I was eagerly anticipating to start the final book in the Matched trilogy in the hopes of finally seeing what the Rising was capable of and how it would overthrown the Society. I was not totally disappointed, but I was not satisfied either. The book had a very steady and mellow pace and it's not what you would call a thrilling page-turner. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and didn't want to put it down! ❇
The love triangle that appeared on the first book is still present, even though it never crossed my mind that Xander was a true threat to Cassia and Ky's love. Generally, I am not a big fan of love triangles, as I believe the hero should be mature and clever enough to choose one person, rather than being "I love him because of that..." and "but I love him too..." and stuff like that. Instead of enhancing the plot, it lessens my appreciation for the character. ❇
The rebellion was smart but not what I was expecting. The transition between the Rising and the Society was too easy and in the end I didn't feel anxious about whether or not the virus could be killed and if everyone would live or die. ❇
Summing up, I enjoyed reading this trilogy and I decided to overlook stuff that other people might be raging about and focus on stuff that really made my reading experience pleasurable!

This book was not exactly what I had anticipated, although it did brought some things to the table that I expected it to. I was a bit skeptical at first, because it had fewer pages than the other two books and even though that doesn't define a book as good or bad, I thought that the finale instalment in a series should be a bigger book, as there are so many questions that need to be answered! ❇
First, I want to talk about Thomas and how much I disliked him in that book. And not for what he did to Newt, that is something that I can respect and understand, as his friend's request. I think a love triangle was a bit forced to us, since Thomas was between Brenda and Teresa ALL the time! In my opinion, he abandoned Teresa so easily and his excuse was that she betrayed him, when she told him more than a million times that what she did was a frickin' test from Wicked! He forgot about their Bond and how close they supposedly we're, even if he didn't have his memories, and he run off with a girl that was put in his path by Wicked and was pretending to be a Crank since day one! He cannot believe and trust Teresa after everything she said and after everything they went through together, but he can easily trust Brenda with his life, a minute after she told him that Wicked is her worst enemy. Yes, right... I don't know, I think Thomas could have done so so much better in levels of maturity and character judgment. ❇
Generally, the book didn't do what I was expecting it to do. I wanted my questions answered, some information about how Thomas and Teresa ended up making the maze, explanation about Chancellor Paige, etc! I mean, after they went through the Flat Trans in the end, what are they supposed to do now? Reproduce to restore Earth's population with Immune people??? Anyway, I really like the way J.Dashner writes, he has the power to capture your interest and hold it till the last page, but I just wanted more from this book.

This is the third time reading this book and I love it as much as I did when I first read it! The Red Queen series is probably one of my favorite series, because it's interesting, with the right amount of romance and action in it! ❇
The story features a love triangle and I've said previously that I'm not a big fan of those. In "Red Queen" though, the love triangle had more to do with loyalties that actual love, so it was a bit more interesting, at least for me! ❇
What I love most about the book is its major plot twist! I remember reading it for the first time and when everything was revealed, I hat close the book for a minute! I was like "This can't be happening right now"! I think it really set a very nice pace for the second book in the series and that unexpected turn of events, totally leaves readers thirsting for more! ❇
All in all, "Red Queen" is a book that has a very special place in my heart and I think I'll always come back to it!

I was so excited to read this book since "Cinder" left me wanting to learn more about the fate of those characters! In this instalment, the story revolves also around Scarlet and at first, I was a bit hesitant as all I wanted to read about, was Cinder! After the first couple of chapters though, I fell in love with Scarlet, she was so different than Cinder and I was very intrigued to learn about her own story! ❇
This book was like it was divided in two, as we followed two different stories that were interwined mostly towards the last chapters. It was such a clever move from the author to do that, as I found myself reading as fast as possible, in order to get all the information about the two main heroins! ❇
Scarlet and Wolf are my new favourite ship, I cannot get enough of them! I hope everything works out for them in the end, because right now there's an imminent war approaching and I'm afraid that they might lose each other!! ❇
All in all, "Scarlet" was a very enjoyable book that I would definitely devour in one sitting hadn't it been for my college exams!

