Angela's May Wrap-Up

Angelfall- Susan Ee
World After- Susan Ee
End of Days- Susan Ee 
3:AM Kisses- Addison Moore
Sweet Submission- Roxy Sloane
Silence- Natasha Preston
Sweet Filthy Boy- Christina Lauren 
Clockwork Angel- Cassandra Clare
Anomaly-Tonya Kuper
A Court of Thorns and Roses- Sara J. Maas
The Heir- Kiera Cass
An Ember in the Ashes- Sabaa Tahir
Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell
Never Never pt 2- Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher 
After- Anna Todd
Ugly People Beautiful Hearts- Marlen Komar
Black Iris- Leah Reader

I know I'm posting this early, but it's only because Leah and I will be in New York the rest of this month for BookCon... And were only kind of freaking out about it... OK WE ARE REALLY FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT!!!! So excited!! Anyways, I didn't plan on reading very much this month but somehow managed to knock out 17 books. This put me at 102 out of my 185 goal this year... Which is freaking insane!

As far as May went, well I think it went alright. My favorites for May are: Angelfall, Sweet Filthy Boy, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Never Never pt 2. I know Angelfall is a little older series wise, but I was waiting for all three books to be released so I could marathon the whole series, and marathon I did. I freaking loved this series. The whole concept of Angels coming down to earth and being villains was amazing.  If you know me then you know this next one was no surprise; Christina Lauren's Sweet Filthy Boy. Those two have definitely become two of my favorite writers. SFB is my favorite book of theirs to date and kind of sad I didn't read it sooner. How could this list be complete without a Sara J Maas book?? It couldn't, ACOTR was a new release this month and I loved it. It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but don't let that fool you, it is stunning. And last we have Never Never pt 2. Short stories aren't really my thing, but this series of novellas has me hooked! I need answers like yesterday. Those were without a doubt my favorites in May. I was surprised by two books, Ember in the Ashes and After. I thought for sure Ember would have been in my favorites, and yes I liked it a lot but then again it didn't blow we out the water like I hoped. After was a book I thought I was going to hate then ended up getting super hooked to.

When it comes to the books I thought were the biggest let downs, well I only have 3. Black Iris, The Heir, and 3AM Kisses. These three are the epitome of a book letdowns. I waited so long to get my hands on Black Iris, and was floored when it turned out to be a cluster f of badness. Leah Reader's Unteachable was one of my favorite books last year, so I was hoping for the same with Black Iris. 3AM Kisses, well lets just say it's one of the lamest things I've ever come in contact with. Spent most of my time trying to hold back my metaphorical vomit while reading it. The Heir, was another one of those books that I was really looking forward too, then got a hold of it and found myself asking "what was the point in this book?". Was so excited to fall back into the world of the selection and was highly disappointed.

That's all for now. See some of you in BookCon and the rest in June. 

-Angela

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

After the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Will Cooper is the attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction they go on a heart-stopping first date, only to be slammed  with a shocking revelation that puts their new relationship to a sudden halt.
 

“Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for.” 

It's currently 2:10 in the morning... I finished Slammed over 30 minutes ago... And I just stopped crying. I went into Slammed ONLY knowing that this book involved slam poetry. I've never even read the synopsis too this story (after reading Ugly Love I knew that when it comes to Hoover books you have to go into it blind). The odd thing is of all of Colleen's books, I own this one I've had the longest and I'm just now reading it. I HATE MYSELF FOR THAT!!!!

I would never believe that this was Hoover's debut novel. It's so strong that I assumed it was a 4th or 5th book. Nope. She never fails too incorporate something new and unique into her writing, if it's paintings, music, or even poetry she really has a style all her own. There are only three writers I will drop everything I'm  reading to pick up their work... That's John Green, Jennifer Armentrout, and Colleen Hoover.

Slammed follows the story of new Michigan transplant, Lake, as she is forced to start a new life her senior year of high school. After her fathers untimely death her mother can't afford to keep them living in Texas. First day in the new place Lake's brother befriends the boy next door... Introducing Lake to Will. The charming, handsome, and sweet poet.

The characters in this book feel so real! Lake and Will are written too perfection. Lake, though mature for her age has the same immature moments as the rest of us. Will is just so sweet, speaking in a way that will have you swooning all over the place. Both their love towards there family captured my heart 200%. Both characters physical appearance is described just enough to give you and idea then left you to make your own decision. As the characters develop in the story the story itself grows into something so hard to capture in words. I thought that the insta-lust that happen right away was going to ruin this book for me. But at the end I realized that this story might have involved love but it's not the love you except. I wish I could explain that more but it's the only way I can say it. It about a deeper kind of love than just being with someone. The sub characters like Eddie and the baby brothers are PHENOMENAL. Colleen has it so they are sub characters that manage to shine so much light without ever over powering.

