Review: The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski

Hello my dear book enthusiasts,
today I have my review of The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski for you. It's a great book but I do have some (minor) problems with it, which is why I'm going to give it 4/5 stars.
★★★★ 

Plot: Our protagonist is twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett, who's had quite a bit of bad luck in her life. After a night out at a club, things happen and Camryn simply decides to pack a few necessities and board a Greyhound bus. This is where she meets Andrew Parrish. The two of them form an extraordinary bond and he convinces her to do things she never would've otherwise. Going on a road trip through the States, Camryn learns to give in to her desires and live life to its fullest. But Andrew is keeping a secret, which has the power to drive them apart forever.

Genre: Romance, New Adult
New words? No
Getting into it? Pretty easy

Pros:

• This is a very light and uplifting read, even though one might shed some tears in the end.
• It's written in dual perspective, so you can get to know both our main characters in the best possible way 
• It was not too descriptive, but you were able to picture everything perfectly.
• This book really makes you think about what you want out of life and about yourself and society.
• Personally, the characters really stuck with me and I still think about them a lot. They have their flaws, obviously, and they have some sides to them that I didn't like, but they stood out, I feel.

Cons:

• Slut shaming. A lot of women in this book are portrayed as sluts because they dress or act a certain way. This is something that really pissed me off. Sending out the message that just because you wear short skirts or because you like sex you're a slut is definitely wrong and stupid. 
• This books is considered New Adult, so it does contain some sex scenes. Really, I don't have a problem with that at all. However, I feel this book centers a lot around the sexual aspect and has way too many sexual references. To me it felt a bit forced. It's New Adult, let's add x10000 sex references. Sure. Because otherwise it would be Young Adult and we sure don't want that. Ughh.
• Also, I felt that they were throwing around the word "rape" way too carelessly. Don't get me wrong, they only mentioned it about three or four times, but I felt that it was not taken as seriously a matter as it is. That's a personal pet peeve of mine, you might not even be bothered by it.
• Every other word is babe. At first I thought it was kind of cute, even though I strongly dislike this word. It was their thing, you know? But then it got too much. Way too much. They used it in every other sentence and it had my eyes rolling many times. 
• And lastly, I think that some scenes were pretty cliche. But it also had some quite unique ones, so that makes up for those. Oh and the rather cliche ones were beautiful, so don't worry.

Other:

• This is the first one in a duology; both books have been released.
• There is a spin-off book called Song of Fireflies, which revolves around different characters. 

All in all I still really recommend this book, even though it looks as if the cons were outweighing the pros. But that's not true at all. It was a very entertaining and nice read, so check it out if you're interested. Talk to you soon and keep on reading.

Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Well hello my dear readers,
long time no see. School has officially started for me again and already I'm drowning in work. Still, I made sure I at least have some time to read, so today I have my review of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo for you guys. It's been a while since I finished it but it was such a fantastic book, which is why I want to spread the word about it. Let me start off by saying that I rated it 5/5 stars.
★★★★★ 

Plot: Our main character is Alina Starkov, an orphan, whose only friend is another orphan named Mal. She lives in a country called Ravka where there is an elite, the Grisha, that consists of people with special abilities (they can manipulate the elements). Every child is tested for these abilities and so was Alina - without positive results. Now she is a teenager and serves in the King's First Army, which is basically your usual army with soldiers, as a cartographer. Therefore she and the others are sent on a mission to cross the Shadowfold, which is a vast strip of land that divides the country in two halves and is home to strange creatures that feast on human flesh. Also, this strip of land is completely dark. Needless to say this is a very dangerous journey they have to go on and while they cross the Fold, they need to be accompanied by some members of the Grisha, who try to protect them from these beasts with the help of their abilities. However, when the cross they get attacked and Alina's abilities are revealed that no even she knew of. Now she is sent off to train with the Grisha led by the Darkling, who seems to take special interest in Alina. He believes that Alina has the power to destroy the Shadowfold once and for all. As the books progresses, Alina uncovers a big secret and she realizes that only she can save the country.

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

New Words? Yes, there are quite some new words, all Russian sounding, so you might get a bit confused at first. However, Leigh Bardugo has included a map of the country with all the cities' names and a structure of the Grisha in the beginning of the book, so it's a lot easier to understand everything. And after a while you get used to these new words.

Getting into it? Medium, because of said new words and the whole structure of this universe.

