Book Review: Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

Carve the Mark

by Veronica Roth

Source: Pre-ordered from Indigo

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy/Science Fiction

Synopsis:

In a galaxy powered by the current, everyone has a gift.

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.

Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get this brother out alive — no matter what the cost.

Then Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?

Review:

*SPOILER WARNING*

This book was one of my most highly anticipated releases for 2017 and actually pre-ordered it (something I very, very rarely do!). It just sounded really good, and plus I had already really enjoyed Veronica's Divergent series so I was excited to read something else of hers. I'll admit that I got kind of nervous about it just before its release, with all the crazy hype and bad reviews it was getting. But, in the end I decided that I would just go for it - read it for myself and make my own decision, and I'm glad I did.

So, this isn't a very in-depth review (TBH, none of my reviews are...), and, not to make excuses, but that's mostly because it's been months since I read the book, many other plot-lines and characters have been introduced to my mind since, so I honestly can't remember everything that happened, and I tend to write these reviews away from home and my books, so I can't even grab my copy to flip back through. I have just been reading books too quickly lately to be able to keep up with the reviews. Which, I guess, is a good problem to have!? Anyway...

 

It took me a few chapters to get into the story. Part of the issue for me was the pronunciation of the names, but the author had made some videos in which she explained how to pronounce some of the more frequently used names, so finding those helped me get into it a bit more.

I liked Cyra's character, but I think really Akos was my favourite. I really liked Cyra's intensity and sense of rightness & justice... but Akos' loyalty and kindness won me over. I hated Cyra's brother and the way he used her, but it was kind of necessary for her character to become what she was. I also really liked the world. I tend to have difficulty picturing fantasy worlds, and honestly this was no different, but what I was able to picture from the descriptions was fun and different and I liked it.

I quite enjoyed the story, I found it intriguing and captivating, and I honestly couldn't see what the fuss was all about - but please, don't try to enlighten me. I've read some of the reviews and their claims, and I just can't agree with them based on what I read, which is still ok, right? It's still ok for people to have differing opinions? Sometimes I wonder... The only thing I was really disappointed about was that it's not a standalone, and so I have to wait ages for the sequel. Not cool. There should be a warning on new books, stating that they are first in a series/trilogy/duology/whatever so that we can prepare ourselves!

Goodreads rating:

Progress Report - April 2017

You may remember that in February I posted a progress report (check it out here), in which I mentioned that I wanted to make a habit of posting similar posts every month. But with my vacation the end of March, March and April have kind of blurred together into one long month and things just got neglected.

Whoops.

Anywho!! So, in March I read five books, as well as an audio book. They were as follows:

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill - ***** A story about a girl trying to avenge her father's death, and decide whether the man she loves is a good guy or a bad guy. It's full of adventure and innocent romance, and I adored it.

Caraval  by Stephanie Garber - ***** This is a story about the love between sisters (Scarlett & Tella). It's a magical tale of an elaborate game set on a private island. It was dark and weird and had a twist or two, and I just loved it. It definitely lived up to all the hype and anticipation for me.

Seven Deadlies: A Cautionary Tale by Gigi Levangie - *** Kind of cute. This young girl is writing a series of letters to a college admissions officer, explaining the weird things she has encountered as a "babysitter" for her peers, etc. It's all fun and games until the last couple of letters which ruined everything for me.

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley - ***** The third book in the Flavia de Luce series. This time Flavia gets involved with gypsies, and helps solves an attempted murder, as well as an old kidnapping/murder case.

Grounded by Katie Klise - **** This one was kinda weird. Similar to Flavia, Dolly is a 12 year old girl who likes a bit of a mystery. Through a kind of creepy and semi-dangerous series of events, she uncovers a cheating swindler in their midst.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (audio - technically a "re-read") - ***** One of my fave books of all time! If you haven't read it, you must. All I will say is it's magical and takes place in a circus.

In April I also read five books and an audio book. I feel like I probably could have read another, but the last one was really long! So, April's reads were:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - **** I wasn't sure how to feel about this one. The main character, Sam, dies and relives her last day about 10 times, changing things every time. She becomes a completely different person and ends up making very different choices, but in the end she still dies, and I couldn't quite figure out how I was supposed to feel about that.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - ***** Full of weirdness, magic, psychics, ghosts, talking trees. This story follows Blue and her Raven boys (Gansey, Adam, Ronan & Noah) on their quest to find the resting place of Owen Glendower.

