The Lunar Chronicles 2: Scarlet - Marissa Meyer

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. 

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Cover
While I do prefer Cinder's cover, I am again convinced that this cover suits the book. The font is lovely, and you can see that the book is about Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlet's red hair is also visible. I am not disappointed.

Scarlet
She was lovely. I was not let down by her. I have seen that most readers prefer reading about Cinder, but I like Scarlet way more. Scarlet is a little more romantic, and a little more daring. She is also family-oriented, I loved reading about the parts with her and her grandma. I found it a bit annoying that she fell in love with Wolf after knowing him for just one day, I do like them together. She does not let people walk over her, and neither does Cinder. Female characters in this book series are just amazing.

Cinder
I spot character development! I didn't love her in Cinder, but she was way more enjoyable in this book. I love her little discussions with Captain Thorne and I love how she is somewhat insecure about her body. She handles the news about Princess Selene well and I really love her for that. I honestly do not know if I love Scarlet or Cinder more in this book, cause every character in this book was just so good.

Wolf (Ze'ev Kesley)
Eh, I don't really know about him. While I trust him, I am not head-over-heels with him.I just do not like his past and what he believes in. I am just not a werewolf person (although I know that he is not a werewolf, he kind-of is). However, I like how he is willing to help Cinder and you can see that he really cares about Scarlet.  

The villain and the ending
Aaah, Levana, she is too interesting to hate, honestly? I want to know more about her, I want to know where she came from and how she became this way. Which is why after reading Cress, the series's third book, I am going to read Fairest.
Endings of books, both in Cinder and Scarlet, are honestly not that amazing? I expected both plot-twists, and both endings didn't grip me. I am scared for my lovely Kaito though, and I hope that they do more with him in Cress and Winter.

The only problem I have with this book series is that all the books are so long, definitely the third and the fourth book. I don't think that they have to be so long. Anyway, I really, really loved this book. This book was so much better than the first, 4.5/5 stars.

Dominique

The Selection 5: The Crown - Kiera Cass

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

Cover
I know that I used to say that I love all of these covers. And while the cover was indeed pretty, it wasn't as pretty as former ones. I felt like it was too pink? The background also didn't quite fit the dress.

Eadlyn Shreave changed?
Over the course of these two books, I feel like Eadlyn really found herself. She was actually bearable in this book! She started to see things from another perspective, and she didn't bother me as much as she did in The Heir. For example, she offered Josie (Kile's sister, who wants to be just like her but is a bit rude in the process) a chance to feel like a princess and she accepted the fact that her brother found a wife in France. However, this was such a big chance that I didn't quite buy it. Yeah, suddenly she was able to be nice? Was it because of her mother's condition or was it because she is a queen now? 

The Elite

What I also didn't buy, was her relationship with the one she was in love with. It was so incredibly rushed and it just felt wrong. There was no real build-up, so we didn't get the time to like him.
I really loved Henri, he seemed like such a sweetheart, but because of the language barrier, I didn't think that they would work. Eadlyn had a lot of chemistry with Kile, but his dreams lay elsewhere. Ean and Eadlyn had absolutely no chemistry, and without spoilering anything, because of his personal reasons Eadlyn wouldn't end up with Hale. So yes, I could have expected it, but I really, really don't like the guy she ended up with.

The Ending.
Oh no, just no. This ending was horrible, there was no logic and it was all so incredibly rushed. I really felt Kiera Cass was just trying to tie up loose ends. The ending make sense either, because Eadlyn was making this huge (political) decision all on her own. She didn't discuss it with her parents or ministers or whatever. The secret-reveal from Maxon was also really predictable. I liked that Eadlyn was finally getting to know more about her parents' pasts, but it didn't make sense to me for Maxon to tell her all this, right before she had to go on stage and choose her prince. Maybe Eadlyn could have just not chosen anyone and set an example, it would have been really cool. But again, I have made peace with this book, but these 2 books were so unnecessary....

I have no idea how to rate this. I liked it more than I liked The Heir, yes, but it still wasn't very good. Although I am going to read The Siren (Kiera's other book) one day, I am not re-reading the Selection anytime soon. I'm actually glad that it's over. 3,5/5 stars.

Dominique.

Harry Potter 3: Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has already survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. But his hopes for a quiet term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It's assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney's ghoulish predictions seriously?

Cover

I had the cover on the right, and honestly, it is not that pretty. But, I am wiling to see past it, because the book is almost 20-years-old. The cover on the left is really cute (Buckbeak!) and the signature-edition cover is also pretty.

