Looking for Alaska - John Green

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . 
After. Nothing is ever the same.

Cover
Meh. I like the cover with the flower, but not the one with the water. It seems off, even though there are a lot of references.

Miles/Pudge
Oh-kay. Hard one. To be honest, I should feel sorry for him and all. But I don't. He was in love with one of his friends and lead his girlfriend on? That is not okay? He even kissed Alaska.... while he was still with his girlfriend. Like, I know that it could have never worked, but that should not have happened. Also, his habit to memorise 'famous last words'? Ridiculous. Like, come on, who would actually do that. It's just a John Green attempt to make him this deep and interesting character. It only made him weirder in my opinion. While he is an interesting character, I didn't feel anything for him.

Alaska Young
Again, mixed opinions. I don't really like her. She should have gotten a bit more time so I could get to know her better as well. For me, she was kind of a troubled, depressed... player. She played Miles. Yes, she did tell him she had a boyfriend and all, but she asked him to 'hook up' with her. Really? You're both in a relationship? Also, the things she said. "I smoke to die", just.... really. I actually laughed when she said that. It was such bullcrap. I don't like her. I am supposed to like her, but she's not likeable.

Other side-characters
Okay, so we have Takumi and Colin. Colin was not interesting, and Takumi wasn't either. Sorry, oops, moving on.

The ending
In my opinion, the reason she died (this isn't a spoiler, or is it?) was not shocking and not impressive. It didn't do anything to me. I know that she had a troubled life, and it was sad, but I don't have any compassion? The prank was also not that enjoyable when thinking about it again. I expected more. Anyway, when I was reading the last page, I thought: 'Is this it?' It ended so weirdly, with a few 'inspiring' words from Miles and then boom. Done. I felt empty? Like something was missing? Uh, I don't know. This book is a must-read, but I expected so much more. 

I am not in a good mood at the moment, maybe that's the reason but I can't think of a reason why this book is outstandingly good. Because I don't think it is. 3,5/5 stars.

Dominique

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

Cover

Bless these covers. While I think that the cover of the first book is the least pretty, I do really like the cover. But, for a faerie book, I expected a bit more magical stuff happening on the cover? Not that it really bothers me.

Feyre....

Oh my god. Okay, okay, I'm supposed to love her, I've heard reviews of Sarah J. Maas's books, but she was so annoying! Okay, first, she kills a faerie. But instead of getting punished for it, she gets everything she wants. Look, I know why Tamlin did this, but please, that is not how it works! Also, Feyre, if you really want to find out more about faeries, FIND OUT. I can't handle constantly having to be told information by Alis or Lucien or anyone of the other faeries of the Spring Court. It's like all this girl can do is just paint and sit there and do as she is told (or sometimes, not). She's a huntress for God's sake! She should listen to her hunter instincts... that she doesn't have. Sorry.

Anyway, something I do love about her is that she is a woman who enjoys sex and is able to freely speak about it. There is nothing wrong with that and more people need to realise that.

'

Tamlin

Meh, he was pretty boring in my opinion. Yes, he did sometimes get me weak to my knees, but I can't stop thinking about the things he'll do to Feyre in later books. Also, this whole secret-thing surrounding him is just so annoying. I can't enjoy these books with him in them. Honestly, I only like Lucien and Rhysand (and Nesta). Don't get me wrong, I like Feyre and Tamlin together, even though it took so much time to get them there in the first place, and then that whole secret-explaining thing occurred, but Tamlin was a bit too mysterious, and not in a good way. I don't know how to feel about him. 

Lucien 

My child. I loved him! His sarcasm was lovely and his jokes were great. I feel like Lucien was the only one with a brain in the Spring Court (maybe Alis?). I liked him way more in the end though, because he helped Feyre with her wounds and we found out more about his family.

Rhysand and Aramantha

Yay! He's terrible but I still like him! Anyway, I really want to know what happened with him and Feyre in the end? My friend told me I'd find out at the end of book two, so I guess I just have to read then.....

Anyway, Aramantha was horrible. Like, more horrible than a lot of villains I've read about. I really liked the scenes with Feyre in Under The Mountain (the place where Aramantha lives and where almost no humans get out of alive) though, they were more exciting and less boring than the rest of the book. The three quests were great, but can someone teach Feyre how to read? It's getting very irritable, especially since this is a Beauty & the Beast retelling. 