Servant's Hall by Margaret Powell - *** A first-hand account of life "below stairs" from a former kitchen servant. She tells the true story of how a servant girl from downstairs married the family's son from upstairs, which helped inspire Downton Abbey (new episode of Downton of Netflix were what inspired me to pick this one up!).

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon - ***** Crazy cute love story. I can't wait for the movie!

Wildwood by Colin Meloy - ***** An adventure-packed story, very reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. Prue's baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and taken into the Impassable Wilderness. Prue and her friend Curtis head into the forest to rescue him, and find all kinds of strange and wonderful creatures.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (audio) - ***** I love that this is written in the form of letters and telegrams, which was kind of fun with the audio version, because different actors read the different voices of the characters. I really enjoyed all the little war-time stories that are shared, and the romance we see develop.

Mid-April, seeing that I was already over two-thirds toward my goal of 35 books, I decided to increase my Goodreads goal to 45. So, to date, I have now read 25 out of 45 books and have completed 56% of my new goal. I will increase again in a few months, if I feel it is necessary. I'm really impressed with how much I've been reading this year. Part of me wishes I could read faster (so many books, so little time!), but as it is I'm reading too fast to keep up with writing reviews, so I guess I'll just stick with this pace.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Floral/Botanical Covers

Hey guys! I'm participating (on time??) in this week's Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. The theme this week is a cover theme freebie: anything to do with covers! I took a look through my Good Reads To-Read list and saw a bit of a trend... gorgeous botanical covers!

Of these books, I have only read Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden, but sadly not these beautiful versions. The rest of these books are all on my To-Read list, and primarily piqued my interest because of their beautiful dark floral/botanical covers! Yes, I judge books by their covers!

So, without further ado, here are some of my favourite covers:

1. Wild Beauty by Anna-Maria McLemore

2. Maud by Melanie J. Fishbane

3. And I Darken by Kiersten White

4. The Muse by Jessie Burton

5. Wicked Like A Wildfire by Lana Popovic

6. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

7. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

 

9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

10. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - this is not an official cover for purchase, this illustrator (Charlotte Day) just made her own beautiful covers for three of Jane Austen's books, and this one in particular fit well with my theme so I included it! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me NOT Want to Read A Book

Ugh, I am so behind with reviewing and blogging and life! :( I have been trying (and failing) to blog about my trip to Universal & Disney at the end of March (we're now the end of April? Yeah...). It is a serious struggle between talking about everything, and not writing a novel about a mere 8 days of vacation...

Anyway! We're not here for that, we're here for Top Ten Tuesday! Which I haven't done in ages (and which I missed again. I cannot keep up, y'all!). If you weren't aware, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is ten things that make me not want to read a book. I actually could only come up with nine. Let's dive right in, shall we?



1) Zombies. I'm just not into it, ok? I don't watch The Walking Dead, probably never will, definitely don't want to read about it.

2) Amish. I read a lot of those books when I was younger, and I just can't stomach them anymore. If there's a bonnet on the cover, I will not read it.

3) High School romance. I love YA, love reading about teens who are in high school... but I don't necessarily want to revisit high school. They are either sickeningly sweet (and unrealistic), or extremely immature, and quite frankly, I'm too old for that! I hated high school.

4) Aliens. This one I'm picky about. I read, and loved, the Lorien Legacies and Carve the Mark, and I do like fantasy, but most high fantasy themes just don't intrigue me that much.

5) Cover art. Just being honest, here, but I totally judge books by their covers, and if the cover is ugly, I'm probably not going to read it. I often pick up books for $0.50 at yard sales/thrift stores, which have ugly covers, but the title intrigued me so I read the back and thought it sounded interesting.  I still don't usually read them, though, because there are prettier books to be read. And by the way, no matter how many people gush over how amazing A Court of Mist and Fury series is, I find the covers ugly and I will not read them.

6) Hype. This one's a tricky one too. I mean, generally speaking, I'm as influenced by my peers as anyone else is. I tend to jump on board and read what everyone else is reading. The ones that get too much hype, I tend to stay away from. No, I have not read or watched Game of Thrones. No, I have not read A Court of anything, nor anything else written by Sarah J. Maas, thankyouverymuch.

7) Graphic novels. Nope. Just, no. I enjoy a little bit of artwork in a book, especially in YA and children's lit. But the whole thing? Just pictures? I'm not even gonna touch it.

