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BOOK REVIEW – The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

August 13, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

The One (The Selection #3)
by Kiera Cass
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Maxon broke the kiss and looked at me. “You’re so pretty when you’re a mess.”
I laughed nervously. “Thank you. For that and for the rain and for not giving up.”
He ran his fingers along my cheek and nose and chin. “You’re worth it. I don’t think you get that. You’re worth it to me.”

Ummmm…Could that have BEEN any more perfect?? No, no it couldn’t have, Chandler. All joking aside (it’s early yet, I’m sure there’s more to come despite my resolve) I don’t think the author could have wrapped this up any better than she did. I think many of us, me and my friends especially, were worried about the whole love triangle thing and America’s lack of solidity for one man or another. The biggest, and really only, obstacle America and Maxon have faced throughout this trilogy has been
her
. Honestly. From book one on, Maxon has shown favoritism and has really only had eyes for America…but her lack of a dominating preference for one man or the other has stretched this series into an agsty, anger inducing trilogy where we as readers beg her to choose Maxon, choose the vulnerable prince standing right before her who would lay his life on the line for her…but to no avail.

I think you know how I detest looking like a fool. But still I do. For you.

I can say with absolute honesty that I have always adored both Maxon and Aspen, but have always been partial, okay okay-and obsessed, with Maxon, and have also loved America. I know she’s made some stupid decisions, I KNOW that. But she is young. She never wanted to be at the palace in the first place, and she was hurt that the guy she wanted to marry wanted her in the selection-there are, OF COURSE, going to be residual feelings for her first love and a fear of the unknown-she’s only ever wanted one thing and now she has a chance to become a princess and to rule over a whole country. It’s a lot to process and a lot to take in-no girl at that age would feel comfortable being PUSHED into that lifestyle. NO ONE would. And, more than that, she has always stood her ground. She has fucked up royally (Muahaha) and she has made so many mistakes when it comes to Maxon that I can’t even count the number of times I was shaking my Ipad in frustration…but one thing I will always stand by her on was her will to do
what was right and just.
A lot of people would disagree with me, saying it stunted the growth and progression of love and sacrifice for the story-but not me. I loved that stubbornness about her and ultimately, Maxon (and Aspen, for that matter) loved it too. Why should she change who she is?

All my anger made sense. I wanted everything from him and everything for him, because I wanted every piece of him. It was infuriating that everyone had to have their hands on this-the girls, his parents, even Aspen. So many conditions and opinions and obligations surrounded us, and I hated Maxon because they came with him.
And I loved him even so.

Having said all that-I wanted to kill her once or twice. Come on, I still get frustrated. She did do some irresponsible things in this story, maybe a little less dramatic than the former two novels, but she still made mistakes. But without these mistakes, the story wouldn’t have been able to stand on it’s own-who wants a PERFECT story? Well, I don’t. I used to, but I’ve discovered the best kind of love stories are worth the wait, and that never was more the case than now. I adored every bit of angst, and HEY!, peril this author threw at me, even when it was tough. It’s the difficult moments in life that make the happy ones all the sweeter. I’ll stand by that.

“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But sometimes it’s about what you want to do, not what you have to do.”
Our eyes met, and I realized that he did a lot for me out of simply wanting to. Giving me pants when I wasn’t allowed to wear them, bringing me a bracelet from the other side of the world…

One recurring theme, as well, in these stories was letting go of your first love. Now, I know we have all had our first relationships, first dates, lost romances, but I’m talking true love, that first person you couldn’t imagine your life without. And I can’t say that that didn’t make me tear up more than once. I LOVED Maxon-ADORED him even, but I found so many parallels in this story to my current life (not the royalty selection or love triangle-duh) that I couldn’t look past how hard it is for America to move on-and maybe that’s why I identified with her so much. I love my boyfriend of almost 8 years DEARLY, and I know that’s a little different, but every time she talked about the penny, or the uniform button bracelet, or seeing Aspen with someone else, it killed me a little inside, because I’ve had many similar thoughts-you just never know what could happen. She is wrong to have held on so long, but I do get it, and I can’t hate her for it. So when she and Aspen talk about things throughout this book, it really touched me in ways I didn’t realize it would-maybe we all hold onto something that we just can’t let go…and we never know what will happen if we do.