In my opinion, this book isn't great. There is nothing really amazing about the writing, and the main character is not the best. I also don't know how I feel about the world-building. Still, I can't stop thinking about this world and how it will continue. This is such a weird book and it's stressing me out. I'd probably give it 3,5/5 stars?

Dominique

The Lunar Chronicles 3,5: Fairest - Marissa Meyer

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now

Cover
I love this cover! I'm not sure that it's my favourite of this series, because I also really like Cinder's cover, but this is definitely the most crowded cover, and I love that. This cover is great, the references are amazing.'

Levana's still horrible
I had expected to feel bad for her after I read this book. I did not. Yes, I kind of understand her more now, definitely when it comes to her sister Channary, but Levana is absolutely crazy. I LOVED THAT. I've never read from a villain's perspective, and it was just so refreshing! The things Levana did are just horrible. Definitely the ones surrounding Evret Hayle and Solstice. That was just so disgusting. 

EVRET HAYLE DESERVED BETTER
WOW, how much shit can this guy go through? First, he loses his wife, then, he gets forced into a marriage, then, he-
I just love him so much. I feel so bad for him, I have no words actually. This man is so brave and smart, I just loveD HIM.

Channary and Winter
Channary.... what a bitch. The things she had done might have been even worse than Levana's. Or maybe not, I don't think so actually, nothing can top Levana's. Anyway, I thought that the mother of our dear Selene would be less mean? It was really weird to see her act so mean. I did like to see more into Selene's mother's life though.
Winter is such a baby (quite literally)! She is the sweetest and I am so excited to read the next book! We are finally getting a book with Winter's experiences! Her opinion on her stepmom! YES! I'm pretty sure that I am going to love her, and I'm also really excited to see Jacin again? After Cress and him being mentioned in this book, I want to see if I'm going to like this guy or not.

This was the first book that was actually about Luna and based on Luna! I can't tell you guys how happy I am with that enough, honestly. Luna seems really interesting and I really wanted to know how life on Luna was created. The glamour-thing is also so interesting. Gaah, I love Luna already, maybe even more so than Earth. I can't wait to read Winter, because I want to know how this is all going to end. Are Earth and Luna finally working together? Anyway, I loved this novella. So interesting and it really pulled me in, 5/5 stars.

Dominique

Red Rising 1: Red Rising - Pierce Brown

Darrow is a Helldiver. A pioneer of Mars.Born to slave beneath the earth so that one day, future generations might live above it.He is a Red - humankind's lowest caste. But he has something the Golds - the ruthless ruling class - will never understand.He has a wife he worships, a family who give him strength. He has love.And when they take that from him, all that remains is revenge.

Cover

Nothing special, doesn't really give me much insight of the book either. I don't like it, the cover could have looked way cooler because it is a dystopian.

Darrow 

Eh, as much as I like having a male protagonist, Darrow was not my favourite person. The school he was attending was hard, like really, death-hard, but he felt so human less to me, even with Eo (his wife) and his love for her. The choices he made, as hard as they might have been for him, disappointed me. Darrow isn't a heartless person, but he wasn't what I expected him to be. And I know that the tragedies he faced changed him, that's one of the Dystopia-genre characteristics, and I think that's also because I am not really a fan of Dystopia? 

See, here is where I lose my ideas. There were so many characters, I have no idea which character to write about. I could write about Mustang, but do we I really know much about her? Not really. I like Darrow and Mustang together, I want to see their relationship develop.  So many other characters I liked either died or betrayed Darrow I really don't know who to write about without spoilering everything. 

Ending & Overall Opinion

Lot of fighting, lot of death, missing people coming back, and more I can't remember. It didn't really leave an impression on me, nothing in this whole book really did. There were so many new terms thrown in the beginning that it was really hard to get into this book. Then it got good when they were making Darrow into a Gold, and the first chapters where he was in their society. But then it kind of got boring again. I expected me to read this book way faster, but I just couldn't get through it all that fast. I did read all of it, but it cost me a lot of time. 

The problem with this book is, I didn't think there was anything new, I'm pretty sure that all of it's been done before. I do not recommend this book. Yes, the writing was good, but it's just so much! I hope that the second book is better.

