Summer of Series Sign Up

I've been meaning to sign up for the Summer of Series since...well, since it first started. But I suck at signing up for things and I procrastinated. UNTIL NOW. I am finally taking the leap.
If you have no idea what the Summer of Series challenge is, you can go here or you can listen to my pathetic excuse of an explanation: The title basically says it all. You try to read as many series as possible! August is the last month  for Summer of Series, so I'll try to cram as many series into it as possible.
My goals:        
That may not seem like a lot, but for me, it is alot, especially since most of these are lengthy YA books. But both of these series I'm REALLY excited about.

July SST: In Which Rebel Mechanics Is Featured(Guest Post+Giveaway)!

A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.

It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

Add to Goodreads

Hello, everyone! Today I'm excited to spread around the word of Rebel Mechanics. This is my first time joining the Sunday Street Team, where we bloggers spread around the love for books we're excited about/have already read and loved!  This month's pick is Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson. And let me tell you, I'm so pumped to read it! Alternative history+spies+swoony romance=perfect concoction of a book. I'll move on to the important part of the post, now...A warm welcome to Shanna!

What June Brought

Ah, yes. Summer is officially here to stay. The time of sunburns and loads of free time. Besides the sunburns, June was a pretty good month. With the help of readathons, I got out of my annoying reading slump, so I did okay reading-wise, but with the aforementioned loads of free time, I was expecting to get a little-that's sarcasm, just to be clear- more reading done. I attempted to study during part of June for the ACT, but of course I still was pretty unprepared. I'm not devastated by my score and it was what I was expecting to get, but now I really have to get myself to devote more time to studying everyday for a few more months until the next ACT test to get the score I really want. I already have tons of reading plans for July and August, but I have a trip midway through July, so it probably will screw it up a bit because I'm horrible at reading anywhere else other than my house.

Tonight the Streets Are Ours: Review

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom. 

Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called "Tonight the Streets Are Ours," the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.

During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does—Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My TBR for Summer 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.
Welcome to another round of Top Ten Tuesday! I didn't consciously decide to do two TBR posts in a row, but I have a feeling the universe is trying to tell me I have too many TBR books.

June TBR

Yes, I do realize how strange it is to put up a TBR post now, in the middle of the month. But I'm doing it anyway. So, right now, this is a tentative list of books I'm hoping to read by the end of the month. I'm sticking it to five books, that way I'm not pressuring myself too much, and I can always read more outside of these five books. These are just the five books I really want/need to get to this month.

Quick Update

Hi, everyone! It's been awhile, and I'm extremely sorry to say that. The main reason for my severe lack of posts for the past few months has been my severe lack of read books. Yep, I was in a pretty bad reading rut from March to May. However, I think I now am *officially* over that darn reading rut, with the help of #TBRtakedown this week. I also have WAY more time on my hands because summer is hereeeee. So, you can now expect the blog to be up and running soon! Thank you for bearing with me!

What Crazy and Busy March Brought

It's...been awhile.


March was a good month! Sadly, just not reading or blogging wise. I had tons of fun, even with the stress and tiredness that comes with it. If you read last month's post, you know I entered a writing contest, and I was so hoping to win...and I didn't. It wasn't entirely surprising, but at the same time, it was very disheartening. I had a brief period(by brief, I'm talking like two hours) where I just walked around not too unlike a zombie. But then I realized better things will come and moping won't help me. I also did tons of art things this month-that's where some of the stress and tiredness came from. I got first place in a category, which was fan-freakin-tastic. I wish I could say April is going to be much better, but yeah, with the ACTs and the loads of homework I have at the moment...it isn't looking the greatest. I'm not saying I'm not going to try to blog-I will, I promise-but please don't be angry at me if I happen to only post once or twice or nothing at all.

Here's what I read:
NOTHING AND I FAIL AT LIFE.