“I’m just realizing, Mer, that no matter what happens…there will always be a string tying you to me. I’ll never not worry about you, I’ll never not care about what you do. You’ll always be something to me.”

Even more shocking, in this novel, though, were the relationships the girls formed. My God, if someone had told me that Celeste would become my favorite friend for America, I would have slapped them and told them to get a grip. I still don’t like Kriss, and I still didn’t like that Maxon had to spend time with them, but as a group, I started to love the girls almost as much as the story. And, dare I say that Celeste made the moments without Maxon actually bearable? More than once I teared up for America and Celeste’s newly found bond and all the relationships the girls formed. We see old friends, family members, tragedy….it’s all there. I just couldn’t believe the amount of heart built into this story.

She shook her head . “I didn’t stand a chance, did I? It’s been you the whole time.”
“Not only me,” I admitted. “Kriss. She’s at the top, too.”
“Do you need me to break her leg? I could make it happen.” She chuckled to herself. “I’m kidding.”

-Celeste 😛 (Did I mention I LOVE her?)

I know I keep going, but there were so many elements that worked in this final installment that I can’t help but to gush and shove it all in your faces….I mean, HOW did this author know what I craved? I didn’t think that this series, these stories, this AUTHOR had it in her to do some nasty things and finally let some rebels in on some action-but she did. I didn’t think when I wrote my pre-review below that rebels would actually make a large appearance in the story, but they did. And, what’s worse, they kind of succeeded. It was a bloodbath, and not everyone made it. It wasn’t candy-coated (at least, not the way I would have imagined) and I even managed to get a bit misty-eyed more than once. I don’t know. I guess I’m just…speechless? Yeah, shocked and speechless. I never would have thought.

Kriss giggled. “None of us are Amberly, are we?”
“I like shocking people too much,” Celeste said with a smile.
“And I’d rather hide than do half the things she has to.” Elise ducked her head.
“I’m too wild.” I shrugged my shoulders, embracing my faults.
“I’ll never have her confidence,” Kriss mourned.

And then there’s Maxon. Perfect, adoring, scarred, emotionally vulnerable Maxon. He is the start of all of my Prince crushes and still holds a high ranking on my prince lovers list, and I will never forget him. He is sweet, kind, caring, devoted, and loyal. It’s no secret that if, in book one, he knew America would have him and only him from the start, he would have called it all off and chosen her. Things have changed and he has to give other girls a chance, as painful as it is for us to read, but he will always have a special soft spot for America, the girl who, upon meeting him, yelled at him for no reason at all. He would stand against a whole nation to keep her in the selection and even stand against the person he fears most-his father. No matter the circumstance, he was always there for her-no matter how many times she has broken his heart as he layed it out in the open, bare for her. I loved loved loved him and wanted nothing more than for him to be happy, and here we are at the end of the series and, I THINK, he will finally and truly be happy.

We were nose to nose by then. “Oh, I know. I don’t intend on giving you things. Well,” he amended, “I do intend on giving you things, but that’s not what I mean. I’m going to love you more than any man has ever loved a woman, more than you ever dreamed you could be loved. I promise you that.”

There were many obstacles America had to overcome-The King’s hate for her, making the people love her, finally choosing what man she wants to spend her life with (As long as everyone came out a winner, I’d be okay with most of the coupling…), and staying alive against rebel attacks. There are also some internal battles, and those are hurdles she had to overcome herself, but I think she handled them all with as much poise and grace as she could muster, and I was proud to follow her on this journey: this journey to become the woman she was destined to be, and the journey to find where her heart and soul truly belong.

Final thoughts? I loved it.

Oh….and they lived happily ever after.

THE END.

…this is what it’s like; this is how it feels when you fall.

**************************

OMG TUESDAY, TUESDAY, TUESDAY!!!!!! CAN YOU PLEEEAASSSEEEEEE GET HERE SOONER????!!!!

