Sunday 25 January 2015

The Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard


I have been excited for this book for SO LONG.  I didn't even know what it was about when I got excited about it. But Twitter showed me about its existence and I just knew it would be good. So... good job, marketers. I am putty in your hands. I was recently telling my husband about how exceedingly badly I wanted to read this book and the wait for its release was killing me... and then he was like 'Oh, that book? I have an ARC of that'. Oh. Great. So I've been sitting here drooling over this book I could have been reading for the last two months... Thanks, husband.

Anyways. I finally did get my hands on it, and slightly ahead of schedule. (I complain about the delay, but seriously. So spoiled). It was every bit as good as I imagined. I have always been a reader but the first books I really remember being a fan of and consciously seeking more of were the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce. So, I have a little bit of a soft spot and passion for a good YA fantasy novel.  That being said, I really haven't been reading that much fantasy lately, so I was really excited once I found out what The Red Queen is actually about.

Mare Barrow is a girl who's expected and expecting to be shipped off to fight a war basically simply due to her blood, when she finds out she has more in common with those in power than anyone ever expected.  She gets sucked into a royal scheme and starts figuring out that she maybe has some sort of power and maybe even responsibility to affect change for her people. And best part? It's not over after one book. You get THREE. I'm so excited for the following two, though the waiting will kill my soul a little bit.

The Red Queen comes out on February 10th, and so if you aren't spoiled by a husband with ARCs then you don't have very long to wait to get your hands on it. I promise it's worth the wait.

<3
Lisa

Tuesday 13 January 2015

The Start of Me and You - Emery Lord

Hi guys!

[Insert some excuse as to why I haven't updated in a long time here.] I have a few of them, but they're excuses and excuses are boring, so we're just going to move on to this fantastic book that I am so excited about.

I devoured this book. I'd been in a bit of a reading slump, and I was fortunate enough to steal Brian's classroom ARC for a day. And that's all I really needed because it was amazing and I couldn't put it down.  It's about a girl named Paige who feels like she has become defined by the death of her boyfriend, whom she hadn't really been seeing that long, and how she decides on a list of things she needs to do to get back to herself.  In completing her list, she ends up with some new friends, a new club, and learning a heck of a lot about who she is and who she can be.

I just... died over this book. It was such an amazing read. In fact, in writing this, I feel like I need to read it again, because seriously. Why deny myself the joy. The characters in this book feel so incredibly real and flawed. I love flawed characters. I love when they realize their flaws. I love when they grow. There's so much to be learned from this book but it's not one of those 'hey, I'm TEACHING YOU THINGS' books.  I feel like I'm gushing. Am I gushing? Good. It deserves the gush.

Anyways, this book is coming out in March, and it should be very high on your 2015 reads list. I promise you won't regret it.

<3
Lisa