forevermorepages's Reviews (811)

Review to come at some point. Mediocre book, but I kinda want to read the next one, so we'll see how that goes...

Rating: ***** Suggested Age: 12

When I finished The Crown, I felt tears well up in my eyes. The ending to this wonderful series could not have made me any happier. It wrapped up so nicely and the character development with Eadlyn was spot on. I didn’t expect her to change so much or so well. I had also made predictions, coming into this book, about who Eadlyn would end up with. I’m not going to say anymore, except that I was right and very pleased.

My only issue with this book is that I wish it was longer. It was only 289 pages and the shortest of the entire series. I wish I got to see a little more of everything. However, this wasn’t enough of a complaint to warrant a lower rating. This book was flawless in all the important aspects.

Kiera Cass writes simply. I wouldn’t say that her writing is at all challenging or confusing. Her stories are easy, vacation reads that don’t involve much thought. They’re light-hearted (for the most part) and that is what I like about them. Her books are a break from the “saving the world” trope that is all too common in young adult literature.

I highly recommend these books, especially if you want fluffy romance.

Here are three of my favorite quotes!!

“Maybe it’s not the first kisses that are supposed to be special. Maybe it’s the last ones.” -page 159, Kile to Eadlyn. This is one of the most amazing quotes I have ever read. It’s so true and so perfect…

“Love. Like clothes, I had guessed it was something that fit no two people exactly the same way.” -page 186, Eadlyn. This is so accurate; I couldn’t help but write it down.

“There is no shame in loving who you love.” -page 196. I would say who said this, but that might count as a spoiler. I recommend you read this to find out!

-Book Hugger

For more reviews like this, check out my blog at http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

Did I really...never write a review? Whoops.

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THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! EVERYONE GO READ IT RIGHT NOW, OKAY?????

Review to come soon. I promise.

Stay tuned, Book Hugger

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I really wanted to love this book. It's my second Patrick Ness book and I haven't enjoyed either of them all too much. The style was really cool, but not my thing. At all. And it was just really boring and not enough happened for me to enjoy it. It tried to make things happen, but I feel like it could have been condensed to a book so much shorter. 

As well, I couldn't connect to any of the characters. Todd wasn't very personable and despite the fact that he could literally hear everyone else's thoughts, I couldn't connect to anyone else either. You'd think having everyone's thoughts on page would add something to the character depth, but it definitely didn't...

I will give Ness credit that the plot was really creative. But...it just fell short. He could have taken it in a much more interesting direction, but instead the plot was mostly about a guy in a world with very few women on the run from someone very bad. I actually didn't understand the conflict too well because they kept using terms that weren't explained well at all. It was like we were expected to know what they meant right off the bat.

Other than those main flaws, I didn't completely hate the book (otherwise I wouldn't have given it 3 stars). It had a really strong discussion about the aftermath of killing someone. Todd committed murder in the beginning, and it really messed him up. I liked that look at it because YA books generally treat killing someone as commonplace, especially in fantasy and science fiction. This actually took a psychological look at its impact on him. I was really surprised to see this and it made me like the book so much more. 

Furthermore, the last 100 or so pages were pretty fast-paced and interesting. I sort of cared about the characters at the very ending and a plot twist came that I didn't expect...but then one came that I definitely did. But all in all, I was surprised with the route it took at the end, so I will commend Ness for that.

In my opinion, Ness's writing style just isn't for everybody, but I wouldn't write it off based on my review. 

-Book Hugger

For more reviews check out my blog at http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

Full review here for the entire series: http://bookhuggerreviews.com/shiver-quartet-review/

-Book Hugger

Rating: ***** Suggested Age: 13

I had heard many great things about The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken from many people on bookstagram (the book community on instagram). They weren’t wrong. While I wasn’t exactly expecting it to be another dystopian book (note to self: actually read the summary), I wasn’t disappointed with it in the slightest. The Darkest Minds is full of action and did its duty in keeping me on the edge of my seat the whole entire time. Bracken writes very well and I found all of her characters enjoyable to read about. I did find the humor between Chubs and Liam rather pathetic, but I’ve never been all that fond of insult-humor (I’m more of a dry, sarcastic person). Needless to say, I wasn’t laughing at every joke made, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the book in the slightest. As I previously mentioned, I love the characters. Ruby and Chubs both love books, so that’s a plus, and Liam is so kind and caring. I feel like it would be amazing to spend a day with these characters…

When I finished The Darkest Minds I wanted the next book right away. Sadly, Never Fade is not in my possession and won’t be for a little while, at least until I can get to Barnes and Noble. Suffice to say, I will be busying myself with other books in the meantime.

-Book Hugger

for more reviews like this, check out my blog www.bookhuggerreviews.com

Rating for all four books: ***** Suggested Age: 13

I cannot provide a summary as this is a review for the entire series, but check out Goodreads for summaries for each book. I apologize for not having a review for each book, but I read this series consecutively and found that this would be much easier.

I picked up The Raven Boys having heard about the huge hype. There is a huge hype and this series is deserving of every good review that has come it's way. From Maggie Stiefvater's poetic writing to her well-crafted and multi-dimensional characters, The Raven Cycle has everything you could hope for in a book series.