Pros:

• The world building.Wow, just wow. Leigh Bardugo did a brilliant job of building this elaborate, very interesting yet scary futuristic country that somewhat resembles Russia. 
• The setting. This is also a very strong point for me. Most of the books in the Young Adult genre are set in the United States and even though I absolutely love this country, it was refreshing to read about something different. The whole atmosphere was amazing and the descriptions of the country were perfect. I would want to live there, honestly. 
• Also, I personally love the fact that the Grisha's powers were explained scientifically and were not just labelled magic. You can tell that the author put a lot of thought into it.
• The plot twist. There are a couple of plot twists in this and some of them I did not expect at all. Nope, didn't see 'em coming. And that's something you want out of a good book, right?
• The Darkling. I know a lot of people say this, but it's true: the Darkling is such an interesting character and you never know what he's up to and whether he's this or that (don't want to spoil you guys, so go ahead and read the book!). He's pretty unpredictable, I think. Which is fantastic. I loved reading about him.
• This is going to be rather hard to put into words, but it's amazing how convincing and manipulative Leigh Bardugo can write. What do I mean by that? Well, there is sort of a love triangle going on. But it's not what you think! Alina has had a crush on her best friend Mal for quite some time as we find out in the beginning. But she is also drawn towards the Darkling. So at first I completely shipped Alina and the Darkling with all my heart and I honestly couldn't care less about Mal, he even annoyed me because I thought he was getting in the way of Alina and the Darkling. However, later on as we find out more about Mal and the Darkling, I started shipping Alina and Mal and I hated the Darkling. See what I mean? I had a complete change of heart all due to the brilliant Leigh Bardugo who can manipulate you with her writing - but in a good way.
• Mal. Even though I just said I couldn't stand him at first, I absolutely fell in love with him. Please just turn to page 298. He is such a lovable character.
• The plot. It has plot twists, it's quite elaborate and you can tell that Leigh Bardugo spent some time thinking everything through and let's just say: it turned out brilliant! 

Cons: 

• New words. To me the words were sort of confusing and I mixed them up at first, but after some time you can manage. It's just a bit more difficult to get used to this new world, but once you do, it's awesome.
• Alina, the protagonist, is a great character without doubt, but I didn't love her. Don't get me wrong, she's still fantastic, but not my favorite.

Other: 

• This is the first book in a trilogy; all three of them have been released already.

This is it for my review, I hope you liked it. Please tell me if you've read the book in the comments and if so, what you think of it. I am currently reading The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmersky, which I plan on doing a review on soon, so stay tuned for that. Have a great day, you guys.

Bookshelf Tour 2014

Hello my friends,
guess what I have for you today? Exactly, my 2014 bookshelf tour! I am endlessly sorry about the bad quality and if you have any questions regarding the authors, feel free to ask away. If you are wondering where my German edition of Divergent is, I shall not leave you in the dark: My Mom is currently reading it, which is why it is not on my bookshelf. Without further ado, here are my books (Again, I am sorry for the quality. At least you can enjoy the music).

"Be Room Cliff" Tag

Hello my dear booklovers,
today I thought I would do something particularly entertaining. Yes, you have guessed it, my friends, I am doing the "Be Room Cliff" tag that was originally created by polandbananasBOOKS on YouTube (click her name to get to her video). Now what's that? I haven't even been tagged? That's correct but I like to consider myself a rebel. Also, I have been sick this past week and sadly couldn't get a lot of reading done because I wasn't able to concentrate on it. Anyways, let me explain this tag to you. What you do is write the names of a few fictional characters on separate pieces of paper, put them in a jar and afterwards you're going to draw three names for each round. Overall I have put down twelve names which makes up for four rounds...duh. You then decide which of the characters you would want to be, which one you would want to room and be best friends with, and which one you would push off a cliff. Let's get the fun started, shall we?

Round 1

 

Be: I'm going to pick Cath Avery (Fangirl) because she is just such a funny character. Plus she has a twin and come one, who wouldn't want to have a twin? And, of course, she has the cutest boyfriend on the planet (ssshhhh, I'm not going to tell who it is, you'll have to read the book if you haven't yet).

Room: As for my roommate, I'm going to choose Charlie Kelmeckis (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower). I can relate to Charlie so much and he is simply such a likable person. I'd love to be besties with him. I wouldn't want to be him, though, because of what has happened in his past.

Cliff: Now that leaves only Tris Prior (Divergent trilogy) to push off the cliff. Honestly, I liked her but not as much as everyone else seems to. It's still hard to kill her off but she has to go. Sorry, Tris.

 Round 2

 

Be: Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter), hands down. She is a witch, she's in Ravenclaw and she's one of my favorite characters from the Harry Potter books. This was an easy one.
As for Cinder, I wouldn't want to be her because of what happens at the end of the first book. It's not such an easy life that she lives (not that Luna's would be).

Room: I'd make Linh Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) my roommate. I think we'd get along pretty well and she is such a loyal character. And how cool would it be to live with a cyborg?!  .

Cliff: This one's fairly easy as well. Bye bye, June (Legend trilogy). I just couldn't relate to her and for some reason she was really pissing me off pretty much throughout the entire series.