So, here’s how it’s guna go….Maxon and America will work their shit out. Maxon will, ONCE AGAIN, realize no one else is good enough-not even that prissy, goody-two-shoes Kriss-and propose to her VERY soon.

The rebels will release a full on attack…and Kriss will be caught in the mayhem and die a slow and painful death…

and Celeste?? She’ll disappear never to be heard from again. (But, OF COURSE, she will have died an even SLOWER, MORE PAINFUL death than Kriss, all while Maxon and America were schmoozin’ it up in one of the safe houses. 😛

The King will be shot, because he is an old, evil bastard. And Aspen…well…I still love you, but America belongs with Maxon. Move along, pup. And he and Lucy will end up together.

THE END.

BOOK REVIEW – The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

August 13, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Again…I think I’m leaning towards 4.5 Stars

The water horses are hungry and wicked, vicious and beautiful, hating us and loving us. It is time for the Scorpio Races. I am so, so alive.

Man. I know I’ve been cashing out 4.5s like they are so easy to give…but this book just deserved more than a 4, but not a 5. And what’s beyond ironic, to me, is that I absolutely loathe books where an animal (namely a dog or cat) get harmed, and in this story, more than just little dogs and cats get ripped apart. But, and this is a massive BUT, I think that Maggie’s writing just makes me so happy that I just can’t help but to love everything she produces. Thus far I’d have to say that her Raven Boys series holds my heart, but with this thrilling and absolutely beautifully written novel, I still found myself falling head over heels for our two main characters, Sean and Puck (Kate).

I don’t know if I’d want to be comforted, if I’m being honest. If I’m being forced to eat soot, I want to know that somewhere else in the world, someone else has to eat soot as well.

My favorite thing about Maggie’s stories is her ability to create characters that move me, that make me eager to scan to the next page just to see what they say or what’s happening with them. I think it’s safe to say that Maggie Stiefvater is officially one of my favorite authors. Not for a while have I been moved by such beautiful story telling in not just one, but three different books by the same author. She is magnificent, and every time I have finished one of her stories, I catch myself scanning her other books, attempting to lock in another novel of hers I will read soon. I cannot express in mere words what her writing does to me, but I can assure you that it’s exponentially satisfying and I always come away happier than I was before reading one of her novels.

The truth is, I feel myself being fascinated and repelled by her: She’s both a mirror of myself and a door to part of this island that I’m not. It is like when the mare goddess looked into my eye; I felt that there was a part of myself that I didn’t know.

Puck is living her dream-she has a beautiful, loyal horse, she lives in her Mom and Dad’s home after they passed (which is unfortunate), and she lives on the island she loves. The only catch? Now her older brother, Gabe, wants to leave the island and head for the mainland…and Puck and her younger brother, Finn, are stuck with the possibility of losing their home and all their most prized possessions-namely, Dove, her horse. So when the Scorpio Races come around, Puck finds herself entering as not only the first woman to enter the races, but as the only person who can save their home, and in the process, hopefully sway Gabe to stay with her and Finn.

The island is a cunning and secretive thing. I can’t say what it has planned for me.

Sean is a four time Scorpio Race winner and the person that everyone on the island comes to for help with the water horses that emerge from the sea. They are deadly, cunning, and near impossible to contain, but Sean loves them and the sea with all of his heart, and that is why I grew to love him as a character so much. His loyalty for the horse he has grown to love is beautiful. And more than that, his loyalty to Puck, even during the race where he needed to win because this is the year it mattered most, brought me to tears. I just don’t even know what all to say about him.

“I don’t trust the ocean either; it would kill me as soon as not. It doesn’t mean I’m afraid of it.”

The romance between these two was so sweet and tender that I caught myself getting all goofy with my smiles when I thought no one was looking and highlighting more than I probably ever should lol. It gave my stomach butterflies like crazy and caused my girlie side to emerge, quickly erasing all the devastation and grime woven into these pages.

I say, “I will not be your weakness, Sean Kendrick.”
Now he looks at me. He says, very softly, “It’s late for that, Puck.”