Harry Potter

Finally, the year in which he finds out more about his family. It's so weird to see him grow up, and I feel like he understands what happened to him a bit better now. 

Okay, I know that they technically didn't have to fight anyone in this book, but I loved him so much in this book. I loved seeing him so happy about Quidditch and his Firebolt and Hogsmeade and Remus and ugh, I just loved this entire book so much.

Ron Weasley and the year in which he lost his rat (twice?)

Oh, I love Ron so much. He is so dorky and... not special? But because he's friends with Harry and Hermione, it makes him special. I cannot stress enough that Ron should always be appreciated, my favourite little redhead.

Anyway, I felt like this year was all about Scabbers vs. Crookshanks. And, of course, Ron vs. Hermione. I think that his romantic feelings for her might have increased during the course of this book, but that is my interpretation.

Hermione and the year in which she challenged herself a bit too much

Oh Hermione, poor Hermione... She was absolutely amazing in this book! She stood up for herself a bit more, and she realised that she was a free woman (or..whatever). 

However, she challenged herself way too much this time. Which is why she got a bit cranky and tense. This is all explained at the end, though, and for the ones who haven't read or seen Harry Potter, I'm not going to say what it was. 

But anyway, I really love Hermione. She's such a nerd, in a good way, but she's also incredibly brave. I know that I say this in every review, but she's just so special to me (and many others).

Remus Lupin and the the book's plot

Ahh, yes, finally. Remus Lupin is my favourite Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher. He is such a great character, almost like a dad to Harry. I love his secret and his story. 

I loved all the secrets in this book. We got the Marauders' backstory and flashes of Snape's past. Patronuses were also introduced (and Dementors). And of course, Sirius Black! 

The book's plot was pretty much all over the place in my opinion, but it was sooo good. This is definitely my favourite Harry Potter book so far. There was no actual Voldemort, which is really refreshing! 

I love love loved this book! I read 250 pages in a day, because I couldn't put it down. I am most certainly continuing reading these series, even though I was unsure in my review of Chamber of Secrets. I would easily give this book 5/5 stars, it made me fall in love with Harry Potter again.

Dominique

Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5: The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos's army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time. 

Cover

This is a very cute cover, like most covers in this series. But, like most covers in this series, they're not that special. I prefer the cover on the right as it looks newer and more spectacular.

Percy

I really enjoyed Percy in this book. I liked the River Styx idea and adding Achilles. Percy was more daring and way more confident than he was in the first book and so on. I liked how his relationship with Annabeth made such slow progress, and how we had to wait five books for an (official) kiss. The kiss was so cute too! I love my children!

Annabeth

I felt like Annabeth became herself again in this book. She got over Luke and because of this, she was more careless and lovely. She deserves so much, and I really liked the ending she got. She's been in love with Percy all this time, but I feel like she was afraid to admit it. I'm glad she did. I love her wisdom. She's no Hermione Granger, but she is still smart and great and I love how people need her help all the time.

The return of Thalia and Grover

Oh how I was glad to see them again! I really missed Thalia in the fourth book, and the Hunters are so interesting, Thalia is definitely one of my favourite female characters. I love Grover too, and he really deserved his ending. However, I'm a bit sad that we didn't see more of him with Juniper, as they are such a a cute couple.

Minor characters and additions

As I said before, I enjoyed the addition of Achilles. I was happy to see Mrs O'Leary again, because she's such a sweet.. dog?

Also, minor gods! Even though they didn't appear a lot, Morpheus and Nemesis were interesting, and I'd have loved to see more of them.

The climax

I really loved the building-up and the climax. I loved how so many creatures came together and worked together. Centaurs are such interesting creatures and including the statues was so smart! I love how Riordan comes up with all of these things (I know that he didn't make them, but he came up with the idea to use them in his book at a certain time). The ending was kind of sad but peaceful and expected at the same time. I was so happy when I found out what the Great Prophecy and all meant.

Writing style, my experience

I am in love with books like these. To make mythology your own and make it modern and interesting for people who are usually not interested in it is just amazing (I speak from experience, haha).

I love the moments where we can see that Percy is telling the story, and the little spoilers he gives always makes me laugh.

I have thouroughly enjoyed these series. I am not ready to say goodbye to them yet, which is why I'm reading Heroes Of Olympus (someday, I have a lot of series to read already...). I am almost sure that this is my favourite book of this series. 5/5 stars, it's so good...

Dominique

(Almost done with The Heir by Kiera Cass! Then I'm reading Prisoner of Azkaban :))