DNFs:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas(I feel absolutely terrible for deciding to DNF this, but there was something about it that didn't catch my attention like Throne of Glass. I plan on reading the whole thing when it's actually released, but the first 100 pages weren't as good as I was expecting. The classic too-high-of-expectations-ruin-a-book-for-you. I expect everyone will love this as much if not more than Throne of Glass, but I was really hoping for more swooniness or even sword fighting during the first 100 pages.)

Here's what I received:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas(Won from the wonderful and awesome Shae)
Lion Heart by A. G. Gaughen(Won also from Shae)
Blythewood by Carol Goodman(Given to me by the so sweet and generous Tammy George)
Confess by Colleen Hoover(Also given to me by Tammy)
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows(Pre-ordered via Amazon)
The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni(Bought via Amazon)
The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan(Bought via Amazon)
Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman(Won from Gone Pecan)

Here's what I watched:
I admit, I watched too much TV(part of the reason why I didn't finish one book last month), and I'm too lazy to list them all.

Here's what I listened to:
Misterwives(I became overwhelmingly obsessed with them.)
Mikky Ekko(His music seriously moves me like no other. I started becoming obsessed when the Paper Towns trailer came out and his song came on and I fell in love.)
Fences(ARROWS I LOVE YOU.)
The rest of the songs I listened didn't really become an obsession...so.

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Books(from the past three years)

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.

I feel like this will be difficult, but maybe I love less books than I think. I guess I'll find out.

1. Surprisingly, the first book that comes to my mind is a contemporary: Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson. I went into this book with low expectations, though I was excited by the sound of the summary. But, wow, Don't Touch was a much more beautiful, vibrantly written novel than I had expected. I loved the entire cast of characters(except one), but I fell in love with Caddie most of all. I'm definitely anticipating Wilson's next book.


2. A book that is another debut! Again, this book was unexpected, seeing how I DNFed it my first time around. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill was an engrossing and fantastic time travel book. The plot itself was wonderfully engaging and surprising, but the romance was also notably swoony.

What February Brought

Whoo, I'm writing this post a little later than I wanted to. Therefore I'm making a late night post! February seemed to be a busy month for me. Obviously, it was exciting too, because I got a gorgeous new blog design and it was my birthday month. I also entered a writing contest, and if I win I'll be able to travel to Washington D.C. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I'll win. I know I will be really, really depressed if I don't get it, because I loved writing the essay and I loved how the essay turned out so my hopes are incredibly high(which is unusual for me). I'm impatiently waiting for them to pick the winners. Other school stuff got in the way and I watched too many tv shows and I also got sick, resulting in only two books read this month "cries" The good news is that they were two highly epic books.

How I Feel About ARCs: Discussion

I have quite a long history with ARCs. That's understandable, since I became aware of them only a few months after I started blogging-which reminds me: People who start blogging because of ARCs are ridiculous. No, you are not supposed to blog purely to receive free books. You're supposed to blog for the love of it. "rant over" Back on topic. So, I know ARCs seem to be an extremely popular topic for bloggers. Many older(by old, I mean their blog) bloggers I know struggle with them. They question whether ARCs are worth their time. But I also know plenty of relatively new bloggers love and adore them. As with most situations, there are both pros and cons that come with ARCs.

Daughter of the Forest: Review

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever. 

When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all.

Daughter of the Forest has been known as a classic fantasy novel, and it was to my delight that Daughter of the Forest deserved its high praise and attention. I discovered while reading it that my older sister had even read it and loved it back in high school. I really-I can't even how awesome this book was. There were many squeals involved(am I the only one who screams into their blankets during an awesome part of their book, because I did that quite often).

