Angela's February Wrap-up

I'm writing this post super early (Feb. 21st), but by the time it reaches y'all it will be the end of the month. I know I wasn't too active on here this month, and that I saved most of my reviews till this last week and that's because I'm currently in the process of moving and sadly wont be able to be back on here till first week-ish of march. SO I preset everything to post while I'm off. I don't even know if I'll be able to read for the next week or so. (moment of silence for my time lost please.) Anyways, on to the good stuff. The whole month of February I dedicated too two things: doing some re-reads and focusing on books people recommended me. If you follow me on goodreads or have seen some of my latest reviews I explained that I went on and asked friends for their favorite books/books that brought them to tears and got tons of responses back. Then I did a big haul, did my re-reading while waiting on said haul, then went recommendation reading crazy. With February being such a short month I wanted to push really hard to read a bunch during it. Especially since I knew I wasn't going to have any time at the end of the month. So I was hoping to get to 30 books, but sadly fell a few short. Reading a total of 23 books... So close, yet so far away. Sigh.

As usual all you have to do is click the titles and it'll take you straight to the reviews.

Ten Tiny Breaths- K. A. Tucker
Let the Sky Fall- Shannon Messenger
This Song Will Save Your Life- Lelia Sales
Maybe Not- Colleen Hoover
Point of Retreat- Colleen Hoover 
Friend-Zoned- Belle Aurora 
Hexed- Michelle Krys
The 5th Wave- Rick Yancey (Re-Read)
The Infinite Sea- Rick Yancey (Re-Read)
Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi (Re-Read)
Unravel Me- Tahereh Mafi (Re-Read)
Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi (Re-Read)
I'll Give You the Sun- Jandy Nelson
Bad Romeo- Leisa Rayven
Snare- Clarissa Wild 
The Red Queen- Victoria Aveyard
Invaded- Melissa Landers
Me Before You- Jojo Moyes
Hardline- Michelle Wilds
Hardpressed- Michelle Wilds
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe- Benjamin Sáenz
Insurgent- Veronica Roth (Re-Read)
Royal Saga- Geneva Lee 

Of course as far as my favorites this month went, you should be able to tell that anything someone re-reads means that they probably love(d) it. I was so happy that I got to squeeze in both The Shatter Me series and The 5th Wave series. I loved them the first time around but re-reading them made me fall in love all over again (maybe even harder)... I'm basically begging for next year to get here so we can go see The 5th Wave movie already! I actually got to re-read The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea with my husband and after he finished both of them he said he officially understands "fan-girling" because he loved them both so much. Oh, and with that being said did y'all see that we might finally have a name for book three!?!?! Rumor is it's going to be The Last Star, goosebumps right! (edit it was 100% confirmed this is going to be the name! Now please give us the cover already!) I also got to re -read Insurgent. I really want to right a full review for this book, but I'm going to wait until next month when Leah and I go and see the movie. I had a lot odd questions after seeing so many trailers for the upcoming film. I just knew I had to re-visit it... and I'm so glad I did. I didn't realize how much I had forgotten, and I don't think I'll be mad about what they are clearly already changing. (Well see for sure in March)

As far as my other favorites went that weren't re-reads, hands-down they had to be, Maybe Not, Point of Retreat, Me Before You, and The Red Queen. Of course my favorite list has to include at least one Hoover book, and Point of Retreat definitely didn't let me down. Then there's Me Before You which was the perfect love story, and The Red Queen which was a new release in February. One made me cry my eyes out while the other had me on the edge of my seat. Which one of the four would I pick as my Feb Fave..?? Easy, Maybe Not. Even as a novella it easily took the top spot! Having everything I loved in a book thrown into less that 150 pages. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard while reading a book before. Maybe Someday is one of my all time favorite books, but I still enjoyed Maybe Not just as much, if not more.

When it came to let downs February was full of them... Ten Tiny Breaths, Bad Romeo, Snare, and Invaded all made my list. Ten Tiny Breaths and Bad Romeo both had these amazing covers with story that didn't stand up. They both had the potential to be great but missed the mark and fell flat. Invaded wasn't a terrible book but as a follow up to Alienated it didn't come close to the same amazing-ness the first book had. Nothing happened till almost the very end, but at that point I was just to bored to really enjoy what was happening. My biggest let down however was Snare. IT MIGHT JUST BE THE WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ!!! No, I think it is the worst book I've ever read. It was disgusting, weird, had one WTF thing after another, made no sense, and was just over-all terrible. I have no earthly clue how anyone could give this a five star rating, but tons of people have (to each their own... I guess). I'll more than likely post a ranting review on this book next month... Even though I'm trying to scrub it from my memory. Ugh, seriously though Snare was so... I don't know it really makes my skin hurt even thinking about it... Anyways.

There you have it my best and worst reads for this month. See y'all in March.

XOXO
-Angela

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I had this book on my TBR since early last year when the cover was first released. As the hype around it kept growing, I got really worried that it wasn't going to live up to it all. When release day finally came and I got my hands on My Precious, I took a deep breath and said a silent prayer to the baby book angels that Red Queen is as good as I hoped. Thankfully whatever higher power that gave the world Theo James also heard my prayers because Red Queen WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE ANTICIPATED.

The first 50-60 pages or so is basically all world building. We meet a bunch of the main characters, we learn about their world, the hierarchy, some of the big problems that are going on, and we also meet some characters that aren't super important then but you can kind of guess that they're going to come in later on in the book (The Guard, random Silvers that are mentioned, Mare's family, Kilorn, random Reds that are mentioned, etc). I appreciated the fact that the author took a good chunk of the first part of the book to go into so much detail because otherwise I would have been really confused once the plot started picking up. Once things get going, they start going fast. Things start happening left and right and you're like WTF is this going to go?!?! There are so many sub-plots going on in the background with minor characters on top of what is happening with Mare, the main character. All I will say is that if you are reading and aren't
really feeling the world building, just hold out until Mare gets to the Queenstrial.

