Source: Purchased

Book Buddies Review: Summer Days and Summer Nights

Posted July 6, 2016 in Book Buddies Reviews, Reviews / 8 Comments

Cristina & Lauren Read: Book Buddies is a discussion style review I participate in every other month with my friend Lauren who runs the blog Bookmarklit. We choose a themed book for the month, read it, and the have a discussion where we both discuss themes and aspects that really stood out to us. Book Buddy Reviews are posted during the last week of the month.You can see our review in a Q&A format with half posted here, and half on Lauren’s blog! Since there were twelve stories, Lauren and I will be alternating the reviews between both of our […]

The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski | Review

Posted June 1, 2016 in Reviews / 4 Comments

“You don’t need to be gifted with a blade. You are your own best weapon.” I really, really hate to be the black sheep regarding this book. The prose, as expected from Rutkoski, is gorgeous and vivid and exists in its own level of perfection. The novel has a strong beginning and compelling ending, and many long awaited outcomes finally come to fruition. However, I once I strip away the enchanting writing style and my love for Kestrel and Arin, I can’t overlook the fact that this book, like it’s predecessor The Winner’s Crime, really slowed for me and lost […]

The Crown by Kiera Cass (Selection Series #5) | Review

Posted May 23, 2016 in Reviews / 10 Comments

I think it’s clear to everyone that this series has stunning covers and an addictive presence, and therefore makes many a reader and blogger hit the “purchase” button even if we’re on the fence about this series. This has both served me well and disappointed me depending on which book in the series I am reviewing, as some of the books (The Selection, The One, The Heir) I’ve found decent, quick reads, while others (The Elite, the novellas, etc.) were a chore to read. I went into The Crown with high hopes, seeing as I much preferred Eadlyn to America […]

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas | The Book That Stole My Soul

Posted May 16, 2016 in Reviews / 27 Comments

Here- here was the most powerful High Lord ever born. The face of dreams and nightmares (408). *Disclaimer: The first part of this review will be *relatively* spoiler-free, and the second half below the line will discuss spoiler elements. You’ve been warned! I am a book blogger. I read a large volume of books every year. I review almost all of them. Some I love, some I hate, few I flail over. Yet when I do find a book that completely enraptures me, I am always convinced it’s going to be the best book of the year, that I’ll never […]

Proposal (Mediator #6.5) & Remembrance (Mediator #7) by Meg Cabot | Review

Posted April 18, 2016 in Reviews / 3 Comments

After the success of Royal Wedding (the adult sequel to the YA Princess Diaries series) I have been beyond excited for the new Mediator books. I ordered this novella as a physical paperback (it’s tiny!) and it reminded me of the days I used to buy the Princess Diaries novellas at the bookstore, before e-readers were really a common thing. I had been seriously slumping since I finished Queen of Shadows, so switching up genres to paranormal and revisiting some of my favorite characters from the past (not to mention one of my first book boyfriends) seemed like the perfect […]

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas | The Ultimate Book Hangover

Posted April 13, 2016 in Reviews / 7 Comments

“You make me want to live, Rowan. Not survive; not exist. Live.” It was only a few weeks ago that I was shouting from the rooftop (of my blog) about how much I loved Heir of Fire, and how the Throne of Glass series has come to shatter all of my preconceived notions of it after reading the first book. Now four books in, I have given each book that followed the first novel a solid 5 star rating. I am completely, devastatingly in love with this series, these characters, this universe, and anything Sarah J Maas writes in general. […]

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West | Review

Posted March 21, 2016 in Reviews / 4 Comments

The Distance Between Us came highly recommended to me after my first, rather lackluster, experience with a Kasie West novel, The Fill In Boyfriend. There seems to be a consensus that The Distance Between Us is the best of West’s contemporary novels, so I decided to assign it my “lunchtime read” at work (which is where I choose a short novel to keep in my desk and only read exclusively on work breaks). I didn’t go into the book with that many expectations, and found it to be a cute and quick read with some plot holes and characters who […]

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas | Review

Posted March 14, 2016 in Reviews / 13 Comments

“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.” I never thought I’d be a Sarah J Maas fangirl. I read Throne of Glass and was underwhelmed. I read Crown of Midnight, and it was shockingly good, but I was suspicious that it was more due to certain plot elements rather than an overall love for the series itself. However after I discovered my love affair with A Court of Thorns and Roses, I decided it was time to give the Throne of Glass series another chance to wow me. And wow me it […]

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater | Review

Posted February 1, 2016 in Reviews / 10 Comments

“You can be just friends with people, you know,” Orla said. “I think it’s crazy how you’re in love with all those raven boys.” I think I am about as short as Blue and this makes me identify with her on a spiritual level (no pun intended). That’s the beauty of this series: Maggie makes you feel so intricately connected to the characters in small, intimate ways, and sometimes silly ways, whether it’s through a Ronan’s cynicism and snarky remarks, Gansey’s obsessive behavior and paralyzing fear of bees, or Adam’s deep and dark desire to be better, stronger, to matter. While […]

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty |Review

Posted January 20, 2016 in Reviews / 8 Comments

“This Thursday night felt like adolescence: exquisitely painful and sharply beautiful.” -297 A few weeks ago I posted about craving some adult fiction to break up the mini-slump I felt I had fallen into with YA books, where many of them felt as if they were blending together, and the themes and characters were becoming monotonous to read. The Husband’s Secret was at the top of my adult fiction TBR list, and it’s the first book I chose to pick up in 2016 from my Christmas book haul. I read a majority of this book in a small handful of […]