to avoid spoilers but to me they are purposefully misleading you about the kind of movie you're about to watch.

I knew that it wasn't going to be similar to the Godzilla I knew, as a nineties kid I had seen the 1998 version. The 1998 version is critically slammed and definitely slammed by Godzilla fans, but as a kid I really enjoyed it. I haven't seen it in years but I remember enjoying the general storyline and liking that the movie had humorous parts too it. The movie didn't take itself too seriously, something that this reboot definitely does and it's a little laughable when you look at the storyline. I also remember being more freaked out by the 1998 version, one reason being that I was only seven but also because this storyline is so out there that it's just too silly.

My biggest issue with Godzilla was that I felt deceived by the trailers. They show Godzilla and he's destroying stuff and upsetting people and that's the general gist of it. But, that's not what the movie is about at all. Godzilla is like a secondary character, I'm not even sure he classes as a main secondary character. We barely see him and he isn't the focus of the movie at all. The first time we finally get to see the monster causing all the trouble was a  moment I was looking forward to. So, imagine my shock and dismay to realise that that isn't Godzilla. That's right people, this has THREE monsters. One Godzilla and two ridiculously stupid, weird looking creatures called MUTO. I was not a fan, I was just utterly confused and staring rather perplexed at my screen.

I guess I was hoping to see a movie where Godzilla is the bad guy and the humans are working to take him down. That's what I wanted, the trailer didn't suggest otherwise and so I had come to kind of expect that. I really hadn't gone to watch a movie where Godzilla is the hero and our only hope to stop these two random creatures that have ridiculous powers like super strong EMP that stops all electronics. I mean, seriously. And this movie is trying to take itself super seriously.

It's other biggest fault is that the characters aren't very well developed. I was so excited to see Bryan Cranston in this, it was a huge part of the reason that I decided to go see it. He did have an okay character and he's a superb actor but he just wasn't given much to work with. He's not in the movie for nearly long enough and I wish they had kept him in for the entirety of the film. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays his son and I guess he's the hero of the film. I think a lot of people who watch the movie can admit that the characters are very flat, there just isn't much to any of them. I think it's a real shame because their superb actors and if they had been given more to work with they could have nailed it.

The main thing I felt was lacking was some humour or wit to this movie. It was very intense but too much so at times. I think it's a movie that could have been helped and saved by a tiny bit of humour or comic relief every now and again. They try to build up the tension but when your storyline is basically one of those Giant Something Vs Mega Something movies then I really don't think you should be trying to be so overly dramatic and intense.

One thing that can't be faulted is the special effects, they really are impressive. This definitely shows just what movie studios are capable of and I definitely applaud it for that. The director creates some scenes that did take my breath away because how how striking they were. One particular scene sees the army parachute into China Town and the camera pans down a street and the lanterns are hanging down and it just works so well. If you see the film then I am sure you'll spot the exact moment I am talking about. I was very impressed by that. The monsters are very well done and the fighting works but Godzilla still fights like a guy in a costume. His moves are just a bit too human, it really does still look like it's just a guy in a costume doing it. I also wasn't a fan of his look, he was too big in size for me and I don't think it really worked.

This is a movie that true Godzilla fans will love because it does add in so many aspects from the older movies. I am not a follower of all the films, I have only seen this and the 1998 version. Some may slate me for it but I'd definitely rather watch the poorly done but humorous 1998 version than this. Yes the special effects are stunning but I couldn't help but feel a little bored throughout, disappointed and not overly impressed with any other aspect of it.

4/10 Butterflies

The special effects were very well done and it was visually stunning at times, but everything else was lacking. The storyline was just a little too ridiculous for me and I wish the trailer had been more revealing. I felt like you're deceived about what kind of movie you're about to see. I came to see monster versus human, not monster versus two weird looking, flying, EMP power possessing monsters. I don't understand hiring such a superb cast and then giving them absolutely nothing to work with. This needed some wit or comic relief added in, it took itself far too seriously. It's been highly praised so if it's something you're looking forward to seeing then I suggest you do it. It's by no means a bad movie but it just didn't really work for me, I found myself nodding off at times. It started out very well but slowly lost momentum and dragged at the times where it should have been the most interesting. 

Next Week:

X-Men: Days of Future Past
The one where Quicksilver steals the show!

