Top Ten Tuesday- Book Characters I'd Love To Be Best Friends With

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Book Characters I’d Love to Be Besties With.  

Izzy O'Neill (Izzy O'Neill by Laura Steven) - 

Izzy would be such a great character to be best friends with.  Her humour is very much my style so I think it'd be fun to hang out with her.

Magnus (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare) - 

I think Magnus would be great to be best friends with and there wouldn't be a dull moment with him around.

Celaena (Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas) - 

The same with Magnus, I think there wouldn't be a dull moment with Caelena and I think she'd be a good friend to have.

Kate Daniels (Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews) - 

I would love to be a part of Kate Daniels' inner circle of friends since they all seem to care about each other very much.

Angel (I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman) - 

I'd love to be besties with Angel because I think she would really understand my feelings about my favourite groups (BTS & GOT7) because she feels the same about The Ark and it'd be fun to fangirl with her.

Who are some characters you would like to be besties with?

Book Review: Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion #1) by Jessie Mihalik

Book: Polaris Rising
Series: Consortium Rebellion book 1
Author: Jessie Mihalik
Genre: Adult sci-fi, romance

A space princess on the run and a notorious outlaw soldier become unlikely allies in this imaginative, sexy space opera adventure—the first in an exciting science fiction trilogy. 

In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars. 

Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head. 

When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape. 

But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .

My Rating: 4 STARS

My Review:

Polaris Rising opens up with Ada being captured and locked up on a space ship.  She has been on the run for two years from her father, who wanted to marry her off, and now she has got captured and is on her way back to her father.  So from the very start of Polaris Rising we are thrown right into the thick of things and I really liked that because a lot of books take a while to build up to something exciting (and that's okay) but I'm glad that this book just catches your attention straight away.

I really liked Ada and found her an interesting character, I liked how she thought.  She's a character not afraid to take action but she also thinks and plans things out which I liked, she's good at strategising.  I also liked Loch, even though he's a hard character to understand sometimes, and I liked Ada and his interactions with each other and how they teamed up in the beginning and came to rely on each other throughout the book.  It made the romance have more depth to it when it developed.

I liked how the universe in Polaris Rising was described, it all felt well developed and I especially like how the Houses were described.  The politics between these leading Houses was all very intriguing to read and the Houses felt unique to one another.  I can't wait to see if we find out more about the other Houses in future books.

Overall I enjoyed Polaris Rising a lot and think it's an interesting sci-fi/romance book with great characters and a well developed world/universe.  The plot was fast paced and never boring, I'm very excited for the next book. 

Top Ten Tuesday- Favourite Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Cover Redesigns but I decided to change it and show a few of my favourite book covers.  

Under A Dancing Star by Laura Wood

The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer

What are some of your favourite book covers?

Book Review: The Cursed Sea (The Glass Spare #2) by Lauren DeStefano

Book: The Cursed Sea
Series: The Glass Spare book 2
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Genre: YA fantasy

Wil, the exiled princess of northern Arrod, must do what she never thought possible: return home to discover the origins of her own curse. 

But home is very different from how she left it—Wil’s unpredictable elder brother Baren is now king, leading a war against the Southern Isles. And with time running out, Wil must navigate the dangerous secrets within her family to find the truth. 

Nothing goes as planned, and suddenly Wil and her allies are fighting for their lives as the Southern king is out to ensure neither of his children will survive to take the throne. Traveling across cursed seas and treacherous kingdoms, Wil and Loom must make peace with their pasts if they hope to secure the future of their world. 

But when their plans lead them right back to evil marveler Pahn, and to Baren—who is more dangerous than ever—can Wil and her friends outsmart their enemies, this time for good?

My Rating: 4 STARS

My Review:

The Cursed Sea opens up where The Glass Spare left off.  At the beginning of The Cursed Sea Wil is back in Northern Arrod, her home kingdom, trying to find answers for Pahn that will save Loom.  I liked seeing the reunion of Wil and her family, it was something I was waiting on since she left her home in The Glass Spare.  It was really nice to see her meet with Gerdie again and I thought it interesting how Barren reacted to her.

