REVIEW | Pivot Point by Kasie West

I gave Pivot Point by Kasie West a complete 5 star rating! This is my 11th book of the year (and the month, go me!) and I picked this book up from the library.  My friends Red and Brittni are obsessed with the story and I saw it as I was perusing the shelves and decided to take it home with me.

This story was thrilling, captivating, and so intriguing!

Addison is part of a small hidden community in the United States of people who have special abilities.  Its a well hidden secret that people walk among the Norms who can do things we have only seen in movies.  Addison can Search her future, but only if she is handed a choice.  When her parents decide to get a divorce, and her father further rips the family apart by deciding he wants to leave their hidden community and live among the Norms, addison Searches the two futures to make her decision.

We watch Addison in the month following her decision to live with her mom in the community and we was her move to Texas with her father.

AND SHIT GOES DOWN.

I love how interconnected the two choices were, and I freaking love Trevor! Talk about an OTP oh my god!

I thought the writing of this book was amazing! Kasie West was phenomenal in making sure both stories remained connected without seeming forced to do so.  I did not see any of the plot twists coming either!

The characters and their powers were fascinating to learn about! Knowing that the sequel delves further into Laila's story makes me so interested because her home life was definitely something I want to know more about.

I loved that the abilities also weren't so far fetched as a lot of super power stories tend to be.  These powers were very realistic, if that's a word that's possible to describe something that doesn't exist?

I'm not going to go into spoilers for this book because I know its a lesser well known book. But I do highly suggest you all go get this book and read it because it was phenomenal!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Talk to you again soon,
MissSassyKassie

REVIEW | Saga Series by Brian K Vaughan (Volumes 1-3).

I am absolutely loving this series! This will be a comprehensive review of Volumes 1-3.  I will warn for spoilers per volume before getting into them, so don't be scared!

A lot of times when I read graphic novels, although they interest me and the art may be cool, I find myself a little lost on the details of the plot.  I find myself feeling like I'm just reading a summery instead of an in depth story.

This was not like that.  I love the narration from the daughter; I found that she cleared up a lot of the details that I might have missed if we only got the bigger picture dialogue and such.

The art is fantastic in this novel! I love the bright colors, and the cool creatures that we meet throughout the series! Don't get me wrong though, sometimes I found myself thinking, "what the fuck am I reading right now?" because the creatures can definitely be odd! But that added to the fun of reading these novels in my opinion!

The story is very political, and I absolutely loved it.  I couldn't help but draw parallels from the story about our reality and I loved that the authors really are delving into many parts of our society instead of sticking to one particular problem area.

SPOILERS AHEAD PER VOLUME.

Saga Volume 1 Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

This volume was such a hook! It took me a few pages to get over the fact that I was basically reading some weird ass porn in between classes, so I couldn't help but shake my head every once in a while.

The Stalk is so cool! I love how beautiful they managed to make such a terrifying alien. Like how is an 8-eyed spider like creature with a human body but no arms possibly beautiful?! I don't know but the artist managed it.

I do have to say that what knocked the volume down a star was how easily we see our main characters get angrily panicked.  I wanted to have at least one of our protagonists maintain a level head during most of the crazy that these two are dealing with.  They both are so quick to freak out, its a wonder they've survived.

Saga Volume 2 Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

My favorite thing from this volume was meeting Isabel (the ghost). I love that she's pink and punk. I loved the fear of the horrors, and then they weren't even scared at all.

I'm a little lost about how Marko is powerful enough to fight off the entire group of wings that come to get them on the planet. If the moonies have that much power, why is there even a war? And it seems to me the wings are the one that carry the most power so... how is that possible?

I love that the moonies have magic too. I like that they require ingredients like snow and a secret; especially the secret thing that was fun!

I was pretty disappointed that The Stalk was killed. I enjoyed her even though she was really creepy. I loved the whole aspect of The Stalk and The Will being in love but having a complicated relationship.  I like that the main "bad guy" is a little morally ambiguous!

And of course having Marko's parents show up at the end of the story was hilarious. I couldn't help but think that something could go wrong here considering that these species are at war.

Saga Volume 3 Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Seeing the flashbacks of Marko and his parents while he was growing up was really interesting. I loved that they fought in the wars in the past.  I thought the concept of having proxy wars for these warring planets since they can't survive without the other was fascinating... WHY HAVE A WAR THEN? I hope they delve further into what even started the war. The brief explanation in volume 1 was not enough.

I do have to say however that it was frustrating during the hallucinations because the moonies speak a different language but there was no translation so I'm still not sure what happened there.

I'm so glad Marko (and his mom) go to save Isabel. I love that he cares enough about this ghost that he would risk his life to save her.

Sextillion was fascinating and weird and once again I found myself questioning, "what the fuck am I reading?" I liked that it was a planet on its own, and the topic of child prostitution was talked about in a very interesting way.  I once again find myself liking The Will.