It was gruesome, terrifying, and frightening beyond words-but not how you’d expect. There were parts that disturbed me beyond belief and had me cringing in disgust, but I just can’t fault the rest of the book for those not-so-far-and-few-between parts, because I adored these two characters and the family so much. I rarely discount these facts so easily when reviewing or rating, but I just loved the writing and Sean and Puck and Dove too, too much. Broken record, I know.

It vibrates in every raindrop, throbs in the clouds overhead. It’s a howl like venom, a paralyzing promise. This storm has driven the island mad.

I loved this story. There comes a moment at the end of a book where I have been debating for the entiiiiirreeeee time on whether I loved, hated, liked, whatever, and have to decide what and how to rate. There were two moments that sealed how I felt about this story. 1) When Puck and Sean fell for each other. It was innocent, it was the joining of two lonely people who haven’t had anyone who truly gets them ever, it was the moment when I couldn’t put the book down, and it was one of the two deciding factors on whether this was a 3.5 or a 4.5 star story. 2) The final chapter and what came of Corr and Sean. I was crying happy and sad tears (again) and I closed the book after that final, fateful page and felt peace, happiness, loyalty, and contentment. I couldn’t have been happier with that beautiful and sad final page. And that….is why I gave TSR a 4.5. It deserves every praise, despite the lack of pull towards certain readers-it never once pretends to be something it’s not, and I love it for that fact.

BOOK REVIEW – Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

August 13, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1)
by Maggie Stiefvater
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

“I miss being me. I miss you. All the time.”

One thing is for certain: I will always, always adore and love Maggie Stiefvater and her beautiful writing. I have been in a stifling two week lack of focus for books due to outside circumstances and extreme exhaustion. I read this book so slow I felt like I was going in reverse (for my normal reading speed). But this is why I chose a Maggie book. I wanted a not-so-light but completely engrossing book, and that is what I got. I knew that with my schedule for the past two weeks this book was perfect-and while it wasn’t a home run like her other books I have read, I still loved the world she created and she still made me want to read the second book with the final lines of Shiver.

For once in my life,
I was here
and nowhere else.

The reason that I love this author so much is her ability to invade your mind no matter the amount of focus you put forth. For instance: I read about 10-20% each night (roughly, which is STILL slow for me) and was completely out of it-you know, eyes half closed and slumber threatening to pull you under-and somehow I managed to comprehend every page, every thought, every touch Sam and Grace shared even though I was barely hanging on. She paints such vivid and imaginative scenes and creates such deep and meaningful characters (almost always the males are the stars of the show-she writes awesome male leads) that even when you aren’t reading you can still see the colors and breeze and lazy little town she invents….because she’s just that good.

I was not a wolf, but I wasn’t Sam yet, either.
I was a leaking womb bulging with the promise of conscious thoughts: the frozen woods far behind me, the girl on the tire swing, the sound of fingers on metal strings. The future and the past, both the same, snow and then summer and then snow again.
A shattered spider’s web of many colors, cracked in ice, immeasurably sad.

This is the first time I didn’t like her female lead. Grace was kind of one dimensional (^^^I know what I said, it only applies to the male in this story-shocker) annnnnddddd, quite frankly, boring. I just didn’t connect with her as much as her other characters from her other stories. I was shocked that I had no connection to Grace, but Maggie more than made up for it with her male lead, Sam.

Not just any girl. The girl. Grace.

Sam had many of the traits and characteristics of Gansey of TRB and Sean of TSR, the main reasons I have fallen in love with her writing, but he was a milder version and didn’t have as strong of a presence as the aforementioned. But while he lacked what others didn’t, he had his own quirks that worked for him. He was loyal, sweet, adoring, completely in love with Grace. His vulnerability mixed with his strong need to protect Grace had me head over heels. Every time he did something for her or said something swoony I became a pile of mush. It broke my heart to see the struggle he goes through to be able to stay with Grace for just days, weeks, moments longer, fighting literally every natural instinct that plagues him everday.

I wasn’t sure which of us was being more selfish-her, for wanting something that no one could promise, or me, for not promising her something that was too painfully impossible to want.