The plot has this pace between fast and medium, and it was at a rate I'd never experienced before. Then of course there's the whole poetry and music aspect that was put into this story. It's what takes Slammed to the next level. The poetry is introduced in the first handful of pages. I didn't know how I was going to feel about it... BUT WOW. Seriously the first poem had me in tears and they only got better from there. The quotes from The Avett Brothers are perfect placed and were just a nice little treat at the start of every chapter. Like I said, this is a story you need to go into blind, therefore I can't, even though I want to, go into more detail. This book started strong and then had me a blubbering mess by the end. I don't know if I should be mad or thankful that Colleen is constantly finding new ways to tear my heart out of my chest. I don't think I've ever not been a mess at the end of one of her books.

This story made me laugh a hundred times, and cry at least five. Slammed is one beautiful, quotable, and poetic line one after another. Slammed touched me on such a personal level and I probably cried harder than most. This book is a must read, and definitely made it's way into my all time favorites.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

(Slammed Book Depository)

2014 Southern Read Choice Awards

To end 2014 we decided to do our first Book Choice Awards. So *drum roll please* 

WE INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FIRST ANNUAL SOUTHERN READ BOOK CHOICE AWARDS!!! 

These are our picks for the year 2014! These are based off our opinions and only by books we read this year. Some books might have published in different year, some might be ARCs we received and aren't being released till 2015, some might not even be listed on our blogs just on our Goodreads, BUT most will be from and were released in 2014. If we've reviewed the books the links will be connected to its title. 

Best Overall Book/Series:

The Lux Series 

Angela's Pick 

The Shatter Me Series

Leah's Pick

Cover lust:

(Favorite book cover)  

Under Different Stars

Angela's Pick

Mara Dyer

Leah's Pick 

Best Page to Premiere:

(Favorite book to film)

The Fault in Our Stars

Angela and Leah's choice

Ship it:

(Favorite book couples)

Daemon and Kitty

The Lux Series

Angela's pick

Juliette and Warner 

The Shatter Me Series

Leah's Pick

One isn't the loneliest number:

(Best stand-alones) 

Forbidden 

Angela's pick

All Our Yesterdays 

Leah's Pick

Favorite Sci-fi/Fantasy Series:

The Throne of Glass Series

Angela's Pick

Reboot Duology 

Leah's Pick

Favorite Series Start: 

Under Different Stars

Angela's Pick

Branded

Leah's Pick 

Swoon City: 

(Favorite book hotties)

We could probably make a whole blog post on this...and we might...OH WAIT WE DID!!!!

Daemon Black

The Lux Series

Angela's Pick

Ren Owens

Wicked Trilogy

 Leah's Pick

Favorite Villains:

Mara Dyer

The Mara Dyer Trilogy

Angela's Pick

Aaron Warner 

The Shatter Me Series

Leah's Pick

End of an era:

(Favorite series that sadly came to an ended)

Ignite me

The Shatter Me Series

Angela and Leah's Choice

Highest tissue counts:

(Clearly the books that made us cry the hardest)

Ugly Love

Angela's Pick

The Fault in our Stars 

Leah's Pick

Out of this world:

(Alien picks)

The Infinite Sea

Angela and Leah's choice

Biggest surprise read:

Unteachable

Angela and Leah's choice 

Favorite Steamy reads:

(favorite guilty pleasures)

Wicked

Angela's Pick

Unteachable

Leah's Pick

Favorite Dystopian:

Ignite Me Series

Angela's Pick

Legend Series

Leah's Pick

Worst Reads:

Filthy 1-4

Angela's Pick

Requiem

Leah's Pick  

Favorite Leading Ladies:

Wren

Reboot Duology

Angela's Pick

Calaena 

The Throne of Glass Series

Leah's Pick 

Book we Judged by it's cover:

(books we put off reading based on their covers and ended up loving)

Rebel Belle 

Angela's Pick

White Hot Kiss

Leah's Pick

Favorite book reviewers:

BookTuber WhittyNovels

Angela's choice: Whitney Atkinson is a young book blogger who is taking over the booktube world. She is a firecracker when it comes to her reviews and is forever having my sides splitting. For these reasons and many more she is my pick for favorite blogger/tuber of 2014.

Blogger WendyDarling of the Midnight Garden

Leah's Choice

Self Love:

(picking our favorite review by our co-blogger)

Angela's choice: Leah's review of The Young Elites

Leah's choice: Angela's review of  Forbidden

Viewers Choice:

We asked our followers to choose their favorite series/book this year. The choices were between. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma, Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi, and The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

Winning by a landslide...

Ignite Me

Tahereh Mafi