Top 5 Wednesday: Characters I Hate

Top 5 Wednesday is a meme started by Lainey at Ginger Reads Lainey. Find the list of all the #T5WFamily here.

This weeks topic is:

Top 5 Characters You Hate!

5. Jace

*hides from thrown objects* Hear me out. We all have our own preferences. And Jace is not one of mine. I do not find his broken, charming facade hot. I find him to be a cocky show-off, who thinks he's God's gift to the world. He's rash and selfish. And there is just no redeeming qualities there. I am not buying what he's selling.

4. Adam

*continues to hide* Adam was one of the main reasons why I strongly disliked Shatter Me. I really disliked him at first and than as the series went on that dislike turned into hate. This guy, can he get anymore emo? He is so moody and just an absolute downer. He even brings Juliette down and makes her really weak and needy. Thankfully she shakes him off. And that's when my opinion on him just shatters(ha ha see what I did there). What an immature asshole. Juliette is obviously a lot more mature than me because I would have let my fists go wild on his stupid face.

3. Clayton

As soon as you meet this guy you get that creepy, slimy don't come near me feeling. And it just gets worse and worse after everything he says and does. I don't think I've ever been as infuriated over a character as much as him. He just infects people around him. Case and point Sam's mom. She wasn't a great person to start with. But as soon as she starts dating Clayton she becomes weak and submissive. She's a smart women who lets this guy come in and take total control over her.

2. America

If you read my review from the other day this might not come as a shock. So I suggest you check it out. But pretty much I hate her because she's stupid. Everything she thinks is stupid. She's just stupid. Ugh! And so indecisive. How does she even get dressed in the morning?!

1. Umbridge

Obviously.

Do you agree with any of my choices? Who are some characters you absolutely hate? If you have a T5W post link it up.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books to Read if You Like Star Trek

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme held by The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks topic is:

Top Ten Books to Read if you Like Star Trek!

10. 172 Hours on the Moon

9. These Broken Stars

8. The Lunar Chronicles

7. Avalon

6. Liberty

5. Tin Star

4. Lorien Legacies series

3. Sky Chasers trilogy

2. Chaos Walking trilogy

1. Across the Universe trilogy

Let me know if you have any others. And don't forget to link up your TTT below.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Review: The Elite(The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Publication Date: April 23rd, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 336
Series: The Selection
Source Purchased
Rating: 1/5
Add to Goodreads

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

**Few things to start off. I originally posted this review on Goodreads last year well before I had a blog. I just decided to bring it over here as the last book comes out in about a week. And I will probably end up writing a review for it. So to me it just made logical sense. And I actually did enjoy The Selection. Gave it 3/5. Needless to say The Elite was a massive disappointment.**

Was America this annoying and useless in the first one? She was just awful! Cass can try and push that America is only in the Selection to help her family and make a difference(she's the "heroine" of this book you know) . But anyone who actually finished this book will tell you that's pure BS. She is a silly little girl. She's overly jealous, rash, stupid, indecisive and petty. And that's just a few adjectives at the top of my list.
Reading all her incoherent thoughts was worse then getting blood taken. Since I could not reach into the book and shake her in the hopes that something tangible would fall out her mouth, I was left to banging my head on the wall wondering why I was still reading this. Why?

In this sequel America has amazingly made it to the top 6. So that gives the reader the pleasure of reading forced and fake dialogue between the girls remaining. Unrealistic tasks being given to those top 6 girls from the Queen. Example; Two very important evenings need to be planned for some dignitaries arriving from Italy and Germany. Illea has a decent relationship with Italy but has not had any contact with Germany in years and desperately wants to form a strong relationship with them. So what does the Queen decide is a smart move you ask? Why charging these girls with the task of two separate and different evenings, that can not in any way offend these arriving people. Are you effing kidding me?! Never. NEVER would that be allowed. But don't worry, our incompetent "heroine" miraculously pulls off a spectacular evening for the Germans. Wining over everyone's hearts. *barfs* Of course there's lots more believable events throughout the book.

