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

Blood Promise - Richelle Mead

WARNING, THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE THIRD BOOK

Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same. 

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters ... Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved? 

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

What an awful cover, it doesn't match the book at all (I'm not saying the girl on the cover is awful, she's beautiful). I'm kind of done with the whole 'face looking away girl'. The reason I'm saying this, is because these books deserve a way better cover than this. Shh, I know they renewed the covers, but I can barely keep those apart.

WOW, this is one of my favorite series. I love Dimitri (gorgeous god), I love Christian (Lissa's boyfriend), I love Adrian (sassy vamp), but I mostly love Rose! I could feel with her, connect myself with her. Okay, no, I know I'm not half-vampire (Dhampir), and I'm definitely not as strong as her (I spend my life indoors behind a laptop), but she loves Lissa so much and will do everything for Dimitri, and yes she's a little selfish, but so am I, so is everyone. 

It wasn't hard to get in at all, I read it in like 5 days because of school and there was one time I realised it was already 1 AM and I was still reading. These books are so addicting, so beautifully written. If you love it when you read books and something really plot twisting happens, then this is something for you. I dropped my book like 5 times cause of the amazing plot twists. 

There was one thing though, and that was the fact there wasn't enough Dimitri. Rose finally found him at page 350 or something. Not that this is that bad, but I want more and more Dimitri in my life and I have never shipped two people this badly before (liking two people in a relationship).

I'd give this book 5/5 stars, the ending was so so amazing, I'm not going to spoil it so you'll have to read on your own! (hehehe do it fast or you'll regret).

Title: Blood Promise
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy (book 4)
Publisher: Razorbill
Age: 14+
Price (paperback): €14,95, $11,00
Pages: 538

Dominique (@myxmasreading on Instagram)

The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

(summary on back)

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has brought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Okay (cheeky pun), start judging me already. This was my first John Green book. A friend of mine kept pushing me into reading his books that I had to read them, and I obviously started with his signature book.

The cover isn't that special. When I see the book, I'd like to know what it's about. If I hadn't heard about the story yet, I'd probably think it's about space. Because, well, stars, clouds, space (on the Dutch cover). I knew it was about Hazel and her lung cancer who falls in love with this charming dude Augustus Fires (the name me and my friend gave him), but if I hadn't heard how amazing John Green was, I would have never picked up this book.

What a beautiful story, it completely changed my thoughts on life and made me question if I was whiny for wanting more when I had everything they wanted. It was really well written, sometimes a little bit too well that I had to grab my dictionary (Dutch girl reads English books problems), but I understood the story and I loved it. It was this mixture between sad, happy, funny, I laughed a couple times, but I also cried a couple times. I now know why John Green is seen as an amazing author, since he can mix humor in a book with sad parts and wow, he deserves a metal for that.

There is one thing though, and that's the fact that I don't understand poetry (not talking about a specific language, just in general), definitely not old-English poetry, and I don't know why everyone likes it so much (trust me, I've tried to like it). There were a few poems in this book that I just didn't understand, and I wanted to understand them because I liked the book so much, and now I just feel bad. Poetry is nothing for me, so that was something I didn't really enjoy. 

But overall, it's a beautiful story and I'll definitely read some of Green's work again sometime! 4,5/5 stars from me.

Extra: a movie has been made from this book (no, really?), check out the trailer here.

Okay? Okay.

Title: The Fault In Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Penguin Books

Age: 13+

Price (paperback): €14,99, $6,50

Pages (paperback): 310

ISBN: 978-0-141-35367-8

Dominique (@myxmasreading on Instagram)