Their romance was absolutely adorable and where I didn’t connect with Grace, I connected with them, their connection. I love the relationships (again, I’m gushing) Maggie creates, and this was no exception. The shared looks, the touches, the longing and lingering sadness, all textbook Maggie. I actually found that their relationship happened rather quickly, and I’m not used to that. I really did like it, but I think I missed the slow build up, which I didn’t realize was a reason I loved her so much. But moving on: there was a sad undertone and inevitability of something tragic to come, and it made every day they spent together special, more vital that they use the time they have left, because it might be Sam’s last year as a human during the summer months (he turns into a wolf in the winters). So as the wind turns bitter cold and the nights turn frigid, Grace and Sam are in a limbo where they only have moments left together….unless there’s a way to keep him human forever.

I felt like things were getting away from me. I’d found heaven and grabbed it as tightly as I could, but it was unraveling, an insubstantial thread sliding between my fingers, too fine to hold.

I really did like the idea of the story and I adored the beginning…but as the book progressed I realized that it lacked the beauty and poetic prose of The Raven Boys and the elegance and raw, grittiness of The Scorpio Races. There were hints of it throughout the novel, but not quite as prominent as I’ve grown accustom to and fallen in love with. I just wanted a liiiiiittle more and I know it’s completely unfair to base this book’s rating on a comparison to her other works (bad, bad, bad!) but I just couldn’t help but to draw comparisons. Shiver was just way more regular and too mundane compared to what I know she’s written and it did hinder my love for this book. So while I enjoyed and would tell people to give this a try, I would add an afternote that this isn’t her best work and to keep that in mind-but that is merely my opinion.

BOOK REVIEW – The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa

August 13, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
by Julie Kagawa
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

I might be a demon and a coward, and I might deserve to burn, but in the end, I didn’t want to die. Even if it damned me to hell, I would always choose to live.

Hmm. A paranormal dystopian that was only okay for me….this makes me sad. My only wish is that the action in the second half of the novel was the pace of the whole book. This would have easily been a four star read if it had been. I want to make something crystal clear, though-while the beginning did not give me what I wanted, the second half was more than enough to encourage me to start the second immediately after. (I wanted to let people know this up front in case they know of my lengthy reviews and will not read much further than the opening-the second book is eons better right out of the gate-I’m loving it)

“One scary old lady,” he corrected me, looking relieved to be out of the house. “You didn’t hear what she told me when I got up-you’re so cute I could put you in a pie. Tell me that’s not the creepiest thing you’ve ever heard.” His voice climbed a few octaves, turning shrill and breathy. “Today for dessert, we have apple pie, blueberry pie and Ezekiel pie.”

I think my biggest problem was the fact that right off the bat I didn’t necessarily feel like reading this book. It wasn’t on the top of my list, but I read it anyway. This is a huuuuuge thing for me-it almost always ruins a story when I do that, so I probably just should have waited and I probably would have enjoyed it more. My next problem was most definitely the characters. Now, that’s a complex statement that I’m going to have a hard time explaining.

You don’t dwell on what you’ve lost, you just move on.

The characters were very well developed, they had depth and individual personality traits that separated them from the rest, and there were many developments that shaped, evolved, and changed them throughout the course of the novel. So what’s my problem? Why did I not love these characters? They clearly were very interesting. They weren’t whiney or unrealistic…in fact, I found every character to be completely believable. But for some odd reason, the only two characters I loved were Kanin, the mercurial but controlled vampire who changed her, and Allie herself. Perhaps I liked them best because these two were the darkest and most action oriented to follow. I’m not sure. Even Zeke, the human love interest didn’t pull me in until about 70%. Ok, so I guess that means that at about 70%, I had three characters whose fates I cared for, but it took a while. Jeb, Zeke’s ‘father’, was a deplorable character whom I despised, and then Stick, Allie’s friend in the fringe before she was turned, was an even worse character. He was useless, always frightened, easily pushed around, and depended on Allie for everything-he was ungrateful even after everything she did for him, and I only wish we could have seen him ripped to shreds by the rabids.

“You are a monster.” Kanin’s deep voice droned in my head again, as I forced myself to move, to walk away. “You will always be a monster-there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.”