THE FUCKING ALIEN THING THAT HATCHED WHAT.

Having Gwendolyn show up was a little convenient to me, which is why we lost half a star here.  I knew she'd have to show up eventually but the fact that she teams up with the guy who's also trying to find our protagonists was just... ugh.

I was enjoying the slow burning between The Will and Gwendolyn, and that they save the girl.  That was fun.

The whole hallucination thing on the planet they crash land on was also so cool! I was so confused and thought The Stalk had survived and found myself disappointed once again that she was not alive.

Meeting the author was really interesting.  I like that we see his conversation with Prince Robot IV before we find out that he actually is a pacifist and everything.  The whole section at his lighthouse was fun. I loved that we actually got some fun relaxing scenes from our protagonists.  The whole game between the couples was really cute.

I do have to say that the instalove between the mother and the author was a little annoying.  Like its been a week since the love of your life died soooo relax. I know they bring it up but it doesn't take much to convince her that she should move on.

I was very disappointed that the author died.  I wanted more of him!

I loved the whole ending though.  Getting to see Alana fly was great! I was interested in finding out why she maintains that she can't fly. What happened to her wings? Will we find out?  I hope The Will survives even though he's trying to kill our main characters.  I like him and Gwendolyn together!

I even feel a little sorry for Prince Robot IV.  He's going to be a father and now he's short circuited.  He may never understand that he had a woman and future child he loved. Thats sad. Once again I'm loving that our bad guys are still morally ambiguous. They're not just straight evil, they have their good parts in them as well.


I will definitely be continuing with this series! Looking forward to reviewing the rest of the volumes as I read.

Until next time,
Kassie

Winter Biannual Bibliothon Winners & Honorable Mentions.

The Winter Biannual Bibliothon 2016 wrapped up a couple weeks ago!  We have already announced the winners for all our challenges, but I wanted to talk about some of my other favorites for the week!

All of the videos for the week were AMAZING! But some just could not be kept in the dark.  Check out the video here if you're interested in hearing about my favorite videos!

REVIEW | Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

This book was a 3.5 or 4 star read for me.  It took me a minute to get into the writing, and to stop comparing it to books I've read before; while the ending was gripping to say the least, there were many predictable plot lines as well.  While I think this was an entertaining read, and I will definitely pick up the sequel when its released this year, I also think it has its problems.


I'm going to go through everything in a spoiler free way, and then get to spoilers at the end of the post so don't be scared if you haven't read the book yet!

THE PLOT.

There were unfortunately many times when I was reading that I felt like I was reading a story I already know.  This story feels like a combination of Hunger Games meets The Selection (which is interesting because the Selection is described as The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor...).  There are many things especially in the first portion of the story that is very Hunger Games-esque and the general dystopian government has a similar set up as well.

Theres also the general plot of bringing the girl from rags to riches. Teaching her the ways of court and royalty/nobility/what have you.  I couldn't help but feel like I was rereading the Selection, especially when we meet a character at court who reminded me of Celeste.

THE WRITING.

While Victoria's story was very similar to stories I've read before though, I also loved other parts of her writing.  She wrote this story in third person present point of view, which I'm coming to realize I really love in a story that is thrilling such as a dystopian. It makes it feel like anything can happen because there's no assumption that your narrator survived what is happening in the story! I loved that.

I also loved all of the super powers described in the stories. I thought it was fun that each type of power had a nickname such as "greeny" for those who can control the earth and "nymph" for the water controllers. It was a very cute unique way to describe the powers we were seeing.

I also thought Victoria did an amazing job in writing her sinister villains. I was sufficiently angry and frustrated with the evilness of the villains in the best way possible!
(Fun fact: I fancasted the King in this book as the King from Reign aka our new Valentine for the Shadowhunters tv show. I think this was the best decision ever.)

THE CHARACTERS.

I'm going to have to warn for spoilers here. I want to get into some specifics about individual characters.

Mare. There are some mixed feelings here. I did enjoy that unlike many stories with a "hero" who is different than the rest and must rise to the occasion, Mare doesn't try too hard to run away from the role she must play in this game of court and government. I love that she wants the change and wants to be a part of the change.  But even with that said, I feel like Mare was a little generic.  She's not the perfect daughter, but she loves her family more than anything.  She hates those in power who have wronged her people, but she still may be in love with one or both of the princes.  I love that she wants to prove herself and her power but her emotions seem very generic in regards to her relationships with other characters in the story.

