Top 5 Wednesday: Series I Won't Be Finishing

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 Fictional Series I Won't Be Finishing!

5. The Hollow Trilogy

This one just ended up lacking in almost everything; plot, dialogue, emotions, character development. It's very reminiscent of the Twilight era and I(embarrassingly) probably would have rated it a lot higher if I had read it back then. Abbey is another Bella Swan. And add in super cheesy dialogue and a "dead" love interest and it's Twilight in another setting. Needless to say, there's many reasons why I will not be reading the rest of the trilogy.

4. Dark Passages series(?)/trilogy(?)

White Space is beyond confusing. For most of this book I thought Bick's only reason for writing it was to mess with her readers. It's told from multiple POV's. So well reading some of them I thought I had a grasp on what might be going down, but than it would quickly change to someone else's and I'd go back to "WTF?". In the end I was way too confused to care enough to figure out what the hell was going on upon slamming the book shut.

3. Visions trilogy

I have read the first two books, Crash and Bang, and really enjoyed them. Bang should have ended a few pages earlier than it did for complete satisfaction. Unfortunately it didn't. It set up for a third, unnecessary book. I've talked to friends who've read it and says it does nothing for the series and really just adds more of the same conflicts from the first two books. I'm perfectly fine pretending that one and the last few pages of Bang don't exist.

2. Shadow Falls series

I thought the first book, Born at Midnight was alright. It's just nothing special. It's like a lot of other paranormal series out there. Nothing in it stood out above the rest. And with it being a decent size series I just feel no need to carry on with the amount of series I have on the go right now.

1. Arclight duology(?)

Arclight wasn't bad. There were parts I enjoyed. But most of it was pretty boring. I don't really remember the point of the lights and dark areas. Just a very non-memorable book. But I do remember it was supposed to be a stand alone. It's not(surprise, surprise). Once I heard there was going to be a sequel, Meridian, I didn't plan on picking it up. The terrible reviews of Meridian have more than sealed the deal for me, too.

What are some series you won't be finishing?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Top Ten Tuesday: Underrated Books

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

This weeks topic is: 

Top Ten Underrated Books!

I know we're supposed to pick a genre or author, but I couldn't narrow it down to one genre. So here's a few different genres with some of my favourite books that not enough people know about.

Dystopian

Sci-Fi

Liberty is really upsetting. It's a fantastic book and what was going to be a series, but with the underwhelming readership the author had this to say.

Fantasy

Have you read these books? Link up your TTT below.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Review: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Doubleday Children's
Publication Date: September 11th, 2014
Pages: 400
Series: Magisterium #1
Source: Netgalley/Publisher
Rating: 4/5
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Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.

Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .

From the remarkable imaginations of bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a heart-stopping, mind-blowing, pulse-pounding plunge into the magical unknown.

Alright, let's get this out of the way. Yes, there are a lot of glaringly obvious similarities between Harry Potter and The Iron Trial. No, I'm not going to list them. That will do no good. I tried really hard to separate my Harry Potter drunk brain from this story. It's definitely hard to turn off that part of my thinking, but once I could eventually stop pin pointing every similarity I got much more enjoyment from The Iron Trial. The thing is, for us that grew up on Harry Potter and especially the ones like me that are still obsessed, we are always going to find similarities in any book that's magic based(with witches and wizards of some sort), with tween age children taking place at a boarding school. We've pretty much conditioned our brains to find and locate these books. That being said, there are plenty of differences that make The Iron Trial far from a rip-off of Harry Potter. I'm sure a lot of teens and older readers will be picking up this book solely based on the authors(they're clearly hugely popular authors), but there's also going to be a whole lot of younger readers that didn't grow up on Harry Potter and who don't know Black and Clare's previous books that find The Iron Trial an epic magical fantasy series following a group of adventurous kids.

