Angela's November Wrap-Up

Paper Hearts- Claire Contreras

The Fall Up- Ally Martinez
Going Bovine- Libba Bray

Suicide Squad Vol. 2- Adam Glass

Unravel- Calia Read

November 9- Colleen Hoover

How I Live Now- Meg Rosoff

Revival Vol. 1- Tim Seeley

Day 21 (The Hundred 2)- Kass Morgan

Bared to You (Crossfire 1)-- Sylvia Day

The Deal- Elle Kennedy

Tell Me Three Things- Julia Buxbaum

Preacher Book 1- Garth Ennis

Finding Cinderella (Hopeless 2.5)- Colleen Hoover

Can we please talk about how insanely slack I've been these last two months??! I've seriously been dragging my feet lately. I can't really explain why either. Might just be because I've surpassed my reading goal and figured I'd take it a little slower in October and November. Might be because I fell into a deep Netflix spiral... Who really knows. My November numbers might reflect alright, but trust me the further it got into the month the harder I had too push myself to pick something up. However, a lot of the things I picked up this month weren't so bad.

My favorites were: Paper Hearts, The Fall Up, November 9, The Deal, Tell Me Three Things, and Finding Cinderella. Huh... Maybe my reading month wasn't as rough as I thought. Can't remember the last time I had a list with this many favorites on it. Paper Hearts first few chapters were released early on, and when I read it I knew right away this would end up on a favorites list. A sweet cute read that had the perfect little news clippings in it. The Fall Up was a book I was really worried about reading. When I saw it's stunning cover I was instantly drawn to it, but worried that the inside wouldn't be as good as the outside. Completely wrong, really enjoyed it. November 9, is the first Colleen Hoover book I'm going to talk about. It was her new release with massive hype surrounding it. Other books that have tried to pull off this same idea haven't done what this did. I wasn't at all let down. The Deal and Tell Me Three Things were my biggest surprise reads of the month. First The Deal has one of the worst covers I've ever seen, but oh my God was it hilarious. Tell Me Three Things was an ARC I received and is one of the only contemporary books I've ever enjoyed. Lastly is Finding Cinderella. Yes, the second Colleen Hoover book on this list. Even though I still haven't read Losing Hope (which I'm dying to read now) I still loved this novella. Picked it up because I was in a slump and because it is currently free on kindle.

My least favorites were: Going Bovine, Unravel, and Preacher. Going Bovine might have one of the funniest male protagonist I've read in the longest, and a concept like no other, but still somehow ended up being too much. I will say that I didn't hate it, I just wasn't in love, and something ultimately didn't stick with me. I was hoping for a book that would forever stick out in my mind, and this just didn't happen. Unravel was a book I ended up DNFing. It seemed like it was going to be a mind blowing read, and it is something I plan on picking up at a later date, but at this time it just wasn't doing it for me. Lastly Preacher. You have probably seen this popping up a lot lately because it is AMC's new comic book TV show. The show looks like it will be bitchin, but the comic was just something I couldn't get into. I think that if I give it more time and volumes that I might end up liking it but I'm not in any kind of rush to get to it.

14 books down in November and so many left to cram in before the end of the year. So goodbye November and hello December. I'm doing December way different than I have in the past. First off I'm going "offline". Logging off my social media accounts (kind of). I'll be logging off all my personal accounts and just focusing on reading and blogging. I'm logging into out bookstagram and am going to be doing a daily or every other day update of what I'm reading. I usually log into our book account once a week, update, comment back, and then log back out. In December it'll be something I focus on more and I'll be staying on it the entire month. I already have my entire Tbr planned for December. I'll be posting my list the first week of December so keep an eye out. I'm going to try and knock out some series I've been putting off, getting a good pipeline of reviews written, and then the last week of December I'm going to be doing nothing but re-reading my favorite books so I end my year on the best notes possible.
See y'all then.

-Angela

Mockingjay Part 2 Movie Review

Real or not real? The Hunger Games has come to an end? Real.

What an end it was. Besides the theater being swamp ass hot and the lady eating her snot a few seats down from us, I'd say our Mockingjay pt2 seeing experience was a good one. It was for sure an emotional one. Don't fear this review will only be a highlight and rating of what we saw, it will be spoiler free.

