Deviation

DEV1AT3 by Jay Kristoff

Read: 6/25/19 – 7/9/19

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Sometimes you don’t know you’ve crossed the line till you’re on the other side.”

Oh boy. It’s hard to believe how quickly everything has progressed for these poor characters. This book really pushed the storyline forward and presented us with even more twists and turns for these poor characters. Right off the bat, we meet some new characters and the way Kristoff manages to weave them into the story so naturally is brilliant.

Lemon. Poor fucking Lemon. She’s gone through hell and back already and yet here she’s tossed around yet again and in for a whole new ride. From beginning to end, Lemon’s chapters were my favorite because I just absolutely adore her and I was always so invested in what was going on with her. She’s such a strong little badass and I just absolutely love her so much.

Zeke. I can’t imagine what’s going on in his poor head. I mean, when it really comes down to it, he’s only had a couple years to learn how to control his emotions. Even if he did it quicker than humans, that’s still leaving him with the emotional control and understanding of a child. And with all the shit he’s gone through, it’s a wonder he’s not bat-shit crazy.

CRICKET. My poor little baby. Not going to lie, Cricket’s POV always made me so sad, it’s honestly hard to have to watch him obey orders and stuff when he really doesn’t want to. But boy does he have some development in this one. So proud of him.

I want to just write about everything that happened and everything I loved and hated, but that would mean loads of spoilers and I’m not about that. All I can say is, no matter how hard I tried to anticipate the next twist, I was never able to guess what was coming next. Kristoff has got a knack of keeping you on your toes until the last page, and always making you want more afterwards. Thank you, Kristoff, for what I’m sure is going to be a horrible book hangover.

---

 

-Laurenxx

Life-ish

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

Read: 6/16/19-6/20/19

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Your past doesn’t make calls on your future. It doesn’t matter who you were. Only who you are.”

Guys. I cannot express my love for this book enough. There’s just absolutely no way I can do any sort of justice for this masterpiece. Kristoff, you’ve done it again, damnit. This book was one that I couldn’t put down and that I loved for so many reasons, I just can’t get over it. I will have the absolute WORST book hangover because of this.

This book was a mashup of so many different worlds and stories and through it all, it was one of the most unique and gripping books that I’ve ever read. Guys, this was Mad Max, I, Robot, Alita: Battle Angel, Anastasia, and so many others and I cannot- CANNOT express how much I loved it. I don’t know how Kristoff made it work, but he did. And he made it work so well.

Plus, it was full of beautiful quotes like these:

“Breathing in the ink and feeling all those wonderful lives beneath you fingertips. In between the pages, I’m an emperor. An adventurer. A warrior and a wanderer. In between pages I’m not myself-and more myself than in any other place on earth.”

“It’s simple to love someone on the days that are easy. But you find out what your love is made of on the days that are hard.”

“Your scars tell who you are. Your skin is the page, and your scars are the ink, telling the story of your life.”

And those are just some of my favorites.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? That prologue was absolutely heart wrenching. Kristoff didn’t waste time letting you know this book was going to be a damn tragedy.

“Almost everybody called her Eve”

And boy, did I love our MC. Eve and her fauxhawk had me hooked from the first page. She’s determined, stubborn, and just an all-around badass.

Lemon Fresh. I kid you not, you guys, that’s her name. And I adore her. She and Eve had one of the purest, most refreshing friendships I’ve ever read about in a book. They were sisters in something so far beyond blood and I absolutely loved their friendship.

CRICKET. Cutest little robot in the world. He reminded me a bit of Marvin from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but only because of the big old head. He was just an absolute delight and I love how much he hated on Ezekiel as they interacted. All I can say is: him fixing the window in the car.

Kaiser. What a good boy. Every good dystopian or sci-fi novel needs man’s best friend, right? The way Kristoff introduced and used the blitzhunds in this novel. SO. COOL. All I wanted to do was give Kaiser a good scratch behind the ears and take him home with me. That dog is TOUGH.
Ezekiel. Gahhh. I honestly feel for him. I don’t want to say a whole lot, so that I’m not giving away any plot points, but I loved him.

The romance wasn’t overdone. The plot moved along at a great pace- it made you want to keep reading and the action scenes were great. The plot, the development, the world, all of it was amazingly well done. I’m thrilled that I waited until the last minute to read this book, because if it wasn’t going to be in my hands on Tuesday, I would be livid. To all of you who read this when it came out and who are also waiting to get your hands on DEV1AT3, I’m so so sorry.

---

-Laurenxx

Aurora’s Rise

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Read 5/11/19-5/21/19

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I mean… will there ever be a book by one of these authors that doesn’t immediately suck me in? Will there ever be a shortage of characters by them that I’m not just immediately in love with? I love this book and everything in it. I love the world. I love the characters. I love… everything.

I don’t know how much any of you guys know about me, but my two biggest loves when it comes to books? Sci-fi and most importantly- SPACE. I’m a huge sci-fi and fantasy person, don’t get me wrong. But there’s something about sci-fi that calls to my inner nerd. And when it happens in space?! Count me in. I love Star Trek. Star Wars. The Orville. Doctor Who. It’s all amazing and I love how much more widely it’s being embraced. But that’s a rant for another time.

THE WORLD. My goodness. This was brilliant. I love the Legion and that we’re at the point in our star-travel that we’re working alongside alien races and the way the squads are structured. One of my favorite things about stories like this is seeing how far along we are in our space days, how far technology has advanced, or how closely we’re working with other species. I loved seeing some of that stuff come to light in this book and I love knowing we’ve got a lot more to learn!

