Talon by Julie Kagawa

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: October 28th, 2014

Edition: Audio Book Pages: 449

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars)

Summary

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons (goodreads).

What I Thought

The gist of this book is simple, one group of people hate the other group of people and they fight each other to the death to keep living their lives. One of these groups happen to be made of dragons that masquerade as humans to survive, pretty simple right? Not when you throw two teenage dragons out into the human world knowing nothing about human emotions but they watched a heck of a lot of TV to be able to reference pop culture like NCIS. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book but it was kind of contradictory at times when Ember was interacting with people and the things that went through her head. 

Seriously though, this book was hilarious! Ember and Garret take turns narrating their sides of the singular story of the rivalry between Talon and St. George. I really enjoyed the audio book for this book particularly because they had two different voice actors for Ember and Garret and they portrayed the characters so well. There are some interesting twists and turns and some silly, witty dialogue that is just fun to read.

I would recommend this book as a guilty pleasure/ light and fluffy read, it is practically a contemporary novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was fast paced and hysterical just how blind Ember and Garret can be to everything they experience but I think that is what makes this book great. There is a bit of romance, brother/sister rivalry, and surfing mixed in to make this one very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable read. I am definitely going to read on through the series!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: YA/NA Fantasy/Retelling

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: May 5th, 2015

Edition: Hardcover Pages: 416

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

Summary

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever (goodreads).

What I Thought

A Court of Thorns and Roses was such a fantastic read! If you are a fan of Beauty and the Beast retellings then this is an awesome book for you. Feyre is not provincial french woman with a brutish man pining after her. She is the Katniss of her family, she hunts for food for her family so they can survive. Her sisters are mild versions of Cinderella's stepsisters and don't help out much with providing for their family. Feyre shoulders all of the responsibility for her distant sisters, her wounded father, and herself because of a promise she made to her mother. When out hunting one day Feyre comes across a wolf like creature and has to kill him or be killed. Feyre's murder of the wolf (Faerie) has brought another faerie to her doorstep with an ultimatum: cross to the faerie realm to never return to the mortal lands or die. Feyre begs for her family's well being and is then whisked away by Tamlin back to the Spring Court that he calls home. The main plot of this book is Feyre's introduction to the Faerie Courts and the Fae culture with a bit of mischief, nefarious creatures, and a Faerie that is plaguing her own people.

As with Sarah's other series (Throne of Glass) I love her writing style in this book. It is a style that I can't read fast but rather I enjoy 'drinking in' slowly. Feyre has a lovely artistic eye and her descriptions are beautiful. I love how this story progresses and how Feyre grows as a character. She can be a bit timid and whiny at times but she really grows into herself and finally allows herself to be expressive and take charge of herself, even if it still gets her into loads of trouble. I was not disappointed by this book at all, the world is crafted well, the characters are wonderful (Tamlin and Lucien *heart eyes*), and the romance is kind of hilarious to me. The romance is a bit "instalovey" but I still like how it happened because it was funny! The Fae element of this book is so interesting and unique.

I want so much more! This book set up what will surely be an amazing series with a great cast of characters! Besides there is a giant library that any of us book lovers would want and gorgeously detailed paintings and murals. This books is fantastic and I would recommend to anyone who loves a good YA fantasy or Beauty and the Beast like stories.

Another Day by David Levithan

Genre: YA Contemporary/Magical Realism

Publisher: Knopf Books

Publication Date: August 25th 2015

Edition: ARC Pages: 300

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars)

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Summary

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all (goodreads).

What I Thought

***This review SPOILS parts of Every Day the first novel in the companion series

Do NOT continue if you haven't read Every Day Go here for my review of Every Day***

What can I say about Another Day? Was it interesting to read? Yes. Was it mind blowing-ly awesome? Not quite. If you don't already know Another Day is the retelling of the events of Every Day from Rhiannon's point of view. If you don't know who Rhiannon is, or what Every Day is about I suggest you go read that first.

Let me preface this by saying that I read Every Day and Another Day back to back and I don't recommend doing that. Why? Mainly because it was kind of boring to rehash the same events from a very slight change of perspective.

Honestly I feel like they should make a compilation book and mesh Every Day and Another Day together where the chapters alternate between perspectives because I found myself going back and rereading A's accounts anyways. I think this companion novel would have been better if it started instead where it ended and continued the story from there when Rhiannon decides to try and find A.

This book wasn't a complete disappointment though, I promise! I still really enjoyed reading it and I found parts of what Rhiannon was going through to be really interesting especially the days that A doesn't see her. I would love to know more about her family and her friends (Preston is my favorite!) but she isn't a completely 3 dimensional character that could stand on her own, at least not well enough to stand next to A, her narrative just fell a little flat.

All in all this book did what Levithan set out to do, answer the question of what it would be like to know someone who switched bodies every day. This book was fun to read as a huge fan of the first book but it wasn't compelling enough to stand alone like a companion novel should. I would definitely recommend this to those who really are interested in Rhiannon's POV.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Publisher: Knopf Books

Publication Date: October 20th, 2015

Edition: ARC Pages: 599

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Summary

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again. (goodreads)

What I Thought

I am blown away! This book was a glorious start to a new trilogy of epic space adventures. This book is relatively unique for a young adult novel because we start with a present day letter explaining that the information we are about to read has been gathered by the Illuminae group for an Executive Director Frobisher and all pertain to the events that occurred within the last year aboard the Alexander battle carrier and the other ships in its fleet. The story opens with interviews from our two main characters after the planet they lived on was attacked and they had to escape or be killed. Kady and Ezra are some sassy, intelligent teenagers and handle every thing that comes at them as well as you would expect. I love their relationship and that even though they have recently ended their romantic relationship they still care deeply for each other.

What sets this book apart from others in the sci-fi genre is that it isn't told in a narrative writing style. The whole story of the events on the Alexander fleet is told through a compilation of documents that the Illuminae group has collected in a dossier. There are medical files, interviews, chat room transcripts, forms, diary entries, emails, schematics, military fiiles, surveillance summaries, and information from the ship's computer system AIDAN. The battle sequences have beautifully designed typography and  are so fun to read. This book may be almost 600 pages but it flies by! So much goes on in this book and it is such a fantastic ride!

Finally, that ending though?! So awesome! There is a great twist, that isn't quite a cliff hanger (in my eyes) as much as it is a promise of more shenanigans and good times to come! You should definitely keep this book on your radar and pick it up when it comes out in October!

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Genre: Adult Epic Fantasy

Publisher: Penguin Group/DAW

Publication Date: March 27, 2007

Edition: Audio Book/eBook Pages: 662

Purchase: Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

Summary

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

"The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.

"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic (Patrick Rothfuss).

What I Thought

I am blown away by this book! I had heard so many interesting things and people saying they loved this book but I just couldn't commit to the time it would take to read it and be able to keep up with it (during the school year and being my first year teaching I had minimal time to read during the week). So I decided that I would preview the audio book and see if I would enjoy that, spoiler: I did! Now I did get the kindle copy and audible book combo so I could switch back and forth and I am really glad I did because with an epic fantasy there are interesting names, vocabulary, and places that the audio book were great for helping with pronunciations but being able to see them in print was wonderful as well. I mainly listened to this book on the ride to and from work (about an hour a day) and where ever else I needed to go. It took a while to get through but I LOVED it!

This story is so rich in it's world building and unbelievably well crafted. Kvothe is a fascinating character and the way the story is crafted it feels like you are listening right along with Chronicler, reading over his shoulder as he pens the story that Kvothe now tells. The book is mainly Kvothe recounting the events of his life and how he came to study at the University to become an arcanist, basically a wizard to the average layperson in the story. The magic system in this book isn't as simple as waving a wand though, it is an art of different disciplines known as Sympathy, Sygaldry, Alchemy, and Naming. This makes the magic system complex but so very interesting! The Name of the Wind is a beautiful coming of age story about a traveling troupe kid that wants to go to the University so he can learn the name of the wind and be able to control the wind like Taborlin the Great from the legends. Kvothe's story is one of happiness, heart break, survival, friendship, and competition. There is humor and shenanigans but also a lot of serious events too. I was drawn in by this story and have seriously loved every second of it! Kvothe has had an interesting life and The Name of the Wind is just the first day in his first full recounting of the actual events that he has faced and overcome in his life. Kvothe has heard the rumors about him and has even started a few of them, but now he is going to set the record straight.

It was really hard to put into words what makes this book special and wonderful. I am sure you can find more articulate reviews out there on this book on YouTube but hopefully you are able to get a better idea of the story from my thoughts above. I think this is a book everyone should give a go because it is an EPIC book. I can't even begin to fathom, or help someone else fathom, the enormity of this world but I can tell you I will read any book published about it. The glimpses of the history, culture, and politics that this book gives for the world are astounding and elaborate and I would read about the history of the world in this book alone all day long. Oh, and did I mention that there is a huge library in this book? Like Library of Alexandria huge! I appreciate that The Name of the Wind doesn't have a mile long cast of characters like most epics and I think that if you enjoy the fantasy genre that this should definitely be a contender for your TBR.

If you have any specific questions about the book that I haven't addressed please comment below and I will try to answer it!