"Glass Sword" is the second installment in the "Red Queen" series and unfortunately it suffered from the "second-book-in-a-series" curse. I am a die-hard fan of "Red Queen" but I couldn't help but acknowledge that this novel, although interesting, served like a filler. ❇
First of all, I thought it was very clever on Aveyard's part to make the newbloods' abilities an altered, stronger variation of the ones the Silvers have. It was intriguing for the reader to discover new abilities and also, these abilities serve as a very good advantage for the Scarlet Guard. ❇
Another thing I noticed is that the love triangle is a bit forced. Obviously Cal and Mare are drawn to each other like a moth is to a flame, but I think Mare's longing of Maven is a bit much. I can understand though, that after all they have been through and his so unexpected betrayal, it's hard for her to completely forget "old Maven". ❇
Lastly, I want to say that everyone should definitely stop criticizing Mare. I know she no saint, nor miss Perfect but they need to cut her some slack. It's one thing to offer advise and guidance and another to comment on every move with spite. Farley, Kilorn, Shade, Cameron, etc think they know so much better an never give her credit for her efforts. Especially Cameron, who is my least favorite character in the book. They need to understand that she didn't have a choice. She was suddenly presented with an ability and nevertheless, tried to do the most of it helping the Reds. And now that she is finally free from the palace and could very easily hide in Tuck to save herself, she is still out there fighting to help the cause, but everyone keeps finding faults in her, like she is never enough. Well guess what? She's just a frickin HUMAN! ❇
All in all, "Glass Sword" is a good book that is exciting and nicely sets the pace for the third novel in the series.

I finally finished "Cress" and now I can't wait to start reading "Winter"! This book really set the pace for the big finale and also introduced three new characters, some briefly, some with more details!

I want to say first, that I really like the way Meyer handles all those different protagonists she has created. Not one is similar to the other and I love it, since we have a variety of interesting characters, which leads us to a variety of different stories for everyone. Nevertheless, there are times when I feel a bit disoriented and impatient, as the characters were on different paths and I was trying to follow all the stories at once! It felt as though one book was not enough to cram all those different storylines in!

Cress was the main new character in the book and she was so so sweet, that you couldn't help but like her! She has her head definitely in the clouds and that can be a bit annoying, but other than that she's a nice addition to the ever growing crew of the Rampion!

What I couldn't wrap my head around was the fact that poor Scarlet was taken! This book robbed us of some good old Wolflet moments and it broke my heart! But, the ending with Cinder and Kai really made up for it, even though I'm more than anxious to find out what will happen to Scarlet and Wolf's relationship!

All in all, "Cress" is a very nice addition to the series, but it wasn't my favourite so far. "Scarlet" has still the first place in my opinion, nevertheless "Cress" is an enjoyable read, that will definitely make you excited for the next installment in the series!!

"Hleo" is a book about a girl, Hannah, who's in the last year of high school and her life completely changes when she meets a mysterious stranger, named Ethan. She has to tackle hunting for her real parents, as she's adopted, and also her growing attraction to Ethan, who is a new student in her school and seems oddly friendly with her. It turns out that Hannah's life is in more danger than she could possibly imagine!

What I liked most about the book is the fact that it had an original storyline. I liked the notion that every small act serves a greater purpose and that somehow we are all interlinked with historical events. Can I just say how much I loved the fact that Hannah paints! I am very inadequate at painting, so when I find books with the main character being a painter, I get really excited! It gave me a nice insight on how a painter's mind works and how much effort and dedication he/she has to put in his/her paintings or drawings. Lastly, I was expecting it to be a bit of romance between Ethan and Hannah and thankfully I was not disappointed!

What concerned me a bit about the book is that there's too much exposition. Ethan and Hannah spent an excessive amount of time talking about what happened to Hannah's parents, what exactly is Hleo and so on. I would love for them to talk but if that help in developing their relationship more. Ethan in particular explains everything there is to know about their backstories, but I would have liked that to happen a different way, so we could watch them explore how they feel better. A way to solve that would be if certain chapters of the book were dedicated to those backstories, so we could experience them from the author's point of view, thus making the book longer and more insightful. Also, that would give the added benefit of seeing Ethan and Hannah fall in love properly, because if all they do is talk about the past, it's difficult for me to believe Hannah when she suddenly says she loves Ethan so much that she would die for him.

All in all, "Hleo" is an interesting novel, with fresh ideas that make it quite and enjoyable read!

"King's Cage" is the third installment in the "Red Queen" series and it's probably one of my favourite books in the series so far! In this one, we get a more etablished ship, the story progresses a lot better and the fact that there are different POV's helps readers understand better what's going on and how the sub-plots are unravelling.

Talking about different POV's, let me just say how much I hated the fact that Cameron had her own chapters! I do understand that it was important for the continuation of the story to know what was happening in the Scarlet Guard headquarters, but Aveyard could have a chosen a more suitable and likeable character, like Cal or Farley! Generally, Cameron is my least favourite character in the whole series, I find her very obnoxious and I could not wait for her own POV chapters to end!

