This is one of the prettiest book covers! <3 Unfortunately, I didn't care for the inside as much as I thought I would. I think I need to take a few days off from reading. I might be heading into a slump. 

This is a big book and with that I felt bored a lot. The pacing was just so slow. I really loved the beginning of the story, when they were kids. I found it really interesting and was expecting a lot more when they were older. 

Unfortunately, I really disliked Radu. I could not get over his constant love struck thoughts. The whole book he's doing everything and anything because he's so in love with Mehmed. He even knows that Mehmed and his sister, Lada have a thing. Yet, he turns to hate his sister and STILL fall all over Mehmed. Um, dude... it takes two! I just got really tired of reading the same thing over, how much he loved Mehmed. He could do no wrong in his eyes. Yup, Mehmed does plent wrong. 

Lada on the other hand was my favorite character! She is brutal and yet she does not let love stand in her way. She sticks to who she is and what she wants. She will break her own heart, if it's to do what she feels is right, for her.  She's strong and fierce but still able to love. She has a different way of thinking that was nice and refreshing. She takes what she wants and has no regrets. I was constantly rooting for her! I wish that we would have gotten only her POV and I probably would have loved this book so much more. She was a rather entertaining and interesting character to read. 

By the end of the book, I really disliked Mehmed too. I really do think he knew how both Radu and Lada felt and kind of played it to his advantage, especially Radu. He sometimes pushed the boundary with him. I was really annoyed about how he loved Lada so much but still was popping out kids with his "concubines" every 5 minutes. It's "duty," Please *rolls eyes* I just didn't really care what happened to him, either way. 

I think that White did a great job writing about Eastern Europe and all the religious aspects. Although, she did not impress me with all the politics. It took a huge chunk of the book and I felt like I was just reading the same words over and over. It was really boring and I found myself wanting to not continue. I will not be reading the rest of the series. I liked this book okay but not enough to continue. At least, this is one book off my actual book shelf completed! Yay!

I was really excited to start this series. I have been putting it off for far too long. I went on vacation and thought, what the perfect series to start!



I am so sad to say that I was a bit disappointed. There was so much hype about this book, that I was a tad let down. The good thing, is that the second book is doing better for me. ;-)



We start off with Celaena imprisoned and her thinking she's going to die. We then find out that the Prince is there to take her, so she can be his fathers Champion. Such an amazing premise and there could have been so much out of this book. I felt like the story just dragged on and on. I was waiting for some awesome action and for the story to pick up. Don't get me wrong, it's good but not great. I was finding myself a little bored with the story at some points. It finally started to pick up at the end. There was so much of the middle that could have just been cut out. I'm intruiged about all the magic that's starting to happen and what Celaena's roll will be. There's a lot of potential. I hope it gets as amazing as everyone is talking about. I need a lot more movement character and plot wise.



I did love Celaena and I think there's a lot more to her than we know. Maybe even more than she knows. I also really liked how she is so independent and doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. I love her sass too. It should be interesting to see how her relationship grows with Westall and the Prince. This is a good book and I'm expecting it to really take off in book two.



I'm a tad bit annoyed that there is ANOTHER love triangle. Come on!! I'm not even sure, who I want her to end up with. Maybe the second book will help with that.

2.75/5 stars

Okay, I'm going to be honest here... I bought this from a clearance bin because the author has the same name as my husband. LOL. It has been sitting on my shelf for years but it fits into a reading challenge. I made myself finally open it up.

I haven't read anything by this author and had no idea what to expect going in. I just knew that it was about Vampires. I also didn't know that it was second in a series but I didn't feel lost at all. It does a great job of recapping what happened in the first book.

This is about a vampire, Jody, who turns her love slave, "minion" into a vampire. Basically, it's about him figuring out his new vampire life and them running from a bunch of people. Another "minion" (human to do their day chores) is chosen and this is where things kind of get crazy for me.

The narrative is switched up with her recounts in a diary. She wildly exaggerates and her language is just way too disturbing for me. See the problem is, it confuses on me on what is actually happening and what she has made up in mind. Sometimes you get what happened from another persons point of view and sometimes you don't. It just felt really sloppy to me.

It's a quick read and I got through rather quickly. The story is quite interesting. There is a lot of humor and I found it funny. There's a part in this book, about Jody and an elderly man, and it's actually quite beautiful.

I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it. I liked it enough to finish it rather quickly. I will not be picking up anything by this author. I don't think his writing style is quite my thing.

Sorry to my husband, who was hoping this was a masterpiece, since it has his name on it. :-D


Books Are The New Black

I have finally gotten to this book! So many people were raving about it and I just had to know why.

I really enjoyed the setting. I don't know why but I love boarding school type books. I really was skeptical about how Stevie was going to make connections to a cold case. Turns out there's some new things happening. The thing is, I have so many more questions than answers.

I really liked Stevie. I loved her mind and the way she was able to see people and situations. I love Sherlock and she really reminded me of him, in the detective skills. I also like how she brought anxiety to light. This is a trend that I can get behind. Everyone has anxiety on some scale but a lot of people don't think it's a "real" thing. It most certainly is!

I loved how this wasn't revolving around romance. There is a small romance that forms with Stevie and a class mate. I am kinda laughing so hard at that ending though... Go figure! I'm not really sure how I feel about this book not tying up any loose ends. I didn't realize this was a mystery that wouldn't be tied up for several books. I just figured it was a series of different mysteries. I'm not a huge fan of waiting a year for any answers! I feel like it was more of an open ending instead of a big cliffhanger.

I loved Nate. Oh my gosh.. he's someone who I totally didn't think would make a big impact. I love when he becomes a real friend to Stevie and helps her. Ahh! I just really can't wait to learn more about him.

Overall, this was a fun and quick read. I can't wait to read the next book but I might wait until the series is finished.

You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black

I DID IT. FINALLY.

Gosh, this was a journey that took over a year! It’s not really because of the content but life got in the way. Plus, the shear size of this book is extremely intimidating. I also watched season 3, which follows this book, and I wasn’t the biggest fan. It’s a great show but season 3 was just okay for me. Thankfully, the book was better!

I’m not sure I have ever met anyone that knows this series and doesn’t love Jamie. I think he was my favorite part of this book. He went through SO much in this book. His journey is rough and very difficult. He’s always running from some sort of law. The best part, he NEVER gives up. Yes, he comes close but he always finds a way.

I think the hardest part of this book for me was that there was so much separation between Jamie and Claire. I guess, when they found each other, I shouldn’t have expected all roses. Still though. This was a lot of them trying to re-discover each other and at times, it was very painful.

There are some parts of this book that really did drag on a bit. I mean it’s over 1000 pages! The end of the book got a bit weird for me. I remember it being a bit weird in the show and there’s like 500 times more detail. I found myself kind of skimming that part.

There’s a lot of adventure, love, history, tragedy, violence and some humor in this book. I really did find myself enjoying it, once I really sat down to do it. I am looking forward to the next book, which I didn’t think would happen. I’m really glad that I read this because there’s so much the show misses that I think is a bit important. I can’t wait to see where Jamie and Claire go next. I have not started season 4 yet!

You can see my reviews here: Books Are The New Black