Mockingjay part 2 picks up exactly where part one ended. Katniss is still in District 13 waiting for Coin to give the word for them to make their move on the capital. The opening scene is her in the sick ward recovering from when Peeta attacked her in MJpt1. The mood from part one is the same in part two. Dark and tense. We as viewers are waiting on the edge of our seats to know what will happen and if the film will stay true to the book. I think the highlight of this film is that they Suzanne took a different approach on emotionally how she would take our Mockingjay.

In almost every YA to film adaptation when our lead is put through something traumatic it seems that they bounce back so quickly from it. Parents die, towns taken out, government tries to take out your romantic interest-lead cries for all of a second-then is right back to being the teenage world savior. With Katniss we don't get that. She is experiencing things as they should be. When her family, friends, or towns people are injured/effected it affects her. She experiences the shock, pain, and carries that weight throughout the movie. This is what really sets it apart from other films attempting too be the next big thing. It sets this certain presences to the film and is carried throughout. I think this is why Katniss is one of our all time favorite leading ladies, because she isn’t meant to be likable. She gets thrown into the Hunger Games because she wants to save her sister and nearly every step since then she has lost part of herself or someone she cares about. By the time we reach MJ, Katniss is just trying to survive. Everyone has expectations on how she should feel and act, but she is merely trying to make it to the end. She isn’t trying to make anyone happy. She is trying to keep herself and her family alive.

Katniss isn’t the only one trying to find her way in the film. As we saw in MJ pt1, Prim wants to be a medic

and is trying to grow despite her sister wanting to keep her safe. Gale is trying to balance doing what he thinks is best for the country and what his heart wants from Katniss. Peeta is… poor Peeta. He is still trying to recover from what the Capitol did to him and trying to figure out his new reality. Finnick is really the only one that has a happy start. He and Annie are finally together and happy. Everyone has seen the previews from their wedding, and it is every bit as beautiful as it looks from the clips. There may or may not have been a tear shed here as well (aka Leah was crying).


The pace of this film holds it own to the others. It's action packed and non-stop up until the last second. There were moments when we were gripping the edges of our seats in fear when stuff jumps out and also times when we were wiping tears from when we lose some of our most beloved characters. This is a film that gave us everything we wanted. We wanted moments when characters were able to be happy, we wanted sections were people were venerable, we wanted action, and we wanted justice! I think we really did get it all. The best thing is I think we got the same raw emotion from the movie that we got from the book. You can tell the cast and staff put everything they had into these films... It shows in every scene all the way to the end. Without spoiling we will say this: The biggest difference in our opinion is the ending... It's a lot happier than the book. Which to us is a good thing.

Mockingjay Part 2 was everything we hoped it would be. A strong film, with a strong cast, a strong ending, and very little changes. This was a satisfying ending to one of the best books to films we've seen... Grab a pen and paper Allegiant and take notes. You're gonna need it.

10/10 Stars
Angela & Leah  

Oh and sorry if the font is all wonky or if the review isn't really long, for some reason our computers just did not want to work together... Sigh, well we guess all good things must come to an end... Now let the countdown for the 5th Wave beginning.

Paper Hearts by Claire Contreras

"I lost her. No, I didn't lose her. I threw her away. She was my best friend. I was never supposed to fall in love with her. I was careless. She was heartbroken. I was doing fine until she came back into my life and reminded me what love was supposed to feel like.
When it's all said and done, she may not want to stay, but this time I'm going to do everything in my power to not let her go." -Goodreads synopsis


"I let her go, not because I loved her too much to ask her to stay, but because I couldn't bear to hear her tell me she wouldn't. Still, Every once in a while I wonder. And nothing is more haunting than regret."

Some of my favorite books to read are second chance romances. It’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn to authors like Nicholas Sparks and Colleen Hoover. That’s what Claire Contreras' writing reminds me of.

As soon I read Torn Hearts I knew I had to get my hands on Paper Hearts. Mia was so funny and Jensen was so troubled. I had this feeling I would love where these two would take this story. Not to toot my own horn, but I was so right. Both characters gave me everything I wanted. Mia gave me tons of sassy smart-ass moments and Jensen gave me the character development I was dying to read. I loved how their relationship went, how it fell apart, and how it was put back together. These two characters both felt so real and their reactions to situations were also realistic, this making both so likable.Two things that really stood out to me in this book were both involving Jensen. First, I really wanted to hate Jensen for what he does, but as the novel goes on and Claire takes us further into his story I really started to understand him. I stated realizing that the choices he made were the right ones. I wanted to hate him as much as Mia did, but as she grew to love him again so did I. Second, I love that Jensen and his ex weren’t enemies. I highly enjoyed their friendship. I applaud Claire for not making the ex out to be the bad guy. Most books that fall into NA romance follow this path where the ex is a dick/drug addict/holds things against the lead and it was refreshing that this didn’t happen.   