It is with some sadness that I say I didn't love Daughter of the Forest in its entirety. The beginning was definitely hard to get into. Don't let that scare you away! Let me explain. I started Daughter of the Forest about two weeks ago. I then proceeded for another five days to read ten pages every day, because it was, like I said, difficult to get into. It's not as if the beginning was so boring it didn't intrigue me a little, but the pacing was incredibly slow. When you're reading a book that is short and sweet, then move to a book that is, umm, really descriptive, it's hard to get into that book. About the first half of the book spends a better part of its time setting up the world and characters. While I appreciate world building, I felt the pacing could have perhaps moved a bit faster. Even so, the beginning was good. I was excited to see what would happen by the first twenty pages. But knowing that anything exciting wouldn't be happening until another hundred pages put me off, which explains why I had difficulty reading more than ten pages for a couple days. After two hundred pages, though, it was a totally different story. Basically, the real journey starts, and everything became interesting. Maybe the introduction of the hot romantic interest had something to do with it. The plot surely picks up pace in the middle, and the climax was perfectly executed. The ending, as well, left just the right amount of satisfaction and curiosity for the next book.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.

Alright, I know already how hard this will be. There are too many bad-ass heroines out there in books. I'll see how many I come up with, and if there are a few over ten, so be it!

1. Celeana Sardothien from the Throne of Glass Series

2. Vin from the Mistborn trilogy

3. Quintana from the Lumatere Chronicles trilogy

New Blog Design?!

Hello all! You might have clicked on my website today and seen an entirely new...website? And you were probably were like what happened? What did I miss?? Well, since I'm not always an organized person, I scheduled this post after my design was to go up. I will ignore the huge fail. Let's focus on the bright side: I GOT A FREAKIN' NEW DESIGN.

The Wrath and the Dawn: Review

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.




I had some extreme expectations for this book. If you follow me on twitter or have seen some of my past posts, you know this was my most anticipated debut novel of the year-maybe even my most anticipated novel of 2015. So when I say I was excited for this book, it is a huge understatement. Probably a more accurate description was that I was salivating to read it.

But the real question of the day: Did it meet my high, high expectations? I can gladly say...it did! Other than a slight problem(I'll get to that later), this book was as awesome as I imagined it to be.

I first want to address my feelings about my favorite part of this book. The romance. If I learned one thing about the author from reading this book, it's that she can write a swoony romance. Though this book does feature a love triangle-"gasp"-it didn't disappoint me. Plus, you can clearly see who she is going to end up with. I just really wish Tariq wasn't so annoying. Khalid and Shahrzad had such great chemistry throughout the book, and not only that, the romance was based off mutual feelings for each other and nobody was trying to force the other to do something they didn't want to do. Ahdieh was so good at excellently building up the romance and the tension, and that is why I enjoyed it so much. In the beginning, the two start off hating each other; it makes perfect sense, since Khalid killed Shahrzad's best friend, and Khalid is frigid towards all of his brides. At one point in the middle, I was growing hesitant about the romance, because it seemed they both were falling in love a bit too soon. However, I needn't have worried! That thankfully did not happen.

The one thing I found leaving something to be desired was the plot. Do not get me wrong. I expect alot of people will not have any problems with the plot. I feel like this was mostly a personal struggle I had with the book. This may be because the book focused on the romance during long lengths of the book, when I was wishing it might be building in plots and action. Sometimes I found it hard to pick it up again, because the plot was not as engaging as I hoped. Actually, I'm particularly excited about the second book because of this fact. This book felt kind of like an introduction to the world and characters, and I have high hopes the second book will explore the world further and more action will start to appear. Still, at the end of it, the plot was overall good; because of my high expectations, though, again, it left something to be desired.

Once I look back on reading The Wrath and the Dawn, I realize there was quite a small cast of characters. This, I felt, was to Ahdieh's advantage. This made the characters grow on me and understand their faults and dreams and hopes and feelings. This was another reason why I enjoyed the romance. I felt like I knew Khalid and Shrazad so well by the end of the book. The side characters rounded out the cast members really well, though I won't be addressing my feelings about them each. I'll just mention that reading about them was highly entertaining.

