Books of 2013
1. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
2. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
4. Double Crossed by Ally Carter
5. Deadly Little Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz
6. Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3) by Ally Carter
7. Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis
8. Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
9. One Good Earl Deserves A Lover by Sarah MacLean
10. Mind Games by Kiersten White
11. The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress
12. The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
13. Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger
14. Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth
15. Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi
16. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
17. Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger
Posting the reading round-up a bit early this month since I'll be traveling at the end of the month and might not have the time to make a proper book post! Got a nice little chunk done in the last couple of weeks; I had a bit of a dystopian/post-apocalyptic theme going on one week, which I might as well change to dystopian month since the bulk of the books I bought this month all fall into that category. As long as they're not shitty dystopians, I don't think I'll care much!
- The Thirteenth Child was a cool idea killed entirely by the way Wrede told the story through Eff, which made it hideously dull and slow going. Plus there was the race fail for good measure. I won't be continuing on with this series.
- THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE SERIES IS MY NEW LOVE. I just finished Changeless and, oh my god, Gail Carriger, WHY DID YOU DO THAT? I HATE ANGSTY CLIFFHANGERS. I MUST HAVE THE THIRD BOOK NOW (which I do, but WOE, I have library books I need to read first.) I originally bought Soulless because I wanted to read Carriger's YA series, Etiquette and Espionage, which is set in the same universe. I thought Soulless was also YA, but it's not and hooray for that! If you like steampunk plus historical romances PLUS fabulous gay vampires and werewolves PLUS fierce heroines, this is the series for you.
Take note, The Friday Society, this is how you write hilarious steampunk in a smart, emotionally satisfying way. Still the worst book I've read all year, blegh.
- Finally got around to reading Divergent and it was... meh worthy. Not sure why it got hyped up all over the place. Tris/Four's romance wasn't that compelling and the bulk of the book was an extended training montage that really didn't connect well to the main plot. I did like it once said main plot kicked in and the story got interesting, so I'll pick up Insurgent when it comes into the library. I think I would've enjoyed it more had I been able to ignore the illogical world building or if I had been invested in Tris/Four at all, but there wasn't much to distract me (like pretty writing!) from all that. I've read much better in the dystopian genre.
- Speaking of much better... Through the Ever Night! This is the sequel to Under the Never Sky, which I liked but apparently didn't remember much of from my first read? I think I had read too many other wander-in-the-wilderness books at the same time last year, so they all started to blend together and sound the same. Alas. Through the Ever Night was a thoroughly satisfying sequel that managed to advance the plot and the romance without either of them dragging the other down. The characters are what make it so appealing, and I was glad to see some development on their front too.
- Article 5 was another example of a mediocre dystopian. As much as I ended up not liking the book, it didn't put me through fits of rage and I didn't feel like I was trudging through it. It reads well but, again, it's one of those books that if you do get into the romance right away, you're not going to enjoy it much. And what is with a shit ton of YA protagonists not having a lick of sense when they live in such dangerous worlds? Yeah, teeangers aren't exactly the most logical of beings, I know, but come on. Article 5's Ember had contracted Too Dumb To Live by the middle of the novel and once she started getting morally outraged that her ex-boyfriend had almost killed some dudes (who clearly would've assaulted and then maybe murdered her) in self-defense, I'd checked out of the novel.
Currently reading: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I LOVE IT. I want to devour it but savor it at the same time and I am the worst when it comes to books like this. I don't want you to be over so soon, Scarlet. ;___;
Up next: Still have Requiem by Lauren Oliver to read, and added Partials by Dan Wells and Orleans by Sherri L. Smith to the dystopian pile. I will probably skip right on over those for the next Parasol Protectorate book though because angsty cliffhangers are bad for my mental healthy, mmkay?
I'll need to update my Nook before a get a traveling, so some of these books probably won't get read right away.
2. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
4. Double Crossed by Ally Carter
5. Deadly Little Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz
6. Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3) by Ally Carter
7. Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis
8. Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
9. One Good Earl Deserves A Lover by Sarah MacLean
10. Mind Games by Kiersten White
11. The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress
12. The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
13. Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger
14. Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth
15. Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi
16. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
17. Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger
Posting the reading round-up a bit early this month since I'll be traveling at the end of the month and might not have the time to make a proper book post! Got a nice little chunk done in the last couple of weeks; I had a bit of a dystopian/post-apocalyptic theme going on one week, which I might as well change to dystopian month since the bulk of the books I bought this month all fall into that category. As long as they're not shitty dystopians, I don't think I'll care much!
- The Thirteenth Child was a cool idea killed entirely by the way Wrede told the story through Eff, which made it hideously dull and slow going. Plus there was the race fail for good measure. I won't be continuing on with this series.
- THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE SERIES IS MY NEW LOVE. I just finished Changeless and, oh my god, Gail Carriger, WHY DID YOU DO THAT? I HATE ANGSTY CLIFFHANGERS. I MUST HAVE THE THIRD BOOK NOW (which I do, but WOE, I have library books I need to read first.) I originally bought Soulless because I wanted to read Carriger's YA series, Etiquette and Espionage, which is set in the same universe. I thought Soulless was also YA, but it's not and hooray for that! If you like steampunk plus historical romances PLUS fabulous gay vampires and werewolves PLUS fierce heroines, this is the series for you.
Take note, The Friday Society, this is how you write hilarious steampunk in a smart, emotionally satisfying way. Still the worst book I've read all year, blegh.
- Finally got around to reading Divergent and it was... meh worthy. Not sure why it got hyped up all over the place. Tris/Four's romance wasn't that compelling and the bulk of the book was an extended training montage that really didn't connect well to the main plot. I did like it once said main plot kicked in and the story got interesting, so I'll pick up Insurgent when it comes into the library. I think I would've enjoyed it more had I been able to ignore the illogical world building or if I had been invested in Tris/Four at all, but there wasn't much to distract me (like pretty writing!) from all that. I've read much better in the dystopian genre.
- Speaking of much better... Through the Ever Night! This is the sequel to Under the Never Sky, which I liked but apparently didn't remember much of from my first read? I think I had read too many other wander-in-the-wilderness books at the same time last year, so they all started to blend together and sound the same. Alas. Through the Ever Night was a thoroughly satisfying sequel that managed to advance the plot and the romance without either of them dragging the other down. The characters are what make it so appealing, and I was glad to see some development on their front too.
- Article 5 was another example of a mediocre dystopian. As much as I ended up not liking the book, it didn't put me through fits of rage and I didn't feel like I was trudging through it. It reads well but, again, it's one of those books that if you do get into the romance right away, you're not going to enjoy it much. And what is with a shit ton of YA protagonists not having a lick of sense when they live in such dangerous worlds? Yeah, teeangers aren't exactly the most logical of beings, I know, but come on. Article 5's Ember had contracted Too Dumb To Live by the middle of the novel and once she started getting morally outraged that her ex-boyfriend had almost killed some dudes (who clearly would've assaulted and then maybe murdered her) in self-defense, I'd checked out of the novel.
Currently reading: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I LOVE IT. I want to devour it but savor it at the same time and I am the worst when it comes to books like this. I don't want you to be over so soon, Scarlet. ;___;
Up next: Still have Requiem by Lauren Oliver to read, and added Partials by Dan Wells and Orleans by Sherri L. Smith to the dystopian pile. I will probably skip right on over those for the next Parasol Protectorate book though because angsty cliffhangers are bad for my mental healthy, mmkay?
I'll need to update my Nook before a get a traveling, so some of these books probably won't get read right away.