"Pain isn't just losing the person you love. Pain is losing the person you love, seeing them with somebody else, and not interfering because you know you can't give them the life they deserve."

Another highlight of this book was the news column aspect. Really liked Jensen's Sex and the City like little side pieces. These pieces were able to take events the characters did and down size them without taking away from the story, and if those don't win you over their childhood story will.

As for the plot of Paper Hearts I won’t lie, I knew exactly how everything would play out. A good writer however makes you not care, and still can make you fall in love with their story. Paper Hearts is good writing. That being said there were a few moments when things didn’t go the way I thought they would. So having the story take a different path kept me turning pages and being hooked. The plot as this smooth ease to it that will pull you in. Paper Hearts is one of my favorite New Adult reads this year. Claire Contreras is an author that hasn't let me down yet and I'm thankful I stumbled upon her.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Fictional Book Boyfriends pt 11

Did you miss us??? We're sorry for missing October we've just been so busy! Thankfully we're back this month to bring you our November dream-casting list.

Below we give you a list of our "dream cast" for leading men in the books we've been reading lately. This list is also often referred to as an IfList or a Fictional Book Boyfriends list. We would glad spend a chilly November night snuggled up with anyone of these studs.

To see a list of previous choices click here. and to see the reviews for the books themselves just click their titles. If the book doesn't have a current review posted there should be one up shortly.

Dark Wild Night by Christina Lauren 

Nerdy handsome comic store owner falls for shy comic book writer. 

 Jeff Kasser as Oliver 

Seriously. Handsome. Sweet. Comic book store owner. 

Every nerd girl's ultimate fantasy right here.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell 

Two oddballs start a relationship after an incident on the bus.

Ivan Dorschner as Park

Tell me you wouldn't want to share a seat with this babe?!?

Lev by Belle Aurora 
Man rescues homeless girl and falls in love with her. 

Nick Bateman as Lev 

I really don't think I need to explain... No, we think that jaw-line
says enough.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Girl has the ability to weave time with matter. 

Alex Libby as Jost 
If he is apart of a love triangle then sign us up. 

2015 WalkerStalker Con Atlanta

This past weekend we went to the WalkerStalker Con event in Atlanta Georgia. As we promised we are here to tell you about what we thought of the event, what we did while there, and if we would consider going again in the future.

We arrived early Friday afternoon. We hadn't really planned on doing anything event wise Friday, but after thinking it over, and since we hadn't been to this event before, that scoping out the arena might be a good idea before we dive into uncharted waters. so around five that afternoon we headed out to the event. It was pretty dead there since most people planned on being there for Saturday and Sunday so we didn't have any trouble or wait getting into the venue. As far as I can remember no real events had been scheduled for that day (I think there was maybe a few panels for some of the not well known actors). We mainly just walked around, shopped, and planned for what we would be doing the following day. Basically Friday was our chill day and it was nice being able to take our time and just wander. We also got to spend a lot of time in the hotel, which was amazing. Our room had an incredible view of Centennial Park and the big ferris wheel.

Saturday is where things really kicked off for us. We woke up super early and headed to the event (think we got there around nine and doors were opened at 10). The line to get in was INSANE! Thankfully everything line wise was pretty organized an we got in in no time at all. Once we were in we originally didn't plan on going to any cast member signings but... as soon as we saw Steven Yeun (Glenn) we changed our minds. We  both automatically agreed that had to get into his line and meet him. Such a great idea too. We got there at the perfect time. We had to wait under a hour to met him which was freaking amazing because after we got through the line was freaking massive. We got to take pictures with him along with getting things signed. The silly thing was we had to sign and agree that we wouldn't ask hi questions about the previous episode or questions about future seasons. The only other people we considered meeting were Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) or Danai Gurira (Michonne), we decided against it because the wait for these two went on for days.

After that we went to a panel where they talked with Eulyn Womble the costumer designer for the show. This was something we randomly decided to go to and I'm really glad we did. It was so interesting. It was fun hearing about how much detail and work she puts into everything. She revealed all these little clothing items we'd never noticed before. Noticing how these thing little things had such an impact on the show was really great.

