Angela's October Reads

Angela's October Reads:

So October's reads were either hit or miss... Good news though they were (for me) almost all hits! I'm
going to do a review on my top pick then have a list of what I read this month following it. If it's been reviewed on our blog you'll be able to click the links and go straight to the review! If the link isn't below you can go to either of our goodreads and see the reviews there.

I really had more than one top pick this month. Stone Cold Touch, All Our Yesterdays, and Forbidden were all among my top picks for not only this month but all year. As far as misses go Nil, Unremembered, and Enclave all made that list. My top choice however is Taboo Unchained by C.M. Stunich. I figured since we've already done reviews on the other ones that now would be a good time to do one for Taboo.

I was recommended this book by a fellow goodreads friend, and I choose to go through and read it because it seemed like a book that would be 1) unlike anything I normally read and 2) completely out of my comfort zone.

This story is a lovely coming of age tale where two young teens fall in love and try to save the world from the evil government... JUST KIDDING! Taboo Unchained  is a 100,000 word stand-alone dark romance. It's recommended for Ages 18+. (There is a disclaimer at the front of the book for pete's sake and that right there is how you know I was going to be out of my zone...)  
 
Hold onto your panties, ladies. Lucas Carter is here to show you the dark side of the sheets.It is going to be so hard to tell you much about this book without really giving anything away. This book is a dirrrrrty dirty version of Dexter... Taboo was and wasn't what I expected it to be. I mean come on we all knew this book was going to be steamy, what I didn't know was that it would be was funny, page turning, and kind of romantic. This story even has a love triangle (NO ITS NOT WHAT YOU THINK ITS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD). The things that would drive me insane in a book won me over in this one. Lucas refers to himself in the third person which was so annoying at first but as the book went on it both died down and was revealed to be a necessity to really show how dramatic his character was. He is also making a reference to "the beast inside him" or his "darkness" (which is what makes this so much like Dexter that and some people get killed/murdered). I will warn you this boy has a boner 99.9% of this book... It's almost to the point where he should probably see a doctor.
 
Oh and when I mentioned a love triangle I should have gone further into it and really said its more like a love pentagon with no real "love"... Yeah that made some and no sense. Mainly however the "triangle" is just between Mister Carter and two other ladies (I don't want to reveal their names). The two girls however are complete night and day which I loved. That and that neither of them were petty B's. The sex was all sorts of hotness and actually takes up a lot of the plot. However, this is one story where I actually feel like sex is necessary... Yeah never thought that sentence would EVER come out my mouth. Lucas Carter is everything you love to hate in a man and OH SO MUCH MORE!!!! The first thing he say, the first line in the whole book is "My name is Lucas Carter, and I'm a fucking God." ... He is so so so so so hot but trust me when I say you wont want to love him but you wont be able not too. 

Overall this is the best and most F-d up love story ever and will more than likely be you 2014 guilty pleasure. I gave this book 10/10 not a whore stars! And yes I was blushing the whole time I wrote this review.

-Stone Cold Touch: Jennifer L Armentrout

-Half-Blood: Jennifer L Armentrout
-Born at Midnight: C.C Hunter
-The Raven Boys: Maggie Stiefvater
-NIL: Lynne Matson 
-All Our Yesterdays: Cristin Terrill 
-Taboo Unchained- C.M. Stunich  
-The Bodies We Wear: Jeyn Roberts 
-Take Me Tomorrow: Shannon A. Thompson 
-So it Goes: Grace Elizabeth Collins 
-Push: Eve Silver 
-Moon Tortured: McKenzie Hunter
-Falls the Shadow: Stefanie Gaither (broke up with)
-Unremembered: Jessica Brody 
-The Kiss of Deception- Mary E. Pearson 
-Gravity: Melissa West 
-Forbidden:Tabitha Suzuma
-The Beginning of Everything- Robyn Schneider 
-Snow Like Ashes: Sara Raasch
-Enclave: Ann Aguirre 
-Say Her Name: James Dawson
-The Girl in Between Laekan Zea Kemp


