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

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

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.