The Cursed Sea centres on the mystery of Wil and her family and what made them 'cursed'.  I liked how that was the centre of this book because I was expecting it to focus on the impending war between the two kingdoms but I'm glad that that was more of a side story to the main story of Wil and her curse.

In the beginning of The Cursed Sea Wil is very focused on Loom and after the initial reunion with her family she is very much concentrated on Loom and his predicament and I didn't like that because I found the family dynamics much more interesting in this duology than the romance so to see Wil more focused on this guy she just met a few weeks ago than her family kind of annoyed me but I will say that only lasted a short while before the story came back around to the family.

And although I disliked how Loom held Wil's attention more than her family at the beginning, I still liked the romance of this book and I do like Loom as well.  I also liked how we see more of Loom and Espel's complicated sibling relationship in this book.

Overall I thought this was a great sequel and conclusion to this duology.  I really liked the intricate mystery behind Wil's family and I thought it was just as fast paced as the first.  The ending was great and I liked how it wrapped everything up. 

July Wrap Up 2019

What I Read:

The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare book 1) by Lauren DeStefano - 4 STARS

I enjoyed this book a lot and I liked the family interactions, it was a fast paced YA fantasy and I'm glad I read it.

The Cursed Sea (The Glass Spare book 2) by Lauren DeStefano - 4 STARS

I went straight onto this book after finishing the first and I liked this just as much.  I liked how the mystery of the family curse was explained and I thought this was a great conclusion to the duology.

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno - 2 STARS

I liked the beginning of this book, it builds up this mysterious magical island and family very well and at the beginning I thought this could end up being a 5 STAR read but then things started to go downhill.  I didn't find any of the characters that interesting and as the plot went on I found things to be very predictable, some of the main mysteries in this book were easily guessed. (spoilers and content warning ahead) This book deals with the topic of rape and I didn't like how that became one of the mysteries in this book.  This is only my opinion and I know many people loved it so I'd recommend reading more reviews of it.

Polaris Rising (The Consortium Rebellion book 1) by Jessie Mihalik - 4 STARS

I liked this book and found the characters and the space politics interesting.  This is a great sci-fi/romance book with intriguing world building.

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire book 1) by Natasha Ngan - 4 STARS

I've wanted to read this book since it was released but because of the subject matter of the book I was hesitant.  This book deals with topics of rape and sexual abuse so that makes it a very hard read so I can't say this was an enjoyable read but I did like the writing.  

Under A Dancing Star by Laura Wood - 5 STARS

I loved this book a lot.  The main reason I picked this book up was because I liked the authors other book, A Sky Painted Gold, and thought I would like this and I was right.  This book takes place in the 1930s and is about a girl trying to find her place in the world even if it seems like it's already been decided for her.  I would highly recommend reading this and I'll be doing a full review of it soon.

Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle book 1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - 3 STARS 

I was disappointed in this book.  It was an okay read but I didn't like the characters and although the plot was action packed I still felt like nothing really happened in it.  I liked the ending and it did get exciting in the run up to the ending.

Blog Posts I Did In July:

‣ Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2019

‣ Summer Book Recommendations 2019

‣ Auto-Buy Authors

‣ My Reading Rush TBR 2019

‣ The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano Book Review

‣ Disappointing Sequels and Series Endings 

My July Bookstagram pictures (xo_reader_kyla):

I read so many books in July and that was mainly because I participated in the Reading Rush readathon which was a lot of fun.  I didn't get to all of the books on my Reading Rush TBR but I'm happy with the amount of things I read.  What did you read in July?

Disappointing Sequels and Series Endings

I've read a lot of book series over the years and there have been many a sequel and conclusion that I loved but today on my blog I thought I'd list some of the book sequels/conclusions that have disappointed me. I have loved nearly all the first books in these series but I really feel that a lot of the sequels and endings on this list were not needed and were not as good as previous books in the series.  I've also linked this post up with this week's Top Ten Tuesday (a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) topic since this week's topic was: freebie.