Wow. This turned into a rant rather quickly, didn’t it? Well I’m going to leave the rest of the characters to the imagination, because even if I didn’t love them all, I did like a couple. So I just need to stop writing bios on each individual character. Ok. The plot. Now, the plot was extremely well developed, building amazing images from the beginning all the way to the end, making this a prime example of world building that even the toughest critics on here can appreciate….and oh my I just couldn’t fall in love with it. It was so extremely balanced with the action-romance-peril-info-dump areas, and yet the story just wasn’t a win for me. I still, after three days of finishing, can’t put my finger on why the story didn’t resonate with me. It was all so perfect! I am going to take a stab at it and say maybe it’s all the religious beliefs or explanations and the journey to ‘Eden’. I think it just bored me. I didn’t expect that in a vampire/dystopian book and I think it took me off guard. And to add onto that, I think it was when she met the settlers (ie Zeke and Jeb and their whole group) on the way to Eden that I realized I just didn’t like the progression of the story.

Ugh but I still just don’t get why, religious beliefs of the Jeb character aside, I didn’t fall in love with this!!! Sorry. I’m just so conflicted about the story. And Zeke. Poor, beautiful, naive Zeke. He was the sweetest, most loyal guy ever, and more than once he put his neck on the line not only for Allie, but for all the people in his group that he has grown to love. An all around good guy, Zeke manages to balance out the negativity of that little trek that I wish we could have skipped, which is saying something because I don’t love traveling stories.

Naive, I thought at once. Naive, brave, selfless, incredible-and much too kind to survive this world. It’ll break you in the end, if you keep going like this. Good things never last.

Ok. Ugh. I’ll admit it. FINE. I also…sigh….I also got so grossed out. There. I said it. I felt a little dark on a couple sequences and they just brought me down. Probably because View Spoiler » and also just the way it happened. It made me tear up and cringe in disgust-and not in the good ‘Angelfall cringe’ kind of way. I just…didn’t love a few scenes. And I know that totally stems from my lack of love for the whole story.

To throw in a random positive one-liner here, Allie had these…visions…and I found them to be eerie, dark, (eeeep) perilous, and they excited me the most out of the whole book. They were awesome, and I can say with absolute certainty that book two has tons of this and I LOVE IT.

Overall, I guess I obviously liked this story enough to move onto the second and I even gave it a three and a half. No, I didn’t do great explaining what I did enjoy about the story, but I just had to mix the good with the bad because, overall, I felt what was good came from the bad. You know what I mean? Like…Allie being turned vamp, her worst nightmare, made her even more badass. She met Kanin because she was a vamp. When, inevitably, Zeke and the others had to find out she was a vamp, it made the story pick up fifty notches and led to an amazing, albeit gruesome, ending that made me zoom to book two. Soooooo…the good came from the bad, and honestly, that’s how I operate anyway. Almost always my favorite part of a book is when the perilous or climactic scenes happen (look at my name, duuuh
), so I guess I do like the darker reads and scenes, despite this totally random and negative review. This one just did not make the favorites shelves as I had expected. Damn.

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Immortal Rules #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Eternity Cure #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Forever Song #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea

BOOK REVIEW – The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa

August 13, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2)
by Julie Kagawa
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

I could choose what kind of people I preyed on, but in the end, I had to prey on someone. The lesser of two evils was still evil.

Wow. Just wow. What a book. What a journey.
What an ending.
I am speechless, stunned, shocked into oblivion…..and yet here I am trying to write a coherent review and nothing but, oh dear lord, fangirling for this novel comes to mind. Let me just try here.

*Spoilers for book one ahead*

Okay. So. The book starts where we left off, but four months later. Kanin is being held and tortured by Sarren and Allie has left Zeke and all the others she helped get to Eden behind to track Kanin down and save him. It’s no joke that book one wasn’t my favorite, but by the end of it I was really excited about what might happen in this second installment. I was skeptical that the author would take the book in a direction where I would fall in love with it, but after finishing the first book, I immediately looked at ratings and reviews for book two (as I ALWAYS do) and saw the drastic difference in both my friends’ ratings and the other GR members. So, I decided to give the second book a chance to change the course of my thoughts towards this series, and I am so eternally grateful that I did.