I have been meaning to take part in both of the following memes for a while now, so its nice to finally be able to get to them. I will be taking part in Reading is Fun Again's Thoughtful Thursday and Okay, Let's Read's  Thursday Thoughts, picking between them or doing both topics each week.

POV

What is your favourite POV style? First person? Second person? Third person?

I haven't seen many books that use second person and I honestly feel like there is a reason for that. I definitely prefer first and third person as I think they work the best in fiction. I can never really decide which one I prefer but I think third person is the least limiting. Most of the books I read are in third person and I believe it works well, they don't always need to follow one character. First person can be very beneficial to a story and can really help you truly get to know a character. I loved My Life Next Door and really enjoyed Samantha's first person narrative. If I had to pick between the two I am sure I would change my mind a million times, I rather love both and you can't make me pick!!! 

Book Hype

If a book is over-hyped does it make you want to read it more, less or does it not effect you whatsoever? Do you think book hype hurts or helps new releases? Do you think book hype can skew or taint peoples opinions on a book? What is the most recent over-hyped book you can recall?

Ok, Let's Read's topic this week is perfect. I just reviewed Cinder and mentioned how much the hype kind of bothered me and effected my enjoyment of this book. Book hype can help a book I think, if a book has a huge hype surrounding it then I do think it definitely intrigues me and makes me want to see what all the fuss is about. It's probably the reason I picked up Fifty Shades and now I can never unread that, EVER! *cries* Cinder has such an over-hype right now that it is crazy. It's not completely undeserved but it's just a bit too much. How can the book really live up to that kind of hype? It didn't for me because all the little problems I had with it seemed like a much bigger deal. I just wondered a lot why it was so overly hyped up and I think I judged it more harshly because of it. 

I do believe that book hype can skew and taint peoples opinions on a book. A lot of the time I feel like some people make a book seem so much more amazing to themselves even if they don't truly feel that way. Like they're making themselves believe the books utterly amazing just because that's what everyone else is telling them. I felt like this was the case with both Twilight and Fifty Shades. I feel like the Twilight hype got to me because I enjoyed the books a lot at one point and yet have so many issues with them. I hate the main characters, the plots are boring, the romance is creepy and let's not get started on the disaster that was Breaking Dawn. Hypes do crazy things to people, CRAZY THINGS! I think the Fifty Shades hype made the people who read it believe that it was just as amazing as they had heard, even if it wasn't.

The most recent hyped book I read that I felt 100% deserved it was definitely We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, I absolutely loved that book. It blew me away and I wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near as good as it was. So I definitely recommend that one!

One chance to win a Kindle Fire HDX, to enter go here.

You can also enter my 1,000 Bloglovin followers giveaway below. For full details go here.

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The Distance Between Us by Kasie West: Review 5/5
Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Dystopians 
My Weekly Book Haul: 24/05/2014
Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: Review
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch

Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Puffin
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Cinder, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

A modern retelling of Cinderella set in a futuristic, dystopian world with androids, cyborgs, space travel and an alien race living on the moon. How can you not want to pick up this book and read it? All the reasons it intrigued me were all the reasons I hadn't picked it up. I wasn't quite sure how it would work or if it even would. But, once I started blogging, I began to see glowing review after glowing review. Over time I realised just how much hype was surrounding this book and that scared me too. I fear I became a victim of Skyscraper Syndrome, meaning that the hype had sky-rocketed my expectations and there was no way for the book to deliver the kind of earth shattering awesomeness that I had come to expect of it. But, trust me, that's not to say that this isn't an utterly fantastic, brilliantly written and unique read that I loved because I did. It just wasn't everything I thought it would be even if I can't even pinpoint exactly what I was looking for. I wasn't left feeling soul-crushingly disappointed but it just didn't live up to the ridiculous expectations caused by the hype. I HATE HYPE!

The story takes place in New Beijing after World War 4, Cinder is a cyborg who works as a mechanic and runs her business at her local market. A plague is sweeping through New Beijing and there is no known cure, despite testing being carried out on cyborg's in order to try to find one. Cinder's path crosses with Prince Kai, the Emperor's son, when he acquires her services to fix one of his androids. Over the course of the book their paths will cross numerous times and Cinder will be drawn into Kai's world and the problems facing New Beijing. I absolutely loved the setting, Meyer really brings it to life and I could easily picture all the different locations. The world building was definitely one of my favourite things about this book and I loved all the different locations I was taken too, I felt like I was really there.