Allegiant (Divergent book 3) by Veronica Roth

Up from the Grave (Night Huntress book 7) b Jeaniene Frost

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows book 2) by Leigh Bardugo

Vengeful (Vicious book 2) by V.E. Schwab

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers book 3) by Becky Chambers

Fierce Fragile Hearts (Beautiful Broken Things book 2) by Sara Barnard

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air book 2) by Holly Black

The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer book 3) by Michelle Hodkin

What book sequels/conclusions were you disappointed in?

Book Review: The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare #1) by Lauren DeStefano

Book: The Glass Spare
Series: The Glass Spare book 1
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Genre: YA fantasy

Wilhelmina Heidle, the fourth child and only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance. 

Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, though, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure. 

But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with Wil’s power. 

With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever?

My Rating: 4 STARS

My Review:

The Glass Spare sounded very interesting to me and I've loved the author's previous books so I knew there was a good chance I'd love this book and I did.  The writing was one of my favourite things about this book, I just love the way the author tells stories and I love how emotional they feel because of the writing.

The story intrigued me a lot and I really wanted to read more because I was excited to see what was happening next.  And even though it could come across as generic, with certain tropes like instalove and how the main character finds an unknown power that leaves her seeking answers, I thought this book was entertaining and it really held my interest.  The plot was also very fast paced and that along with the writing really made this book feel like such a quick read.

One of the things I really liked about The Glass Spare was the interesting family dynamics between Wil and the rest of her family.  I loved reading about her and her brothers and the different kinds of bonds they had with each other, each bond was unique.  And even the family dynamics of the warring kingdom were interesting to read about.  The characters all felt well rounded and interesting to read about, all their own personalities shone through.  

Overall I really liked The Glass Spare and I was glad I picked it up.  It's a great YA fantasy with interesting characters and an intriguing story and writing that really makes the pages fly by.

My Reading Rush TBR 2019

The Reading Rush (previously called BookTubeAThon) is a readathon that happens every year and is a week long.  This year it starts on the 22nd of July and ends on the 28th.

My Reading Rush TBR:

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - This is one of my most anticipated books of the year so I'm very excited to read it.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan - I had planned on reading this when it got released but I have still not got around to reading it but I've heard good things about it and hopefully I'll like it.

Under A Dancing Star by Laura Wood - I don't know too much about this book but I really liked the authors previous book, A Sky Painted Gold, so I'm excited to read more of the authors writing.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer - I've been meaning to read this book for a while so hopefully this readathon will give me that push.

I have not listed a lot of books because I feel like this is already an overly ambitious tbr as it is since some of these books are pretty thick.  I'm really excited to participate in the readathon again and this year there is a new website (my username on there is: kylaslibrary) to track your progress and talk to other people about the readathon.  I'll be updating my Twitter (KylasLibrary) during the readathon so if you want to see how I'm doing follow me there.   

There are reading challenges but you don't have to do them, some of the books I picked do match with some of the challenges but I'll probably not be able to complete all of them. 

Are you participating in The Reading Rush? What are you planning on reading?

Top Ten Tuesday- Auto-Buy Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Auto-Buy Authors.  I feel like over the years my list of auto-buy authors has changed a lot and will probably continue to change a lot so I thought I'd list ten authors whose books I've loved and I'm interested to read more of their future works as well.

Marie Lu

Adam Silvera

Lauren DeStefano

Sarah J Maas

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Jay Kristoff

Jennifer Niven 

Cassandra Clare

Sandy Williams

Ilona Andrews

Who are some of your auto-buy authors?

Summer Book Recommendations 2019

I know we're already into summer but I thought I'd do I post about some books that I think would be great to read in the summer months.  Some of these books take place during summer and some of them I think just kind of have a summery feel to them.

Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer 

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers  

A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood

Paper Girls Vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood 

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Summer Blue Bird by Akemi Dawn Bowman

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

What books do you think are to great to read in the summer?

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2019

I did this tag last year and I love how it makes you reflect on your reading for the first half of the year so I really wanted to do it again this year.

THE QUESTIONS:

1) Best book you’ve read so far in 2019 - The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles - 

This is such a beautiful book and I really hope more people read it.

2) Best sequel you've read so far in 2019 - Song of Sorrow (Sorrow book 2) by Melinda Salisbury and In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children book 4) by Seanan McGuire - 

I know I cheated by picking two books for this question but they were both amazing.

3) New release you haven't read yet, but want to - Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

4) Most anticipated release for the second half of the year - Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicle book 3) by Jay Kristoff

5) Biggest disappointment - Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa - 

I was very disappointed in this book, the story and characters felt very generic and dated.

6) Biggest surprise - Enchantée by Gita Trelease - 

I was surprised by this book because although it sounded interesting I had heard some mixed reviews of it before I started it so I was a bit hesitant on it but I liked the book a lot, I really enjoyed the story and the setting of it.

7) Favourite new author (Debut or new to you) - Akemi Dawn Bowman - 

I read both of Akemi Dawn Bowman's books this year and I really liked the writing of them.  I found the writing to be very quotable so I'm looking forward to reading more of their books.

8) Newest fictional crush - Luvian Fen (Sorrow duology by Melinda Salisbury) - 

I don't usually get much crushes on characters these days but I did like Luvian so I'll pick him for this question.  Technically I first read about Luvians character last year when I read State of Sorrow but I feel like we get to see a lot more of his character in Song of Sorrow.

9) Newest favourite character - Mister Kindly (The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff) - 

I don't know if Mister Kindly counts since he is more of a creature but I think he's really unique.  He's a sarcastic shadow cat companion to the main character and I really like reading about him.

10) Book that made you cry - The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles - 

Seriously, more people need to read this book!

11) Book that made you happy - The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - 

I liked how open the world/universe of this book was. 

12) Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year - 

I don't really have an answer for this because I don't think I've watched many book to movie adaptations this year so far. 

13) Favourite review you've written this year - 

I didn't know what to choose for this one so here is my review for my favourite book of the year so far: The Air You Breathe. 

14) Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received) - Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 

I love the edition of Daisy Jones that I have.  It's signed and has black sprayed edges. 

15) What books do you need to read by the end of the year? - The Great Alone and Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah - 

I own both these books but still haven't read them yet, I keep meaning to because I loved The Nightingale by the same author and I need to read more of their books.

What are some of your answers to these questions?

June Wrap Up 2019

What I Read:

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers book 1) by Becky Chambers - 4 STARS

I really enjoyed this book and thought the universe and alien species that the author created were very interesting and made me want to read more about them.  Each species had so much depth and complexity while still being easy to understand.  I really liked the characters and the story of this book.

A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers book 2) by Becky Chambers - 4 STARS

I went straight onto the second book in this series after finishing the first and although it isn't about the same characters as the first, I still enjoyed this book a lot.  I found this book to be a lot more emotional than the first and I liked the flashback chapters that told the characters backstory.

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers book 3) by Becky Chambers - 3 STARS

I was torn between giving this book 2 or 3 STARS (I still might change it).  I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy and was shocked at how disappointed I was in this book.  I didn't feel connected to any characters and felt that the characters and the overall storyline felt a bit pointless. 

Blog Posts I Did In June:

➢ Vengeful (Villains book 2) by V.E. Schwab Book Review

➢ Summer 2019 Releases I'm Excited For

➢ Wildcard (Warcross book 2) by Marie Lu Book Review

➢ Hyped Books I Didn't Like

➢ The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles Book Review

➢ Summer 2019 TBR

➢ Historical Time Periods I Loved Reading About

My June Bookstagram pictures (xo_reader_kyla):

I feel like I didn't read much in June, I just read one trilogy, but I did enjoy most of the books.  What did you read in June?