And just like that, my traitor mind shifted to a lean figure with jagged blond hair and solemn blue eyes. I remembered his smile, that lopsided grin meant only for me. I remembered his touch, the heat that radiated from him when we were close. His fingers sliding over my skin, the warmth of his lips on mine…

There really is nothing I can say to express just how amazing book two was. For starters, all the characters (well, most of them) that annoyed the shit out of me were gone, the timeline and progression of the story was so much quicker and fast-paced, and the goody two-shoes we knew as Zeke is gone. In his place was a fierce, badass motherfucker who let no one stand in his way. I mean, if you knew Zeke in book one you’d realize how true of a statement that is. Yeah, he’s not what most of you alpha loving ladies would call a ‘badass’ as I previously stated, but gone is the puppy who trusted and loved everyone. I gained new respect for him and I cared immensely about what would happen to him in the end.

**He smiled. A cold, dangerous smile, his eyes glittering with dark promise. It sent a chill through me as I realized I didn’t know him anymore.**

Which brings me to my next point. THAT ENDING. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ending?! It was epic, raw, gritty, and I am still shocked. Yes, for the fiftieth time-SHOCKED. I LIVE for that type of ending-that is precisely what made me fall in love with reading again and why I named myself thusly here on GR. Those are the endings you remember, the ones that stick with you after you have read 100 more books. This will be a conclusion that will never leave me and I am so, so happy the author took it there. She has gained my following as a reader and I already have another book in another series by her sitting on my reading device. I loved it and she has gained a forever fan.

Zeke cupped my chin and gently tilted my face up. I resisted a moment, then gazed at him defiantly, feeling the blood trickle from my eye, expecting him to recoil. But he smiled and lightly touched my face, wiping the tear away.
“Both eyes open,” he whispered, and brought his lips down on mine.

I FELT what the characters were feeling, I CRIED with them, I panicked and felt adrenaline course through me just as they did, and, inevitably, I felt crushed as they did. If ever I am too dramatic I will say so: there’s no shame in being excited and exaggerate, but what transpired at the close of this book was so heartbreaking and so desperate and so CRAZY that I won’t admit to being dramatic. It is what it is folks, and that was perfection. We didn’t have ONE crazy ending, but TWO. Yes, this author was on the verge of making me rate this 4.5-“Oh, that was a crazy ending. Hm that was good, better than I expected-I hope the next book is goo…wait…what? What did that fucker just say? WHAT’S HAPPENING??? OH. MY. GOD. No. Effing. Way. THIS. IS. AWESOME.” But with a simple twist of words, I fell to my knees and I now bow to this author. Thank you for that-truly.

Nothing lasted in this world. The harder you held on to something, the more it would kill you when it was gone, so it was best not to get attached to anything.

Allie is smarter, harsher, stronger, and she is willing to risk it all for her sire and now Zeke. I really related to and loved her character even more and felt she grew as a person, er, vampire, and I loved that she gave her heart and soul to the two people she now loves most in the world. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking to see her struggles from within and desperation to not become the monster she’s destined to be. And then there were returns of other not so great characters-one I was surprised to find became a favorite because of the witty banter and hilarious personality, and then the other character…..I still want to strangle. But each character brought such emotion to the story and only added to the intricate web that Kagawa has weaved.

“There are no good choices, Allison,” Kanin offered in a quiet voice. “There are only those you can live with, and those you can work to change.”

Fantastic plot, fun and dangerous journey, and a love that could never work, this book had it all. I got everything that was lacking in the first installment in this one and, as I had said, it totally changed my opinion of the series and made me crazy with want for the finale to this stunning trilogy. I am so, so pleased this paranormal dystopian reached its full potential, because now I don’t have to write it off as the first P/D I’ve not liked. *Phew*

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Immortal Rules #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Eternity Cure #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Forever Song #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea

BOOK REVIEW – The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

I think you know how I detest looking like a fool. But still I do. For you.