Let's have a look at this epic love triangle that just makes you want to shake Cass's hand for creating the worst love triangle in YA history(and I've read the Twilight saga peeps). Not only do we get to read about America changing her mind every other freakin' page ("I do want to stay here with Prince doubebag. But I could never be a princess." "I miss Aspen so much. But he broke my heart."). So remember how Aspen broke her heart and that's why she entered the Selection(I'm pretty sure that's how it went down)? Well Aspen is set on wining her heart back. He just loves her so much and will fight for her(I don't know who he's fighting against, since Prince douchebag doesn't even know he's alive!).
And than you have her other gold star choice in the cowardly lion. He literally has no redeeming qualities about him. He loves her(although he never actually said those three little words) and wants her just to say how much she wants him and wants to be there. Oh and America does, plenty of times. But because of her indecisive little mind she'll take it right back on the next page. Anyhow, the conversations between them take me back to my conversations with my 6th grade boyfriend. Needless to say they were pointless and never went anywhere.
Oh, and if you expect a big, hulking prince like our cowardly lion here to fight for you and be the first one to pull his sword when the rebels attack. Ha! He's the guy that just pushed you over to get into the nearest hidden room.

The only character I can stand is Celeste. She may be a manipulative biznatch. But at least she's being true to herself. She came into this game knowing what she wants and she doesn't care if she stabs everyone in the back to get it. She's awful, but she's the only true character in the book.

The Elite is also marketed as a dystopian but who are these random rebels that show up and attack the castle? Besides the cast system, what is this dystopian world like? Why are these rebels attacking? What are they fighting for? There is absolutely no sense to this world. No world building. And absolutely no answers as to what the fuck is going on outside of the selection. This book is just riddled with uselessness. Maybe we'll get a major info dump in the last book. But somehow I highly doubt it because that would have meant that Cass had to do some research and storytelling outside of watching The Bachelor and putting it in her own words in what some would call a "story". Ugh!

Just reading the inside cover and seeing the tagline for the last book is; "America must decide if she's truly "The One."" Haha good one! Like America would ever make a decision for herself(or if she does she'll change her mind on the next page).
Anyhow, hope you enjoy The Elite as much as I have!

Happy reading!

Brittany

Showcase Sunday #33

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme held by Books, Biscuits and Tea. It allows fellow bloggers to show off any books or bookish things they've compiled over the week.

Hey guys. How goes it? I had a fun week. I got to go to two separate author events, Laini Taylor and Jenny Han. Both awesome, awesome ladies. And what made both of those events even better was meeting up with a bunch of local bloggers. A few of them I just met then. But others I've had a twitter relationship with for a while. So it was great to finally meet them in person! We also did a book swap with a few of out unwanted ARC's and such.
Because I suck at planning, and I'm not at home, I didn't take pics of most of the books this week. *shakes head* So I'll just have to give you cover pictures instead. Sorry!

Laini Taylor

Jenny Han

Purchased

E-books Purchased

Won

Gifted

What you guys get this week? Let me know or hook up your weekly haul.

Happy reading!

Brittany

TBR Jar Review: Tides by Betsy Cornwell

Tides by Betsy Cornwell

Publication Date: June 4th, 2013
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 304
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3/5
Add to Goodreads

When high-school senior Noah Gallagher and his adopted teenage sister, Lo, go to live with their grandmother in her island cottage for the summer, they don’t expect much in the way of adventure. Noah has landed a marine biology internship, and Lo wants to draw and paint, perhaps even to vanquish her struggles with bulimia. But then things take a dramatic turn for them both when Noah mistakenly tries to save a mysterious girl from drowning. This dreamlike, suspenseful story—deftly told from multiple points of view—dives deeply into selkie folklore while examining the fluid nature of love and family.