Round 3

Be: Hermione Granger (Harry Potter). Can you see a pattern here? I'm just completely obsessed with Harry Potter and magic. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a smart, kick-ass witch who, in addition to being absolutely stunning, also happened to defeat the Dark Lord? Plus, she is always willing to help people in need and she has a strong sense of justice.

It's pretty obvious why I wouldn't want to be Katniss, right? 

Room: Now this is really hard, my friends. But I think I would rather room with Ruby Daly (The Darkest Minds trilogy). She is such a caring and loyal character. And maybe she'd introduce me to Liam. Oh I would love that, you guys have no idea.

Cliff: I don't want to push Katniss (The Hunger Games trilogy) off a cliff but she's the only one left. Poor Katniss, her life has already been hard enough. But she has a good chance of surviving, considering that she got out of the Hunger Games twice. Now if that doesn't speak for itself...

Final Round 

Be: I'm going to say Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer trilogy), even though she has such a hard life what with nobody believing her and everything else that is going down. But on the other hand,she has Noah Shaw. Oh. My. Noah. Yes, he is definitely worth it. Also, I really love her sarcastic, yet caring and loyal character.
I wouldn't want to be Hazel and Alaska, Hazel being sick with cancer and Alaska...Well, if you read the book, you know why I don't exactly want to be in her skin.

Room: I'd definitely room with Hazel (The Fault in Our Stars). What can I say? She is smart, funny and extremely awesome. Is that enough reasons? Even though she'll die soon (probably) and the feels will hit me like crazy, she'd be worth it. I'd be thankful for our little infinity (get it?)

Cliff: God, I'm sorry, Alaska (Looking For Alaska). But I'm not so sure she'd hate me for shoving her off a cliff...If you read the book, you probably know what I'm talking about.



So that completes the Be Room Cliff tag. Would you have chosen differently? Please let me know! Talk to you soon and in the meantime, keep on reading.

Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers

Hello earthlings,
today I am bringing to you my review of Melissa Landers' Sci-fi novel Alienated.
Let me begin by saying that I enjoyed this book a whole lot and therefore give it a 5/5 stars.
★★★★★

Plot: The story centers around valedictorian Cara Sweeney, who was picked to host the first ever alien exchange student, Aelyx, from planet L'eihr. While first reluctant, Cara eventually agrees for it would mean going to her dream college and getting the inside scoop on L'eihrs that a lot of journalists would kill for. L'eihrs have a very similar DNA to the one humans have, and so it happens that Cara finds herself slowly falling for the attractive, cold alien boy. However, not everyone on planet Earth supports this exchange program and anti-L'eihr groups begin to form and not only protest in public, but also start to threaten Cara and Aelyx. Are they right about L'eihrs? After all, there is something that Aelyx is keeping from Cara as to the real nature of his intentions on Earth. In the end, Cara needs to not only fight for both their lives, but for the future of her entire planet.

Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
New words? Yes, there are a couple of L'eihr words that repeatedly come up.
Getting into it? Fairly easy

Pros:

• The writing style! This is probably the strongest, most crucial point. Melissa Landers has a wonderful way of putting her thoughts on paper. The book is written from both Cara's and Aelyx's point of view, and especially the former has such a sarcastic, witty, strong voice. It barely happens to me, but I even had to laugh out loud a couple of times (check my favorite quotes down below for some examples).
• This book is gripping and even a bit mysterious right from the start. You can see Aelyx and the other two exchange students plotting something and can't help but wonder what it might be.
• The romance! I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but part of the reason why I liked this book so much was the amazing chemistry between our protagonists. Whaaaat? I know, I know. I'm usually not much of a fan of young adult romance books, but Melissa Landers portrayed Cara's and Aelyx's relationship so beautifully, it's truly amazing. It was not over the top and it definitely didn't feel forced, which is probably because both of them have been spending a lot of time together, given that they live in the same house, and really got to know each other. The timing, also, was just right. Way to go, Melissa! Show 'em how it's done.
• The protagonists! If you haven't guessed by now, I'm a big fan of Cara's and Aelyx's characters. The former is such a strong, sassy character, who knows what she wants, who's overly ambitious and competitive; the latter can be cold and other times caring, sweet and protective. His character development was just top-notch!
• Guys, brace yourself for aliens' views on earth! It is super hilarious to see how the most ordinary things seem to extraterrestrial beings and how Aelyx observes them as if he were at the zoo watching chimpanzees (how they "mate"). And who in their right mind doesn't like pizza and chocolate?!
• It's an easy read and you don't need to concentrate with all your energy to keep up.

Cons:

• I realize that the alien words used in the book can be kind of confusing and hard to pronounce in your mind (honestly, I did have some trouble with that), but there are only a few of them and it's not that important to memorize them.