I want to start by talking about the issues I had with the book. I usually save those till the end but I really want to rave about all the things I loved at the end, I don't want to end this review on the negatives. My main and biggest issue with this book was the big revelation. To me it kind of ends up feeling like what revelation because the big reveal was glaringly obvious from the very beginning of the book. I am certain that anybody reading this saw it coming pretty early on and yet the author waits until the very end to reveal it. It actually infuriated me because I felt it should have either been revealed sooner or it shouldn't have been made so obvious to us as a reader. I personally feel like it should have been as much as a shock to us as it was to Cinder. That would have been a great reveal at the end, instead it's annoying to just see Cinder being kept in the dark when we're already aware of what's coming from the beginning. The wait for that to finally be revealed really annoyed me for the entirety of the book and I wanted to hit Dr Erland because he just kept avoiding it.

The characters were something I especially loved about this book because there were so many of them to get to know. That was one thing that helped him me understand why people raved about this book so much, Meyer knows how to write characters. Cinder is fantastic, she's a character that I came to love almost instantly. She has a distinct personality and her sense of humour was one that worked really well for me. Her android Iko was another character that had so many funny moments. Her character was adorable and it was understandable why Cinder relied on her so much and felt true friendship with her. I have to admit to feeling like other characters were lacking a little in character development and I never really felt like I got to know them. This is a long series though so I feel like there will be time for that in later books.

Adri plays the role of Cinder's evil step-mother but it was too extreme for me. I know that this is a retelling of Cinderella and an evil step-mother is expected but I just wish she felt more realistic. But Adri just seemed to be evil for no reason, like she had no true reason to be as horrible as she was. I wish we had been given more back story for her or been able to clearly see why she acts the way she does. But I just felt like she was evil because that was the role she had to play. Peony, who is one of Cinder's step-sisters and the one she gets along with, was a sweet character but I wanted to get to know her better too. I knew Cinder cared for her because I was told a lot but I don't think I was shown that enough. I wish we could have seen more interactions between her and Cinder so that I could come to know and care for Peony too, sadly I didn't.

Prince Kai was an interesting character as well but I feel like we barely scratched the surface as far as he was concerned. I like the fact that the story switches between characters and it's not just told from Cinder's perspective but I still feel like I didn't get to know Kai very well. At this moment I can't really tell whether he will continue to be a love interest for Cinder or not in the other books. Romance doesn't really play a key role in this story, at least not in my opinion. I never felt much of anything between Cinder and Kai but maybe we will in the books to come.

The Lunars were a great part of the story and I was utterly fascinated by them. They are the alien race that live on the moon and they possess the power to 'glamour' people, which is very similar to the glamour that vamps have in True Blood. They can basically make people think and do what they want but also see what they want them to see. It's basically mind control and was really cool. The Lunar's are a threat to Earth because they are powerful and willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want. They are ruled by Queen Levana who was quite scary and she seems like the evil Queen from Snow White as no one can be more beautiful than her. I really can't wait for this story to get to the moon, which I am sure it's going to sometime soon, because that would be absolutely fascinating and I would love to see what Meyer does with it.

The writing is superb though and it's what made me know that I was going to stick with this series. There is something rather beautiful about it and it pulled me in to Meyer's world straight away. There were many aspects of the story that I wasn't 100% satisfied with but I knew that this was a world that I would fall in love with. I have to follow this wonderful series to the end and I can only see it getting better as the books go on. The whole book just feels so unique, like nothing I have read before. I hate the fact the hype left me feeling even a little disappointed in this because it does deserve all the praise it gets. It's a unique and superbly told story with great characters and excellent world building.

4/5 Butterflies

This really was a brilliant start to a series. My disappointment was due to this being beyond hyped up, I don't think any book could live up to that kind of hype. I loved how unique the story feels, even though it is a retelling of a well known story. Meyer definitely puts her own spin on it and it is superbly done. I can't wait to continue the series and see what she does with other well known fairytales. I have had such an easy time putting into words the things I disliked but I can't seem to be able to properly articulate why I loved this book so much. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke & The Bookish. Each week they host a different top ten topic.

Sometimes the ending of a book can save a book or it can just decimate all that came before it. There is nothing worse than making it all the way to the end of a book only to be utterly depressed and disappointed by it. This week we get to pick our own topic so I wanted to feature some of the books that had total WTF, Oh Em Gee, Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck or What Just Happened? endings. I really wanted to use ten but I honestly couldn't think of ten that really, really shocked me in a good way. If I'd added in some of the worst endings then this list could have been a lot longer (Allegiant anyone.).