Cal and Mare's relationship evolved a lot in this book, as they both realised what they meant to each other. To be honest, I'm still not very convinced about Cal's alliances, it's obvious that he's in love with Mare, but other than that, what? I believe that the ending of the book shed quite some light on his true intentions and I think in "War Storm" we will fully understand how Cal wishes to proceed regarding the Scarlet Guard and the Kingdom of Norta.

I am also very interested to see what will happen to Maven! Now that he's married to the princess of the Lakelands, the noose around his neck is even tighter and on top of that, he lost Mare in the ambush, which is another blow for him. He's borderline crazy anyway and most of his actions in "King's Cage" were directed by obsession or insecurity about the crown, so I'm very curious to see what becomes of him!

All in all, this book is well written and helps with the plot a lot. It didn't bore me at all and if anything, made me even more excited about the final book in the series!

"Winter" is the last installment in the Lunar Chronicles series and it felt quite bittersweet for me. On one hand I really wanted to finish the book and on the other hand, I wanted it to last forever, so that I would never part from the characters and the story!

The book had everything I had hoped for, even though there were some points that didn't satisfy me with how they turned out. Regarding Levana and Cinder's revolution, I felt completely enthralled with the story, i wanted to know everythinga t once and that's why I devoured the book! Also, I liked that we caught a glimpse on Levana's backstory and that her scars were revealed to us. Because I know there is a seperate novel about her, I thought that she wouldn't reveal any details, but thankfully she did! What more, Kai and Cinder's relationship is so cute, I can't! Of course, we cannot forget Wolf and Scarlet, my truest OTP in this series!

Regarding things I had issues with, first up is Princess Winter. She did not really made an impression on me as a character and I thought it was pretty stupid that she et herself go crazy, because she wasn't using her Lunar gift. I do admire her good intentions, she obviously didn't want to become manipulative and evil like Levana, but succumbing to lunacy isn't exactly the smartest decision in the world. Jacin, for example, I'm sure would be glad to help, she could have him pacing in the room, or touching his nose or doing something equally harmless, in order to not lose her mind!

Another thing I want to comment on, is the fact that unfortunatelly Wolf underwent sltering surgeries that cannot be fixed back to how he was. It seems to me that he was the only one that had such a fate, everyone else was pretty much unscathed. It felt forced, like it happened so that the whole "concequences of a revolution" concept would seem more realistic.

All in all, "Winter" was a very nice conclusion to the series. The revolution happened organically and not way too easy, so that it felt quite real. I liked the way Snow White's tale was incorporated in the story and I can say that I am generally very pleased with this book.

"Under Gemini" is a book about two identical twins, Flora and Rose, who were separated at birth. One day, they accidentaly meet and one thing leads to another and Flora finds herself "engaged" to Anthony and travelling all the way to Scotland to meet his family, posing as Rose.

Rosamunde Pilcher is one of my favourite authors, as she manages to deliver human and heartfelt stories, narrating them in a simple way that makes you feel warm inside. I love how she always talks about Cornwall and Scotland in her books, she has really made me wish I could visit those places! Anyway, with "Under Gemini" she introduces an array of intresting characters with interwining stories that easily transport you to the past. The book goes by in a breeze, you don't feel bored for even a second!

If I had to choose my favourite character, that would definitely be Hugh, the family doctor. I know that at first he comes off as distant and a bit snobbish, especially at Flora, but you can sense that he has good reason for avoiding her, as he believes she's Rose. Also, it's evident that something bad has happened in his past, that is also contibuting to his extreme seriousness. All I wanted was to comfort him somehow and I kept hoping that he would get his happy ending. My least favourite character, has to be Rose, since she was extremely superficial and selfish! I couldn't comprehend how she had the nerve to send Flora a postcard, in Anthony's family's house, knowing that she was forced to pretend she was her!

Plot wise, I am pretty much satisfied with how everything went. I was not expecting Rose to get any punishment for her actions, because the book didn't exactly focus much on her. I loved the fact that the obvious didn't happen and Flora and Anthony did not end up together! They didn't even had romantic chemistry and I was so glad that their romance was not forced to us! Whereas, Flora and Hugh are such an amazing couple, I was secretly rooting for them all along and I was extremely happy to find out that they eventually admitted their feelings to each other!

All in all, "Under Gemini" is a book that I know I'll be coming back to, as I really liked the story and the characters. It's a book that for me goes under the category "escape books", because I was completely lost to reality while reading it, instead I was somewhere in the Highlands, having dinner with the Armstrongs.