Later that day we went back to our room and changed into our costumes. We were just going to hang around our hotel and wait for the after-party that night, but ended up back at the event. We went as  the slaughter version of the evil Grady twins from The Shining. Our costumes were a huge hit and came out great! We got stopped dozens of times for pictures and for people to talk to us about them. Think people really liked that we went as something that wasn't TWD related. We ended up entering a costume contest (we didn't win however... Thanks baby Eugene!). That night we continued in costume to the con after-party... This was probably the biggest let down of our weekend. Orgianlly it was suppose to be held on the set of Terminus, but for copyright reasons fell through and ended up being held in the hotel ballroom. It was SO jammed packed! You could barely walk around or even breathe. Plus the event slowly got weirder and weirder (not in a good way either) and we both ended up leaving around midnight after the pole dancers and hula hoop girls showed up on stage.

On Sunday we again got up early and headed to the only event we got tickets for which was the Andrew Lincoln panel. This was both of our favorite event of the weekend. The panel ended up having a special guest appearance too, David Morrissey (The Governor). This panel was freaking hilarious. They both shared stories of things that have happened on set, moments from the show, their favorite part of being on the show, and tons more. I think what made us like this panel so much was that they didn't wait till the very end of it to ask questions. They weaved audiences questions through-out and it actually added to the interest level. The flow of the conversation and the stories that they told really gave a lot of insight to each actor. At first I (Leah) was disappointed to see that The Governor was the surprise guest because I didn't like his character at all, but by the end I was really glad he was there. I loved how he and Andrew Lincoln played off of each other and off of their IRL friendship. While The Governor still isn't my favorite character from the show (to say the least!), I have a new found respect and like towards the actor! After that we did a few more laps around the event floor and then headed out.

Pros:
-Vast amount of cast members to meet.
-Overall pretty organized.
-Tons of merchandise to buy most at a reasonable price.
-Venue was in an excellent location and pretty all inclusive as far as being able to find parking and food.
-Plenty of events to attend within.
-So many amazing costumes to see.
-Tons of places to get your own makeup done.

Cons:
-General admission doesn't cover anything so it can get very very expensive.
-Meet and greets are expensive.
-After-party crowded and not like what was explained (seriously, unless you are single and on the prowl or want to get wasted on the $10 cocktails, this probably isn't for you)

If we do go again we will splurge and get the VIP tickets, they might seem pricey but they do pay for themselves with the benefits. While it was pretty fun overall, I think we found that we enjoy book centered cons (shocker, I know) more because they target our interest more. If you are a die-hard TWD fan and want to get weird with other die-hards, then this is your place.

xoxo
- Angela & Leah

The Fall Up by Aly Martinez

As a celebrity she is constantly being watched. A life she once loved has become so chaotic she has lost her way. That is until a tattooed stranger strikes up a simple conversation with her. 

"I could live with that-as long as she lived too."

Not gonna lie, The Fall Up was 100% a good ole fashion cover buy... I mean seriously look at it! It's flawless! As soon as I saw this I knew I had to have it. But, I couldn't find it. After Aly told me where and when I could buy it (apparently I was a few days early on the release date) I ordered it. Really glad I did. TFU  doesn't just have a beautiful cover it has a beautiful message.

TFU starts off with two strangers standing on the Golden Gate Bridge. After seeing each other several nights in a row, one of them finally decides to speak to the other... He basically tells her she shouldn't jump and she say whatever his reason for thinking the same probably isn't enough to do it either. He assumes she's up on that bridge because of an abusive relationship and she isn't quit sure why he is there. After both spend time talking and keeping one another from making a terrible decision they continue to visit the bridge night after night.

After that the two can't stay stop thinking of one another. Levee is always showing up in a wig and sunglasses so she can hide her true identity. After a few run ins Sam reveals his name and Levee reveals who she is as well. The chemistry between these two is my favorite part of this story. Absolutely love these two as a couple. Their banter and the fact that they are complete opposites had me sold on their love story. Both are such strong-willed characters while both managing to show us true vulnerability. Levee was a character I thought would for sure go in one direction and then surprised me by going a different. As much as I loved her character I loved Sam's 20 times more. What a likable and swoon-worthy character. I have absolutely no complaints about him. He had this light air about him while still managing to be comical and intelligent. Levee is a leading lady you'll love and Sam is a male who will for sure make it onto your fictional book boyfriend list. Seriously just love him! He'll make you wiggle your eyebrows and weak in the knees.