(I feel like I'm missing something but can't seem to figure out  what... OH WELL)

  

  

Leah's October Reads

October was a really good book month for me. If you remember, I was planning on dedicating this whole month to The Mortal Instruments series. Well, that was my intention, but if you have ever read the series, you know how long the books are and how in depth they go. I kept finding myself having to take breaks in between books (even though I LOVE THE SERIES SO FAR!) because I was just so overwhelmed with emotion and information from this killer endings. I am currently about halfway through book three and taking a break because I am SO mad with everything that is happening to poor Simon. In the meantime, I've read lots of really awesome books. Seriously, some of my favorite books of the year was read this month. Here is my list, and I'll put my absolute favorites at the very end:

-City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
-City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
-Losing It by Cora Carmack
-Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
-I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
-These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
-The Jewel by Amy Ewing
-Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter
-All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
-Pivot Point by Kasie West
-The Young Elites by Marie Lu
-Don't You Forget About Me by Kate K. Quinn
-Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
-Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

October Favorite! 

 This is really, REALLY hard for me. Like I said above, some of my top books this where read this month. If I HAVE to choose, my top picks are Stone Cold Touch and All Our Yesterdays. Stone Cold Touch was highly anticipated for us because of how much we love Jennifer L. Armentrout and how awesome White Hot Kiss was. Roth made the Holy Grail of Book Boyfriends list because he is hot hot hot and so swoon worthy. Demon or not, he is such an awesome character that JLA developed. You want to hate him in this book, but it's only because the pieces of your heart are laying all over the floor. And the ending of the book..... OMG the ending. I may or may not freak out because I have to wait until July for book three. Alas, this book comes in second place (though it is very close) because my actual top favorite made me feel so many feels that I have no choice but to name it my top.

All Our Yesterdays is probably in my top five books that I have read all year, which should say a lot. I was kind of skeptical when I first read the synopsis because it sounded super action packed and intense but I didn't know where all it could go. I picked up the book and couldn't put it down. I was so invested in the characters, and every time I thought I had things figured out everything fell apart. It was so intense. I felt all the feels in this book, and again, this ending is what made it... The ending. I can't even talk about it without wanting to tear up. I don't know why I reacted so strongly towards the end except maybe it was just so unexpected for me. I had tears pouring out and was literally yelling at my book at the same time. But, you know, it wasn't just the ending of this book.. The whole thing was just nerve wracking and heart wrenching that it takes the cake hands down as my favorite for this month. I just can't explain it. You just need to go buy it.

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Stone Cold Touch: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Layla Shaw is trying to get things back to "normal"... But for a seventeen year old half demon half warden that doesn't seem like an easy task. Layla still has feelings for her hot warden best friend who is still off limits due to the fact that her kiss can suck out his soul. She definitely hasn't forgotten about Roth, the hot Prince of hell who sacrificed himself so Zayne the warden could survive. The boy drama is the least of Layla's problems. As her powers start to evolve and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever.When things finally look like things might actually end up in her favor hell will literally be breaking open, and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay


(Angela)--
Is there anything Jla can’t do!??? Stone Cold Touch is my new jam! I’ll start off by saying this book is even better than the first. I don’t know how I'm going to make it till June to read the third
one. Also I feel like I should warn you that this review is going to be a mess because I am currently frantically fangirling all over the place. SCT picks up right where book one left off. Roth is still kicking it in the underworld, Layla is still super depressed about it, and Zayne is still be all stony. Jla is the only writer whose love triangles NEVER bother me, and since this book is heavily weighed down with one it's a good thing she's mastered it. SCT does focus more on the relationship between Layla and Zayne, unlike book one where it was all Layla and Roth. I thought this was going to bother me but all it did was tear my heart to pieces by trying to decide whose “side” I wanted to be on. I was seriously texting Leah every ten minutes saying “ok Team Roth… No Team Zayne… Team Roth… No Team Zayne.” After sleeping on it… I know who I choose BUT I won’t let anyone know till book three.... Okay who am I kidding... IT'S ROTH! You’re probably at this point in time thinking the same thing I was thinking “No Roth IDK man”… NO! DON’T LET THAT CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT READING THIS because Zayne steps up his stony sexy game, and there is plenty of hot Roth to go around as well. But enough with the boys we can come back to them later… On to Layla. She starts becoming real B-A in this book. She’s slapping guys in the face with bibles, she's shifting, she’s fighting night crawlers, she's smashing hamburgers… oh and she is starting to figure out “what she is”. Her friendship with Sam and Stacey also has a lot more light on it in this book and I really enjoyed that as well. They're not the only ones friends that come more into play as the book went on as well. Dez and Nic start really shining towards the end. (Rumor is the sub characters like Zayne, Roth, and Layla's friends will play bigger parts in book three, fingers-crossed.) Of course like all of Jennifer’s books there are a lot of steamy scenes, and I'm not mad about it. Here's a tiny list of things Jla's writing has me looking at in a whole new-sexy-mood-light setting: Aliens, cookies, cheese puffs, kittens, glow sticks, Las Vegas, gargoyles, pure bloods, and pens... Whoosh someone bring me some ice tea while I swoon over some flashbacks.
There isn't a lot of world building in this book, which would normally make me rate it lower. However I'm still giving it all the stars because the plot had me pulling my hair out, the characters are amazing, and because of the two twist that come at the end of the book... THAT YOU WILL IN NO WAY SEE COMING!!!! OMG THAT ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's that good!

I know this isn't my longest review, but with Leah's following mine I'll leave it at this... If the gates of hell opening up mean the world could be filled with sexy Roth and his friends; then I would personally go down there and rip through those fiery bad boys.

10/10 Steamy Stars

(Leah)--
The first part of this book made me want to throat punch Roth across the freaking universe and back down into the underworld. Well, I pretty much felt that about him the whole book but of course his hotness and steamy demon charm had me hating myself for loving him. Zayne definitely steps up his game and he had my heart aching at the end. THE ENDING. OMG THE ENDING. WHATEVER YOU THINK YOU MAY KNOW ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN JUST GO AHEAD AND THROW IT ON THE FLOOR AND SET IT ON FIRE BECAUSE YOU ARE WRONG. I was blowing up Angela's phone as I was reading the last chapters because my head was about to explode. I'm not even ashamed to say tears were shed towards the end. Pretty much all the feels that are capable of being felt were felt at some point during this book. FREAKING AMAZING. Like Angela, I really loved how Stacey and Sam's friendship were included more in this book. Stacey is an awesome friend and I love her! I also really grew to love some of the other Wardens. Dez and Nicholai will always hold a special place in my heart forever now. I even hated Danika a little less in this book but I still didn't like her (NO I'M NOT JEALOUS OVER A FICTIONAL CHARACTER. WHATEVER). You also get a taste of more of the demon world which is pretty cool. Cayman also makes my list of favorite characters because he sounds awesome and is frequently the bomb during the book.

I'm still Team Roth FOREVER, but I wasn't mad about Zayne stepping up to side chick status in this book. I'm sure what happens between him and Layla will win over a lot of people and make them Team Zayne fans. I wavered a little during the middle, but my heart almost always belongs to the dark-side so I knew all along despite everything that happened and probably will happen next book that I love Roth. Roth officially enters the world of book boyfriends that is known as the Holy Grail of Book Boyfriends. It is an elite club featuring Daemon Black (Lux), Aaron Warner (Shatter Me), Noah Shaw (Mara Dyer), Edward Cullen (Twilight..haters gonna hate), Four aka Tobias (Divergent.. really it's just Theo James. I'm not ashamed to say that I worship at the alter of Theo James), and now Crown Prince Roth. This list reigns high above all the other book boyfriends and is sacred to us as fangirls. These dues have changed cookies and cheese puffs and all sorts of seeming innocent things into things you cannot think about without blushing. These dudes are the ones that just the thought of them makes you want to rip your clothes off and go running straight into the nearest icy lake or ocean.

