Saya Senpai : January 2015

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Hopeless | Book Review

Title: Hopeless
Series: (Hopeless #1)
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Publication Date: December 19th 2012
Format: ebook

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her.

After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

I didn't want to review Hopeless just because of how sad I am for not enjoying it as much as I do with other book by Colleen. But, I guess I'm doing it anyway...

I couldn't get into this book at all for almost 60% of it. The story pre-twist -Co Ho style- seemed very cheesy and to be honest... stupid. Holder and Sky literally meet by accident and suddenly they're obsessed with each other.
I guess I just couldn't handle romance when I was in the mood for fantasy so I guess it's my fault too.

This is probably the strongest plot of hers, (not counting Never Never because that shit killed me) but I didn't realize that I was so disconnected from the characters until I actually finished the book.

Something that really blew me away is that I didn't... cry. This was probably the most sob-worthy story out of all of her books yet, I didn't cry, not even teared up.
Let me tell you something, I am a crybaby ok? Only in fiction life, though. Like, books, TV shows, movies and anime. I cried in In The Afterlight because Ruby was tired... She was just. tired. and I cried my ass off.

So I guess it's a pretty big deal I didn't cry in a book like Hopeless. But oh, well...

I don't know if I even want to pick up Losing Hope. I know I will, but right now, I just don't feel like it.

I'm not saying I didn't like this book at all, I still loved Colleen's writing and the complexity of the whole situation but comparing it to her other work is just inevitable.

The Burning Sky | Book Review

Title: The Burning Sky
Series: (The Elemental Trilogy #1)
Author: Sherry Thomas
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction (?)
Publication Date: September 15th 2013
Format: ebook

It all began with a ruined elixir and a bolt of lightning.

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's been told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the most powerful tyrant and mage the world has ever known. This would be a suicide task for anyone, let alone a reluctant sixteen-year-old girl with no training.

Guided by his mother's visions and committed to avenging his family, Prince Titus has sworn to protect Iolanthe even as he prepares her for their battle with the Bane. But he makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the tyrant closing in, Titus must choose between his mission—and her life.

First of all, I must applaud whoever made this cover a thing because fucking hell, that's beautiful.

The Burning Sky is a two perspective novel -a current favorite of mine- surrounding a world that uses Elemental Mage. I wouldn't call this High fantasy, it's got more like a Harry Potter feel where there's the magical world but there's also our world (the non-mage world) where people live there lives, unaware of magic.

I went into this book not expecting much, but I did remember a review that said to read this book for its romance, not the action-y fantasy, so I did.

Now, I'll be completely honest, I was very confused almost all the first half of the book, the politics and the world were kind of complicated to grasp and quite frankly, all over the place. Not to mention the vocabulary was even difficult. I kept on going though, since I was still enjoying it with all the confusion.
I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did. It had a little bit of everything. Some people might think it's a bit boring and dragged out at places, but survival and hiding and all that sort of stuff really interests me and I thoroughly devoured it.

The characters were somewhat different than other characters I've read about, they were very interesting and I ended up loving our two main characters so much.

The first point of view is from Lolanthe, (wtf right?) but no worries, no one ever calls her that, Sherry Thomas sympathized with us there. For us, we'll call her Lola. Lola was very... polite at the start of the book. I was thrown off by the way her and Titus -the male protagonist- communicated. It was so weird and awkward.
But then, Lola takes a 180 degree spin and becomes this kickass chick that I loved.

The other point of view is from Titus, Titus was kind of a mystery too. As much as I loved Lola, I couldn't help but love his perspective more. He thought differently than what he did, unlike Lola who was straight to the point. Throughout the chapter, I found myself waiting for Titus's POV. Also, he's Titus for God's sake.

The fantasy elements in this book, I found fascinating. Especially the Crucible (a thing you'll know about if you read the book). The magic system itself was pretty simple, the whole Elements controlling type of magic.

And last but definitely not least, the romance. It was pretty much non-existent but it was like- you know it's there. The characters were so proud to admit or do anything, my God. What I mostly love about the romance is that it felt like a partnership. They were in this together and they got each other's backs.
I have a thing for male friendship, I just love the way guys communicate honorably and I just love it, and this romance felt like that. Which is kind of weird...

Overall, it was a very pleasant read and I'm very excited to read the sequel.

Thursday 22 January 2015

The Final Empire | Book Review

Title: The Final Empire
Series: (Mistborn #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: High Fantasy
Publication Date: October 1st 2009
Format: Paperback

In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with colour once more?

In Brandon Sanderson's intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage - Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

I've always wanted to read this book- or any Brandon Sanderson book, for that matter. But, I have to say I was pretty intimated. Don't get me wrong, I'm used to High Fantasy but not Adult High Fantasy, so I've put up reading this book for a while.

My dad was traveling and told us to sent him a list of things we wanted, and naturally, I wanted a book.. 3 books.

He got me the entire UK edition paperback box set, which might be the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever laid on.

Let's talk about the actual book shall we:

Everything begins with The Final Empire, which is what the entire world is called being ruled by an immortal "God" or more precisely, The Lord Ruler. The society is split into two main ranks, the skaa and the noblemen.
The skaa are treated like slaves and they decide that enough is freaking enough. The skaa might have the enthusiasm -not all of them, though- they don't have the power to overthrow such powerful empire.

Our first main character is Kelsier. Kelsier is a legendary cunning theif, who decided to dedicate himself for the skaa case. Money is included, of course.

I found Kelsier to be completely refreshing. He made such shitty situations into a step-forward. I loved Kelsier, even though I found him to be a little bit wierd, and scary sometimes. He still was freaking awesome, since he's an Allomancer.

Oh, did I mention Allomancy?
I won't go into details for the magic system since finding out about it yourself would be much more fun. Basically, they burn metals to produce powers (fucking cool, right?)

The other main character is Vin. Vin is a simple street urchin who gets sucked up into Kelsier's mess. Vin is one of the best female characters I've ever read about! She's so closed-off and distrusting and it was so much fun to see her open up to the rest of the crew.

All of the characters in this book were important, I feel as if everyone has a purpose to be.

Let's talk world-building.
HOLY SHIT. I love it. It felt like Brandon Sanderson was painting a world slowly for me from center to edge, splashing on the canvas as we go. It's insane how a complex world and a magic system like this, I can recite for you in a blink.
Did not expect it to be this easy to read, truly.

The pacing of the book was perfect for me, some people might not say the same but I thought we need a thorough detailed description of... everything.

Overall, I found the story to be very interesting and the characters extremely compelling and this book put me into a huge fantasy kick that I need to mend, like, now.

Thursday 8 January 2015

Top 7 Most Anticipated Books of 2015 | Listopia

Another Year is here to bring us more fantastic books to read!

Today I'm bringing you my top 7 most anticipated books of 2015!!
Even though I have like 40 something books I'm anticipating... I'll probably make a Goodreads shelf of all of them so stay tuned for that!

Listopia begins!

Invaded (Alienated #2)

Goodreads

The sequel to Alienated! I just really can't wait for this after what happened in the first book.. Damn, that cover...

Six Of Crows

No cover for this one yet unfortunately, but Leigh Bardugo?
Yes Please.
Grisha World?
Gimme now.This book is the first book in a spin-off series for The Grisha trilogy, which is one of my favorite trilogies ever.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Pages