I will still be reading the second book, and sometimes the second book in a series is better so I have my hopes up. 3/5 stars for this one though.

Dominique

Anna and the French Kiss 1 - Stephanie Perkins

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Cover
OHNO. Look at that cheesy cover that I can't even stand to see. It's so horrible. The new cover is amazing. I like the fond and the colours and the amount of Paris that is in it and uh, would totally love to own this book, but I have it on my e-reader, which makes me a bit sad.

Anna Oliphant
Eh. Not sure how to feel about her. Honestly, she is kind of a first-world-problemed white girl. Falls in love with the hot guy everyone likes, finds out that he has a girlfriend, tries to still be friends with him but doesn't notice the sexual tension and ugh, come on, just kiss already! Anyway, I have so many problems with Anna, from the fact that she is a film critic (who, by the way, doesn't know that there are many cinemas/theatres in Paris) and who has no basic understanding of French whatsoever. She was enjoyable I must admit, but she was an idiot. Only speaking the truth.

Étienne... English, French, American... St. Clair?
Hold up. You thought Anna was bad? Try again, St. Clair is worse. Apart from the fact that he was born in America and has an English accent and he has a French dad which is freaking idiotic, he also has this amazing hair that is always majestic and oh, did I mention that he has daddy issues and a fear of hights ? How sensitive! While he was incredibly sweet and I kind of liked him, I can't forgive what he did to his girlfriend. You don't cheat, even when you have all these issues, you're not permitted to cheat. Ever.

Side-characters
So, I understand now that this is a trilogy and that other characters will appear in later books, so Josh (St. Clair's best friend) will re-appear in the third book (Isla and the Happily Ever After). Anyway, Josh was alright but there was not really much depth to side-characters. Ellie, St. Clair's girlfriend, was slut-shamed by Anna. So much for women being nice to each other.....
Meredith was hopeless. While she was one of the few likeable characters, she had little to no depth other than that she was a little emo and she listened to the Beatles.
The whole Toph and Britney situation was just an attempt to make this book a little more interesting in my opinion. This book isn't special.

While this book isn't special. It is enjoyable. Very much so. I really enjoyed this book and I couldn't stop reading it. Yes, the main character is a complete idiot, but the book's great. It's just kind of problematic. 3,5/5 stars. Will continue reading this series though.

Dominique

The Lunar Chronicles 3: Cress - Marissa Meyer

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Cover

The cover is not my favourite in the series (left). However, the Korean cover is absolutely gorgeous! I love looking at different covers. I'm a big fan of Japanese covers of books as well. I do like these covers though, because it does have a lot of references as to what fairy tale it is about.

Cress
Cress is my actual favourite character ever. She is so sweet and sensitive, but still bomb as hell. After spending 7 years trapped in a satellite and after never being on Earth in her life, she was finally freed and she and Thorne 'travelled' to Earth. It was lovely to see her adjust to her new environment, even though she honestly didn't get the time to do so. Still, I thought she was great. Not as badass as Cinder and Scarlet, but so incredibly lovely. Her family background was great! I'd have loved to see more moments with her and her father though.

"Captain" Carswell Thorne

My second favourite character. His sarcasm really made this long trip through this book way better. His backstory is really interesting. I loved that Cress still saw the best in him and seeing him gradually falling in love with her I loved even more. I would have probably stopped reading this series if it wasn't for this guy. 

Scarlet and Wolf (Ze'ev)

Meh. I don't really love them anymore. Don't get me wrong, they're likeable and I loved them in the second book, but I didn't really feel anything for them in this book. Wolf is still average, and Scarlet was almost nowhere to be seen. That bothered me a lot, because I really like Scarlet. However, it was interesting to see more of Luna through Scarlet's eyes.

Cinder and Kai(to)

I used to say that I found Cinder boring in the first book. I take that back. She's amazing! How she handles everything is just great and I have massive respect for her. She works really hard and I can't wait to see her beat Levana! I also loved the little Cinder x Kai moments we (finally) got! I can't wait so see more of them, they are so cute. Kai is lovely. Seeing him struggle with the wedding and the engagement and stuff was really cool to see, I love the chapters in which we get to see things from his perspective.

