Monday, July 18, 2016

REVIEW | A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.


A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas was read 26 of 2016.  I gave this book a complete 5 out of 5 stars.

This is the second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series so I can't say too much about this book in particular without spoilers.  But A Court of Thorns and Roses is about a girl named Feyre who lives just on the limit of human lands and accidentally kills a fairy, which causes her to be taken into Fae territory as prisoner.  Its a beauty and the beast retelling, so the Fae lord Tamlin who holds her captive is a very important character as you might imagine.

I absolutely loved this book. While I enjoyed the first book, this one was phenomenal! I loved all of the characters, and the plot stressed me out so much I was so nervous especially during the climatic scenes! ALSO there are lots of sexy times in this book which I definitely was glad to be in private when I happened to be reading those scenes.

GET READY FOR SPOILERS.

Okay so I was Team Rhysand basically from the end of ACOTAR and so I was LIVING for this freaking book.  I was just anxiously awaiting for when he would come back to us in the beginning of this story.

I LOVE THE SQUAD. I love all of them so much, and my heart ached and melted every time any of them were in danger. The loyalty they have toward Rhysand, Feyre, and just each other was so heart warming.  All of their stories were not only fascinating but also painful but in a way that made them so much stronger as individuals and as a team.  I'm basically obsessed with them.

Finding out that Feyre and Rhysand were mates made me way too emotional because I'm obsessed with them. Have you ever been reading and you're thinking oh my god these characters are so important to me they're so real but then you realize they're not real and I do that. I'll say it again - I am not emotionally stable because of this book.

Okay there are two specific scenes I need to gush about before I go.  The first is the scene in Velaris when the battle takes place. SO MANY THINGS.  Firstly, the tension in my body was so strong, I was so nervous, I couldn't handle it! I loved watching Feyre use her powers and just destroy everyone and THE ATTOR. Oh my god, that scene was amazing!!! I also loved that she shut Rhys out in order to finish the job.  Feyre is so strong, I'm obsessed with her.

The last thing I need to talk about is of course the scene at Hybern's court. Phenomenal.  So much anxiety reading that scene I couldn't handle it. I'm excited that Nesta and Elain are both Fae, even though it was so bad but oh my god! ELAIN AND LUCIEN GAH. ALSO I couldn't stop crying once Feyre decided to do the most stupid (and also smartest) thing and played the part to get them out of there! AMAZING. And awful. but amazing!! Tamlin is horrible but I'm so excited to get to see this spy situation even though it probably means we aren't going to get any awesome Rhys&Feyre sex scenes which is upsetting. 

I also freaking loved that Rhys made her High Lady, something never done before in this world I flipped my shit! AND to further my love for the Squad, I loved how they reacted to finding out their high lady was in enemy territory and that feral anger and want to get her back to them even though they couldn't do that GAH why don't I have the next book already????

Okay, I think that's all I can say that is going to be actually comprehensible and not just giddy oh my gods because I'm obsessed with this book...

So until next time,
MissSassyKassie

Saturday, July 16, 2016

REVIEW | The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson.


I gave The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson 3.5 out of 5 stars.  This was the group book for the Summer 2016 Biannual Bibliothon, and you can check out the liveshow here.

This book is about a girl named Andie whose father is a congressman that gets himself stuck in the middle of a scandal that makes it impossible for Andie to continue with the summer she had planned for herself.  Stuck with nothing to do for the summer, she finds a part time job and decides to go with the flow and hang out with her best friends and a cute boy all summer.

I will be going into some spoilers in this review eventually, but you're safe for now!

The first half of this book was pretty uneventful.  Contemporaries are hit or miss for me, and I tend to enjoy those that are heart wrenching and this was more of a happy summer contemporary.

The second half of the book had a lot of interesting plot points, but all of them were pretty obvious and predictable as I read them. That doesn't mean they weren't enjoyable at all, but it does mean it wasn't my favorite book to read because I certainly love to be surprised.

ALRIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD BE WARNED.

I really didn't like Andie.  Her character felt like two different stereotypes meshed into one and I was so confused about her.  She is good at not getting caught doing bad things because of the political life she's grown up in, but she really doesn't do much all that bad.

I really loved Clark and his stereotypical life of being a crazy author. Although I did get the George RR Martin feels when they first talked about the fantasy novelist who still hasn't finished the last book (ahem, lookin' at you George!). He was the typical very perfect boy for the troubled protagonist and while that was predictable, it was also very enjoyable. Once he showed up is when I started enjoying the story more.

I love that we focused on a big group of friends and their summer adventures. Too often we see a contemporary where the only focus is the couple, and I was so happy to see a big group of girls who all had different personalities and it just reminded me of some of my summers I had in high school and early college.

With that said, I find it unrealistic how easily Palmer and Toby both forgave Andie at the end.  Andie made just as big of a mistake as Bri, and I think I was more mad at her for trying to keep Bri and Wyatt hidden than I was mad at Bri. I am glad that the end of this book didn't wrap up perfectly; it was very realistic that Toby went her separate way because of the experience and all of that. But I honestly think there should have been more fall out.

I loved that we saw a father daughter relationship in a contemporary young adult novel.  However, I did think that it was very convenient the way that it formed.  I loved one of the first fights Andie and her dad have about how suddenly he wants to act like a Dad.  And then basically after that they form this really great relationship.  In my opinion, I think that great relationship would have been possible in years, not weeks and it was very convenient for a lot of the story for it to happen faster.

So I had issues with this book, but I found it enjoyable at the same time.  I'm a hypocrite in walking form.

What did you think about this book? I'm definitely excited to read more from Morgan Matson!

Until next time,
MissSassyKassie

Thursday, July 14, 2016

REVIEW | The Host by Stephanie Meyer.


I gave The Host by Stephanie Meyer a five out of five stars. I've reread this books many times throughout the years, but this was the first time I ever listened to it on audio.  

The Host is about a girl named Mel who lives on Earth during a time when aliens have taken over the planet.  The aliens require hosts to survive, and have taken over the human race.  Mel is used as a host for an alien, a soul, called Wanderer.  When Mel and Wanderer become friends within one body, it takes them on an adventure to find Mel's family.

I love this story so much. It gets me every time.  The audio is read by a woman whose voice took me some getting used to, but eventually I fell in love with it.  I will always love this story and urge everyone to read it, although I would recommend reading it before trying to listen to it because the voice definitely is not my favorite.

My favorite quote: "I held you in my hands Wanderer, and you were so beautiful." Swoon.

Until next time,
MissSassyKassie

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

REVIEW | Punk is Undead by Paulo Baron.


I gave Punk is Undead by Paulo Baron two out of five stars. I was sent an ebook copy of the new English edition in exchange for an honest review.

Punk is Undead is a graphic novel about two men who decide to bring the rock stars from the past 
in order to make a legendary new band (and of course to make that money!).

The art in this graphic novel was amazing! It fit the ambience of the story so well, with its dark and creepy colors.

I unfortunately was not a fan of this story... It was brutal and violent, for what I felt was no reason at all. While the zombies and the music references were interesting and probably fit for a different audience, I felt like the other violent aspects just weren't necessary.

This book isn't for everyone, and I was one who it wasn't for, but it did have some plot points that would be interesting to huge music fans and zombie fans.

I hope anyone who is interested in things like that would check this graphic novel out!

Until next time,
MissSassyKassie