Think... Vacation (#2)

Vacation Destination: Origin

 

by Jennifer Armentrout

         Oh, the sun, the waves, sand, and all things beach-y. 

Little, tiny soaps, hair dryers attached to the walls, and fold out couches. 

The joys of travel. 

*dreamy sigh*

Time to talk books.

Origin is the fourth book in Jennifer Armentrout's Luxen series. It's a paranormal romance with a rocking heroine and a totally awesome love interest (book boyfriend material). Of course one of my absolute favorite parts isn't very long. It's just a car ride. 

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ORIGIN DO NOT READ ON. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Chapter 21 (Daemon's POV)

       One car long car ride into a different state with a Luxen, a hybrid, and an origin. What could be better? Okay, this scene really has nothing to do with where they are (even though that matters latter) but more to do with the thoughts running through Daemon's head:

"Kat's left hand was curled up against my thigh. For several minutes, I couldn't look away. what was it about the left hand? It was just a hand, and Kat had a really great hand and all, but it wasn't that. It was what typically went on the left hand, on the ring finger. God, thinking about rings and the left hand made me want to get out of this vehicle and do about a hundred laps, but being married to Kat-married? My brain tripped over that word, but it wouldn't be terrible. Nah, it would be far from that. It would be sort of... perfect."

- Jennifer Armentrout, Origin

        

       

     
       When I first read that I  might have started bouncing up and down and squealing... but if asked I will deny it. You may have started to notice a little bit of a pattern with these travel scenes. It's true, I'm a sucker for romance. Only thing better than normal people romance: aliens talking about marriage. Okay, that sounded a little crazy, but if you've read the book you'll understand.

     
  -Sarah Elisabeth          

  Enwhay ethay orldway opsstay inningspay... E'reway illstay eadingray.
               (When the world stops spinning... We're still reading)

Think... Vacation (#1)

Vacation Destination: The Fault in Our Stars

  

by: John Green

         As you might have been able to guess, I'm on vacation! And like the book nerd I seem to be through and through I couldn't help but reminisce of all the times my favorite book characters went on a vacation or a road trip of sorts. So of course I thought, why not just share it with my blog? Every other day of my vacation I won't review a book, but I will blog about each of my favorite travel scenes.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FAULT IN OUR STARS DO NOT READ ON

Some people say you should always save the best for last, but I just couldn't help myself.

Chapter 10.

         This is the chapter when Hazel and Augustus get on the plane to go to Amsterdam and Augustus says... wait for it... wait for it... that he is in love with Hazel. The beauty of this moment isn't even that he says he is in love with her, but how he says it. Now, I would paraphrase, but I have found that whenever people try to talk about The Fault in Our Stars without actually quoting it, the effect is a lot like trying to define love itself or explain the feeling felt when listening to music. It's practically impossible and when attempted is always either empty and not quite as full of life, or just done poorly. So here it is:

“I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.” 

- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

        Normally, I would say that I have read this book too many times to still have a goofy grin on my face and tears in my eyes, but this is different. I would almost be shocked to find someone who hadn't read the book not tear up, or at least get a little gooey on the inside. 

        -Sarah Elisabeth          

  Enwhay ethay orldway opsstay inningspay... E'reway illstay eadingray.
               (When the world stops spinning... We're still reading)

City of Heavenly Fire Release Party

Book Release Time! Hoot hoot!

Please, let's take a moment to absorb the release of the long awaited...

City of Heavenly Fire

         I'm not reviewing this book, I'm just celebrating its homecoming and thought I might as well bring the party to my blog. So put on your polka dot hats and throw on some fancy pants because I have baked a cake (metaphorically, of course, because I do not bake) and am ready to dance all night! Now what's a better way to celebrate than post the few teasers we were gifted, the summary of the book, some smiley faces, and a happy dance gif? There isn't one.

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID. 

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

- Goodreads Summary

Jace shrugged. "Guys don’t let other guys keep calling other guys. Okay, that came out wrong. Friends don't let friends keep calling their exes and hanging up. Seriously. You have to stop."

"I think," Jace said, "that you don’t want to tell your secrets, so you decided to break up with Alec because..."

“Okayyyyy,” Isabelle said in a low voice, “When did Brother Zachariah get hot?”

They landed at Simon's feet. "Take your clothes and go!" Isabelle shouted.

           

Book Grief

Book Grief

As a reader, over time I have come to realize that there is a complex emotion an audience feels when a books series that you loved ends horrifically or a character that was really close to your heart dies. I have come to describe these feelings as Book Grief. There are 5 very distinct stages of book grief that I thought I might as well share on my blog. 

Shock

a numbing feeling seeps through the body, eventually freezing every part of you (mind included) 

Denial

Once your brain functions kick back in, you go into a state of panic and begin re-reading a passage or sentence multiple times because you are absolutely positive that what just happened did not really just happen. At all. In the slightest bit. Because it is simply not possible.