Okay, so, I've never read a book about selkies. I don't really know anything about their folklore. So going into this book I thought it would be quite similar to a mermaid book/read. Well turns out I got schooled in the basics of selkie folklore. And from what I learned it's quite interesting. I'm now definitely interested in checking out more fiction books based in that world. That being said, Tides had some interesting bits, but for the most part I was just reading to get to the end.

Noah and his sister Lo are spending the summer with their grandmother(Gemm) on her summer island. Noah will be interning at the local college in the marine biology department and Lo just needs to get away from her parents. She's been struggling with an eating disorder and this is her time to get strong again. So it's supposed to be a calm summer spending time with their grandmother and doing their own thing. Obviously that is not how things go down.
Noah and Lo have grown up on tales of the selkies. Gemm seems to have an infinite knowledge of them. So this summer is no different, she's still telling the tales and the siblings still want to hear them. The only difference is Gemm has a friend hanging around that seems to be have very strong feelings throughout the tale. As the reader I think it's pretty obvious why the story is affecting her so much. And also what type of "friend" she is to Gemm. Anyhow, Lo is quickly caught up on Gemm's and Maebh's relationship.

So we get three POV's; Noah, Lo and Mara, a selkie. Noah is starting his internship. It may not start exactly as planned because he ends up in the filing room. But he's determined. Lo is struggling with overcoming bulimia. You get the feeling that her dad has said some pretty nasty things to her in the past about her weight. And Mara is just discovering herself on land and in the sea.
One day Noah happens upon Mara who he thinks is drowning and tries to save her. From there the strike up a different kind of relationship. Secrets start to get spilled. Stories start to come undone. And Noah, Lo, Mara, Gemm and Maebh's lives start to entwine together.

I don't really have strong feelings either way about the characters. They were all alright. No stand outs. Noah is smart and awkward. Lo is frail but strong. Mara is feisty and confused. Gemm and Maebh just want to share their love and protect the children.

Cornwell starts the book on a sad and grim note. But starts to build it up to include love and hope. As Tides progresses something terrible happens(I saw it coming, and I'm sure I'm not alone there) and you're supposed to feel the mystery and urgent-ness of the situation. but unfortunately that all feel flat for me. I was expecting it to happen. I knew who was involved and nothing came as surprise. So that was a little disappointing. Tides does end on a happy note and I can see why this story might hit some readers on a more personal level.
I enjoyed the selkie folklore. I just wish I was more connected to the characters. In the end it was a decent read and anyone looking to get a start in the world of selkies would probably have a good start with Tides.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters Who'd be My BFF

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme held by The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks topic is:

Top Ten Characters Who'd Be My BFF!
(this week we got to choose which type of characters to pick)

*in no particular order*

10. Clara

9. Uriah

8. Rose

7. Reagan and Cath

6. Strumhond

5. Caymen

4. Puck

3. Jessica

2. Celaena

1. Katy

Who'd be your BFF? Or who would you want to BFF's with?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Review: Don't Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout

Publication Date:April 15th, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 384
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Add to Goodreads

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

Hey, look, another JLA book. So of course when my drug dealer(the postman) delivered my crack and like any good addict there was no waiting before I devoured this book. Especially because it was a new genre for JLA. We know her for her awesome paranormal romances and new adult. This one my friends is a stand-alone thriller. And man does it pack in the suspense. But don't worry, there's a hot guy too. I think it's literally impossible for JLA to write a book not packed full of swoon.

Our MC is Samantha and she's just turned up after 5 days missing with amnesia. So pretty much we get right into the mystery. Samantha and her best friend Cassie went missing and then Sam is the only one to turn up. What happened? Where is Cassie? Where were they? With Sam not remembering anything, not her name, family, life, etc... and the fact that she returned without Cassie has left her in a very shady situation. Her family and friends are just relieved to have her back. But you can tell the cops are a little weary of her supposed amnesia.

