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

I'll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

Cover

Some may say that this cover is too plain and not special, but I really loved this cover! It matched my feelings about the book and even though there are just stripes, artists like Noah and Jude would perceive them differently.

Noah

Yessss, I loved and adored him. His way of speech was really interesting and to be able to see into this beautiful artist's thoughts felt like an intrusion to me? His thoughts and the way he formulates them are just beautiful. This shy, reserved boy came out of his shell with the help of his sister and his boyfriend but then he got back into the closet to make his father proud after some tragic events. He doesn't know that the only way he can be himself again is after he lets his twin sister back into his life. I just thought that everything about his story was lovely. 

Jude

I grew to love Jude. At first, I was hesitant with her, because she didn't really feel like a very nice person to me. That was before I started reading the parts from her perspective. 16-year-old Jude was really bubbly and weird, but I actually liked that about her. Yes, maybe the whole ghost-thing was a bit too much for me, but if that's the way she handles the 'tragic event' then I completely understand that. 13-year-old Jude was wayyy different from 16-year-old Jude. She turned into a completely different person, but her being distant from her brother was a good thing. She got to find herself, and so did Noah. I truly believe that distance only brought them stronger together.

Oscar and Brian

I have mixed feelings about Oscar. On one side, Jude had a boys-boycott and was sure that she didn't need a guy to make her feel happy, but then he still seduced her in a way and there were times that he laughed at her. Not cool. On the other side, I do feel like they belong together. given the fact that Jude had felt like she'd seen him before (all the people who've read this book will understand what I mean).'

Brian was lovely and understandable. I can't say that I loved the things he did to Noah, but I can understand it. He's a sports player, and being gay and a sports player is not easy, but he did it. I think that's really important. 

This book is beautiful. I just loved everything about it, but especially the way in which the two stories and two perspectives intertwined (them as 13-year-olds and as 16-year-olds). The ending was honestly not that spectacular and different, and there was not really a climax, but there were some very shocking moments that made me stand there with an open mouth. This book is so powerful and precious, 5/5 stars.

Dominique