Sadness

For a moment your eyes might water or you may have to take a few deep breaths to steady yourself. Tears streaming down the face may be cause for complete distraught. This stage can last a bit longer than the aforementioned stages.

Anger

Suddenly you will feel a thick anger toward the author (for writing the stupid book), towards yourself (for reading the stupid book), and towards the world (for allowing you and the author to both coexist, therefore leading to your ultimate destruction). This can result in throwing of books or furrowing of the eyebrows. This stage can last for hours...days...weeks...months...

Disappointment

Whenever you think of this book later in life you may get a small dose of this feeling after all of your emotions have settled down. You might even find yourself saying, "Well the book was pretty good if you look past that one part..." or you may just sink into your chair and slither into a a puddle of disappointment all over the floor. Whichever works for you.

The end.

                            -Sarah Elisabeth          

  Enwhay ethay orldway opsstay inningspay... E'reway illstay eadingray.
               (When the world stops spinning... We're still reading)

Book Review #8

Book Review #8

Half-Blood...Pure...Deity...Apollyon 

Jennifer L. Armentrout

    

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

-Goodreads Summary

That was the summary for the first book.

I feel as if we must take a moment to thank Jennifer Armentrout for her brilliance...

Moment over. Time to fangirl.

        

           It was a successful week. 4 books, 4 days, 1 review. And they were all good books, too. I spent most of the week squealing and gasping and giggling like a crazy person. These books draw you in and make you completely forget about the world around you. The writing was good, the characters were very real, and the world she created was exciting and different.

         My absolute favorite thing about these books had to be the rocking heroine. Alex, the main character, was witty, sarcastic, passionate, and a great pair of eyes to see the books' world through. The series was heavily tied to the romance genre, but Jennifer Armentrout did a really great job balancing a believable relationship and an interesting plot line with twists and turns and action all in one story.

         Now let's talk about Aiden. My reaction whenever thinking about him: *dreamy sigh* 

        Aiden seems a little reserved at first, but throughout the story I totally warmed up to him. He developed, like any well written character should, into an extremely entertaining element to the story. Jennifer Armentrout is really good at creating the perfect male specimens. He had an emotional side, an adorably jealous side, and he even had his imperfections. All of that added up to a brand new book boyfriend. 

        

An important side note: there's one more book to the series that I will soon make a post about, but thought that it deserved its own. 

Read the book and you'll understand. Then you will obviously agree.

My Rating: 4/5

                            -Sarah Elisabeth          

  Enwhay ethay orldway opsstay inningspay... E'reway illstay eadingray.
               (When the world stops spinning... We're still reading)

    

Book Review #7

Book Review #7

Alientated

By Melissa Landers

         This is the kind of book you read when you just want normal for a little while. It was a comfortable, easy read. Alienated is your normal alien-romance, not a Jennifer Armentrout kind of alien-romance, but an alien romance none the less. The characters didn't have much depth and the plot line was predictable. The writing wasn't phenomenal, but it didn't have a thousand catastrophic errors either.
        Alienated is what I would call a time-passer. You read it when you don't have anything else to do or you're waiting for the next great book in a series to come out. When I read a book with a romance angle in it, I am usually expecting it to be interesting. Grand gestures are great- if you write them well. Jealousy is great- if you write it well. Love is amazing in a story-if you write it well. The way this was written there is no way you could convince me that the main characters were so in love they would run away to go live on some far off planet with each other.
         This was not a bad book; it was a mediocre book. I don't regret reading it, I just regret spending money on it. It was light and optimistic, but it wasn't very believable. If you're looking for a way to pass the time, pick Alienated up at the library. You will enjoy it.

My Rating: 2/5

                            -Sarah Elisabeth          

  Enwhay ethay orldway opsstay inningspay... E'reway illstay eadingray.
               (When the world stops spinning... We're still reading)

Book Review #6

Book Review #6

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"I wanted to tell the book thief many things about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I was constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race- that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, how its words and stories so damning and brilliant."

          

         This book was beautifully written, enticing, and just over all amazing. There aren't many The Book Thief's in the world and when you find one you don't really want to let it go. The first time I read this book (I have now read it many times) I didn't want to go anywhere without it. It was just the idea that I had something something so beautiful so close to me all the time. 

         This book was set in Germany during World War II and having never been there I can't say Zusak captured their world perfectly, or that he described the town to perfection, but I can say that this author was able to create a town so heartbreaking-ly breathtaking it was more real than any other place I've ever personally been to. It was interesting seeing the second world war through an average German citizens eyes. In school I was taught that Germany was the bad guy in World War II, but this book opened my eyes to the realization that, just like in any situation, there are a thousand different stories in one.

         The narration was brilliant, setting was extremely believable, and the descriptions, as well as emotions, were off the charts. I fell in love with this book from the first page. Definitely a must read.

My Rating: 5/5

                            -Sarah Elisabeth          

  Enwhay ethay orldway opsstay inningspay... E'reway illstay eadingray.
               (When the world stops spinning... We're still reading)