Harry Potter 2: Chamber Of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone, or something, starts turning Hogwarts students to stone....

Cover
Cute cover, not really impressive. I like the snake on the front, but it's kind of a spoiler? Anyways, there are so many covers for these book series, and the most recent ones are in my opinion the most beautiful.

Harry Potter
I liked him more in this book. I felt like I could connect to him more. He's still a bit dumb, in my opinion, and I'm more interested in other character's feelings, but I feel like because of him growing up and understanding more of the  Wizarding World, he's getting less and less boring. His relationship with Ginny is also evolving, which is fun to see cause they have no idea that they're going to have children later. 

Ron Weasley
God, Ron gets so much shit. His mother is constantly checking on him, he gets bullied for his hair and his wealth, but he could be a very powerful wizard. He is so overshadowed by his brothers too, I just wish that Ron would get more recognition as well. I love him, but as of now, his character is not special. I know that J.K. intended that this way, but I feel bad for him.

Hermione Granger
As always, she was her lovely self in this book again. She is one of my favourite characters in books. I can relate with her so much, she's a huge nerd and she loves books. She is also one of the sweetest characters I know, I'm so bummed that she didn't end up with Harry. 

Ginny Weasley
I love that she got more recognition in this book. She is definitely not my favourite character, but I am excited to see her go from having almost no recognition to being the main character's girlfriend. 
I felt really bad for her in this book, she gets made fun of for her crush on Harry, and she needed someone to talk to. Being the youngest in the Weasley-family is probably no fun and games. She could easily be abused, so that's what Voldemort did. 

Voldemort
Frankly, I did not think he was that horrible in this book. It might be because I have a huge crush on Tom Riddle, but what he did wasn't even that bad (for him). I know what he's going to do in the upcoming books though, don't get me wrong I know that he is horrible, but I just didn't get that feeling while reading it. I feel like the serpent was more exciting than Voldemort; although I do really love how Voldemort reached out to the world again (this time through his diary).

Ending, storyline, my experience
To be honest, the writing doesn't really grab me. I feel like I'm just reading these books because I have to. However, I do really want to continue reading this series, which is why I already have the 3rd book laying around. But if these books weren't so popular, I don't know if I would have wanted to continue. 

Overall it's a short but lovely story, just didn't find it as gripping as its prequel. I did love Lockhart though (shockinggg). 4/5 stars.

Dominique

Percy Jackson and The Olympians 3: The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan

IT'S NOT EVERYDAY YOU FIND YOURSELF IN COMBAT WITH A HALF-LION, HALF-HUMAN.

But when you're the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess (Artemis) is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh, and guess what? The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive.

Cover
Lovely covers, as always. loved the Blackjack (pegasus) reference on the cover. I prefer the left cover though, the right one looks a bit messy.

Percy
To me, Percy is just great. I love it when he reminds you - once again - that his life is a bit of a mess. He always gets in trouble, every dam time. You'd expect that this would make everything kind of predictable, but it wasn't. Every time he gets into trouble, it's still funny. 
For the character, I do not know what to say. Percy is just Percy, a bit of a nerd, but quite funny and precious.

Annabeth
Okay, I'm not going to lie, she is getting more and more annoying. I know that she is in love with Percy and all, but that doesn't give her the right to be so jealous. She doesn't have to drag Thalia down so much, just because Percy hangs out with her. And yes, I do like Annebeth and Percy and I'd love to see them together, but sometimes she's just annoying. Nevertheless, she's a great heroine. She's a great role model, she's fierce and smart, but she still needs help from her friends, so that's kind of realistic.

Thalia
I kind of love Thalia. At first, you'd think she'd be incredibly badass, but gradually, you'll learn more about her life and her fears, and you'll find out that she isn't that fierce after all. She actually has a lot of problems and a lot of daddy-issues (lol, Zeus is her father). I loved the ending for her too, I hope she returns in the fifth book (I've already read the fourth book). 

New Greek creatures/God
The new Greek mythology introduced in this book was seriously amazing. Nico. Finally. Appeared! (I haven't even read the Heroes of Olympus series, but ohmy, do I love the gay relationship) loved the addition of The Hunters, and I loved Artemis. I had some problems with the Hunter Zoe Nightshade at first, but I still fell in love with her. Also, ATLAS ! I really wanted him to appear, because I'd heard a lot about him. Riordan described them in such a great way, again. I can't help flying through his books. 

Overall, this book was another great book in this series. Riordan's books are simply amazing, I can't get enough of them. Because of his books, I can talk to my friends (who have subjects such as Greek and Roman culture) about Greek mythology! These books are just great to learn out of! However, I am noticing that this series is gradually getting darker, but that's probably because they are growing up. Can't wait to read the fifth book! 5/5 stars.

