25 BOOKS CHALLENGE: MAY UPDATE

Hello everybody, I know it's been a long time... 

and I'm terribly sorry for not writing more about what I've read. But the truth is that I really haven't had a lot of time for reading during the last couple of months. In fact, I didn't finish any book at all during the month of April.
But I did read some books at the end of March and the beginning of May:

Source: Goodreads

At the end of March I read "The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden" by Jessica Sorensen. It's a contemporary romance, a bit like Hopeless by Colleen Hoover (which has been my favorite book this year so far!).
It was a really quick read, I liked the characters and I liked Jessica Sorensen's writing, but the plot was really predictable... I'm giving it a 4 out of 5. A sequel will come out in the summer, which I'm definitely going to read! Check out Jessica Sorensen's website HERE to find out more about her and about her books!

Source: Goodreads

I also read "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton in March. If you haven't read any of Kate Morton's books, please do check them out! They're all stories about two or three generations of families, children finding out about their parents' pasts and all that. I love Kate Morton's writing, but the best thing about her books to me is the fact that her books are so unpredictable. It's always the same with Kate's books: You're 50 pages from the ending and you think you know what's going to happen, but trust me: You will be surprised. I loved the Secret Keeper, and I'm giving it a 5 out of 5!
HERE's the link to Kate's Website, check out her other books!

Source: Goodreads

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I only started reading City of Bones, the first book of the Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare, last week. I've heard so much about Cassandra's books, but somehow the fact that the main character of the book is 15 kept me from reading it. Damn, how could I be so stupid?
I'm going to do a more detailed review of the whole series when I've read all the books. I'm giving City of Bones a 4,5 out of 5. I really loved the book, and I'm so excited that I found a whole new book series I can get into!
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the movie is coming out this summer (August 23) starring Lily Collins and (OMG!) Jamie Campbell Bower. CAN'T. WAIT!!!

25 Books Challenge: 12 out of 25 completed!!!

...(Yup, looking good!!)

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Disclaimer: This review contains SPOILERS! Requiem is the third book in a trilogy. If you haven't read Delirium, Pandemonium and Requiem yet, please do, the books are amazing. Only read this review if you have finished reading REQUIEM!

 

Source: Goodreads

 

Now, WHAT WAS THAT?

92% of the book read (according to my Kindle), Lauren Oliver talks about tearing down walls, I’m waiting for the story to come to an end, for things to make sense... And then: THIS. Freaking Acknowledgements. Really?

Don’t get me wrong: I really really liked this book. I did! There were scenes I loved. The Waterbury scene (Lena is so totally badass!), the mother-daughter-reunion scene. The scene where Hana and Lena meet again. Lena and Grace. Knowing what it’s like to be cured because of Hana’s POV. And so many more!

I just think there were about 50 pages missing in this book, because we don’t know what happens after the chaos in Portland. Did the rebellion win over Portland? I think so. But what happens to the rest of the country? Did similar things happen in other cities as well or just in Portland?

What happened to Hana after she left her husband to die in his house? Will she join the rebellion? I really want her to!

And most important: Who will Lena choose? I know she loves Alex more than she loves Julian (which I don’t understand, since we don’t really know Alex at all, and neither does Lena. Alex is this aggressive stranger who hates Lena when he sees her again. Why? What happened to him in the Crypts? How did he even get there? He was shot, for god’s sake!).

All in all, the book was amazing, minus the missing 50-100 pages. I read it in a couple of hours because I couldn't put it down. Some things happened that I was so excited about. But the ending was so, so disappointing. I've always liked comparing the Matched series to the Delirium series. At the end of Reached, there is an election. We don't know what the results of the election is but things actually changed in Reached. In Requiem there is just this massive riot, people die, walls are torn down, but we don't know if there is any change!

Now, want to know what I think? There is going to be a Delirium TV show. An ending like this is PERFECT for a TV show, because they can do so much with it. There are so many parts in the book that are missing, there is so much free space for the TV show...

It’s just that I’m not a massive fan of books that get turned into TV shows (except Game of Thrones), because they usually change a whole lot (*cough* Vampire Diaries), and after a season or two, you can’t find what’s happening in books anywhere in the show.

I’m giving Requiem  a 4 out of 5. I’d love to give it a 5 because I loved Lauren Oliver's writing and the characters, but I can’t ignore the ending. I don’t hate open endings, but this ending was just too open for me. Too many questions were not answered... And although I know the Delirium trilogy is a TRILOGY I’m hoping for a sequel. And now I have to call Amazon customer service because I threw my Kindle agains the wall after seing the word "Acknowledgements". I have a Kindle Keyboard and the backside got loose. :(

If you want to find out more about Lauren Oliver, click HERE to view her website

                                                                                               HERE to view her twitter 

25 Books Challenge:  9 Books!!! 

UPDATE: Books I read in February

I read three more books last month, one really disappointing one, and two books I really really liked.

I downloaded Hungry for You by Lyndsay Sands because it was a Kindle Christmas present on German Amazon... I don't recommend it. At all. I didn't have high expectations for this book, but it turned out to be even worse than I expected... It's a really badly written and unrealistic Vampire Erotic novel. But I still finished it, so it has to be mentioned since I'm doing the 25 Book challenge this year.

The other two books are by the amazing Colleen Hoover (author of Hopeless which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago).

Source: Goodreads

They're called Slammed and Point of Retreat, and they're about a girl called Lake (short for Layken) who moves from Texas to Michigan with her mom and her little brother. Lake meets this guy called Will. He's her neighbor, he has a younger brother he takes care of because their parents died... And there is an instant deep connection between Lake and Will. They fall in love with each other on their first date.
But everything changes when the two of them find out they can't be together.

Source: Goodreads

Sorry , I won't tell you why, you have to find out yourselves :D

I loved Slammed and Point of Retreat. I read both books in two days because I couldn't put them down, because they were that good. I especially liked the use of poetry in the book. On their first date, Lake and Will go to a Slam Poetry, and Will performs one of his poems. I've been to many Slam Poetry competitions myself and I loved the poems in the book, they added something special to the story.

Please go ahead and read Colleen Hoover's books, if you haven't already! She's an independent author with so so much talent, and I can't wait for the third book in the Slammed series!

If you want to find out what Colleen's been up to lately: Go check out her blog, it's hilarious: LINK

Oh, I almost forgot: 25 Books Challenge 2013: 8 Books already!!!

Update! Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since my last blog post. First I had to study for finals, then I actually had the finals, and then I went on a skiing vacation to Austria...

But during that time I read a lot, and I wanted to post a QUICK update!

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi 

Source: Goodreads

This book is set in a dystopian world, different from any other world I’ve read about in YA. Population has been split into two parts: The Dwellers who live under the earth because the outside world has become too dangerous because of a substance called Aether (please don’t ask me how to pronounce this one. I have NO idea :D).
 

But there are also people living on the outside in a constant fight against the Aether.

The protagonist of this book is Arya, she’s a Dweller and I think she’s 16... Anyway, she is forced to leave her home underground and struggles to survive on the outside. On her journey she meets Perry who has lived his whole life on the outside. And even though the two of them hate each other when they meet, they need one another to get what they want, and end up... yes, of course falling in love. There HAS to be some romance in a YA dystopian novel, right? :D

I really liked Under the Never Sky. It was a quick read, I liked the characters, and I can’t wait to read Through the Ever Night, the sequel (which has already been released, I just haven’t had any time to read it. 

I'm giving it a 4,5 out of 5

If you want to find out more about Veronica Rossi, you can check out her blog: Link

25 Books Challenge 2013:   5/25