Call has grown up with the knowledge of the magical world. He may live and go to school like a normal kid, but he's aware that there is magic in the world. Although his dad is very anti-magic. Tragedy struct their family when Call was an infant. There was a war between Mages and Call's mother was one of the people killed. Call's leg was also shattered at this time and it took a lot of surgeries to get it whole again. That left Call with quite a limp and very insecure about his physical abilities. Of course that also made him an outcast. Picked on constantly. He's kind of an angry guy. Which I found understandable. We meet Call when he's twelve. Which means he's to take part in the Iron Trial. The Iron Trial is where a bunch of kids compete for entrance into the Magisterium. Some kids knew about this upcoming trial having grown up in a magical family and some are surprised to find that they have some magical elements running in their blood. The thing for Call is his father has not trained him for this trial. In fact he has continually reminded him he must fail. His father is very bitter and angry towards the school and Mages. He doesn't want Call involved in that world. So Call shows up at the trial with every intent to fail. But the problem is the Call fails at failing and ends up being chosen as one of the pupils to enter the Magisterium. So we than travel with Call to the school and watch as adventure and chaos ensue.

Call is a pretty bitter, angry and sarcastic kid. Of course life has not been wholly on the positive side for him. Also having his dad's bitterness constantly whispered into his ears doesn't help either. Call doesn't even have one friend to confide in. He's an outcast. And that can do wonders on your confidence and mood. But in the end he's still a good kid, life just hasn't been kind to him. Call goes through some great character growth over the course of the book. Upon entering the Magisterium he's still very unsure and thinks he's going to get himself thrown out. At first he's mean and distant with the other kids. Until he's quickly called out for it by Aaron and Tamara, his roommates and classmates(the three of them have been chosen by the same Mage and will be working as a close trio for their schooling years). He also starts to realize he kind of likes the magic thing. He's not terrible at it and his professor, Rufus, and friends believe in him. There's quite a few heart warming moments between Call, Aaron and Tamara. They're a good team and quickly learn to trust each other. Of course Call's life at the Magisterium is far form uncomplicated. He's not friendly with everyone. And there's a lot tricky business going on at the school and in the magical world. Call isn't privy to all that information but it doesn't stop him and his friends from becoming involved.

There's a lot of pretty cool elements that Black and Clare have created in this fantasy world. The magic system is elemental based. Each Mage usually finds a stronger infinity in one of the elements; air, water, fire and earth. There's also chaos. Which is virtually unheard of. But when a Mage finally shows signs of chaos they are worshiped and treated as a hero. They are given special lessons and treatment. So why is chaos such a covenanted magical element? Because it is all powerful but also because of the bad guy. The Enemy is what he's known as in The Iron Trial. He's an all powerful chaos Mage who has been raging war against the good Mages for years. Right now there is a treaty and all has been quite from The Enemy for a few years. But they know something is brewing and another chaos Mage will be the only one to save them from another eventual war.
Reading along I was pretty sure I knew where the story would go. I figured I had Call's fate figured out. From different clues and information thrown my way I was pretty much sure of what would be reveled. Well turned out I was wrong. As I should have known I would be. I should never have thought that Clare and Black would keep even a middle grade book simple and predictable. There was a fantastic twist thrown at the reader. I honestly didn't see it coming. It's a great play on the regular good and evil trope. I am now beyond excited to see how this plays out. As a Clare fangirl(I need to read more of Blacks books) I have complete faith that this series will take some really unpredictable turns in the coming books. Call, Aaron and Tamara are surely in for some hardship and big decisions along the way. Their friendship and magic will be tested time and time again. Like seriously, that twist guys. It's a good one.

Overall, I think this a very strong start to what is going to be a five book series. The magic system is fun and interesting. Call and his friends make a great bunch of kids that I can't wait to follow on all their adventures. And the surprising twist on good and evil will surely continue to surprise me in the future installments.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Showcase Sunday #51

 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 friends, how was your week? Work started to pick up for me, so that means less time to blog during the day. Ha ha. The weather was also the hottest it's been this year. Thanks for showing up so late summer. Although it was quick. Now we're back to cooling down. We'll probably have fall pretty early this year. But good news is I 'll be in Cuba this time next week. It's a work trip, but who cares. It's not here!
Oh man, guys, there is soooo many books this week. Good news is a good lot of them I've read and was just picked up a different edition or whatever. Although September and October is not good on the wallet. So many damn new releases. And I want 90% of them. *sigh* I'm going to try something a little different this week and let you know where I bought them and a short reason why next to the Goodreads link of said title. I'm thinking that'll make more sense and look a little cleaner. Let me know what you think. :)

Purchased

chapters.ca
Amulet Volume 6:Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi-last volume so I need to see how it ends.
Opposition(Lux #5) by Jennifer L Armentrout-already read the e-book. Just need a physical copy. Obviously.

chapters.ca
Heir of Fire(Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J Maas-Isn't it beautiful?! Already devoured this. This is just my pre-order of the US edition. 

chapters.ca
Shades of Milk and Honey(Glamourist Histories #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal-Been eyeing this for a while. Chapters had no min, shipping on. So I caved.
Deception(Defiance #2) by C.J. Redwine-Just read the first book. Found the hardcover for bargain price on chapters. So of course, snatched it up.

chapters.ca-went to the book store last night. Couldn't come out empty handed

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes
A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

bookoutlet.ca
Outlander(Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon-Yes, this is my fifth copy. But it's my favourite book. I NEED all the different editions. Plus it was a very good price.
If I Should Die(Revenants #3) by Amy Plum-I'm finally getting a finished hardcover to replace my ARC. Great trilogy. And very good price.
City of Glass(The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare-Replacing my paperback copy with this hardcover. Just City of Ashes to find dirt cheap now.

E-books Purchased

Review

Claudine by Barbara Palmer-This is a bit of a different read for me. But I'm going to give it a go.
**Thanks to Penguin Canada for sending this to me**

#bookporn

I couldn't help it. Look at all them! They're so so so beautiful together. I can't wait till Amazon has the new US hardcover is stock. The one Bloomsbury is re-printing with the amazing paperback cover. Then they will truly match. Ah, just so lovely! <3 <3

Anyhow, what did you guys get this week?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Top 5 Wednesday: Fictional Schools

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 Fictional Schools You'd Want to Attend!

Putting this list together I unfortunately came to the realization that I really haven't read that many books that take place in a boarding school. I've of course read plenty that take place in a normalish high school. But for the most part those are all the same. It's the boarding schools that really entice me and offer the most interesting atmosphere. If I'm going to go back to school I want to make it fun and interesting. Anyhow, I obviously need to remedy this and will definitely be adding more books that take place in a boarding school to my TBR's.

5. Hecate Hall

A bunch of paranormal creatures like vampires, werewolves, fae, witches, etc... thrown together makes for a whole lot of mischief, joking and drama. Seems like the place to be.

4. St.Vladimir's Academy

Vampires and Dhampirs lead an interesting life at St.Vladimir's. But they seem to also have a lot fun. Parties every other night. I kind of like the danger lurking at every corner.

3. Camp Half-Blood

Is this cheating? Maybe a little. But technically some of the demigods stay the whole year. And even during the summer months they're always learning and training. So it's pretty much a school. And who the hell wouldn't want to visit Camp Half Blood? Dream come true.

2. School of America Paris(SOAP)

I really don't think this needs much explanation. It's a school. In Paris.

1. Hogwarts

Obviously. And I've technically been to Hogwarts. As close as anyone will ever get. It was beautiful and maybe a little emotional. But you guys get me.

What fictional schools do you want to attend?

Happy reading!

Brittany

 

Blog Tour Review + Giveaway: I Want It That Way by Ann Aguirre

I Want It That Way by Ann Aguirre

Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Publication Date: August 26th, 2014
Pages: 352
Series: 2B Trilogy #1
Rating: 3.5/5
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Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she’s determined to make them come true. But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, dating’s the last thing on her mind. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B….

Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he can’t risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a full-time construction management job and night classes, the last thing he wants is noisy students living in the apartment upstairs. But one night, Nadia’s and Ty’s paths cross, and soon they can’t stay away from each other.

The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it happens. And you can’t know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.

"A tender, sweet, and sexy story about how life—and falling in love—can never be planned."

—Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You

Surprisingly this is my first Ann Aguirre book. But I think it's a good place to start. I like to think of myself as pretty real rounded in the NA genre, so I like to think I can tell the good NA from the crap NA. Why not make my first Aguirre book be her first foray into NA. And hell, the title of the book(actually all titles in the trilogy) is a BSB song. Guys, you know I'm the biggest BSB fan out there. It's fate. Anyhow, I think Ann has grasped the life of a college student. Her characters are real and dealing with real life college student issues. I'll get more into it below. But it always bugs me in NA when this college student only worries about their relationship. School and money and life is forgotten. That is not reality. Kudos to you Ann for keeping it real.

Nadia is moving into a new apartment with a few friends when she literally falls into Ty, their downstairs neighbour. There is an instant attraction between the two of them. But life isn't there to make it easy for them. Circumstances just make it seem like they shouldn't be together. The obvious lust they feel for each other just keeps getting more intense though. Eventually they decide to embark on a friends with benefits arrangement. Which of course always produces hurt feelings even when feelings weren't supposed to be involved. I Want It That Way gives the reader some pretty steamy scenes between Nadia and Ty. Well also dealing with relationships; romantic and friendship, school, money, jobs and family. Imagine that, college kids dealing with life. But in an actual realistic way.

Nadia has a full plate. She's a full time student. But hey because money doesn't grow on trees, she also works full time at a pre-school/day care. It was freakin' fantastic to read about a twenty year old in college worrying about money. Realizing she can't do things because she doesn't have money to do it. College is the start when you are actually on your own and have to learn to save and pay bills and live as a grown up. Nadia is also confused about what she really wants to be when she grows up. She knows, but there's other factors keeping her from fully committing. She's scared to set herself back. But she's also scared of disappointing her parents. Who have scrimped and cut back to send her to college. She doesn't want to let them down. Nadia was just dealing with a lot of real college age issues. So I appreciated being able to actually relate with Nadia as I've been through all those problems.
Like all NA, I Want It That Way is a romance. Nadia meets Ty minutes upon moving into her new apartment. She thinks he's hot and hopes they will hit it off. That is until she finds out Ty is a single dad to four year old Sam. Ty doesn't want a relationship to complicate his already complicated and busy life. He works full time as well as doing night classes. And of course he's raising a child. It's obvious that Ty can't help but fall immediately for Nadia too. They have some really cute "accidental" nightly chats(from their own apartments balconies). Soon it becomes apparent that their attraction to each other needs to be taken care of. But with Ty not wanting a relationship, Nadia actually being one of Sam's teachers at the day care and Ty just not wanting to mess around with Sam's routine and life, they decide to go the friends with benefits route. And when it runs its course no one will get hurt. *cough* yea right *cough*

Just a few more things. When Nadia starts this different kind of relationship with Ty she's not fully forthcoming with her roommates/friends. But I really like that they were there for her. Even when they have no idea why she's hurting. It doesn't matter. That's what friends do. Comfort you even when they have no idea what your problem is.
The interactions and relationship between Ty and Sam are adorable. Sam is just a little cutie. You could just tell how hard Ty works at being the best dad he can be. His life is far from the norm of a twenty-four year old single guy. But the guy freakin' works to exhaustion to give Sam the world. It's heart warming. My favourite bits of I Want It That Way were when Sam was around. Whether with Ty, Ty and Nadia or just Nadia. Sam brought a lot of adorableness to the book.

I Want It That Way is a great start into this new NA trilogy for Ann. I really enjoyed the dose of reality it brings. As well as the endearing moments between father and son. And of course the steamy moments between Nadia and Ty. I'm pumped to continue on with the next two companion novels. Especially since we got a sneak peak into those characters personalities and what they'll have to offer us in their respective novels.

Read the first chapter HERE

 Amazon.com| Amazon.ca | B&N |BAM | IndieBound | Book Depository | itunes | Powell's | Chapters Indigo

Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.

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  Happy reading!

Brittany

August Wrap Up & September TBR

September? How is this possible? We didn't even have a summer. It's been absolutely crap weather. Blah. Besides that, turns out August was a ridiculous reading month for me. Actually my best reading month to date. I read 28 books this month. "What?!" is right. Apparently I don't sleep. Because that's the only reason I can come up with for fitting that many books in. *pats self on back* Most of the books I read were fantastic. I finally had four of my most anticipated books of 2014 in my hands. So those got devoured. I also read my first Christina Lauren book. Than proceeded to read all their published books. Their books are crack. Anyhow just keep reading on to see all the amazing books I read in August.

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover 5*
Throne of Glass(Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J Maas 5*(re-read)
Crown of Midnight(Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J Maas 5*(re-read)
Amulet Volume 4:The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi 4*
Anna and the French Kiss(Anna and the French Kiss #1) by Stephanie Perkins 5*(re-read)
Reboot(Reboot #1) by Amy Tintera 4*
Isla and the Happily Ever After(Anna and the French Kiss #3) by Stephanie Perkins 4*
Rebel(Reboot #2) by Amy Tintera 4*
Losing Hope(Hopeless #2) by Colleen Hoover 5*
The Dolls(The Dolls #1) by Kiki Sullivan 3*
Amulet Volume 5:Prince of Elves by Kazu Kibuishi 4*
Erased(Altered #2) by Jennifer Rush 4*
All Lined Up(Rusk University #1) by Cora Carmack 4*
The Madman's Daughter(The Madman's Daughter #1) by Megan Shepherd 5*
The Summer I Turned Pretty(Summer #1) by Jenny Han 3*
Heir of Fire(Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J Maas 5*
The Revenge of Seven(Lorien Legacies #5) by Pittacus Lore 4*

Opposition(Lux #5) by Jennifer L Armentrout 5*
I Want it That Way(2B Trilogy #1) by Ann Aguirre 3*
Beautiful Bastard(Beautiful Bastard #1) by Christina Lauren 3.5*
Beautiful Bitch(Beautiful Bastard #1.5) by Christina Lauren 3.5*
Beautiful Stranger(Beautiful Bastard #2) by Christina Lauren 3.5*
Beautiful Bombshell(Beautiful Bastard #2.5) by Christina Lauren 3.5*
Beautiful Player(Beautiful Bastard #3) by Christina Lauren 4*
Beautiful Beginning(Beautiful Bastard #3.5) by Christina Lauren 4*
Sacrifice(Elemental #5) by Brigid Kemmerer 5*
Sweet Filthy Boy(Wild Seasons #1) by Christina Lauren 4*
The Probability of Violet and Luke(The Coincidence #4) by Jessica Sorensen 4*

See! I had an amazing reading month. I read so many books that were awesome or fantastic. There's six five stars(not including re-reads). So that makes it really hard to pick a favourite of August. I obviously have to say Heir of Fire because obviously. But also The Madman's Daughter took me by surprise. Opposition and Sacrifice are fantastic series enders. And also two Colleen Hoover books that I can't not mention, Ugly Love and Losing Hope. So Heir of Fire is my absolute favourite of the month but all my five stars are also favourites. I can do whatever I want. It's my blog.

September includes a lot of review books. Some will be pictured below, others are on the way and even more of them are e-ARCs. So I will get those read because I have to, but more importantly I'm really excited for them all. Hopefully I love them all. As per usual I have some buddy reads with Samantha which include Far From You, Cursed and Stay With Me(when it's released). I've already read two of my highly anticipated September releases, but because September is a massive month for book releases I of course have others I have pre-ordered. So I'll definitely be trying to fit a few of those too. Screwdrived and Jessica Darling's It List 2 being the important ones. I am going to be on a work trip for a week this month so I don't think I'll come close to how much I read in August, but I'll be trying to get as much in as possible. 

How was your August? What are your reading plans for September?

Happy reading!

Brittany