Overall, Renee Ahdieh writes a beautiful and vivid debut book. The romance was as swoonworthy as it gets. The cast of characters grew on me and drew me to love them with their faults. Though the plot felt dragging at some points of the book, I still immensely enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn!

 

It's My Birthday! + Giveaway

So, today is my birthday.

What's a weird thing about birthdays is that the actual day doesn't feel any different than the last or I've never been especially excited about them. Probably the most exciting thing about them is the build-up to them. Anyways, going past the nostalgic stuff, in celebration of my birthday, I will be telling you 8 interesting facts about myself that you might or might not have known about me. I'm choosing 8 because I am not coming up with 17-the age I'm turning this year- facts about myself(I'm not nearly interesting enough), so I'm choosing 8 since that's the day of the month I was born on. Don't mind that incredibly long run-on sentence...I'm allowed to do that on my birthday.

1. I am a fantasy nut. This is a very general statement about myself, but I find it fitting 'cause books.

But I want to extend this statement to movies as well-I love watching movies in fantasy lands too. Bookish fantasy lands will always be better though. Books are better than movies!

2. I used to have really, really long hair when I was younger. Yes, the weird facts will be appearing in...3...2...1. I had long hair( to my waist) until the summer before 7th grade when I cut it off pixie-short. Another quick fact: the day I cut it all off, I cried, because that is how much I loved my hair.

3. I have a life-long dream to travel around the world. This is such a common "bucket list" type of thing, but I honestly do want to see the whole world. The longest vacation I was ever on was a week-long trip to Texas in third grade; obviously, I hope my vacations in the future will be better. I just really, really want to see what the world has to offer.

4. I have a twin sister. I've talked about having a twin sister every now and then over the years, but this is the first time I've ever talked about it on the blog. Well now you know for sure! She's also my awesome best friend-I would actually pick the title of "best friend" before "sister." Is that weird?

5. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. Winter is a really close second, but autumn beats it by a bit. It's such a gorgeous season, with all the brilliant-colored leaves on the ground. It's also my favorite season temperature-wise; perfect time to break out the boots and coats!


6. I'm a night owl. Enough said.


7. I also happen to love chocolate. I have a horrible sweet tooth in general...cakes, donuts, whatever. Candy is my next best friend in the planet though. I don't think I could live without chocolate.

8. I love Yorkshire terriers. I have grown up surrounded by Yorkshire terriers, and they have definitely made me love their adorable ways. I have my own dog named Dahlia, and she's a sweetie(but one of the shyest dogs I've encountered in my days).

(See, they are adorable.)

Whoo, that was more difficult than it looks! This is why I hate talking about myself.

Of course, what would be a celebration without a giveaway?

In honor of my birthday, I want to giveaway a highly-coveted ARC of this year: The Wrath and the Dawn. I read it and really, really enjoyed it, so I'm sharing my ARC! Please read my giveaway rules before entering this giveaway! Should I mention that my ARC is "signed" too?

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Froi of the Exiles: Review

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home ... or so he believes. Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been taken roughly and lovingly in hand by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper with a warrior's discipline. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds in its surreal royal court. Soon he must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad princess in this barren and mysterious place. It is in Charyn that he will discover there is a song sleeping in his blood ... and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.








Warning: This review may contain spoilers of Finnikin of the Rock. If you haven't read Finnikin yet, what are doing?? Go now. Right now. Buy it. Read it. Then come read this review because I'm awesome, and there really is no other reason besides that. That doesn't matter though.

My feelings for this book can be best described in this one gif:


However, there's no fun unless I talk about it and I have to somehow convince you guys to read it but that's impossible how can you expect me to do that.