The main character, Mare, is a great leading lady. She is realistic and relatable because she makes a lot of mistakes.... a lot. She doesn't think things through before she talks or makes decisions so she ends up getting herself in some tough pickles. I will say she really is selfless and tries to do the best she can for those she cares about. Yeah, she doesn't go about it the best way sometimes, but you really got to give it to her for trying.

I LOVE the love triangle! I mean, I guess you could call it a love square, but I don't want to give away any spoilers by going into too much detail. I know a lot of people don't like love triangles in YA, but personally I love them. ESPECIALLY THIS ONE BECAUSE BOTH OF THE GUYS ARE SUPER AMAZING. I kept going back and forth between who I liked more and wanted her to be with, but unfortunately the book decided for me. Which leads me to the ending....

The ending is so crazy. Seriously y'all, I felt like I was shot through the heart with betrayal. You can kind of figure out what is basically going to happen, but it is like you are watching it happen in slow motion and can't do anything to stop it. You're just sitting on the side lines screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" while the train wreck happens. I loved the epilogue because it gave me some closure and really set it up for book two. I have no idea where book two will take things so I am super excited and nervous for it to come out.

I feel like the author took all of my favorite YA books and took elements from them all and made Red Queen. Parts of it reminded me of The Selection, Pawn, The Hunger Games, Legend, The Jewel, and Kiss of Deception. I can easily say that this is one of my favorite YA books, and I have a feeling that this series will become one of my favorites. It is one of the best YA books I have read in a good while and really brings me back to my roots as far as why I love YA so much. There is so much action and secrets and conspiracies that you don't even miss the fact that it isn't heavy on the romance (which is why I turn to NA books when I want steamy mcsteamy!!). I thought it was perfect, though I do hope there is a little more romance in book two.

Red Queen is a must read for everyone. This is already one of the biggest book releases this year, and I think it is easily going to be one of the top books of the year. From what I've read elsewhere, it is already been opted for a movie, so I have a feeling the popularity is going to EXPLODE. Definitely jump on the wagon and go out and buy this book. I promise you won't regret it!

5/5 stars

THE RETURN BY JENNIFER ARMENTROUT RELEASE DAY!

We would like to wish Jennifer Armentrout a HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to The Return!! Since you all know we love JLA more than air, we are more than happy to give you guys a sneak peek on The Return plus tons of other info! We pre-ordered our signed copies months ago AND CANNOT WAIT TO GET THEM! This book is going to be awesome.

 THE RETURN Excerpt: 

 I was a half-blood, but I was also the Apollyon, a child of a pure and a half, a union that had been forbidden for thousands of years because an Apollyon was more powerful than any pure or half could ever hope to be.

And I always got to the traitors’ hideouts before they did, so the Sentinels were usually left with the cleanup, which I was sure absolutely thrilled them.

The first to enter was a female half-blood dressed just as I was. Her black hair was pulled back in a neat little knot at the top of her head. She was older, probably in her mid-thirties. It was pretty rare for a Sentinel to live that long. Her dark skin paled as she stopped just inside the entrance. She clenched titanium daggers in her hands like she expected something vicious to pop out from under the bloody mess.

The female Sentinel tipped her chin up, and the overhead light sliced across her broad cheekbones. She bore a jagged scar under her right eye, the skin lighter in tone. She saw me and froze.

My smile widened.

Behind her, another Sentinel rushed in, almost mowing her over. He saw me and whispered, “Seth.”

He’d said my name like I was the monster under his bed, and I sort of liked that. Then another Sentinel and another rolled in. The fifth took one look at my interior design work and keeled over. Slamming his hands on his knees, he hurled up his dinner.

Nice.

Our society existed completely unknown to the average mortal and had operated under what was known as the Breed Order for thousands of years. The Order had been dismantled, which meant halfs were no longer forced to choose between becoming Sentinels—hunting down violent creatures, protecting pures, enforcing laws, and otherwise usually dying pretty damn quickly on the job—or servants, which was a job that really wasn’t a job, but more like slavery. Since then, many pampered pures had signed on to be Sentinels, making up for the loss of the halfs who’d pretty much said “screw this shit, I’m out.”

This wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

For example, the dumbass puking all over my blood-covered floor was a pure. When he straightened, his face a greenish hue, he backed away, shaking his head. “I can’t,” he gasped out. “I can’t do this.”

Then he turned and hauled ass out the doors.
I sighed. This was why we couldn’t have nice things. 

THE RETURN Buy Links:
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THE RETURN Synopsis: 

The Fates are cackling their bony asses off...

It's been a year since Seth made the deal with the gods that pledged his life to them. And so far, the jobs they've given him have been violent and bloody--which is kind of all right with him. But now Apollo has something else in mind for Seth. He's got to play protector while keeping his hands and fingers off, and for someone who really has a problem with restraint, this new assignment might be the most challenging yet.

Josie has no idea what this crazy hot guy's deal might be, but it's a good bet that his arrival means the new life she started after leaving home is about to be thrown into an Olympian-sized blender turned up to puree. Either Josie is going insane or a nightmare straight out of ancient myth is gunning for her.

But it might be the unlikely attraction simmering between her and the golden-eyed, secret-keeping Seth that may prove to be the most dangerous thing of all.

Because history has once again been flipped to repeat.

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About Jennifer L. Armentrout: 

 # 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J.
Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

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