We quickly start to realize what kind of person Sam was before she disappeared. A mean girl. And the top mean girl at that. She was absolutely horrible to everyone even her twin brother. Apparently she wasn't always like that. She started to turn into an outright bitch when she started hanging out with Cassie before starting high school. But because she doesn't remember her past self she's shocked to learn that she's now acting differently. Her brother and parents keep saying how weird it is having her being nice to them. Her friends are weary with how she's dressing(very casually instead of the high end). And she's sticking up for classmates she previously would have been the first to shot down with a nasty comment or remark. That's what I love about the after Sam, she's realized she has a second chance and she's taking full advantage of that. She's being who she wants to be, talking and hanging out with who she wants to and she has no qualms or second thoughts about telling someone that is being rude or racist where to shove it.
But after Sam comes with some problems too. She's having sudden flashes of the night she disappeared. Not full memories necessarily, just images to begin with. She's receiving notes with warnings. And she's got the feeling that someone is watching her or even following her. Sam's scared and doesn't know what to do. The police are all over her, she's falling out with her supposed friends and boyfriend and her brother has told her to ignore it. Maybe she's going crazy? That's how everyone is making her feel anyhow. So she ends up turning to her childhood friend, Carson.

Oh, Carson. When JLA said he was her most swoon-worthy guy so far she wasn't lying. Car is near perfect. *dies of swoon* Car is the son of the "help". He and his father live in the guest house of Sam's families estate. His father takes care of a lot of the household maintenance and such. Car and Sam used to be best friends until she started hanging out with Cassie and then she was an absolute terror to him like she was to everyone else. But Car remained best friends with her brother. It's obvious he never stopped caring for her, he clearly always hoped she'd return to her old self at some point. And now that Sam has, Car is the first one to be by her side helping her through everything. He's adorable, trusting and caring. And the only one to believe everything Sam says is happening to her. God, I love him. It's obvious Sam does too. Well, at least their attraction is just screaming between them.

JLA does her job brilliantly when she wrote Don't Look Back. I was absolutely suspicious of EVERYONE. At some point throughout reading, I was 100% sure it was one person or another. My mind was changed every few pages. I even thought it was Car at one point. And well there might have been booking throwing involved when I got there. How dare JLA put me in a position to suspect Car! That's just mean.
There are secrets at every turn as well. There was not one character carrying some big secret that had Sam(and me) thinking "what the hell?". There was always someone hiding something or lying to Sam when she thought she was getting somewhere with Cassie's disappearance. She'd have a flashback and someone would ask her what she remembered with a look of total desperation on their face. And she'd tell them it was nothing really, and you could just see them deflate with relief. It was just another way JLA would have you suspecting someone.

If you are a little weary of picking up Don't Look Back because it's something totally new from JLA. Don't be. JLA packs in the suspense, secrets, and swoon. She always knows where to hit her reader and it's one the reasons she's quickly become one of my favourite authors. The only downside to reading this book is that it's a stand alone. I sure could go for some more Sam and Car. Hopefully, JLA has a little something more hidden up her selves. A few extra scenes she's like to share. Please!

Happy reading!

Brittany

Showcase Sunday #32

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme held by Books, Biscuits and Tea. It allows fellow bloggers to show off any books or bookish things they've compiled over the week.

Happy Easter! Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and that the weather is as lovely as it is for me. Are you also stuffing your face with all the chocolate? Easter is my favourite chocolate time. Cream eggs are delicious.
So my drug dealer dropped off my drug of choice this week(JLA books). I went on a Marked Men reading spree(Rome being the third book). Find a few free Sorensen books(she's one of my fave authors). And was approved for some exciting books on Netgalley. Especially Silver Bay. I've read a few Moyes books, but Me Before You is definitely one of my favourite books now. Oh the feels!

Purchased

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout
Pure(Covenant #2) by Jennifer L Armentrout

E-Books Purchased

Netgalley

*clicking on pictures leads you to Goodreads*

What did you guys get this week? Let me know or link up your weekly haul.

Happy reading!

Brittany