Froi picks up from Finnikin three years later. This time, Froi is our main character. Except not, because Lunar-Chronicles-style, we are also able to see from the other characters' points-of-view from the previous book. We are still able to see from the wonderful view of Finnikin and bad-ass Isaboe, but we also get introduced to these other bad-ass characters, like, for example, Phaedra, who is my new favorite side character of all-time, and Lucian, who is part of my new favorite ship of all-time with my new favorite side character of all-time. Yeah, if you couldn't tell I loved Phaedra and Lucian. They just brought all. The feels. However, let me take a moment to discuss Froi since that is what I should have been doing but Lucian and Phaedra distracted me. Froi, I was worried about you from the previous book. I mean, how could I not be? You did almost rape Isaboe and you stole alot of things in the past. It was entirely natural to be cautious to what to expect from you in this book. But, Froi, you completely, utterly banished any bad thoughts about you, because you were a tremendously amazing character.

Marchetta did a superb job writing Froi's character. Froi's growth was huge in the three years we missed between the books, and I was worried it wouldn't entirely seem realistic, because all-of-a-sudden, Froi would be a nice, friendly character in this book. That was not the case. We are able to see all the scars Froi has from the past, but we can also glimpse the hope Froi has now in his new life. He has friends, family, and a home. Marchetta tells him to be satisfied with his new life in the beginning of the book-but fate has other ideas. I won't go further beyond that detail, because I want to remain mostly mysterious about the overall plot of the novel.
The plot of Froi was what I think I enjoyed most about this novel, which is saying alot because I really liked the characters in this book(even more so than in Finnikin). I felt the story interested me more, because I loved learning about a new kingdom from the same world. It was seamless and beautiful the way Marchetta told the story. Everything was perfect in my eyes.
As usual, Marchetta tells an excellent, engrossing, and morally-questioning story. Her writing style is gorgeous like Finnikin of the Rock. However, I have to point out that I'm partial to the plot of Froi. Finnikin of the Rock was amazing, I will give it that. But Froi seemed like so much to me. I loved the new characters, the politically-driven plot, the gorgeously-detailed setting of a new kingdom, and the romance between Froi and Quintana. I just-ugh.

If you couldn't tell already, anyone who has read Finnikin of the Rock should read this book A.S.A.P. because of its awesome gloriousness. So go off and buy it now if you haven't. If you own it already, what are you waiting for?

 

What January Brought

So January was a pretty good month. It also seemed to have gone by way too fast!

Here's what I read:
Gilt by Katherine Longshore(I also reviewed it here if you're curious to know my thoughts!)
Tarnish by Katherine Longshore
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta(My first book by Marchetta and I was not disappointed!)
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley(This was my first graphic novel and I really enjoyed it. If all graphic novels will be this good, I have a feeling this will be just the first in a long line.)

Total pages read: 2,161

DNFs:
Brazen by Katherine Longshore(This was actually looking to be the best out of the trilogy, but I set it down because I was growing bored. I definitely plan on picking it up again, though.)
I'm not even going to list the rest, because I think I started up to ten books in the last few weeks of the month and nothing seemed to interest me. Just know there were alot.

Here's what I received:
Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley(Bought via Amazon with a gift card)
The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas(Won from Ticket to Anywhere. Thank you, Gail!)
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh(There was much squealing involved! I won this from Sarah Nicole Lemon. Thanks again!)
Dark Star by Bethany Frenette(Bought via Amazon)
Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell(Bought via Amazon. I've been wanting to read this for some time, and I finally bought it!)

Here's what I watched:
I actually didn't watch any movies this month, but I have been watching a few TV shows.
The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2(This is proving to be an interesting season. I am eternally sad for CT. There's a few specific people I really hate, like always, but the good news is that I actually liked Jessica and Dustin alot more than last season.)
Heart to Heart(This kdrama has been bringing all the feels. It's a lot more sexier than most kdramas, so that may be part of it. But I also like that the main OTP have great chemistry together.)