The cast of Reds. (Kilorn, Farley, Mare's family, etc)
I'm worried that Kilorn is a love interest, and I'm not into it.  He also reminds me a lot of Aspen in The Selection and I found myself rolling my eyes a lot reading his scenes.
Farley is so badass, and I hope whats her face from GOT (brienne of tarth) plays her in the movie.  I was so glad to see that she survived the climax of the story, but I also felt it was too easy that everyone lived. I hope that doesn't continue with the entire series, and our hearts will be ripped at some point.
Mare's family fell a little flat for me, in regards to Mare's relationships with them. There was so much negativity from Mare about her family, that I found myself a disinterested when Mare would worry about them.  It didn't mesh well.
When we find out Shade is dead, I wasn't as sad as I wanted to be when reading about Mare's breakdown when she visits her family. And then when we see Shade alive at the end, I once again was not surprised.  I saw it coming but I also just didn't care because I hadn't cared that we thought he was dead either.

The cast of Silvers. (Evangeline, Lucas, Julian, etc)
Lucas and Julian were probably my favorite characters. I loved Julian and I loved getting to know more about his powers and also how much he knows about the Reds.  I felt his relationship with Mare once again could have been more fleshed out, because when he decided to leave at the end to go on the run, it just didn't hit me as emotionally as I felt Victoria was trying to make it.  He was fun though and I'm always a fan of the character that gives us information about the world.
Lucas was also just a cute little comedy relief.  I thought he was fun.
Evangeline is basically Celeste in The Selection, except WORSE. I love when she yells "she's mine!" during the execution scene! I want so badly for the scene where Mare and her duel it out, and Mare wins.  I want a nice epic death for her, but I have a feeling she might see some redemption in the end.

The King and Queen.
Alright lets talk about our villains. Like I already said they were probably my favorite part of this story. This powerhouse of a marriage was terrifying from the first time we see them together from afar.  The King is terrifying in his own right, but of course the Queen is just... yikes. Nightmares about her I swear.
The betrayal of the queen was insane.  Its not that I didn't see it coming for her, because I did but I think I wasn't expecting it to happen in the first book. I expected the power house to maintain control together for a while longer.  The scene with the Queen controlling Cal to make him kill the king was probably one of the more emotional scenes of the book. I loved the description of seeing that Cal was scared to do it, and hearing the King have some humanity, telling his son it's okay and he knows its not him. Wow probably the best part of the whole book!

Maven. okay. I need to talk about my heartbreak for a minute because I was so down for a different type of inevitable love story in a dystopian and I DIDNT GET IT. We met Cal first, and of course Mare is not betrothed to Cal but his brother, and so everything is leaning toward Cal for our OTP of this book. BUT I WANTED THIS TO BE DIFFERENT. I wanted her to want Maven, and I loved that we were seeing more strength in his character! When we see him come out as a rebel to Farley and Mare I got so freaking excited! and then BOOM my dream was destroyed because he was always his mother's son. I AM UPSET.

Cal.  Can we just not with Cal? I'm so over the wishy washy feelings of Cal.  I have to do what i'm supposed to and be king even if things are wrong???? no. I don't like it. And I know we probably will see some character development within Cal to realize that everything is wrong and ugly with his kingdom, but I'm still annoyed that Mare was falling for him before that.


SOME SPOILERY PLOT POINTS

I absolutely loved the idea that the reds are lying with their technology and making the radiated areas of the land look radiated when they're not in order to have a rebel base.  That realization on the train was pretty fucking cool.

I was also terrified at the moment when Mare realizes her blood is down in the cells, and the queen will find out it was her who set the rebels free. The moment of terror flew through me, and I was so anxious until its resolved... which of course it was always resolved because the Queen is fucking everywhere.

Cal's excitement over the motorcycle... oh my god it was hilarious in such a good way. I loved Mare's reaction, saying something along the lines that its a death trap. It was such a normal conversation to have in this fantasy book. I loved it.

I thought it was interesting to get to hear bits and pieces about how red technology and silver power coexist, intertwine, and are also separate depending on what they're talking about.  I found it fascinating and hope the whole concept gets more flushed out and delved into.

Okay time to talk about the ending.  I know I talked about it a little when I discussed Shade and Farley, but I'm just a little disappointed that everyone we cared about survived. Its such an unrealistic idea that everyone Mare had met (almost) would have surprised such an intense attack on the rebels, and I didn't like it.  I think I'm most annoyed that Kilorn is still alive and obviously going to create a love triangle. Can we not.



Thats everything I needed to say about Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard! Did you guys like this book? Are you planning to read the sequel?

I got catfished by an author.

An associate from Penguin Random House named Corinne contacted me two months ago, asking if I would like to be put on a list of reviewers to receive books monthly in exchange for a review per month. I thought this was such an amazing opportunity! It looked legit, since she had a penguin email account and everything.  It also turned out that a couple of my best friends, Sierra and Emma, had also received the email.  It was awesome!

A month passed, and the bibliothon girls were preparing for our readathon.  The day before it started I woke up and opened up the group message the 7 hosts use and saw a message from Sierra saying, "I wish Kassie were awake. She's going to be pissed."  I was suddenly very awake! What had happened??