Dominique

The Selection: The One - Kiera Cass

The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

Cover
I can't get over the beauty of these series covers. They're just so gorgeous. I literally stroked the book because it was so beautiful. I can't wait to read the sequels with her daughter, so I can have those beauties in my hands as well.

America being herself again
Ah, yes, ol' sweet America being her indecisive self again. When have I seen this before? Right, yes, in EVERY book she's in. And when this girl finally makes up her mind, she doesn't act out on it because it 'isn't the right time'. Are you serious here? Couldn't you have just told him when you had the chance and not lead your ex-boyfriend on? In my opinion, she was a little bit too full of herself. One minute I loved her, and then she had to ruin everything again by being the rebellious person she is. However, despite all this, I still loved her. I don't know how Cass did it, but it was definitely good. 

Maxon Shreave, how did he do it
How could Maxon keep up with America's behaviour? I mean, I agreed with most of the things America did, but she didn't listen. I would have send her away. Then again, he loved her, and I guess his love was stronger than his anger. 
That just proves how much of a sweetheart he is. He accepts everyone in their own way and he doesn't want to offend anyone, but he will also do what is right. However, sometimes he was a bit of a slut. I mean, he knows that he loves America and he wants a future with her, but leads Kriss on in case America backs out last-minute. Then again, America still let Aspen on even after she realized she had loved Maxon, so they're a perfect fit.

The other remaining Selection-girls
Wow, there was a lot of character development going on here. Celeste may not annoy you so much in this book, instead, I actually thought she was sweet. I loved how we got to know more about Elise as well, cause she is always so quiet. Turns out, Elise has an entire story of her own. I just wish that there were novellas from her point of view. 
Kriss is entire different story. While I enjoyed her sudden "secret reveal" and I do really think that she is sweet, I had my troubles trusting her. In the end, I realized that I had nothing to worry about, but in my opinion, she was the least interesting of the remaining Selection-girls. She was just there as a second choice.

The rebellion(s)
Absolutely loved this add. I loved every little thing about this. They weren't that predictable either. I loved the development Cass decided to give them and how we started to know North and South and how to differentiate them. I also love how this book was still mostly about America's love for Maxon, and it wasn't a dystopian (I just don't have a thing for dystopia). In the earlier books, the castle attacks weren't that horrible just yet, but in this book, and trust me, they were. Not going to say more about that though, spoilers :(.

The Ending.
Rip my heart, I am still not over that one. Why? (I am trying my best not to spoiler anything here) Anyways, I feel like the ending was still amazing, despite the sadness of it. I am thinking of reading the novellas because they seem interesting to me, but I am definitely, without a doubt reading the "spin-off" ones with her daughter. The Selection books are amazing, even with an annoying main character. I literally flew through this book and I read it in 2 days (with school!). I highly recommend this series, I am so in love with them, even though I am slightly embarrassed about that. 5/5 stars, I think might even be my favourite Selection-book.

Dominique
(I am going through books really fastly these days. Love it.
Expect two Percy Jackson reviews and two Harry Potter reviews soon!)

Erebos - Ursula Poznanski

When 16-year-old Nick receives a package containing the mysterious computer game Erebos, he wonders if it will explain the behavior of his classmates, who have been secretive lately. Players of the game must obey strict rules: always play alone, never talk about the game, and never tell anyone your nickname. 

Curious, Nick joins the game and quickly becomes addicted. But Erebos knows a lot about the players and begins to manipulate their lives. When it sends Nick on a deadly assignment, he refuses and is banished from the game. 

Now unable to play, Nick turns to a friend for help in finding out who controls the game. The two set off on a dangerous mission in which the border between reality and the virtual world begins to blur.

Cover
I was not displeased by this cover. It gave off a very adult-vibe and it fitted the concept of this book really well. The game 'watches' you, hence the eye. It definitely wasn't the most beautiful cover I've ever seen, but it really fits the book and that is great.

Nick Dunmore 
Eh. I don't know how to feel about him. On one hand, it was nice to have a male lead for a change. But on the other hand, what on earth was he doing sometimes? I couldn't believe how naïve he was. Like, 'Oh, the game knows my full name, that's not weird at all!' I would have contacted someone right away, no matter how strict the rules are. Also, he was a creepy stalker. He could only look at Emily from a distance, and he went to her DeviantArt page daily (her username he got by eavesdropping). Overall, I just had mixed feelings about this character. He did all of the things stated above, but he could also be reasonable and relatable. I don't know. 