Here's what I listened to:
Into the Woods(The whole soundtrack from the older play. I loved and obsessed over it the whole month. I, for one, am excited to see the movie.)
Lana Del Rey(I discovered her a few years back, and she remains one of my favorite artists. However, I hadn't been really listening to her, but I started listening to her new album this month. I am especially loving Brooklyn Baby and West Coast, but I do love her whole new album!)
Yelle(If you don't recognize her, I can believe why. She's a French artist I discovered last year, but this month I've been listening the heck out of her songs! I'm addicted!)






   

Finnikin of the Rock: Review

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere. 

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.

Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.


I can't express my love for this book in enough words. I've been trying to form the right words over the past couple weeks, but I'm still having difficulty. It's just such a...beautiful book. I think beautiful describes the book justly. After I finished it, I wanted to hug it to my chest for a couple more hours, savoring the ending.

Finnikin of the Rock is one of the most creative fantasy books I've read. It avoids all the tropes and cliches most fantasy books have and goes straight onto my list of most favorite worlds(if I had a list). Not only does it have an original world, but it also has the best world-building. The build is steady and increases gently through the book, easing us into the book wonderfully. Some people might not like the sound of "steady" and "gently" as I know certain people want a roller coaster start. Let me soothe your worries. Finnikin is never boring. If you read the prologue, I hope you see what I mean. If you don't like the prologue, it's a sign that this book isn't for you. It's definitely a darker book; there's talk of rape and murder often. But that's honestly why I loved it. It didn't shy away from topics that authors might feel uncomfortable talking about. It not only does this, but it portrays the emotions of families affected by these treacherous offenses realistically. They feel grief, rage, and so many other feelings. They don't forgive or forget easily. The whole book actually depends on these emotions and what these emotions lead to.

The characters were all affected by the deaths of loved ones or rape. The reason why the characters appealed to me so much is that they all went through tragedy. And their tragedies all shaped and molded them into different characters. Most of the main characters, from the beginning to the end, go through some major character growth as they address their past, and I really enjoyed watching them grow. If I had to pinpoint my favorite part of the Finnikin, it would be the characters. It's impossible not to feel for the characters, because they've gone through so much. They were the reasons why I had gallons of feels throughout the book.

The reason why I think the word beautiful fits this book so well is the writing. Melina Marchetta weaves an enchanting, effortless tale. Like I mentioned, there's never a dull moment and Marchetta proves that an author can appropriately introduce a new world while also telling an interesting story.

Overall, Finnikin of the Rock is a must read for fans of fantasy. I highly, highly recommend this book. The story itself was fantastic and interesting, the world creative and original, and the characters were well-developed and engrossing to read about.


 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Want to Read if I had a Book Club

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.

This will be a tricky post for me, especially considering I don't actually share my thoughts about books besides, well, the internet. But I'm going to take a stab at it!

1.
Mostly when I think of book clubs, I imagine there will be lots of discussion. And when it comes to discussions, I feel like contemporaries would be the easiest to discuss; everyone should be able to relate to it more or less. Please Ignore Vera Dietz deals with issues everyone would be able to relate to-betrayal, death, etc. Also, this would give the perfect opportunity to finally read this!

2.
This is one I read before, but I would love to reread this with a book club. Another Little Piece is gripping and very edgy, and I have no doubt people would feel wildly different things about it after reading it. I would love to hear other's thoughts on it!

3.
This book sounds so interesting and different! A town where lost things and people go? Umm, yes please! Again, I would be interested to know other's thoughts just based on reading the synopsis.

4.
Another dark book by the sound of it, but I think it would be easy to bring up topics to talk about.

5.
There's something about this book that just speaks book club to me(that's weird I know). Intriguing premise: check. Beautiful writing: check.

6.
I'm just saying...I would be totally okay rereading this for a book club. The discussions would probably only consist of squealing, but that's fine.

7.
I actually love talking about historical fiction books, because...I don't know...they're fun to talk about! I would more than likely join a book club if they were planning on reading this.

8.
Again, dark tones. Dark things are interesting to talk about! Or is that only me...

9.
I would be up to it.

10.
Yes, yes, and yes!