THE CHARACTERS. Each character on the squad was so unique. They all had their own unique voice, and I think that tends to be one of the hardest things to do in a book that switches POV’s quite frequently, but I think that Kaufman and Kristoff pulled it off so damn well, I applaud them for that. I’d love to go into everything about every character and why I loved them so much, but I fear I’d be going on for ages, because there’s lots to love. There’s so much strength to this rag-tag group that you honestly can’t help but love each and every one of them for all they are. Watching the way they come together and how they work when it comes down to their moments to shine, it really was a sight to behold.

THE STORY. I was engaged from the first page. I loved seeing how each scene panned out and this book was really really tough to put down. I may have taken me ten days to read, but I was thinking about this book constantly when I wasn’t reading. This story was action-packed without being too much. There was just enough of the “other stuff” to keep the storyline flowing and your interest piqued. I love/ hate how everything went down at the end, mostly because I was not ready to get that emotional. But I absolutely CANNOT wait for the second book. I can’t wait to see what else awaits our crew.

---

Who’s read this book and who’s ready for more?!

-Laurenxx

Top Ten Tuesday! (#4): Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype

Hey, it’s Tuesday again! So that means another Top Ten Tuesday!

If you guys haven’t seen this meme around yet, you can go take a look and see where it started at: The Broke and the Bookish and then where they sent it for safekeeping at: That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s topic is Popular Books That Lived Up to the Hype. So, I’ll be posting a mix of books that I read because of the hype, and those that I read and was a part of the hype.

---

---

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I adore this book. I devoured it and just absolutely loved the way that he told the story. This was a book that was well-deserving of the hype and I am so glad they made a movie for it when they did.

---

2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

This series was one that I was DEFINITELY a part of the hype for. I lived and breathed everything Harry Potter from the time I was 8 and on, so we’re going on 18 years here. This series is what sparked my love for reading, and I know it was the same for a lot of people in my generation and that’s why I have to say this series is one that lives up to the hype no matter how you spin it.

---

3. Literally anything by Rick Riordan

I know most of the hype surrounding Uncle Rick has to do with Percy Jackson, but I really do think that all of his books are worth the hype. He’s got a way with writing all the gods and demigods and really researching the mythologies.

---

4. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Another series I was a part of the hype for. I’d already been reading The Mortal Instruments by the time this came out, so I jumped in at the beginning. The time period these took place in made it such a cool setting for the Shadowhunters and the steampunk aspects. And the villain in this series was fantastic.

---

5. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

This one I’d heard about for ages but didn’t start reading until about a month before the final book was out. Actually very happy for that, I would have died if I had to wait the full amount of time between books.

---

6. Renegades by Marissa Meyer

I know this one was hyped just because it was Marissa Meyer, but to me it not only met, but exceeded my expectations. I adored this book SO MUCH. I cannot wait for the second one, I’ve already got tickets to her signing!

---

7. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvated

Loved these book so freaking much. Blue and the boys were just the best group of characters ever!

---

8. Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Another one that I picked up from the beginning and absolutely adored from page one. And Legendary managed to keep the hype up and definitely surpassed expectations.

---

9. Arc of a Scythe series by Neil Shusterman

I mean, another book series to constantly rip you heart out. But, man! Did this book and its sequel live up to the hype. Probably one of my favorite series ever.

---

10. The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff

Need I say more? I was late to the game when it came to these ones, but the first book was one of the best first books to a fantasy series I’ve ever read!

---

-Laurenxx

Mister Kindly Fan Club

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

5/5 for this one, without a doubt.

“The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. You’re a daughter of the words. A girl with a story to tell.”

I don’t have any idea why I put off reading this book for as long as I did. Holy. Crap. I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for more than a year now and for whatever reason, started reading and only got about 50 pages in the first time and just hadn’t been in the mood. But a special thank you to the lovely Allison for volunteering to do a buddy read with me because we’d both been wanting to read it.

The world building in this book was absolutely amazing and the CHARACTERS. Oh my goodness, I was absolutely dying. I love the idea of there being a super intense school to train assassins. It was like reading about Hogwarts but on a whole different level. My goodness though, the classes at the Red Church take things to a whole new level.

Mia had one of the most incredible journeys, even though just this first book. Watching her father die, and the events that passed after that. Finding out she’s a Darkin and having to learn everything that comes with that… and everything that happened once she finally made it to the Red Church. Ugh.

Tric. She met him on the way to Red Church and I immediately loved the kid. He’s sassy, resourceful, smart, and I absolutely loved him as a character.

I want to go into all of the classes that they have to endure, but I don’t want to give anything away. Because, wow.

MISTER KINDLY. This review is so disorganized, but I don’t even care. It sums up my thoughts on this book perfectly, because it was absolutely insane.

Last thing before I end this non-flowing and just all-around mess of a review- I LOVED the footnotes. Loved them. I think it’s honestly one of the biggest complaints I see about this book, but they were fantastic. Kristoff is hilarious and I feel like so much of the footnotes were really just his inner ramblings as he was writing about certain things, and I loved that. I felt like we got some more insight to the amazing author and the way his mind works, and I think it was done beautifully.

Kristoff, thank you for this masterpiece and the amazing queen that is Mia.

---

 

Currently Reading:

Zodiac (page 132)

-Lauren xx