From the moment I started reading this book I was hooked. The plot and story-line had the perfect balance of hilarious banter, sweet romance, deep emotion, and a unique story concept. I was crazy about this novel's pacing, it was just perfect.  This was a book that constantly had something going on but never managed to feel forced. TFU  starts strong and continues that way through out. Again, the best part of this story (besides the chemistry) is it's underlying message. Clearly this book revolves around suicide, and that can often be presented or come off as "tacky". This wasn't a problem in this book. After I finished reading and the actual weight of everything settled in I was completely content that the romance and love-story never overshadowed what this book was trying to get across. Anything that anyone could considered "flawed" about this story would easily be wiped away by this.

The Fall Up was a beautiful novel that surprised me.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

"You'll never be able to find yourself if you're lost in someone else." 

COLLEEN HOOVER YOU COLD HEARTED SHE DEMON!!! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO PEOPLE!?! I must seriously love abuse because I keep coming back for more of it when it comes to your books!  This could be the last book I read all year and I would be perfectly content with it. November 9 is stunning. 

All us book nerds have one serious thing in common when it comes to reading... We love book quotes! We love to say them, we love to share them, we love to make pictures with them, we just seriously love them. November 9 hands-down has some of my favorite book quotes in it. Not just from things I read this year, from things I've read in general. If I could, I would just copy and paste the entire book as my review and just leave it at that. It's all just so beautiful.

November 9 follows Fallon, a girl who meets a young writer (Ben) the day before she's set to move cross country. With a seriously silly introduction it leads these two characters to spend her last night in town with each other. This becomes the inspiration for Ben's first novel and for the two too met up every year on the same day. I seriously can't get over these two. They're both so easy to fall in love with. Fallon with her insecurities and Ben with his boyish charm will win your heart over within a few pages. Fallon is this character who is struggling to find her footing again in life, and Ben who knows what direction he wants to aim, but needs the arrow guided. I liked their ups and downs. I liked how their struggles became our struggles. We get to grow with these characters and we get to go through so much time with them. Fallon and Ben will make you feel every single emotion. One page these two would have me dying laughing then I would turn it and the next I would be crying so hard I couldn't breathe. Their relationship will have you second guessing your hate for insta love. That's all I'm going to say character wise... Vague I know, but if you've ever read a CoHo book (if you haven't where the hell have you been?!?) you know the last thing you want is to be spoiled on characters.

"What are you waiting for? He drags in a raspy breath. 'To wake up, I think.' He lowers his mouth and kisses my neck. 'I'm dreaming, right?'"

Okay, I'm just going to warn you now, the vague character description is going to be the only organized and put together part of this whole review. From here on out it's going to be a jumbled mess of spoiler free fangirl talk... You've been warned.

The plot... OMG the plot. It's a sucker punch from all directions. It's an uppercut to the face, an elbow to the stomach, a smack to the ear of pure emotion thrust upon you. Let me break this down for you... The first few pages I was all lah-tee-dah minding my own business being all swoony over all the possibilities of where this story could head... WHEN OUT OF NOWHERE I GET FREAKING THROAT PUNCHED BY THE MOST ROMANCE SCENE I HAVE READ IN MY ENTIRE LIFE... AND THIS IS FROM A GIRL WHO'S READ A BUTT TON OF BOOKS!!! I mean good God and it's only 50 pages in!!! I wanted to lay a book worthy kiss on Ben so hard, because that moment is pure perfection. Every girl deserves a Ben! Maybe someone can invent a pocket sized version of him, and whenever were having an ugly day (ladies you know what I'm talking about) you can pull out your pocket sized Ben and he can pay you compliments and make you feel like the princess you are. If you can't tell by that bizarre thing I just said, then let me just come right out and say it, I was completely hooked. I was just sitting on the sofa sobbing. Then it's scene after scene of these perfect stolen moments, breathtaking events, and heart stopping romance that you'll be rooting for... But don't get too comfortable because you know one of those epic CoHo twist are going to happen... AND THIS ONE IS THE PITS! When it happened... I couldn't breathe and I swear I almost threw up. Feeling all emotions at once hit me so hard it almost induced vomiting... But mainly just caused me to do that heavy cry where you can't even function or form words and all your sentences come out in broken fragments. Pain swept my legs out from under me.