Other: 

• This is the first one in a serious, the sequel, Invaded, comes out February 2015. Melissa Landers does not yet know how long the series is going to be; it depends on how well the first two books sell.
• Alienated is not hardcore science-fiction, so do not let the genre scare you off! 

Favorite quotes: 

"Closing her eyes, she counted backward from ten to one and tried to recall the bulleted list of suggestions in Anger Management for Imbeciles." (p.22)

"Troy Sweeney, the family's oldest child, seemed intent on eating his weight in an appetizer called shrimp cocktail. It certainly didn't look appetizing." (p.29) 

"That's right, gentle readers, Midtown's population of 21,096 just grew by one. Maybe now we can justify that new traffic light on Main Street." (p.43)

"The fact that you purchased an inferior gift hardly seems like any failing on my part. It's common knowledge that shiny rocks are preferred among human females." (p.67)

"'Let's not talk about me anymore', she said, resolving to lay off the carbs, starting tomorrow. Wait, tomorrow was pasta night. She'd lay off the carbs Wednesday [...] And that tragically neglected breakfast had been Mom's throat-choking, triple chocolate chip pancakes - manna from heaven, proof that God loved her and wanted her to be happy. To hell with cutting carbs. Life was too short for that nonsense." (p.73)

"Cara shook her head at their orange-streaked faces. Friends didn't let friends abuse self-tanning spray." (p.79)

That was just a little taste of the epicness of this book. If you're still hesitant, just go pick it up, you won't regret it.  

Have you read Alienated yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Be sure to let me knoooow!

Favorite Books of 2014

Hi everyone,
I see you stumbled upon my blog which revolves all around books. Well, good for you! What better way to start off this thing than to show you my favorite books as of August 2014? I chose five categories from which I each picked my favorite book that I have read this year (please note that the books have not necessarily been published in 2014; I have merely read them this year!). Without further ado, here goes my favorites!

Sci-fi: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Click for synopsis via Goodreads 
Stand alone? No, it is the first in the Starbound series. 

Difficult words? No new words, however some scientific terms are used.

Slow or fast paced? Rather slow

Character Development? Fantastic

Writing style? Very elaborate and witty

Getting into it? Easy 

Boring parts? Only a few

Other? It is written in dual perspective (Lilac and Tarver); the following books will center around different protagonists; this book is heavy on the survival aspect

Fantasy: The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Click for synopsis via Goodreads 
Stand alone? No, it is the first in a trilogy (the second one is already out, the third one will be published in November) . 

Difficult words? No 

Slow or fast paced? Fast

Character Development? Yes, especially Noah Shaw.

Writing style? Sarcastic, funny

Getting into it? Easy 

Boring parts? None

Other? This is a paranormal book, it's definitely not high fantasy! So if you're looking for some light fantasy to get into the genre, this is your go-to book. Look no further. 

 Dystopian: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Click for synopsis via Goodreads (contains spoilers from previous books!). So here's a link to the first one.
Stand alone? No, it's the last installment in the Divergent trilogy.

Difficult words? Some new words (e.g. the names of the factions) 
Slow or fast paced? Fast

Character Development? Brilliantly done!

Writing style? Very easy to read

Getting into it? Easy 

Boring parts? Non-existant

Other? This books is very action packed and definitely a page-turner. It is an amazing ending to this trilogy and didn't disappoint me at all (though some people weren't quite happy with the outcome). We finally get all the answers and I'm glad to say that those were not hocus pocus ones, but were actually reasonable and made sense in a scientific kind of way.

 Contemporary: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Click for synopsis via Goodreads

Stand alone? Yes

Difficult words? None 

Slow or fast paced? Medium

Character Development? Simply amazing

Writing style? Hilarious 

Getting into it? Easy 

Boring parts? None

Other? This is coming of age novel; I felt it was very relateable (especially if you're a fangirl yourself, or basically a human being growing up); the protagonist, Cath, is such a likable character and the romance in this book is just perfect! I'm not usually a fan of romance books, especially if they're contemporaries, but this was just the right amount and simply beyond cute. It's also a great beach/summer read and will put you in a happy mood.

Non-Fiction: Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres

Click for synopsis via Goodreads
Stand alone? Yes

Difficult words? None 

Slow or fast paced? Fast

Character Development? For this is non-fiction, it doesn't follow a main character, hence there is no character development  

Writing style? Hilarious, witty, beyond awesome 

Getting into it? Easy 

Boring parts? None

Other? The entire time I was reading this, I could hear Ellen talking to me. She uses the exact same tone she uses on The Ellen Degeneres Show, so if you enjoy watching that one, I'm sure you'll love this book. It's definitely a pick-me-up, good mood kind of book. This is not Ellen telling everyone the story of her life, but rather seperate anecdotes from it. I  thoroughly adore everything about it.

So here's a question for y'all: What are your favorite books of 2014 so far?