I also cannot believe the ending of the next book will be decided on by a reader poll. IF ALL YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE IN THE INTERWEBZ DID NOT VOTE FOR ROTH THEN YOU'RE DEAD TO ME. Ok, not really dead to me but seriously if Layla doesn't end up with Roth at the end of the next book I may pull an Upper Level Demon move myself and rain fire and brimstone down on the earth.

Can I give this more than five stars? (According to Angela, YA books should be based out of ten stars, but what can I say I'm traditional) I'd give this 100 stars if I could. Seriously. Go buy now and lock yourself in a room because you're not going to come out until you're done with all 440 something pages.

5/5 stars

Don't You Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

This book was published recently and after seeing a ton of 5 star reviews on Goodreads, I deemed this to be my Halloween spooky read. The plot seems original and the cover was cool, so why not?

The story Skylar who lives in the town of Gardenville where no one gets sick or is unhappy... except every fourth year. Every fourth year the teenagers in town go nuts and something bad happens. Four years ago from when the story is being told, Skylar's older sister Piper basically murders 16 of her fellow classmates by making them play chicken with a train and then jump off a bridge. I think it's pretty obvious to say there is some sort of mind control thing going on with Piper. Oh, and 16 year old Piper is having some sort of illicit relationship with her 21-ish year old high school teacher Elton who happens to show up the night of the incident.

Anyway, so Piper ends up disappearing after the incident. There is a reformatory in the town where the crazy teenagers go, but it has never been confirmed if Piper is actually there or she is dead or missing or what. Skylar has spent the past four years pretty much trying to forget everything about her life because she is mourning Piper. She turns into a druggie off of these pills Elton (after the whole Piper disappearing thing he makes it his goal to reform the town and drug everyone into submission so no one goes nuts) and some wonder quints develop out of forget-me-not flowers (oh what a coincidence) that make you forget. They druggies that are hooked on them are referred to as notters. There's also some dude named Foote who I think eventually will turn into a love interest but he is constantly described as wearing a fedora, so that would be a NOmance in my book. There's also Jonathan who's sister LuAnn ended up in the reformatory but now she's out and talking about Piper or something... I don't know. I really don't.

This book falls onto the did-not-finish shelf for me after I got a little over 100pg in and pretty much had no idea what I was reading. I didn't even know what Skylar looked like. It just didn't jive with me, so DNF it is. Other reviewers rave about it and it's unique paranormal plot that supposedly happens, so maybe someone out there will like it more than me. It just reminds me too much of Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea which was an absolute WTF/hate read for me. No, just no.

1/5 stars

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Adelina caught the Blood Fever when she was a young child. The fever swelled so much inside of her that a doctor had to remove her left eye. After she healed, she also developed markings that many children were cursed with after the Fever. Her hair and eye lashes turned silver and now she has a huge scar across her face where her eye should be. Her mother died from the Fever and her sister survived but did not become marked. She grew up with her sister who has developed into a beautiful young girl and her awful father who hates her for what she has become. Her dad sucks. Like really really sucks. After he makes a deal to sell her away to some old guy as his mistress, she tries to run away but he ends up hunting her down. She conquers up some dark powers and accidentally kills him.

Adelina doesn't discover that her powers are like the other Young Elites (a group of young folks that are marked from the Fever and developed supernatural type powers) until she is rescued by them at her execution for the murder of her father. Enzo, Raffaele, Lucent, Gemma, Michel, and Dante are the Young Elites who take her in and help train her and show her how to use her powers. Their main goal is to overthrow the king and take over the kingdom and like marked people like them live normal lives and not be outcast and executed.