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas, HP7 by J.K Rowling, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

We Were Liars has to make this list because that ending, well, I did not see it coming. I don't know what I was expecting by the end of this book but the end shocked me and left me in tears. This whole book makes you think and question because you know the narrator is unreliable. She has issues with her memory and so you are as in the dark as she is about what has happened on the island. The book is about finding out what happened to Cadence the summer she was found washed up on the beach in nothing but her underwear. She knows her family aren't telling her everything and she's determined to find out why. You'll come to love Cady and all the Liars and you'll be as eager as Cady is to find out the truth. But, when you do, you will probably be as shocked and surprised as I am.

I only recently read and reviewed Dangerous Girls and was so surprised by this book. I have seen three other reviews since and was so pleased more people had read it and loved it as much as I did. This is such an underrated book and it's the kind of book that needs more hype. I have read so many books that have this huge hype surrounding them and then been left disappointed. This book is deserving of hype or at least more people raving about it. If you ever see this book then I really suggest picking it up, you won't be disappointed. When Anna's best friend is found murdered she becomes the main suspect and every aspect of her life is picked apart by the prosecution on the media. You'll be left questioning everything and everyone and the ending is just perfection. This was the perfect thriller and I'm so happy the ending wasn't anti-climactic but a total gut punch.

I feel like the whole of Deathly Hallows deserves to be on this list, not just the ending. For me that whole book was mind-blowing in how awesome it was. I was completely satisfied and yet utterly devastated at the same time. I wept like crazy as more and more characters died and then I smiled in happiness when it ended before promptly crying again because it had ended. Can we please just forget that awful epilogue though? I mean, seriously, what was that all about? It was even more laughable when they put that bit on screen. Other than the epilogue and deaths of favourite characters, that last book was just superb.

My Sister's Keeper definitely has one of those WHAT THE FUCK!!!! endings and I hated it at first. But, when I saw the movie, and it ended how I expected and wanted the book to end I wasn't happy. I was actually really angry. Yes, the book ending devastated me and seemed far fetched and like it was shock value, but I LOVED that. I couldn't stop thinking of that book for months after. I just remember it making me so upset and had me sobbing so much my boyfriend thought something was seriously wrong when he came home from work that night. It's not often a book makes me that upset and I actually ended up loving that about this book.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma & Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik 

I honestly wouldn't have stuck with Life of Pi if it wasn't for the fact I was doing a read-a-long with my mum so we could go see the film. She kept encouraging me to get to the end. For me, the end was the bit that really made this book. The rest of the book either really bored me or got me a little confused. But I really wasn't expecting that ending. It just got me thinking and my mind was split over what I thought had happened. Even now I'm not quite sure which story I really believe in.

As far as mind-blowing endings go, Noughts & Crosses is one that instantly comes to mind. I didn't see it coming, I wasn't expecting it and I wasn't happy about it. I was upset, weeping and actually really devastated. But if it wasn't for that particular ending then I wouldn't have got the three amazing sequels that followed and I love those. So, although it wasn't the ending I wanted, it was the ending the book needed and I love that the author was able to pull it off so well.

To this day I am pretty certain that I hate the ending of Forbidden but I am not sure that there was any other way for it to end. I know what I wanted to happen but it wasn't realistic to the story at all. That whole book surprised me, a love story between a brother and sister isn't something you see everyday, especially in young adult fiction. To be honest, I'd been expecting to not be able to see part the incest part of the story but it was pretty easy for me. Tabitha Suzuma wrote this book in such a beautiful way and I absolutely adored this whole book. That ending is one of those mind blowing books in the WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!? way.

Fight Club! Oh, how I adore, love, worship Fight Club. I love the book and I super, mega love the movie. This has an ending that I don't think many people see coming. The storyline itself is pretty mind-blowing but I really loved the ending. I think it works so well in the book but they perfected it for the movie. I have heard of the authors idea for a sequel and I am in love with it.

I probably left out some really great endings but I almost didn't get this post up at all. I had the whole wrong week planned and scheduled. Thankfully I double checked and managed to get this up pretty quickly. So let me know which book endings surprised you the most, in a good way.

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