Emily Carver
I know that she was supposed to be a main character, but I couldn't really see that. She only got really involved in the story in the last 150 pages of the book. I also didn't really like Nick and Emily together. Whileas Emily was sweet and I definitely didn't dislike her, I just didn't think she was interesting.

There were obviously more characters other than Nick and Emily, but they are so unimportant. I really wished that Poznanski focused more on the other characters, cause apart from Brynne, no one meant much to me.

The game and it's purpose
Ooh I loved this. I saw people who were disappointed by the fact that there was nothing supernatural involved, but I loved that. When the secrets got revealed, it was just amazing. I loved how they had done everything. The purpose of Erebos was just interesting and that little plot twist was great.

In my opinion, even though the storyline was reasonable and I didn't get bored that often, I feel like the book would have been better if it was a little less long. Many things that happened could have been sped up or even been left out. I did enjoy reading this book and I don't regret it at all, it was great, I just don't think I like the author's writing style that much. She writes beautifully, but I am not that involved in the genre she writes about. This book was still better than Saeculum, so I'd probably give it 3,5/5 stars.

Dominique
I have been reading so much lately. I honestly love it. I read two books this week.

Saeculum - Ursula Poznanski

(I'm not sure if this book is available in English, so sorry. It is available in Dutch, German, Russian, Swedish (?) and Spanish, however)

Five days spent deep inside a forest, far away from the nearest village, to live the way people did during the Middle Ages, with no electricity, no mobiles, and not even matches – normally, this would not be Bastian’s scene. His life revolves around his medical studies, but now he has fallen for Sandra, and she wants him to take part in this live role-play. When they find out about the location, one of the participants, Doro, claims that the place where they intend to gather is cursed. According to a legend, a Count once lived there. He had two sons, a legitimate one and a bastard, who was thrown out of the castle and forced to live a life of poverty, far away. When the Count died, the rejected son pleaded to be allowed to visit his father’s grave. The rightful heir was afraid that his brother was seeking to secure their father’s property, and gave orders for the bastard and his followers to be horribly massacred inside the family crypt. Just before he died, the illegitimate brother cursed his relations, the castle and the ground on which they stood. No one who enters this forest, Doro told them, will ever return. Of course, nobody takes her seriously. But then strange things happen and it is impossible to leave the forest. Did they make a mistake in not taking the curse seriously? 

Cover

I think that this cover is very appropriate and beautiful. I love the title, but the blurb was so small! Anyways, I don't have anything bad to say about the cover.

Bastian

I feel like Bastian was the only reasonable character in this book. Okay, yes, there were times where I'd just want him to shut up already, but the others were so much worse. Bastian was a nice main character, but his life didn't really interest me. I was way more interested in the other characters. Iris was way more interesting than Bastian. Now that I think about it, he literally joined a 5-day-long LARP just to be with his crush, who turned out to be a bitch one day in, okay man. 

In the end, however, I did start to feel for him again, but the ending was just so fucked up, I don't even want to think about it.

Iris

Ah, yes, Iris. I liked her. I liked her secret, at least. The only thing that I didn't like, though, was how fast Bastian's and Iris's relationship suddenly escalated. One chapter she stares at him, but another chapter they're kissing. Okay man, fine. 

Iris's secret was interesting, but it wasn't really necessary? In my opinion, it didn't really add much suspense to the book, other than another someone being another option for 'kidnapper'.

Paul

Okay, the last character I'm going to discuss broadly, but also the craziest one. I honestly can't say much about him without spoilering everything, so I'm not going to, but just... no? He's so creepy and just.. crazy. I'm gonna stop it here, spoilers...

Every other character that wasn't reasonable at all

Now, discussing all the weird side characters.

Lisbeth was interesting, basically still a bit reasonable, I liked her secret and the hinting at an abusive relationship between her and George.

George was just an asshole. Doro was interesting at first but then she was just plain annoying and I wanted to rip her head off. Other characters were just not important.

The writing style and the ending

I absolutely love Poznanski's reading style. I have just finished her other book, Erebos (which was way better than Saeculum, just saying), and if you're really in the story, you'll practically fly through it. 

Towards the ending, this book got more and more fucked up, as I said in the beginning. Secrets were revealed, choices were made, sides were picked. It was just too unrealistic. How could all of them believe in this so-called 'curse'? I guess it's because it's a book, and you have to make it at least a bit suspenseful.

Anyways, I don't know what to write anymore. I just got out of my reading slump and read Erebos in 2 days. I wouldn't recommend Saeculum. As new and different it is, it is also very boring and wordy. 3/5 stars.

Oh, and no, this review isn't an April Fools joke.

Dominique