Saya Senpai : book

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Saturday, 21 March 2015

The Raven Boys | Book Review

Title: The Raven Boys
Series: (The Raven Cycle #1)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Publication Date: September 18th 2012
Format: Audiobook

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore..

I picked this book up on a complete whim, not knowing what it's about, not knowing nothing. I think if I actually looked up what it was about I would've never read it, since I don't think mystery is necessarily my thing. Now? I'm not pretty sure.

As you can see, I listened to this book on Audiobook and I thought that was the best decision because I think this book would've taken forever if I read it normally since nothing really happens, all of this book is merely world-build but it was done beautifully.

The Raven Boys was mostly character-driven, which I found myself enjoying because the characters are so real and I got attached to the group so fast. They became like friends to me (that's a really sad statement)

Also, the writing is so whimsical and creepy and It didn't take me that long to get used to it, actually, which earns it bonus points.

Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Noah, all four of them had complete different stories and backgrounds and such different attitude, too. But their friendship somehow seemed natural and I have never thought that boys can actually be that sensitive it was so beautiful to look upon. Male friendship, man. My fucking favorite.

Blue was also different from the group, but I felt that the author spent so much time on the boys she forgot to take care of Blue. For example, if you give me situations asking me what each of the boys would do, I would answer in a heartbeat, but for Blue I'd probably just space.

For me, right now, Blue is just a weird person that I don't hate nor love. I hope she gets more characterization in the next books.

Lastly, I enjoyed the reader very much. He sounds like an old man but because the book is told in third person it's easier not to bother you so much that a 17 years old girl is talking in a voice of a man in his 40s. His voice somehow adds to the creepiness of the book.

Overall, The Raven Boys was a great start to a series and I can't wait to start listening to The Dream Thieves. The ending to this book was perfection, God, I don't think she could've done any better job of making me want to read the next book so badly.

Cinder | Book Review

Title: Cinder
Series: (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fairy Tail Retelling.
Publication Date: January 3rd 2012
Format: ebook

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Finally, after putting this book on my TBR for 5 months... I finally did it!

I'm really more happy about finishing it than reading it. Don't get me wrong though, I really enjoyed it!

Okay, first of all, a fairytale retelling huh? It was so much more similar to Cinderella than I imagined it would be. The only fairytale retelling book I've read before this was Cruel Beauty By Rosamund Hodge but now that I think of that book it wasn't really much of a retelling so seeing Cinderella literally as a cyborg was definitely interesting.

As a first book the plot hadn't really developed much but it was mostly an introduction to the characters, which makes me really sad because the next book isn't going to follow the characters that I came to love yet saw no closure for them whatsoever. I mean I know they come back, but the story isn't theirs, which is just sad.

My favorite thing about Cinder was the characters for sure.

Cinder was just a really fun character overall and I definitely related to her on the whole freedom thing -minus the asshole of a step mom- and I loved how she was inspired by Cinderella but was not weak and underneath all the uncaring no-tears face -and a couple metal parts- there was an emotional, girly girl.

Also, her mechanical techniques are the fucking truth people. Hit it a couple of times and it's as good as new!!

I'm so sad we're not going into her character in depth again..

Prince Kai was just like I imagined he would be.. the perfect prince. I love him, basically. (trying hard to forget the ending..)
The fact that he was Asian automatically turned him into Lee Min Ho. I couldn't help it xD

Kaito is one of my favorite names and it earned him so many points.

I think I sympathized with Kaito's situation the most, it really was hard what he was going through and at such a young age too

Iko was the cutest thing in the world and the whole time she was talking I always thought of how much I wanted an Iko for myself. Oh my God, she was seriously hilarious and the best thing that happened to the book.

I'm not pretty sure but do you think Iko is the Fairy God-mother? I mean, was she inspired by her? I do believe she is.

Overall, I thought this book was very fast-paced and easy to read. Some of the plot was predictable but it was still fun nonetheless, and you get attached to the characters so fast.

Thursday, 12 February 2015

White Hot Kiss | Book Review

Title: White Hot Kiss
Series: (The Dark Elements #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Publication Date: February 25th 2014
Format: ebook

One kiss could be the last.

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever.

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul.

But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne… it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world..

I'm actually still reading this right now and I'm already planning a review. I have 3 chapters left and a bomb just freaking dropped on me, I can't even..

And now, I just finished it. Holy moly.

White Hot Kiss was definitely a pleasant surprise. Everyone kept saying it was a Paranormal Romance but I felt it was so much more than that. Urban Fantasy is more like it.

This book follows our main character Layla, who is Half-Demon, Half-Warden(Gargoyle). And if that's not freaking cool already I don't know what is.
The story involved so many cool and unique aspects that remain untouched most of the time, like Hell and Satan and angels and God.

I love that world, and all the mythical creatures. I think Jennifer L. Armentrout did very well with the story line and plot.
I expected to just love the romance without the paranormal parts but damn! Everything was awesome!

White Hot Kiss involves a Love-Triangle. One of the best out there, I loved it. It was the childhood friend vs. new bad boy type of love triangle, see, I usually automatically pick the bad boy but with this one, I wasn't so sure.

Our first male character, is Roth. The moody, sassy and hottie bad boy. Roth is a full-fledged Demon, and seriously I fell in love with him the moment he appeared in the book. Literally, the first line he says in the book is "And you should kiss my ass. How about that?" I just love the guy I can't help it.
Though, I'd like to point out that Roth isn't the asshole type of badboy he was actually really nice. Aside from the constant sexual comments he made.

The other character is, Zayne. Zayne is the protective, super kind and gentle kind of guy. He's been taking care of Layla ever since she was little. And Layla - being the hormonal teenager she was- obviously had a wittle crush on Zayne. The thing about Zayne though, is that he wasn't the kind of friend who would be like "Oh I can't see you as a woman." and "You're like my little sister." and then when someone suddenly tries to even look at her he transforms 'Boyfriend Mode' NO. He was the kind of guy who was honest to his feelings but for an actual legitimate reason, he couldn't be with her.

As for teams, even though it was very hard to decide, I do still love my bad boy.
Team Roth!

Overall, I highly enjoyed the world and the characters. I loved the romance and the love triangle and I can't wait for more. The reason I gave this a 4/5 Star rating is because even though the book was relatively long, nothing really happened. But other than that, something that bothered me is that sometimes the author would spare us explanations that we obviously needed to comprehen the scenes. I seriously read this scene, thinking the person in it was Zayne and after 5 pages she tells me it's actually not.

So, yeah. Loved this and can't wait to read Stone Cold touch.

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 14 BOOKS OF 2014 | Listopia

Somehow, it is January of 2015...
I hated the second half of 2014 with a passion so I'm more than welcoming, but! 2014 was definitely a fantastic reading year!

I've read 64 books in total, which is incredible considering how little time I actually had to read so I'm quite happy. And since it's my first serious reading year I've read some amazing, wonderful books and I can't wait to share my favorites with you!

I tried to put these in order but honestly the top 7 can change a lot so just so you know:
Let's roll.

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