I'm so excited to read Winter! I can't wait, I really want to know how this story is going to end. This was a great book, but maybe a bit too long. The book had a lot of parts that I got bored with. I honestly don't know how to rate it, because Cress is my favourite character after all, but I guess it's a 4/5 stars?

Dominique

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Cover

There are not many special things on this cover. I absolutely adore the left cover, but the right cover is something I don't really understand. Yes, Blue and Simon communicate without knowing what the other looks like, but the cover is just not that pretty.

Simon

What a lovely character! He was so funny and cute and awh, I just really love this 

precious baby. I am a person who has always been very interested in the LGBT community, maybe because I am bisexual, but I just really enjoyed his jokes about homosexuality, It was great being able to see his thoughts and I loved every bit of Simon. (GAAAAaaaaay (his words, not mine).

Blue

The reveal was honestly a bit of a disappointment? I mean, I loved it and Simon deserved it, but I had hoped it'd be maybe a little more dramatic. Anyway, over the course of this book, the only thing I could think about was Blue. It was so incredibly stressful that I had to read more and more and more. 'It couldn't be him', was what I told myself all the time. Aargh, it's such a good book.

Leah, Nick, Abby

Lovely side characters. Even though there was a little love triangle, it didn't bother me too much. Leah was my actual favourite person, and Abby too. That's quite weird, cause they are so different, but they are very likeable characters. I loved the little anime mentions, because I watch anime as well. 

Nick was the only person who bothered me a little. Yes, of course Martin did too, and all the other homophobes, but he was not the worst. Nick was not very likeable, he was just a side-character. I really wish that Leah and Nick would have gotten together, because I thought that Leah deserved so much more. Nick was a great friend anyway, but not that distinctive.

All with all, I really, really loved this book. The coming-out scene was also so funny. I just love this book. It's pretty underrated actually. I would really recommend this to anyone with a love for contemporary and LGBT-themed books. AH, I just loved this. 5/5 stars.

Dominique

The Mortal Instruments 3: City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Cover

The right covers are so corny and cliche, I am not a fan of them. The left cover, however, is very pretty. There are not a lot of  references to the book though.

Clary....

HAHAHAHAH OH NO. Okay, yes, I hated her more in City of Ashes, but from the second chapter, I knew that she still hadn't changed. Why is she so dumb? She doesn't even know half of the power she has and what goes on in the Nephilim world, but she STILL tries to get into everything and ugh, I can't even read about her anymore. I hope she improves, because she has a lot of potential. 

Jace 

STOP THIS. Can he just stop being so dark already? Why are book characters always so dramatic? Also, stop being such an asshole, it's annoying. I found him rude, not 'sarcastic' or 'funny'. Does this 17/18-year-old boy think he's a master or something? Yeah sure, you're more powerful than other Shadowhunters, and your father is Valentine (*wink*), so you have it so bad and everyone's cussing you out and you just want to belongggg..... BUT FORREAL. STOP. BEING. SO. DRAMATIC. You are not part demon, then why are you hurting so badly? Clary? Oh God, don't even get me started on Jace and Clary....

Alec a.k.a yes boi

Not an annoying character for once! Alec actually made a lot of progress during this book. He realised his love for Magnus and got over Jace, and he even accepted his homosexuality enough to come out to his parents (while, the thing deserved way more recognition, the whole thing was written from Clary's perspective and I absolutely hated that, it deserved so so much more). 

Magnus was lovely in this book though, I missed him a bit, but I loved his parts. I also absolutely love it when he calls people out and doesn't give a shit.

Ending

The ending was pretty good. I loved how they included more Downworlder action (through the entire book this happened, but more in the ending). The Downworlders definitely deserved more, and I am glad they got it. Jocelyn and Luke were cute. Alec and Magnus were cute, but I've already discussed them. 

To be honest, Sebastian is a way more interesting character than Clary, even though I hated him and thought he was disgusting.

What really bugged me, was the angel and the decision Clary made. It was so cheesy and teenage-romancey that I just wanted to put the book down. 

I've made it through 3 books in this series. I am hoping that the Infernal Devices is better, because I am reading those soon. I am pretty sure that City of Glass is the best book in this series, so I am not looking forward to City of Fallen Angels. 

Anyway, this book was not as bad as the prequels, I still just don't quite get the hype. 4/5 stars.

Dominique