I was tempted to give The Raven Boys four stars when I finished it because of the occasional boring chapter, but as I reflected upon it, I realized how affected I was by it. I finished the book on the plane and a certain scene brought me to tears, which isn't all that common with me. I had fallen in love with every single one of the characters and their world.

When I arrived home from vacation, I picked up The Dream Thieves and devoured it. Once I finished it, I bought Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King. I finished The Raven King last night. I consider myself to be in emotional shock right now. I have just finished one of my most favorite series in the world (third from the top!) and I had only started it less than a month ago. Everything about it was beautiful and creative and new.

The characters are flawed, but gorgeous. I live for character development and wonderfully created characters. Stiefvater provided both and I couldn't have been more delighted. First, you have Blue Sargent, who is spunky, exciting, strong-willed, and a feminist. Then there's Gansey, who actually reminds me of a guy I know. Gansey is one of my favorite characters because of how completely misunderstood he is. Blue constantly believes him to be condescending, but the reality shows that Gansey isn't all that egotistical at all. He has most certainly been added to my list of fictional boyfriends and I would gladly marry him if I could (oops!). Following Gansey, is the other three Raven Boys: Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch, and Noah. I fell in love with Adam from the get-go, seeing his brokenness, but determination to be his own person and to be independent. I wanted to hug him, hold him, and tell him everything was okay (and I still want to). Ronan is similar to Adam in how broken he is. Ronan fights everyone and everything that can breathe. The Dream Thieves follows his story more and himself coming to terms with who he is. Lastly, there's Noah, the one who manages to break my heart just thinking about him. He's the sweetest person and the sassiest person at the same time. Everything about him made me so happy. I am so, so in love with the raven boys (and Blue!). Characters this fleshed out and developed are what really set off a story for me.

Of course, following the characters are their relationships. This book follows two main relationships (though I won't share who because SPOILER ALERT) and I loved both of them so very much. As for the non-romantic relationships, well, I loved those as well. The interactions between Blue and Noah, while platonic, were beautiful. The same I could say for Blue and Ronan. I loved the way Ronan treated Blue, it was hilarious. The fist-bumping and calling her "maggot". I'm laughing just thinking about it. There's also Gansey and Adam, who were most commonly found arguing about something. However, their relationship was deeper than that and I loved it so much. In the last two books, another character, Henry Cheng, is introduced and I couldn't help falling for him as well. He and Gansey had me grinning and laughing all the time. I mean, who hosts a toga party? Who???

The world of the book was so exciting. I want to live at 300 Fox Way with the psychics and their tarot cards (I happen to find all that fascinating, anyway). I want to walk through Cabeswater and talk to the trees in Latin. I mean, "THE TREES SPEAK LATIN" for goodness sake! Henrietta, Virginia is a city I'd visit (if only it existed) because the way Stiefvater wrote it made it come alive at my fingertips.

Every word she wrote had purpose. Her writing is poetic and beautiful. She phrased her sentences with intent of bringing suspense and mystery. She never flat-out said anything, it was always shown. I love the way she writes and I am now interested in reading every single book she has published. Her writing also happens to be so very quotable. I used up many notecards scribbling down sentences that spoke to me.

From Gansey in The Raven Boys, "My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them."

From Blue in The Dream Thieves, "In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them. Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys."

From Blue in The Raven Boys, "She wasn't interested in telling other people's futures. She was interested in going out and finding her own."

Also from Blue in The Raven Boys, "Fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast."

From The Dream Thieves, "'While I'm gone,' Gansey said, pausing, 'dream me the world. Something new for every night.'" I'm in love with this quote and I would have it written everywhere if I could.

This very long one from Blue in Blue Lily, Lily Blue, "Orla wasn't wrong, of course. But what she didn't realize about Blue and her boys was that they were all in love with one another. She was no less obsessed with them than they were with her, or one another, analyzing every conversation and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag, spending each moment either with one another or thinking about when next they would be with one another. Blue was perfectly aware that it was possible to have a friendship that wasn't all-encompassing, that wasn't blinding, deafening, maddening, quickening. It was just that now that she'd had this kind, she didn't want the other."

From Blue in The Raven Boys, "She recognized that strange happiness that came from loving something without knowing why you did, that strange happiness that was sometimes so big that it felt like sadness."

From The Raven King, "He was a book, and he was holding his final pages, and he wanted to get to the end to find out how it went, and he didn't want it to be over."

I could go on and on with the quotes, but I think I've put enough here. Point made: Maggie Stiefvater's writing is amazing. It's because of her writing that when I finished The Raven King, I was pretty tempted to throw it across a room. I mean, how can it be over? IT'S NOT JUST OVER. However, I came to the conclusion that there is a way for her to continue writing in this world and I do hope so very much that she does continue.

I highly, highly recommend this series. You won't regret it, at least I hope.

-Book Hugger


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I went back and finished it. I finished this book. I couldn't before because THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED. IT IS SAD. DREADFULLY SO. But I finished it now and I feel better. It's still dreadfully sad, but I needed to finish it and I feel better about that. Also I found some new quotes, this book is full of them, lines that make you want to dance and scream and sing.

-Book Hugger

I will not be writing a review for this book, so check out my blog if you want other reviews! http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com