Saturday, March 25, 2017

Crown Review #35 - An Ember in the Ashes

An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir


Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: An Ember in the Ashes, #1
Length: 453 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
Laia is a slave.
Elias is a soldier.
Neither is free.


Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Crown Review #34 - Dragon Captives

Dragon Captives - Lisa McMann


Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Unwanted Quests, #1
Length: 432 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
Ten years after Alex and Aaron Stowe brought peace to Quill and Artimé, their younger twin sisters journey beyond the islands in this first novel of a new sequel series to The Unwanteds, which Kirkus Reviews called “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.”

Identical twins Fifer and Thisbe Stowe have amazing yet uncontrollable magical abilities. They’re naturally more gifted than even their brother, Alex, the head mage of Artimé, could hope to be. But when they accidentally use their magic in the jungle of Artimé to strike down a beloved creature, Alex is furious, and threatens to lock them away until they can learn to control their power.

The threat is soon forgotten, though, when Hux, the ice blue dragon, comes to Artimé bearing the horrible news that his siblings have been enslaved by the notoriously evil Revinir, ruler of the dragon land.

Seeking a chance to right their wrong and escape their brother’s wrath, Thisbe, Fifer, and their friend Seth sneak away to rescue the dragons from grave peril. Will their untrained abilities be enough to save the dragons—and themselves—when they come face-to-face with the Revinir?

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Series Spotlight - The Unwanteds


The Unwanteds - Lisa McMann

In this upcoming Saturday, a new review will be released for an awesome book. However, an introduction was needed for the book that is to be reviewed. The book that is going to be reviewed is the first book of a sequel series to the series picture above, The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann. You may recognize the name, as two books of her's, Wake and Going Wild, has been reviewed here before. The Unwanted series ran from 2011 through 2016, resulting in 7 amazing books filled with creativity, magic, and adventure.

Monday, March 13, 2017

100 Books Celebration!

100 BOOKS CELEBRATION

What? 100 Books? It took about 5 years to read 100 books. In order to celebrate, I was going to pick out a Top 10 Favorite Books of the 100 books I have read. However, I couldn't pick only 10 and ended up with a list of 25 books instead. Oh well. What can we do with books??


The Ones That Began It All

The first book I read was The Hunger Games. It was the time where the movies were just coming out and everyone was talking about. I never had the need to read before, but I had to know what all the talk was about. I've read the series and that was it. Later one, in an English, I finished a book project early that I did on The Vicious Deep. Since we had so many classes dedicated to the project, my teacher told me to pick a book and just read. I was not allowed to sit there looking into space. When I walked to the bookshelf, I noticed Divergent and thought it was cool and picked it up. My teacher noticed how much I was into it and told me to borrow it so I could finish and thus, a reader was born. After Divergent, I picked up The Unwanteds on chance and it became a favorite. These books are truly what began my obsession with reading.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Crown Review #33 - Heartless

Heartless - Marissa Meyer


Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Standalone
Length: 453 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Synopsis:
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Crown Review #32 - Star-Crossed

Star-Crossed - Barbara Dee


Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Standalone
Length: 288 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]

Thank You Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for giving an eARC for an honest review. 

Synopsis:
Mattie is chosen to play Romeo opposite her crush in the eighth grade production of Shakespeare’s most beloved play in this Romeo and Juliet inspired novel from the author of Truth or Dare.

Mattie, a star student and passionate reader, is delighted when her English teacher announces the eighth grade will be staging Romeo and Juliet. And she is even more excited when, after a series of events, she finds herself playing Romeo, opposite Gemma Braithwaite’s Juliet. Gemma, the new girl at school, is brilliant, pretty, outgoing—and, if all that wasn’t enough: British.

As the cast prepares for opening night, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Gemma and confused, since, just days before, she had found herself crushing on a boy named Elijah. Is it possible to have a crush on both boys AND girls? If that wasn’t enough to deal with, things backstage at the production are starting to rival any Shakespearean drama! In this sweet and funny look at the complicated nature of middle school romance, Mattie learns how to be the lead player in her own life.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Crown Recaps - February 2017


February 2017

It's the start of a new month, so it is time for another monthly recap! This month was more focused on my TBR pile with a few ARC's I got along the way. This month total is 5 books (although it should be 6, but that book will be completed in March). Unfortunately, this month didn't beat the record of 6 set in January, although 5 is still a lot of books for me to read in a month. Onto the books!