Yeah, safe to say overall I could barely function reading this. This story is just everything. None of that probably made any sense and I don't care. You know a book is good when you're so jumbled and have so many emotions that it's physically hard to get all of them down. Oh and don't get me wrong with this review. It's not just love and pain in this novel. CoHo has this hilarious thing where she pokes fun at the everything she is doing with this book. Not just that she has this fun way of poking at everything all of us secretively love in books. It's just great! If this wasn't all enough for you there's something a little extra special she puts in this novel that had me jumping all over the place that I can't freaking wait for y'all to read. You can really tell she put her whole heart into writing this book for fans and really set out to give them something to love. 

November 9 is a beautiful book with a wonderful message. It's a novel filled with so much passion, humor,  with such a dreamy aspect that leaps off the pages and pulls you in. November 9 was my most anticipated New Adult book of the year, and again Colleen Hoover didn't let me down. By the end of November 9 I promise your heartstrings will have been pulled in every single direction.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Ten years ago, Calamity appeared in the sky.With it's appearance it gave some humans some extraordinary powers, and the public started calling these people epics. Epics however aren't friendly. They seek to take over, rule, and destroy. After David's father is killed by an epic named Steelheart  he seeks revenge.

"I've seen Steelheart bleed. And I will see him bleed again." 

I usually start out my reviews by listing off the main characters then breaking them down for you... With Steelheart it's going to be a little different because in my opinion there's only one main character, David Charleston. David has made it his life goal to get revenge on Steelheart the epic that killed his father. Yall, it was so refreshing to have just one main character to focus on and put all our support into. There are several other characters I think some might throw in and say are main ones, but I would disagree with them. It's been a long time since I've read a solo male character that I liked. His emotions feel real, he's easy going, he's determined, and his poor use of metaphors make him such a likable character. I liked that he is obsessed with finding out information on epics. He spends all his time taking notes, and gathering information on them so when the time comes he will know how to take them down. David put his whole heart into getting revenge and this had me wanting him to come out on top. We also get a little bit of romance with him, but again, this isn't the highlight of the book. The romance never overshadows what the story is really about. Again another plus. The only two things I didn't like about his character is that sometime he spoke a little younger than I imagine an eighteen year old boy would. I get that he never really got a childhood and that he never had parental guidance so he is a little more youthful. At the same time I didn't always like this. The second thing is he was constantly blushing. "I looked away blushing" probably happened 20 times in this book. Like David, this might not be something to take lightly... you might have a skin condition or something. Other than that I really enjoyed him.

Finally on to the plot. Okay, I've been dying to talk about this! The prologue! Wow just so amazing. This has to be one of my favorites, if not my number one favorite prologues off all time. How Sanderson makes us love the father son relationship in so little pages, how were introduced to Steelheart, and then how everything after that plays out is perfection! My jaw was on the floor! I could see the whole thing playing out in my head like a movie and I was overwhelmed with joy.  Seriously can't stress enough how great it is. I also can't get over how much I loved the epics and how their powers work. Each epic has one or two powers that can be counteracted with some random weakness. Like one epics powers can be stopped by smoke, another by uv light. Each epic has their own special characteristic. This is what pulls you into the story. You'll find yourself powering through this book so you can finally find out what Steelhearts weakness is... and lets just say it's really good! Had no clue what it was going to be, and it doesn't disappoint. There are actually three twist at the end. Two which I knew were going to happen and then the one that I just didn't see coming. The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is because some parts of this book (mainly the middle building up to the end) dragged some, and then of course the few predictable moments. I wish that the middle was as strong as the beginning and the end. I completely get that sometimes books can't just be go go go non-stop, but still. At one point I was like "mmmm should I just google the ending because I just really want to know already". I'm glad I didn't spoil myself because the ending is worth the few more lagging moments. When the big reveal happens I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing for a few minutes.

Steelheart was a great way to introduce me into the fandom that is Brandon Sanderson. He manages to give us a super-hero book where the heroes are villians. He gives us a book where you'll question if revenge is really worth it. He'll have you questioning the "lesser or two evils" phrase. And all of this is great.

Why has it taken me so long to read a Brandon Sanderson book?

"Where there are villains, there will be heroes. Just wait. They will come. Sometimes, son, you have to help the heroes along..." 

8.5/10 
-Angela