Emma and Sierra explained that Corinne was in fact an author named Christine who had faked everything and was a self published author who was lying to get her book read.  Sierra was right. I was pissed. WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT.

I'm so conflicted about the whole thing too, because although I'm angry and frustrated at the situation from my point of view: she lied to me, she has now made me more distrustful of authors/publishers who contact me, etc... I also am so saddened by the fact that she so quickly and abrubptly destroyed her own career. She's only a nineteen year old girl, and it could have easily been insecurity that led her down this path.  Does that mean she gets a pass from me? No.  But it does make me feel bad for her.

I made a video on my channel talking about this situation as well so if you'd like to check it out, here is a link.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SHADOWHUNTERS.

Last night, January 12 2016, Shadowhunters premiered on "Freeform" (aka ABC Family.).

In case you're unaware, it is a new show (roughly) based on Cassandra Clare's series known as The Mortal Instruments.  It is about a girl who finds out that the world around her isn't what it seems; there are demons and monsters in this world and she is one of the good guys who can and do fight them. Those good guys are called shadowhunters.

So lets get it out of the way that I did not enjoy this show, especially when I'm comparing it to the series that is is based on.  And even when I think about it and try to separate the show from the books, yeah still pretty bad.

I live tweeted the event last night, so if you'd like to read my live reactions here's my twitter.

SPOILERS FOR THE TV SHOW AHEAD.

So first off I want to talk about the few things I did enjoy about the show.

The demons look pretty cool. Honestly I thought they were going to be shit. This is a fantasy show on ABC FAMILY i wasn't expecting much in the way of funds for special effects. I was surprised in the best way possible.  (this being said, I'm annoyed that every demon they did show had the same freaking 4 way opening mouth. why.)

I also enjoyed the costumes.  Although none of the characters dress exactly how described in the books (Cassie Clare has gotten a lot of shit for this even though she's said multiple times that she doesn't freaking have any say in the show), I really loved most of it.  Izzy's white costume was on point. The outfit Clary puts on at the end was great and Simon's reaction was hilarious.

This being said, why the fuck did Izzy take off her wig right as they start to entice the demons when the whole point of the wig was to entice the demons. Makes no sense to me.

Also, the outfits of the circle (who we aren't even supposed to know exist yet). Did we actually watch a Men in Black sequel? I'm confused.

I enjoyed almost all of the side characters. Simon, Alec, and Izzy (as well as the two seconds we saw of Magnus) were the best parts of the show and probably the only reason I will continue watching to give the show a chance.  Their characterizations of the people we know and love from the books seemed on point and they made me laugh with them instead of at them.

That being said, the writing between Clary and Jace was so cringeworthy I couldn't stand it.  I don't know if that means the actors they chose are not great choices or if the writers are trying too hard to recreate the banter that exists within the books. I don't know where the problem lies but it hurt to watch the scenes between them.

Okay now that I've gone through the things I enjoyed (and some of the things I didn't) I need to get into the nitty gritty of what I was truly disappointed with.

Jocelyn.  Basically her whole plot line is so different and wrong its hard for me to see how we are possibly going to get to the same ending as the books when we've already gotten so off course with the plot. Also I'm just confused about why things make sense with this plot. Jocelyn wanted to keep Clary in the dark but then gives her a stele for her 18th birthday. um what. Jocelyn SENT clary to the institute when Clary comes home from seeing demons and shadow hunters which completely changes the plot of later books/seasons/whathaveyou.

Luke.  While I love Luke and his casting, I'm confused why they decided they needed him to be a cop.  What is this weird murder mystery subplot? Why do I care? Why was it necessary?  Are mundanes even being killed for their blood by the circle in the books? Have I completely forgotten about it or did they make it up and add it to the story? WHY.  Also why can't we trust him at the end, like Clary says? Luke is a good guy if they change that I'm going to be so annoyed.

Maureen. IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUNGER THAN THEM AND A WEIRD FANGIRL NOT THEIR FRIEND WHY

Dot. Who tf is Dot. I finally was given the answer that she is/was Dorothea in the book. Again why the change. Why was it necessary. I absolutely hate unnecessary changes. I realize that in adaptations some changes must be made for different reasons. But this was not necessary. so why.

Although I do like the casting of Valentine, I am still annoyed that we've already seen him. Leave some shit to the mystery people why do we already know about the circle and Valentine and all that jazz? The murder mystery isn't even a mystery we know Valentine is behind it. That's no fun.

I think that's everything I have for now.  Yes I will still be watching the show. I am going to try to watch the entirety of the first season if I don't want to vomit every time Tuesday is here at some point.  

Do you want to see regular weekly thoughts on the show? Let me know if thats a thing you're interested in!  What were your thoughts?? Am I being too nit picky or do you agree? What did you like/dislike?