“I’m just realizing, Mer, that no matter what happens…there will always be a string tying you to me. I’ll never not worry about you, I’ll never not care about what you do. You’ll always be something to me.”

She shook her head . “I didn’t stand a chance, did I? It’s been you the whole time.” “Not only me,” I admitted. “Kriss. She’s at the top, too.” “Do you need me to break her leg? I could make it happen.” She chuckled to herself. “I’m kidding.”

…this is what it’s like; this is how it feels when you fall.

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BOOK REVIEW – The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The water horses are hungry and wicked, vicious and beautiful, hating us and loving us. It is time for the Scorpio Races. I am so, so alive.

I don’t know if I’d want to be comforted, if I’m being honest. If I’m being forced to eat soot, I want to know that somewhere else in the world, someone else has to eat soot as well.

The truth is, I feel myself being fascinated and repelled by her: She’s both a mirror of myself and a door to part of this island that I’m not. It is like when the mare goddess looked into my eye; I felt that there was a part of myself that I didn’t know.

The island is a cunning and secretive thing. I can’t say what it has planned for me.

“I don’t trust the ocean either; it would kill me as soon as not. It doesn’t mean I’m afraid of it.”

I say, “I will not be your weakness, Sean Kendrick.” Now he looks at me. He says, very softly, “It’s late for that, Puck.”

It vibrates in every raindrop, throbs in the clouds overhead. It’s a howl like venom, a paralyzing promise. This storm has driven the island mad.

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BOOK REVIEW – Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

“I miss being me. I miss you. All the time.”

For once in my life, I was here and nowhere else.

Not just any girl. The girl. Grace.

I wasn’t sure which of us was being more selfish-her, for wanting something that no one could promise, or me, for not promising her something that was too painfully impossible to want.

I felt like things were getting away from me. I’d found heaven and grabbed it as tightly as I could, but it was unraveling, an insubstantial thread sliding between my fingers, too fine to hold.

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BOOK REVIEW – The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa

I might be a demon and a coward, and I might deserve to burn, but in the end, I didn’t want to die. Even if it damned me to hell, I would always choose to live.

You don’t dwell on what you’ve lost, you just move on.

“You are a monster.” Kanin’s deep voice droned in my head again, as I forced myself to move, to walk away. “You will always be a monster-there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.”

Naive, I thought at once. Naive, brave, selfless, incredible-and much too kind to survive this world. It’ll break you in the end, if you keep going like this. Good things never last.

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BOOK REVIEW – The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa

I could choose what kind of people I preyed on, but in the end, I had to prey on someone. The lesser of two evils was still evil.

He smiled. A cold, dangerous smile, his eyes glittering with dark promise. It sent a chill through me as I realized I didn’t know him anymore.

Zeke cupped my chin and gently tilted my face up. I resisted a moment, then gazed at him defiantly, feeling the blood trickle from my eye, expecting him to recoil. But he smiled and lightly touched my face, wiping the tear away. “Both eyes open,” he whispered, and brought his lips down on mine.

Nothing lasted in this world. The harder you held on to something, the more it would kill you when it was gone, so it was best not to get attached to anything.

“There are no good choices, Allison,” Kanin offered in a quiet voice. “There are only those you can live with, and those you can work to change.”

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She shook her head . “I didn’t stand a chance, did I? It’s been you the whole time.”
“Not only me,” I admitted. “Kriss. She’s at the top, too.”
“Do you need me to break her leg? I could make it happen.” She chuckled to herself. “I’m kidding.”

I say, “I will not be your weakness, Sean Kendrick.”
Now he looks at me. He says, very softly, “It’s late for that, Puck.”

For once in my life,
I was here
and nowhere else.

**He smiled. A cold, dangerous smile, his eyes glittering with dark promise. It sent a chill through me as I realized I didn’t know him anymore.**

Zeke cupped my chin and gently tilted my face up. I resisted a moment, then gazed at him defiantly, feeling the blood trickle from my eye, expecting him to recoil. But he smiled and lightly touched my face, wiping the tear away.
“Both eyes open,” he whispered, and brought his lips down on mine.