8) Biographies & autobiographies. Again, depends on the book. I have read the occasional biography and, much rarer, autobiography - they can be interesting. I like hearing about real-life stories, and who better to get the story from than the person in the story? However, it is not my go-to genre, and I am definitely not going to rush out to buy the next new celebrity autobiography. *gag*

9) R rated. If it were to be made into a movie and rated R, chances are, I probably don't want to read it. Admittedly, I find things a lot less shocking/offensive in written word than I do seeing/hearing it on a screen. But for the most part, if a book is explicit sex scenes or is violence-filled, I'm not interested. I can handle one or two scenes, but that's it.



So, yeah! These are the ones I could think of. I'll read just about anything if it's got a pretty cover and I've heard at least one person talk about it (whether good or bad). I do tend to lean more towards dystopian, murder mystery, and thriller genres, but I do branch out on occasion.

Book Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Source: OwlCrate sub box (July 2016 "Good vs. Evil")

Synopsis:

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

Review:
I wasn't too sure about this book in the beginning. The setting was a bit strange, and I just wasn't sure if I was on board with the whole monster thing. But I had heard some really amazing things about this book, and Victoria Schwab practically has a cult following among OwlCrate subscribers, so I persisted.

I ended up really liking this book. Usually in art, music is portrayed as a healing power. In this book, music is the weapon the monsters use to kill their victims (but generally, the "victims" are bad people who are in need of punishment), which was a refreshing difference.

It had a bit of a Romeo & Juliet vibe to it: forbidden love between two warring houses... I very much enjoyed the romance between Kate and August, their flight for their lives, and the unexpected twists. It was somewhat of a disappointment for me to discover that it is the first in a series, simply because this book was newly released in July 2016, so the second book won't be released until this summer (June 2017).

I hate waiting.

But I will be very anxious to get my hands on the next book, Our Dark Duet, to know where Kate and August end up, how the consequences of Kate's actions will follow up with her, etc.

Goodreads rating:

Book Review: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Source: I bought this book

Synopsis:

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.

Review:

There are spoilers ahead. I do not care and I make no apologies.

I won't say I hated this book... but what I feel is pretty close to that.

I had such high hopes from reading the above synopsis! In my mind, this book was going to be a very different journey; a more magical, fantastical journey. To me, this synopsis read like a science-fiction sort of theme... with this bookseller who has this uncanny ability to be able to prescribe books to his clients to feed their souls and heal their broken hearts. That he would travel the world in his floating "apothecary," prescribing books to his clients, and eventually discovering the book (or the love?) that would heal his own heart and feed his own soul.

I suppose, in essence, that is what the book is... It's just that in my mind, it was a much more exciting and adventurous story...

What I actually got was a gratingly romantic fiction story (romantic in the sense of which followed approximately the same formula as above. I found it pitiful that this man was still mourning the loss of a lover twenty years after she left. I found it petty and immature that he had never read the letter she wrote him, completely closed off the room that reminded him most of her. I found the journey he took pointless and unexciting. We only saw him prescribe a handful of books, and in the end, he gave away the bookshop! I'm sorry, but if the thing is in the title, it needs to hold a more significant role than merely being the vessel he uses to travel the world!

In short, I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Goodreads rating:

 

Book Review: P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Source: OwlCrate sub box (August 2016)

Synopsis:

Signed, sealed, delivered…

While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!

Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…

Review:

I read this book as part of the OwlCrate-A-Thon reading challenge in February. I gave it a bit of a lower rating on Goodreads because it felt a bit juvenile, a bit more junior high than high school.

I liked this little romance, don't get me wrong. It was cute. Like, super cute. Too cute.

I liked our main character, Lily. She's funny and sweet, and super loyal - all qualities I like to think that I possess. I did not like Cade, and to be honest, I wasn't super fond of her friend Isabel. She's sweet and all, but... I don't know. Something about her I didn't like.

I adore writing letters, it is one of my favourite past-times apart from reading and binge-watching Netflix... So the fact that this story revolves around passing notes in class (uh, yeah, I did that!) and writing love letters, I was into it. I had fantasies in high school of a story like this playing out for real in my life: me writing notes on a desk and somebody answering, and we fall madly in love... *stares dreamily into space* 

So, aside from the fact that the main element of the story is something I love, and the fact that I like and relate to the main character, and dreamt of something similar happening to myself in high school... despite all of this, I couldn't give the book more than three stars, because I didn't like who Lily's secret letter writer was. It was predictable, I saw it coming (I mean, who else could it have been, really?), and I didn't like it. I mean yes, he was a different person in his letters, and yes it was sweet how they seemed perfect for each other on paper, but... I just didn't ship it, ok guys?! 

Like I said, it was super cute. I would highly recommend it to a high school student who loves romance (or an adult who loves high school romance...), but I didn't completely love it.

Goodreads rating: