The midnight star (Marie Lu)

To keep this review spoiler-free I've tried to write the summary as vaguely as possible, so if you're interested in a more detailed summary of the series, check out my review for the first two books here.

 A year after the events of The rose society Adelina Amouteru is faced with the hardest decision she had to make so far: either to pursue her mission of seeking revenge or to ally herself with those who have betrayed her once again in order to save the only two people she cares about. 

"You cannot harden your heart to the future just because of your past. You cannot use cruelty against yourself to justify cruelty to others." 

I absolutely loved this book. I think it's the perfect ending to a fantastic series and there's barely anything I'd change if I could. Just like the first two books in the series, the tone of The midnight star is very dark and a bit melancholic and unlike anything I've encountered in a YA novel so far. An aspect that is a lot more prominent in this book than it is in the previous two is mythology, which I really enjoyed. I loved learning about these gods and their tales and I feel like this just adds another dimension to the story. My most favorite part however is definitely the ending. It's so beautiful and bittersweet, so once I started crying, I literally couldn't stop. It rounds up the story really well and leaves (most) readers quite satisfied. To be honest, it's quite predictable, but the point of the ending isn't to be extremely shocking. It's supposed to be the light at the end of this very dark tunnel, that The young elites series is, and end the story with a feeling of hope and the promise of a better future, and the ending of The midnight star does that perfectly. I also adored the short folktale at the very end of the book, that once again shows how different a story can be told depending on the different point of views and that a reader should be aware of all of them to fully understand the story and its characters. The only part I didn't like about this novel (and honestly the series in general) is how short it is. It has so much potential and a lot of that is just wasted by the books being only a bit longer than 300 pages. Another amazing thing about this book however is definitely Marie Lu's beautiful writing. It's so engaging and just doesn't let you go, so The midnight star was a pretty fast read for me. There isn't that much worldbuilding in this book, but since the first two already did a fantastic job at establishing this stunning world, I honestly didn't mind that the story focuses a lot more on the characters and their interactions with each other.
The characters are so amazing. All of them are extremely interesting in their own ways, and there is no character that I found boring, annoying or unnecessary. They are also really diverse, not just from their ethnicity, but also from their social background, which ranges from an escaped slave up to a queen. There are also LGBT characters in there, and I especially liked that two characters are lesbian since I don't think I've ever read a YA novel with queer female characters. I certainly would've wished to see more of their relationship play out in their own point of views, but I obviously enjoyed reading about a queer relationship nonetheless. In general I liked how the relationships are handled, since they are quite subtle and don't distract from the main plot. It's interesting to see a bit more of the character's backgrounds, especially of those we know barely anything about. I don't even want to go into too much detail regarding the characters because of spoilers, but I can definitely tell you that I love all of them and that they are some of the most complex and interesting characters I've ever read about.
I honestly can't recommend you enough to read the amazing The young elites series, simply because it's just so different from the typical YA fantasy novel and I'm sure a lot of you will love it as much as I do.

Rating: 4.5/5 ✹

I hope you enjoyed this review! I'm sorry if there are any grammar/spelling mistakes, but due to studying I just don't have as much time as I usually do to write a review, which results in me making a lot of stupid mistakes. Anyway, have a great day!

Leah

Amy & Roger's epic detour (Morgan Matson)

After Amy's father's death, her mother moved across the country and now wants Amy to join her and bring the car from their old home in California to the new house in Connecticut. The only problem: Amy hasn't been able to drive since the car accident that killed her father, so an old family friend named Roger joins Amy on her road trip across the country for his own reasons.

"The best discoveries always happened to the people who weren't looking for them." 

I know that summer is over again but I still need to catch up on reviewing the books I've read over the summer break and this book is perfect for the holidays. This year I've done a road trip (through Iceland) with my family, so this novel was especially fitting since that's the setting of the story. I absolutely loved the road trip aspect (come on, who doesn't love road trips?) and how the story tells you to take risks once in a while, because their epic road trip only happens due to Amy not listening to her mom and instead starting to plan their own route with Roger. I just think it's quite important to be dared to take a risk once in a while, especially for me, since I usually just take the safe route, and this story does a good in encouraging the reader to do something outside their comfort zone. It is so amazing that each stop is illustrated by the main character's travel diary, which is filled with photos, receipts and little doodles and playlists. These illustrated pages just help make the book a lot more exciting and special because, let's be honest, apart from that, the novel isn't that unique and is basically just like a lot of other YA contemporary books. I enjoy Morgan Matson's writing, but once again, it's nothing special. Nevertheless it's a fun and quick read that gives you such positive vibes and awakens your inner wanderlust.

I like how the romance is handled at the beginning and the middle part of the book, because it's not super dominant and plays out rather in the background than being the biggest plot of the story and it also doesn't distract the reader from the main part, which is the amazing character development of the main character. However, towards the very end the romance suddenly develops instantly and is just way too cheesy and stereotypical for my liking. Since that issue only concerns the last couple of pages, I overall suprisingly enjoyed the romance of this book a lot more than I anticipated to.
I liked the two main characters as well as most of the other characters a lot, but I couldn't really relate to any of them too much. Roger is just a way too perfect person to exist in real life and even though I feel super mean I just have to admit I often found Amy a pathetic character, who makes her problems seem so much bigger than they actually are. Both of them however, especially Amy, go through a big character development during their road trip and it's just so nice to see both of them grow into better people. Also, I genuinly really like the idea of wrapping this development into the concept of a road trip.
Over the summer I've read all of Morgan Matson's books and I can say that I enjoyed all of them a lot, so if you're in need of a summer read or in general just a cute contemporary novel, definitely pick up one of her books!

Rating: 4/5 ✹

I'm genuinly so sorry for not uploading these past few months. I've been lacking both motivation and inspiration as well as time, since the amount of work I suddenly have to do for school is ridiculously high. I hope that I can somehow still find the time to post at least two times a month, but I can't promise you anything, especially because all of my exams are coming up soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this review, I know it's not really fitting the current season, but I started it about a month and a half ago and just wanted to finish it. Have a lovely day!

Leah

The playlist book tag (part II)

Click here to get to part I.

Human by Gabrielle Aplin | Before I fall by Lauren Oliver

And you don't need to pretend that perfection is your friend
'Cause we're all broken
We all end up alone
Show me that you're human, you won't break
Oh, love your flaws and live for your mistakes

Coins in a fountain by Passenger | Uprooted by Naomi Novik

hate is a poison
love is a remedy
singin' out like the sweetest of melodies
hope is a ghost
in the deepest of memories
stronger than tenemy
fear is the enemy

Today by Willamette Stone | If I stay by Gayle Forman

Today is the greatest
Day I've ever known
Can't wait for tomorrow
I might not have that long
I'll tear my heart out
Before I get out





Winter sound by Of monsters and men | A dance with dragons by George R.R. Martin

You and I will not be shaken!
By the winter sound
But my voice is suffocating
In the winter sound

Come home by Jon Foreman | Looking for Alaska by John Green

The hope that you have
The dream that we were
Home feels so far away
You were made for more than just pain
Looking for reasons to try
A reason to live or to die

Only teardrops by Emmelie de Forest | The night circus by Erin Morgenstern

How many times can we win and lose?
How many times can we break the rules?
Between us
Only teardrops

Wasting my young years by London grammar | Love letters to the dead by Ava Dellaira

I'm wasting my young years
It doesn't matter
I'm chasing old ideas
It doesn't matter
 

Your soul by Rhodes | A thousand pieces of you by Claudia Gray

Oh you know when you're alone
I am holding on and on and on and on
Oh you know when you're alone
I am holding on and on and on and on
To your soul, your soul, your soul, your soul

This song will save your life by Leila Sales | Begin again by Kill the alarm

How do I face another day when I can't take it?
How do I turn another page when I'm faking?
How do I package up the pain when I can't shake it?
It's over now
How do I begin again?

I'm sorry for posting yet another book tag but I just need some time to get into writing reviews again, so I hope you don't mind too much. Have an amazing day!

Leah

The playlist book tag (part I)

For this tag you're supposed to listen to your playlist on shuffle and choose a book for every song, but since I want the songs to actually fit to the books, I picked the songs manually. All of the songs however are in one of my playlists and I do listen to them regularly and like them a lot, so you can also see this as some kind of a music recommendation. All in all, these are just some songs that remind me of books. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this tag!
Click here to get to part II.

Deep end by Birdy | All the bright places by Jennifer Niven

I don't want this to break you
but I've got no one else to talk to
I don't know if you mean everything to me
And I wonder, can I give you what you need?

 Home by Gabrielle Aplin | The geographie of you and me by Jennifer E. Smith 

As long as we're together
Does it matter where we go? 

Isaac by Bear's den | The goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Isaac I have never seen you look so afraid
with your head pressed so hard against the stone
You look so alone
 

Daniel in the den by Bastille | A storm of swords by George R.R. Martin

And you thought the lions were bad, well they tried to kill my brothers.
And for every king that died, oh, they would crown another.
And it's harder than you think, telling dreams from one another.

Let her go by Passenger | Just one year by Gayle Forman

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

Young and beautiful by Lana del Rey | The great gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The way you'd play for me at your show
And all the ways I got to know
Your pretty face and electric soul
Will you still love me when
I'm no longer young and beautiful?

Eavesdrop by The civil wars | A court of mist and fury by Sarah J. Maas

Let's let the stars watch
Let them stare
Let the wind eavesdrop
I don't care
For all that we've got, don't let go
Just hold me

White blood by Oh wonder | Sapphire blue by Kerstin Gier

I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go
Can't do it alone, can't do it alone
I'm ready to run through the heat of the sun
Can't do it alone, can't do it alone
I'm ready to hope, swing me out of the low
Wide awake in the glow, can't do it alone 

 Brother by Mighty oaks | A knight of the seven kingdoms by George R.R. Martin


And we had laugh through the night
Call the star's
By the fire shining on
Through the night
We will run
To the rising life and on
Through the night
Burn the flames
The world will know our names

I'm really sorry I haven't posted anything in such a long time, but over the past month I've been in Iceland for two weeks and the rest of that time I've been binge watching Arrow and The flash (both of these tv shows are amazing btw) and just didn't really feel like writing anything. However, I'm trying my best to get motivated again and hopefully I'll manage to post more or less regularly again.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this slightly different book tag. Have a nice day!

Leah

The unexpected everything (Morgan Matson)

Andie has planned her whole summer perfectly months beforehand, but right at the beginning of the holidays all her arrangements get destroyed because of her father's scandal. Suddenly Andie finds herself completely unprepared and has to make the best out of her pretty limited situation. Andie soon realizes that it's impossible to find the unexpected when everything's always mapped out and, for the first time in her life, dares to take risks instead of taking the safe route.

"I could do this. If whole galaxies could change, so could I."

I had really high expectations for this book since I've only heard very good things about this novel, but it still managed to surprise me with how amazing it actually is. It's everything you can ask for in a good contemporary read and even more. Due to the fact that a lot of the story is told through text messages and also due to the writing, which is really good, the book is very fast-paced and quick to read and you barely notice it's actually pretty long for a contemporary novel with a bit more than 500 pages. I liked how the story doesn't only focus on just the romance part but is also about friendship and family and even manages to connect these three aspects by having the main character's romantic interest interact a lot with her friends as well as her father. It's also quite nice that the main character is only kind of involved in a love triangle and the reader doesn't have to deal with the pathetic and constant struggle of the main character whether she should choose the first or second boy. Another thing I liked is that it's quite realistic in the way it portrays friendship and also shows that not every friendship is meant to last and if you've lost someone as a close friend, it can be better for both of you and there's most of the time a positive way to see the loss of a friend. I personally quite liked the plot because it wasn't too extraordinary, but still eventful enough for the book to not be dull. Especially interesting and unique is the political aspect that the main character's father brings to the story, as well as the excerpts out of a fantasy novel written by a certain character in the book. Now to be honest, I don't know exactly if the "plot twist" is meant to be shocking or at least suprising or not, because it is just that predictable. On the one side, the many (and quite obvious) hints make the whole thing seem pretty realistic, but on the other side, it just makes the other characters look so incredibly stupid for not figuring it out or at any rate suspecting anything. Also, I believe the main character Andie deserves a trophy for giving the dumbest advice in regard to the "plot twist". Anyway, the message of the book to be more spontaneous, to embrace the unexpected and to try new things is in my opinion great and the story definitely managed to motivate me to try to be a bit more adventurous this summer and to stop being scared of new stuff and it shows that sometimes not being in control isn't the worst thing.
For the most part I really liked the characters and they are, except for the annoying times (like I mentioned before) when they seem so stupid, pretty likeable. I'm not gonna go into any detail about the characters because even though there are quite a lot of them, which I enjoyed, none of them really stands out as a very special character or a new favorite of mine. However, all of them are relatable and they do create a nice mix of different personalities and interests. I especially liked the dynamics between Andie and her best friends Palmer, Bri and Toby and the development of the relationship between Andie and her father. I'm not gonna lie, the romance is quite sweet in this book, but not something special or outstanding.
Anyway, this is the second book by Morgan Matson I've read so far and after finishing The unexpected everything I bought her other two books instantly because I loved everything I've read by her so far. I have to say that I prefer her other novel Since you've been gone a bit over The unexpected everything because I personally just like the storyline and the characters a little bit more, so if you've enjoyed The unexpected everything I can't recommend it enough to pick up Since you've been gone and obviously the other way round.

Rating:  4.5/5 ✹

I hope you enjoyed this review. Have a lovely day!

Leah

Mid year freak out tag

I know I'm a bit late with this tag, but I wanted to give you a little update with my reading year anyway, so I hope you enjoy this book tag!

1. Best book you've read so far in 2016

This question is extremely hard to answer since I've read so many different books and nearly all of them are really good in their own way and it's difficult to compare them. Right now, I'd probably go with Lady midnight by Cassandra Clare, which is truly outstanding, but it's just so hard to choose only one.

2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2016

Definitely A court of mist and fury by Sarah J. Maas. I even preferred it over the first book in the series and can barely wait for the next one, because her books just seem to become better and better. A close second by the way is certainly The winner's kiss by Marie Rutkoski, since it does a fantastic job at ending The winner's trilogy and is in general just a really good book.

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to

I think I've caught up with all the new releases I've definitely wanted to read, but a book that's been recently released and sounds interesting is This savage song by V. E. Schwab, but before picking it up I'll definitely read her Shades of magic series.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

It's impossible for me to choose between Crooked kingdom by Leigh Bardugo and Empire of storms by Sarah J. Maas. It. is. honestly. not. possible.

5. Biggest dissappointment

Sadly, I have to go with Glass sword by Victoria Aveyard for this question. I just didn't like it at all, even though I really enjoyed the first book in the series called Red queen. (If you're interested in my specific reasons for disliking this book so much, you can read my review which I've linked below.)

6. Biggest suprise

I was really suprised I ended up liking The nothing girl by Jodi Taylor as much as I did, because it's just not exactly what I usually enjoy reading. I got this book as a present from my aunt and uncle and even though I'd never thought of buying a book like this myself, I liked it a lot.

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)

I've read actually a lot of books by authors that are new to me this year, but the one that managed to suprise me the most is Brandon Sanderson with his work Warbreaker. Despite having read so many fantasy novels already, Warbreaker was a new experience for me and in some ways unlike any book I've ever read.

8. Newest fictional crush

I'm very sure I'm not the only one with this answer, but how can you not fall in love with Rhysand from the A court of thornes and roses series by Sarah J. Maas? We don't get to see him a lot in the first book, so I didn't really consider him a fictional crush until reading A court of mist and fury, where he plays a way bigger role, this year.

9. Newest favorite character

Two characters that quickly became some of my favorites are Alina Starkov from The grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and Adelina Amouteru from The young elites series by Marie Lu. Both of them are similar in the way that they are at least to some extent heroes who turn into antagonists, which I think is really interesting and it's great to experience their journeys.

10. Book that made you cry

To be honest, basically every book manages to make me cry, so I'm just choosing another new favorite, which is The night circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's such a beautiful and at some points heartbreaking story and I just can't recommend it enough.

11. Book that made you happy

The moon and more by Sarah Dessen did a pretty good job at making me feel happy and is in general a quite good contemporary book that puts you in the perfect mood for summer.

12. Most beautiful book you've bought (or received) so far this year

Does The world of ice and fire by George R.R. Martin, Elio M. García and Linda Antonsson count for this question? The cover isn't that pretty, but the artwork inside in return is truly stunning and spectacular. It's just amazing to actually see the places and events you've read so much about in the A song of ice and fire series drawn in such a beautiful way on the pages of a book.

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I don't think I necessarily need to read any books by the end of the year, but I do hope to have read American gods by Neil Gaiman by then, because the tv show premieres at some point in 2017 and I want to have finished the book before that.


In case you're interested in reading my reviews for any of the books I've mentioned, you can click below to get to each one:

Lady midnight
A court of mist and fury
The winner's kiss
Glass sword
Warbreaker
The grisha trilogy
The young elites
The night circus
The moon and more

I hope you've enjoyed this book tag, although my answers are pretty short and my english probably isn't as good as it usually is due to the fact that I'm just really tired and unfocused right now. Anyway, have a nice day!

Leah

The young elites (Marie Lu)

Adelina Amouteru is one of the survivors of a terrible disease called the blood fever that killed every adult who got infected and marked the few surviving children, making them malfettos. Malfettos like Adelina are despised and excluded from society, sometimes even hunted. Adelina soon discovers that the blood fever hasn't just brought her suffering, but also a gift: a magical and strong power, which makes her one of the Young elites and gives her the opportunity to seek revenge against all those who've wronged her.

"I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt."

When I started The young elites I had literally no idea what's it about and only picked it up because so many people said how amazing and unique this series is. Because of my high expectations I was a bit disappointed since the book is for the first half basically like every other YA fantasy novel and while that definitely doesn't mean it's bad, it just wasn't what I've expected and what I've wanted to read. But towards the ending, The young elites gets suddenly very dark very quickly, which I honestly absolutely loved. The concept of having the main character start out as a hero and turn more and more into a villain is just super intriguing. Since you tend to get attached to the main character in general as a reader, you are constantly questioning yourself during this series whether you really should support and root for the main character. It brings you in a bit of a moral dilemma and kind of forces you to think a lot about your idea of ethics. The plot in general is quite fast-paced and I felt at no point in any way bored. I liked the writing as well as the worldbuilding, even though I was a bit confused where exactly which character was at some points during the story (but that's probaly just because I was too stupid to understand the map at the beginning of both books). One thing I really didn't like however is how short both books are. The first one is about 350 pages, the second only slightly longer and at least in my opinion, that's just a bit too short for a fantasy novel, especially because I'm used to reading fantasy books with at least 500 pages. I usually wouldn't mind that much, but The young elites series has so much potential and it'd be simply great to have a longer story and to explore it inmore depth.
The best thing by far about this series are definitely the characters. All of them are super interesting and intriguing and actually feel like realistic characters since they all have some kind of backstory and none of them is completely good or evil. The main character Adelina Amouteru is a fantastic character. She's completely different and incredbly complex and something that makes her so special and interesting is her internal dialogue, that becomes even more present in the second book. What I really admire about Adelina is how she manages to turn horrible experiences into advantages. The abusive childhood she had to suffer through didn't break her, but only helped to make her stronger. Despite being sometimes afraid of the darkness inside her, she uses it for her power rather than pretending it's not there. I think these examples just show how much of a strong character Adelina is and honestly, I was in equal parts slightly terrified of her and also sympathised with her a lot. I won't go into any detail about the other characters to avoid spoilers, but I can definitely tell you that they're amazing and reading about them is truly phenomenal.
I am genuinely so excited for the third and last book in the series called The midnight star and can barely wait for October to get my hands on it. Hopefully I've motivated you to pick up this series and you'll enjoy it as much as I have!

Rating:
The young elites:  4/5 ✹
The rose society: 4.5/5 ✹

I hope you enjoyed this review. Have a fantastic day!

Leah

The moon and more (Sarah Dessen)

Emaline seems to have her life perfectly figured out with her long-term boyfriend Luke, a decent job and a good relationship with both her family members and close friends. But then she meets in the idyllic beach town she's lived in for her whole life a young and ambitious man from New York called Theo, who challenges her to reach for bigger things. To make her last summer before she has to leave for college count, Emalin decides to be more adventurous and open for new challenges as well as relationships, and tries to find the balance between where she comes from and where she's going.

"Life is long. Just because you don't get your chance right when you want or expect it, doesn't mean it won't come. Fate doesn't punch a time clock or consult a schedule."

This is the first book by Sarah Dessen I've read, so I didn't have any expectations and I also can't compare this to any of her other novels, but I enjoyed it. It's exactly what I wanted and hoped it to be, which is just a light and fun summer read, that makes me excited for the season and appreciate the good weather instead of complaining all the time that it's way too hot. Anyway, it definitely did inspire and motivate me to go out and do fun activities this summer rather than binging TV shows for the whole summer break (let's be honest, I'm still gonna do that, but hopefully just not as excessively as last year). Honestly, this book isn't anything special or unique and it's basically the definition of a YA contemporary novel including aspects like a love triangle, family drama and friendship, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing at all. In the end, we all read because it brings us enjoyment and The moon and more definitely doesn't disappoint in that point. This novel is also great for a variety of different kinds of readers: picky readers know pretty much exactly what to expect, it's obviously amazing for people who are really into YA contemporary literature and it's also safe to pick up for young people who don't read a lot. The plot is okay, it's not that dramatic or thrilling, but again, that's not really the reason you read those kind of books. What I especially liked about this one are the different family dynamics and the fact that the main character doesn't have these stereotype friends. Something that confused me a lot are these moments at the end of some chapters where some bad event gets kind of teased, but then at the beginning of the new chapter you find out that literally nothing happened. I mean, why tell the reader that the main character is hanging out in a neighborhood with this really bad reputation and it's dark and someone is approaching her, and then just start a new chapter back in her house and just ignoring the previous few pages. I was a bit disappointed with the romance because I had my problems with both boys the main character has a romantic relationship with, it is however quite nice that the focus doesn't solely lies on the romantic aspects of the story. The writing is okay, it's not fantastic, but it's not bad or cringe-worthy either and it allows the reader to basically fly through the book, since it's so easy and fast to read. The novel has with about 435 pages in my opinion the pretty much perfect length for a YA contemporary book and gives the reader enough time to really get to know the characters as well as the places where the story takes place.
I liked most of the characters and I think pretty much all of them are in some way relatable, something that's at least for me very important in contemporary and coming-of-age novels. I think that's why it's great to read a book like that sometimes, even though you're like me and enjoy fantasy books a lot more. These characters aren't like somebody who we want to be, like the ones in genres like fantasy or sci-fi, but similar to the person we actually are. These realistic characters who share certain character traits with me help me gain at least a bit more confidence and also boost my self-esteem by showing me that I'm fine the way I am and that there's wrong with me.
 I'm pretty sure I'll pick up another book by Sarah Dessen, since I feel like after reading The moon and more, you can't really go wrong with any novel written by her in case you're searching for a light contemporary read and I'm just in the mood for fun summer books right now.

Rating:  3/5 ✹

I hope you enjoyed this review, have a lovely day!

Leah

Disney princess book tag (part II)

Here's the second part of the Disney princess book tag. If you want to check out the first part, click here. I hope you'll enjoy it!


Pocahontas: A book whose ending is a roller coaster of emotions

The ending of Ruin and rising, the last book in the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo, was just too much for me. I felt so many emotions and couldn't decide whether I was happy or sad about the ending and ended up bawling my eyes out for the last couple of chapters.

Mulan: A book with a kickass female character

How can I not choose Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of glass series by Sarah J. Maas for this question? She's basically the definition of a badass character, so reading about her adventures is so much fun.

Tiana: A book with a hardworking, self-made character

I honestly thought about this question for quite some time, but couldn't really come up with anyone who fits this describtion a 100% and isn't my answer for any other question. I guess the closest comes Agnieszka from Uprooted by Naomi Novik because she certainly does work hard to improve her skills and also has to do some chores, so I hope she counts as a valid answer for this one.

Rapunzel: A book featuring an artist

Actually quite a few characters come to my mind as answers for this question, but I'm just gonna go withe Feyre from the A court of thornes and roses series by Sarah J. Maas because of the lovely scene that involves her painting for like three days straight in A court of mist and fury.

Merida: A book featuring a mother-daughter relationship

At first, I thought this is one of the easiest questions to answer out of all of them, but once I really started thinking about it, I realized how often the main character's mother is just dead or gets killed after a few chapters. A mother-daughter relationship however I do remember to be pretty sweet is the one between Marguerite and her mom Sophia (is that even her name?) from the Firebird series by Claudia Gray.

Anna & Elsa: A book with a great sibling relationship

The relationship between Adelina and Violette Amouteru from The young elites series by Marie Lu isn't what you'd typically call great, but what I really love about it is the development of it. It's so lovely and empowering to see how much both of them came to understand, trust and support each other over the course of the first two books and I'm beyond excited to see what they're up to in the next one, especially because of what happened at the end of The rose society between those two.

I hope you enjoyed this book tag and hopefully you didn't mind me splitting the tag into two parts. Have a wonderful day!

Leah

Disney princess book tag (part I)

Since I'm completely stressed out at the moment because of all the exams I have to study for, I'm gonna split this book tag into two even parts. I hope you don't mind that both posts will be pretty short and you'll enjoy it anyway! (Click here to get to the second part.)

Snow white: What's your favorite classic?

I absolutely love The great gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The time period in which it takes place sounds amazing and I'd love to visit one of the fabulous parties. It's one of the first classics I've read and it definitely motivated me to start reading more classics.

Cinderella: What book kept you up way past your bed time?

It happens very often that I'm reading for way too long in the night and end up feeling horrible the next day in school. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the book that kept me up the longest is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins which I finished at around 3:30 am when I read it for the first time a couple of years ago.

Aurora: What's your favorite classic romance?

A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens. I usually hate love triangles, but that one is just perfect and incredibly beautiful and sad and emotional and I love it. It's also the only love triangle where I actually like both guys equally. Another pretty cool aspect is that the book is set during the French Revolution, which is quite interesting.

Ariel: A book about sacrifices and fighting for your dreams

I think Celia and Marco from The night circus by Erin Morgenstern sacrifice a lot for each other and manage to build the world of their dreams in the circus and that's a really wonderful thing.

Belle: A book with a smart, independent female character

One of the only female characters I can think of who never did something really stupid is Margaery Tyrell from the A song of ice and fire series by George R.R. Martin. She's incredibly smart and despite her pretty young age she knows exactly how to achieve her goals and how to manipulate people for her purposes.

Jasmine: A character who challenges the social conventions of their world

 Kestrel from the Winner's trilogy by Marie Rutkoski certainly doesn't want to fit in the way her society pressures her to, so I guess it's no big suprise she ends up playing a part in a revolution.

Again, I'm sorry for keeping this so short, but hopefully you've enjoyed it. Have a lovely day!

Leah

The rose and the dagger (Renée Ahdieh)

Just like always, since this is a sequel, the summary is for the first book in the series called The wrath and the dawn.

The ruler of Khorasan, a boy-king, takes a new bride every evening, just to have her end up dead by the time the sun rises again. When Shahrzad's best friend Shiva is forced to marry him and gets murdered by him, Shahrzad wants vengeance and volunteers to be the king's next wife. She achieves something none of the girls did before her: She manages to live until dawn.

"No. He was not here to wreak revenge. For revenge was trifling and hollow.

No. He was not here to retrieve his wife. For his wife was not a thing to be retrieved.

No. He was not here to negotiate a truce. For a truce suggested he wished to compromise.

He was here to burn something to the ground." 

The thing I love most about these two books is definitely the setting. Renée Ahdieh manages to create such a beautiful and unique atmosphere with her descriptions about the clothing, buildings, nature and food and by adding a few Persian words and phrases the world feels pretty realistic. The storyline is good, it's certainly gripping, but nothing too special. To be honest, I could've gladly passed the whole love triangle up and I definitely didn't need that many quarrels between Khalid and Tariq. Their small "battles" just seem like pissing contests between two premature teenagers and that's exactly the way they acted around each other, which I thought is simply stupid and annoying. The romance in this book was definitely bearable and quite cute and even though it is one of the biggest main aspects in this story, there isn't too much of it. For some reason I assumed that this series is a trilogy when it actually consists of only two books so the ending really caught me off-guard and I wasn't expecting it, since it's in general pretty short and feels rather rushed. I also can't see the point of the last kind of climax in the story, since the event is undone anyway, so why is it really necessary?
Shahrzad is in my opinion a completely average main character, I did enjoy reading from her perspective and I do like her, but she's not gonna become one of my favorites since I just didn't have any kind of "connection" to her. However, I really liked the big role Shahrzad's little sister Irsa played in the second book in the series and honestly prefer her over Shahrzad. I can relate to her a lot, she's pretty much the opposite of Shahrzad, since she's rather calm, shy and quite insecure. Because I often experience feelings similar to hers it was amazing and empowering to see Irsa overcome her fears and develope into an independant and strong character. The relationship between Shahrzad and Irsa is just beautiful and made me realize once more how lucky I am to have siblings. The only character I thought was pretty much unnecessary and didn't "deserve" the big role he plays is Shahrzad's and Irsa's father Jahandar. Of course it was nice to have him add a bit more magic to the story, but I couldn't care less about him. He annoyed me (actually not just me but all the other characters as well) the whole time and I didn't care one bit whether he survived or is happy or is gonna suceed or not, and at some points I even hoped he would finally die, not because he's a horrible or cruel character that I hate, but simply because he bothered me so much. What I enjoyed a lot however is how strong and independant women are portrayed in these books and it's so satisfying to see them achieve so much despite their, in comparison with men, rather low social position and their "lack" of physical strength.

Rating: 4.5/5 ✹

I'll be really busy with studying for exams for the next three weeks so I probably won't be able to write any reviews, but I'll still try my best to at least post a book tag once a week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this review. Have a wonderful day!

Leah

A court of mist and fury (Sarah J. Maas)

To keep this review spoiler-free the summary is for the first book in the series called A court of thornes and roses.

Feyre lives near the wall that seperates the mortal lands from the faerie realm. To keep her family from starving, she needs to hunt and ends up killing a magical creature. To pay for the life she took, she gets imprisoned in a faerie court and slowly but surely falls for her captor, a creature she's been taught to hate for her whole life.

"There are good days and hard days for me - even now. Don't let the hard days win."

This book is phenomenal. Honestly, I don't even know where to start. I had super high expectations when I started it since the sequel was one of my most favorite books in 2015 and it took me a while until I could finally start reading, so I already heard of all the positive reactions and reviews. Still, this novel managed to suprise me because I didn't expect it to be that amazing. I'm really mad at myself for having trouble getting into the story at the beginning since I feel like I could've enjoyed it even more if I was able to dive right into it, but to be fair that was completely my fault because sometimes I just get distracted super easily. Anyway, basically everything about this novel is fantastic. The plot is fast paced, thrilling and varied, there are a lot of small (or bigger) plot twists you don't necessarily see coming and it's pretty much impossible to stop reading. It is certainly very interesting to see how PTSD and trauma plays a big role in this book and I think it's important to have these aspects in a novel like A court of mist and fury, not only beacuse it makes the story and its characters so much more realistic, but also because it's necessary to talk about these things a lot more. I really liked the ending and while it isn't truly a cliff hanger, Sarah J. Maas knows exactly how to end a book, so her readers will definitely pick up the sequel as well and I'm already so looking forward to reading the third book in the series. Her writing is, as always, absolutely beautiful, compelling and especially vivid, so I instantly had pictures of all the characters and places in my mind and had no trouble at all imagining the story in my head. A skill Sarah J. Maas has certainly mastered is world-building. She introduced so many new places and each and every one was absoultely stunning. Honestly, if I had the chance to travel to Prythian, I'd take it instantly and never come back. And that's exactly what I want in a high fantasy book: I want to read about a world that's very different from our own, with buildings that seem over the top and beautiful nature and that's exactly what I got in this book. The only thing I didn't enjoy in this book are the sex scenes. It's not that I think they're disgusting or anything, they're just so cringeworthy and, at least for me, extremely uncomfortable to read. I just feel like a creep staring into someone else's bedroom window while reading these scenes. I totally don't mind one or two of these scenes in a novel, but in A court of mist and fury are at least half a dozen of them. I honestly wished there was less focus on the romance, but to be fair I have to say the book definitely improved in this aspect since in comparison to the prequel A court of thornes and roses the romance is certainly less primary and the focus lies on the plot line.
To be honest, I'm in a bit of a conflict regarding Feyre as a character. At the beginning of A court of thornes and roses I couldn't stand her because she made stupid choices and just did the opposite of what experienced characters advised her to do and as a result got everyone into trouble, but as the story continued she developed and I ended up liking her quite a lot by the end of the first book. For the second book, it was the exact other way round: I began with liking her, but sadly started disliking her more towards the end. It's not like I absolutely hate her, but she's just not one of my favorite characters either. Apart from, like I mentioned before, still sometimes making stupid decisions and ignoring advise she tends to be quite arrogant and just starts randomly villainizing people. She's sometimes a bit annoying and frustrating as well since when she wants something for quite some time and then actually ends up getting it, she suddenly doesn't want it anymore. I also don't understand her morality: killing your rival's family is (obviously) evil, but killing his family in return as revenge is totally fine? Okay. Aside from my personal opinion about her I definitely have to admit that she goes through huge character development and is, especially in the second book, a really strong and independant character. I loved how many new characters are introduced, but at the same time I was a tiny bit sad the characters who appeared in the first book didn't get that much "screen-time". To be honest, I don't really care about Tamlin, but I did miss Lucien a bit. Learning about a lot of characters' backstories was super interesting and adds a lot to the complexity and dimension of the characters. While I really enjoyed how basically all the good characters are very complex and "gray" characters, I was quite disappointed to realize all the villains are very one-dimensional and just completely evil. None of the truly bad guys has any other motivation than the usual thirst for power and all of them are basically 100% evil without any part that's at least remotely good. Because of this, I wasn't very impressed with any of the villains and thought they're quite boring. Anyway, I fell in love with all the new characters, but if I had to choose my favorites, I'll probably go with Rhys and Mor. I'm not gonna lie, I'm definitely looking forward to meeting even more new characters in the third book.
Even though this review may sound a bit negative it certainly isn't meant to be. Sarah J. Maas showed with this book again how brilliant she is and I'm everytime suprised to see how she manages to get better and better. I can't encourage you enough to pick up A court of thornes and roses and A court of mist and fury and if (in the unlikely case) you haven't read Maas' other series, The throne of glass series, go do that now. You definitely won't regret it.

Rating: 5/5 ✹

Can I just say how incredibly cute this little Feyre bookmark is? I just had to show it off in another picture, so have a look at my adorable bookmark (and the beautiful spines of course).
I genuinly didn't want this review to become that long, so thanks for reading it anyway. I hope you enjoyed it, and have a fantastic day!

Leah

The winner's kiss (Marie Rutkoski)

To keep this review spoiler-free the summary is for the first book in the series called The winner's curse.

The rich daughter of a general named Kestrel lives in the Valorian colony Herran, whose original population was made into slaves. Kestrel decides at an auction to buy a slave called Arin without her father's approval and ends up falling in love with him. Both of them are faced with a nearly impossible decision: whether to betray their people or each other.

"You don't need to be gifted with a blade. You are your own best weapon."

This book is everything I possibly could've asked for and the perfect ending to a fantastic series. I absolutely loved it and couldn't help but tear through it. To be honest, this is definitely one of the best last books in a series I've ever read and it's my favorite out of the series, which says a lot since I loved The winner's curse and The winner's crime a lot. The story is super fast-paced and filled with action, schemes, betrayal, gambles and just the right amount of romance. The plot is amazing, it's full of little twists and really intense, so it's most of the time literally impossible to stop reading. There's just honestly not a single thing I would change in this novel, so if you haven't read the series yet, go and pick it up. Now. An especially amazing part of the novel is definitely the ending that completed the story in such a beautiful way. I liked how it isn't an completely happy ending, but still positive enough to make you feel satiesfied. There's not really a lot to say about the writing except that it's fantastic and beautiful and perfect. The alternation between the two POVs is very balanced and especially in the fight scenes, which are extremely epic by the way, done perfectly. I enjoyed the romance a lot more than in the first book because it isn't as prominent and way more mature.
I really loved the characters, especially due to their huge character developments. My favorite thing about Kestrel is that she fights a lot more and a lot better with her brain and wits instead of her fists. Seeing her scheme and planning battles is so interesting and intriguing, definitely also because of the high stakes that are constantly there. I loved the little "duel" she has with her father throughout the book and in general how the story doesn't only focus on the relationship between Kestrel and Arin (what's their shipname by the way?), but also on Kestrel and her father. Arin is a compelling character as well, since he's so ruthless, calculating and cold-blooded, but at the same time he's extremely caring and tender with Kestrel. It's one of my favorite things about Arin's and Kestrel's relationship that both of them bring out a completely different facet in the other person. I also loved the pretty big focus on minor characters like Sarsine and Roshar. I enjoyed both of them so much, Sarsine probably because she's the most relateable character for me and Roshar because he's just such a funny, sassy and sarcastic character. Honestly, I don't even think it's possible to dislike those two.
Anyway, I can't recommend this series enough and even if you don't enjoy the first book that much, definitely keep reading because they just get better. I'm quite sad the series is over now, but I'll definitely pick up any future books written by Marie Rutkoski since they're hopefully as fantastic as The winner's trilogy is. Honestly, just go and pick it up.

Rating: 5/5 ✹

Sorry for rambling so much, I hope you enjoyed this (sadly rather short) review anyway. Have a lovely day!

Leah

The crown (Kiera Cass)

Since The crown is the fifth book in the Selection series, the summary will be for the prequel called The heir.

The crown princess Eadlyn is forced to hold a competition for her heart in order to calm down riots and entertain the population. Even though her parents met and learned to love each other through a similar contest, she doesn't want to even embrace the possibility of finding her soul mate in a group of random suitors and just hopes to end her selection as soon as possible. But as the competition begins, she realizes finding her true love might not be as unlikely and impossible as she thought.

"You have to embrace the idea of imperfection, even in the thing that is most perfect for you."

To be honest, I didn't have anything close to high expectations for this, mostly because I didn't enjoy The heir even nearly as much as I did the three prequels with America as main character. However, while The crown isn't necessarily what I'd call a phenomenal book, it didn't disappoint either. It definitely is a solid ending to a series with a lot of up and downs.The biggest problem with this novel is probably that it's so short. I mean, it's not even 300 pages long. Because of this, everything felt rushed, from the plot to the relationships between characters. The plot in general is so predictable and none of the little plot twists managed to suprise me even in the slightest. But let's be honest, noone reads this series in hope for an incredibly intense storyline, but rather for the romance. And it was, despite being so cheesy a lot of the time, pretty cute. I'm not gonna lie, what I liked most about this book was seeing all the characters from the first three novels in the series all grown up and didn't care that much for any of the new ones, but it's not like they bothered me. The writing is okay, I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Kiera Cass' writing and it often felt over the top. I understand she's trying to create a romantic atmosphere, but some quotes are just too much, like sunshine having a melody. Seriously? I might just lack the experience of having a love life, but I can't imagine ever hearing the melody of sunlight. Anyway, all in all it is a very enjoyable, easy and quick read and the perfect one to get you out of a reading slump or just to motivate you to start reading more.
The characters are mostly alright, but Eadlyn as a main character still annoyed me so much. Seriously, how can two awesome characters produce such a shitty one? I don't even know if Eadlyn is such a brat just because of her upbringing, which apparently went completely wrong, or if that's what her personality is like. At least she wasn't as horrible as she was in the prequel, but I also don't feel like her development worked the way Cass wanted it to because honestly, at the end I still couldn't stand her. I wanted to punch her so badly at several scenes, but especially when she explained how she doesn't like bowling since she has to put on used shoes to do it. Honestly, can somebody please dump her in a huge trash can? Her suitors however, despite seeming really stupid and one-dimensional sometimes, are quite likeable and their interactions with Eadlyn are mostly pretty fun to read about. Like I mentioned before, I loved seeing all the characters from the first three books again and I was suprised to see how many appearances they made and obviously quite happy when I realized that they still play a quite important role. One last thing about the characters: why do all of them have such weird names? Is it so hard to come up with names that an ordinary human being can pronounce properly?


Rating: 3/5 ✹

I'm really sorry this review turned out being so confusing and all over the place. I guess I need some time to get into writing reviews again after my longer hiatus. However, I'll do my best to read more and hopefully I'll find enough time to review most of the books I read. Anyway, have a fantastic day!

Leah

The Hamilton book tag (part II)

I know, I'm really lazy and boring, but since I don't have anything exciting to post anyway, I'm just gonna answer the bonus questions of the actual Hamilton book tag, so this is gonna be a pretty short "tag", but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!
(Click here to get to part I)

Helpless - A relationship you were pulling for from the very start

I rooted for Lara Jean and Peter from the To all the boys I've loved before series by Jenny Han from the very beginning, they're one of my OTPs and I just love them so much together. Is there anything more to say?

Ten duel commandments - Favorite fight scene

I actually really enjoyed the fight scenes in Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, mainly because of the pretty unique magic. The fight dynamics are because of that special magic system a bit different than what I'm ususally used to reading about, but I liked the fighting nonetheless.

Say no to this - Guilty pleasure read

Does The selection series by Kiera Cass count as a guilty pleasure read? To be honest, the books aren't that amazing, the writing is nothing special, the story is extremely predictable and the characters are mostly stereotypes, but I still enjoyed reading these books a lot and while I'm definitely not ashamed of having read them, I also don't mention them often when I talk about books.

What comes next - A series you wish had more books

The Six of crows series by Leigh Bardugo! I know, the series is not even finished yet, but I can already say that two books are just not enough. The first one is one of my most favorite books ever and I can barely wait for Crooked kingdom to be realeased, yet no matter how good or bad it is I want a third book. The world, the characters and the story just have so much potential and I don't want them "wasted" on just two books.

Right hand man - Favorite BROTP

Dunk and Egg's friendship in A knight of the seven kingdoms by George R.R. Martin may not be what you'd usually call an ordinary BROTP, but despite their age difference they're inseperable and a really good team. And let's be honest, they're just both so cute and I adore them so much.

What'd I miss - A book or series you were/still are late reading

I feel like everyone really loves The lunar chronicles by Marissa Meyer, but despite hearing so much praise for it, I still haven't picked it up. For some reason I'm not that interested in it at the moment and the books don't appeal to me much, yet I'm probably gonna read them since all the positive reviews are gonna pressure me into reading them sooner or later.

Wait for it -  most anticipated upcoming release

Is this even a question? Obviously The winds of winter by George R.R. Martin. The worst thing about waiting for it is not even having some sort of vague release date. It literally could be finished tomorrow and published in about three months or it could take until 2018 to finally have the book in bookstores. I'm in general a not really patient person, so this waiting drives me crazy. Just give me the book already!

Have a nice day!

Leah

The Hamilton book tag (part I)

Let's be honest, I'm probably the last person to join the Hamilton hype and I don't even know why the heck I didn't listen to it when I first heard of it, but better late than never, right? Anyway, I'm loving it and I can already feel I'm going to be obsessed with it, so now is the perfect time for me to do the Hamilton book tag.

The room where it happens - A book world you would put yourself in

Since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't survive longer than a week in any kind of dangerous world, I guess I'd be pretty safe living as an Erudite in the world of Divergent by Veronica Roth, but obviously prior to Tris' revolution, so as long as I wouldn't break any rules no harm would come to me. And honestly, there are certainly worse things than working as a scientist, doing the stuff I'm fascinated by and being surrounded by people with similar interest. Also, I guess my whole family would be sorted into Erudite, so I wouldn't even be seperated from them.

The Schuyler sisters - An underrated female character

I absolutely love Nehemia from the Throne of glass series by Sarah J. Maas and she certainly doesn't get the credit she deserves, since everyone's so focused on Celaena. Don't get me wrong, I love Celaena as well, but just because Nehemia is in a different way badass doesn't mean she's any less awesome, yet I think most readers don't really appreciate her that much.

My shot - A character that goes after what they want and doesn't let anyone stop them

Definitely Jay Gatsby from The great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He spends nearly his whole life trying to get together with Daisy, throws all these huge and incredibly expensive parties for her and does everything to make her happy, so she becomes his wife or at least his lover. I mean, that's basically the definition of determination and he's the last one to throw his shot away.

Stay alive - A character you wish was still alive

Since I want to keep this tag spoiler-free, I'm not going to go for a single character, but rather for a bunch of them, who all die in the A song of ice and fire series by George R.R. Martin. I guess it's common knowledge that a lot of characters get killed in these books, and I obviously was aware of it as well when I started reading, but it still hurt seeing most of my favorite characters die. So there are of course actually quite a lot of characters I wish were still alive.

Burn - The most heartbreaking end to a relationship you've ever read

I'll just go with the probably most mainstream answer, which is The fault in our stars by John Green. Honestly, there's nothing more to say than that this whole story is so freaking heartbreaking.

You'll be back - Sassiest villain

My most favorite villain ever is the Darkling from the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and even though he's not actually that sassy, he's going to be my answer anyway because he's perfect and my precious little cinnamon roll and I love him.

The Reynolds pamphlet - A book with a twist that you didn't see coming

I definitely didn't see the twist in Red queen by Victoria Aveyard coming, and that's what made this book so good. I love shocking twists, especially since I often feel that the plot of many books is just so predictable and boring.

Non-stop - A series you marathoned

I think it took me less than two days to read the If I stay series by Gayle Forman, simply because I just couldn't stop reading. And crying. I had to cry constantly during reading this heartbreaking story, but it honestly was so worth it since the books are amazing.

Satiesfied - Favorite book with multiple POVs

I'm such a big fan of books with multiple POVs since I think it just adds so much more depth to the story, and even if I don't like one of the main characters, I don't have to suffer reading the whole book from his/her perspective. One of my all-time favorite books is Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo and the different POVs are definitely a reason why I love it so much.

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story - A book/series you feel like will be remembered throughout history

I guess everyone who does this tag chooses the same answer for this question, which is obviously the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I feel like it already is a classic and I can't really imagine a time where people wouldn't want to visit this fantastic world she created. The story can be read and enjoyed by everyone, no matter his/her age, gender, nationality and everything else. The series has been super popular for nearly twenty years now, and I'm sure the hype won't die anytime in the near future.

I hope you enjoyed this book tag, I'm sorry for not going into too much detail with my questions, but just like always life is stressing me out a bit, so I don't have that much time for writing posts.
(If you want to read the second part of this tag click here.)
Anyway, have a wonderful day!

Leah

Dead poets society (N.H. Kleinbaum)

Welton Academy is a strict private school rich fathers send their sons to in order to prepare them for their following education as doctors and lawyers. Their daily routine is dictated by the school's four pillars tradition, honor, discipline and excellence and everything nonacademic is deemed as unnecessary and is punished severely. Mr Keating, the new English teacher, however challenges them to life their lifes as fully as possible and inspires a group of boys to resurrect the Dead poets society, a club with its origin during the time Mr Keating went to Welton Academy. The boys have to realize the tragic consequences their new-found freedom and individuality will have soon or their hopes and dreams will be brutally destroyed by the authorities.

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love... these are what we stay alive for."

I read this book with my English class in school, which led to a few reasons that caused me to enjoy this novel a lot less than I would've enjoyed it if I just read it by myself. First of all, it took us over a month to finally finish it and because of that the whole reading process felt super unsatisfying for me since I literally could've read it in two hours. Also, some of my lovely class mates spoiled the only kind of shocking event for me thereby making the book even more boring and predictable than it already was. Obviously I wasn't expecting a really intense and exciting story when I started this book, but I wasn't even close to being prepared for such a dull and dreary storyline. Nothing happens for the first 70 pages and, considering that the novel only has a bit less than 170 pages in total, that's a pretty big part of the book. When the story finally picks up the pace, it just gets weirder. Suddenly the book is going into a completely different direction for the next 20 pages and after that it goes back to normal as if nothing ever happened. The story in general felt kind of unbalanced to me since the different plot lines don't really affect each other and the book tends to focus on one character's point of view for way too long. Most of the time when the POV changes, it's so sudden and abrupt, which confused me a lot. Something that completely perplexed me as well are these random and unnecessary remarks that are everywhere in this novel. Even worse, some of them are unintentionally hilarious, which just makes the book seem pretty ridiculous. The only thing I really enjoyed about the plot is the ending because it does complete the story in a lovely, even moving way, especially by bringing up a scene from the very beginning of the book again. Another aspect I quite liked is the big role that poetry plays in the story and even though I did skim through most of the poems or even skipped some completely, the few I read, mainly the ones the main characters came up with, actually managed to inspire me and I ended up really enjoying them. The writing is quite good, you can obviously see that it was written about 25 years ago but that honestly didn't bother me at all. However, one thing that I got a little bit mad about when I found out, is the fact that the book is based on the movie and not the other way around like it usually is (and supposed to be), so I definitely lost some respect for the author as well as the novel.
I had a lot of issues with the characters as well. None of them, except for Todd, Mr Keating and maybe Neil, really stood out to me, so at the end of the novel I still had no clue who the hell Meeks is and didn't even realize there is someone called Cameron in it until everybody started hating on him. Whoops. All the characters are either really boring, for example Neil and Meeks, or really annoying, like Knox and Charlie. For me the most interesting character is Todd because he's seriously the only one to go through some sort of development, which I actually quite enjoyed, and I also feel like I understand his struggles as a shy and introverted character pretty good. The friendships between the boys are decent, they're nothing special, but they add a nice atmosphere to the book. Even though it seemed a bit unusual for me at first, simply because we have a completely different contact with our teachers, the bond between Mr Keating and the boys is lovely and in very few scenes even empowering. The big romantic relationship in this book however is just horrible and so cringeworthy. Everything about it just feels forced and wrong since they don't fit together in my opinion.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but we'll definitely watch it in class soon and even though it's quite old, I'm still looking forward to it and I'm quite hopeful it'll be more enjoyable than the book.

Rating: 2/5 ✹

I hope you enjoyed this review. Have a wonderful day!

Leah

Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell)

So I've read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell a few weeks ago and I didn't feel like writing a review. But since I now feel like doing it, I'm gonna do it ;) I guess I won't remember everything in detail but I hope you don't mind. I always fail with taking bookstagram pics as well bc I forget to take them when I have the copy I've borrowed and afterwards it's too embarrassing to lend it another time just to take that picture (I will post a pic of the next few books I'll be reviewing bc they are all mine). And now, let's get started!

Cath Avery and her twin Wren did everything together. But not anymore, because Wren had decided that she wants to go to college alone to meet new people. Therefore Cath has to deal alone with her new and kind of strange roommate Reagan, Reagan's cute ex-boyfriend Levi and all the other problems she has while being in college. The only thing she is really interested in is writing, or more precisely, writing Simon Snow fanfiction. At first Cath hates college bc of her fear of talking to strangers (actually people in general) and she's only caring about her fictional-writing class. There she meets Nick, another nice boy who seems to understand her, and her boring life gets a little more exciting...

 “Sometimes writing is running downhill, your fingers jerking behind you on the keyboard the way your legs do when they can’t quite keep up with gravity.”

So I've enjoyed reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell so much. I guess a main reason besides the good story is that I can see parts of myself in Cath. Like she loves reading (just like me), she loves staying up all night alone in her bedroom (like me), she is really shy when she has to talk to strangers (well, again just like me) and the most obvious point is that we are both fangirls. Because of that I was able to understand her feelings pretty good (at least I think so). I also liked the parts when I could read her fanfic about Simon Snow and I'm really looking forward to reading Carry on as soon as I can. (By the way, Leah did a review of it and you can read it *here* )
Some chapters were a bit boring when Cath did the same stuff all over again but bc of the interesting characters like Reagan and Levi I didn't mind that much. I just wanted to go on reading and to learn more about Cath's life.

Rating: 5/5 *

That's it for today. I hope you guys liked it.

Have a nice day!

Vicky

The seven deadly sins book tag

1. Greed - What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book?

To be honest, I have no clue what the cheapest book, that I own in physical form, is, but I got Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout as an e-book on my phone for free.
The most expensive book I own is probably the German hardcover edition of Clockwork princess by Cassandra Clare, which cost around 30€, and the most expensive one I bought as a christmas present for my older brother is probably The world of ice and fire by George R.R. Martin, Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson with a price of nearly 45€.

2. Wrath - What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

I don't hate any authors because I just know them as writers, not as human beings and I'm also way too grateful for their great works to have such strong dislikes against any of them. The only author that does annoy me a bit is George R.R. Martin since he just needs so much time to finish his books and I'm a not very patient person, but I do (or at least I try to) understand his situation and I guess in the end I'll be glad he took his time and didn't rush the last two books in the A song of ice and fire series.

3. Gluttony - What book have you devoured over and over again with no shame?

The book series I've reread the most is definitely the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. These books were literally my childhood and I'll love them forever. However, the series I'm most obsessed with is the A song of ice and fire series by George R.R. Martin because I just love it so freaking much.

4. Sloth - What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

I've wanted to read Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen for quite some time now, but I've always procrastinated it because it just takes me forever to get through books written in that time period and I didn't enjoy Pride and prejudice that much, so I'm also not very excited to start it.

5. Pride - What book do you talk about most in order to sound like an intellectual reader?

I really don't read to seem like a more intelligent person and I think that's a super stupid thing to do anyway. If you want to read, do it for your own enjoyment or the personal gain you might get, but don't do it just because you want other people to think you're smart. Anyway, the books I'm proudest of finishing are Great expectations and A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens since I think it's a pretty big accomplishment for me to have read them as a still pretty young person, which native tongue isn't English. Yet I'd never boast of reading these books to sound intellectual.

6. Lust - What attributes do you find attractive in male characters?

I think it always depends on the total package of attributes if I fall for a fictional character or not. What I do want them to be is clever and loyal in any way. And, let's be honest, a pretty face doesn't make them any less attractive.

7. Envy - What book would you most like to receive as a gift?

I'm happy about every book someone gives me as a gift, as long as books in a series match and I don't receive a second copy of a book I already own. Of course it'd be great to receive ARCs of books I look forward to reading, but it's not like I absolutely need them.

I hope you enjoyed this little book tag. Have an amazig day!

Leah

The BFF book tag

1. Setting the example: A pair/group of book bff's that you love?

Definitely the crew from Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo. They are amazing as a group as well as individuals. I love their chemistry and loyalty and reading about them is just so much fun! I can barely wait for Crooked kingdom to come out in September and at the same time I'm already sad the series is gonna be over since it's just a duology.

2. Childhood bestie: Which book character would you like to grow up with?

I think growing up with Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell would have been pretty amazing since we share the same interests and are in general quite alike. She's in general pretty calm, so I guess it wouldn't be too stressful to hang out with her a lot and we'd get along wonderfully.

3. Frenemy: Which book character would bring out your competitive side?

I'm not a competitive person at all and as long as I'm satisfied with my achievements, I don't care if someone else is better than me and even if I'm not, I blame myself instead of hating the other person for being better. The only character I can think of right now I definitely wouldn't grant succeeding in something is Cersei from the A song of ice and fire series by George R.R. Martin, mostly because of her insufferable arrogance. I'm not gonna lie, seeing her fail at something feels so good.

4. Fashion guru: Who would be the bestie whose closet you'd want to raid or would want to go on a shopping spree with?

Lara Jean from the To all the boys I've loved before series by Jenny Han for sure. I absolutely LOVE her style. I really like cute skirts with overknee socks, bows and polka dots so I think our style is pretty similar even though she wears a lot more colorful clothing (my whole closet basically only contains black, grey and white clothes). Anyway, I'd love to own her clothes (and her boyfriend as well).

5. The bad influence: Which character would you want to commit a small act of rebellion with? (Go skinny dipping, sneak into a movie, have a drug race with, etc.)

That's actually a really difficult question since I'm a person who pretty much always sticks to the rules, so I'd definitely never do something like sneaking into a movie or stealing. But I do think someone as confident and fun as Sloane from Since you've been gone by Morgan Matson would probably at least make me skip a lesson with her, because she's good at inspiring people to be brave and to do stuff they'd normally wouldn't do. And let's be honest, the idea with the to-do list full of dares is awesome, so simply because of that she'd manage to make me want to rebell with her.

6. Blood brothers: Which character would you want to be your surrogate big brother/sister? (You can do both if you want!)

Is that even a question? Obviously Alec and Izzy Lightwood (and Max as well since he's so adorable) from the The mortal instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I love them both so much. They're incredible loyal to each other and just support each other in any way possible. As the youngest child in my family, I'm used to my brothers being protective, which I actually quite like, and both Alec and Izzy are super protective as well, which just shows how much they care about each other and the rest of their family, so I wouldn't mind having them as older siblings at all.

7. Mother hen: Which character would you want to be by your side when you're having a bad day to cheer you up?

Probably Marlee from the Selection series by Kiera Cass because she's always in a good mood and just an extremely positive person in general and I don't think you can still be sad after spending some time with her.

8. The counselor: Which character would you go to for relationship advice or confide a secret to?

Maybe Celia from The night circus by Erin Morgenstern? I feel like she can definitely keep a secret and also gives quite good advice. Her relationship also works out pretty good, so she should be the right person to approach and ask for help.

9. More than friends: Who would be your book boyfriend/girlfriend?

I've already answered this question so many times, but honestly I can't even tell you often enough how perfect Robb Stark from the A song of ice and fire series by George R.R. Martin is. I just love him. A lot.

I'm so sorry for being absent these past few weeks, but I'll hopefully finish my reread of the A song of ice and fire series soon since I'm nearly done with the third book right now, and once I'll start reading something else again, I'll definitely write weekly reviews again. Until then, I hope I'll be able to do a book tag every week. I hope you enjoyed this book tag and have a fantastic day!

Leah