First things first, this isn't a happy book. You're not going to come away from it feeling all the happy feels or find yourself laughing at funny dialogue. Marie Lu made this book super dark. Personally, I felt like I was reading a story from the villain's point of view instead of the heroines. Adelina isn't a heroine. She is dark and has dark things living inside her. She gains her power from how the darkness feels inside her and she thrives off of fear and anger. This isn't a story where she learns to harness her bitterness and turns good and hearts and happy endings. Nope, she gets darker and more powerful as the book goes on. I mean, you can't really blame her because she has pretty much been shat on her entire life. Her father sucks, society treats her like a freak, the kingdom wants her dead, and even her new Young Elite friends are kind of using her for what they can for their mission. She's a pretty bitter person and probably would do better with a round of therapy for her daddy issues instead of trying to conquer demons from the underworld. I just didn't like her as a leading lady because her choices and the things she does pretty much hurts everyone around her in someway. I just feel like she didn't develop as a character as the story went along. She just kind of spends most of the book feeling sorry for herself, talking about how she doesn't know how much time has passed, and being followed around by her father's ghost who tells her much she sucks.

The story was pretty much a NOmance for me. The relationship Adelina develops with Enzo was weird, especially since they are both so volatile. They are pretty much doomed even though nothing really even develops. I was kind of hoping she would start something up with Raffaele (who BTW kind of reminds me of a zen version of Magnus Bane).

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book. It just wasn't for me. I didn't feel attached to any of the characters and when deaths happened, I just kind of felt "meh." The writing was very descriptive and the world developed nicely. I didn't really feel like I was even getting into it until 100pg in, and even after that I didn't feel attached. I could have easily put this book down and not came back to it. There is a good cliffhanger and twist at the end, but I feel like it kind if sets it up for the next book.. Especially with what happens in the epilogue. I don't know. I know most people really loved this book, but it just wasn't for me. I probably won't bother reading the sequels because I just don't really care what happens to the characters.

3/5 stars

Snow Like Ashes: Sara Raasch

Snow Like Ashes: Sara Raasch

"Fear is a seed that, once planted, never stops growing."

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Eight survivors who managed to escape have been waiting and planning for the right time to take back their kingdom. Meira has lived her whole life as an orphaned refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior while be head over heels for her best friend Mather will be anything but easy, especially since Mather is set to be future king. So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Meira soon finds herself thrown into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics and is starting to realize her destiny may be anything but what she thought.

OK, OK SO SNOW LIKE ASHES!!!!Leah and I have been WAITING for this book since we saw it on the coming soon list. The cover alone pulls you in, but whats inside does so much more. (Side-note: the man who did the cover actually reached out and said sup to Leah and I on our instagram so that was pretty cool.)

Basically in SLA all hell has broken lose and the people of Spring are dead set on making sure all the Winterians are gone from the world. We're talking straight up genocide. The few remaining Winterians are set on resurrecting the kingdom of Winter and ensuring safety for the last of the Winter bloodline aka King Mather of the Winterians.

When I first picked up and started reading I was a little overwhelmed (I wont lie I tend to feel that way at the start of most fantasy books). I feel like SLA is the love child of Throne of Glass, Xena, and Game of Thrones (maybe that's just me idk). Much like GOT there are a lot of Kingdoms. There are the Eight Kingdoms of Primoria. Then there's the whole Spring, Autumn, Winter thing. Sounds like a lot already right?! However the world building in this book is amazing! Once all the loose ends come together your mind will be blown by all the little details and how much Sara writing give us.

As far as the characters go MERIA IS BADASS!!!! I have this girls back 110%. Meria isn't about taking the easy way out, she can fight her own battles, she can stand her own ground, and can even fall in love while doing it. Oh and ya girl demands respect. Boys pop back because Meria don't want no scrubs. 

Not just that though Sara does an amazing job at making both the male(s) and female characters equals. It was amazing to have a male showing weakness and wanting the girl to think he is worthy of her! LET ME TELL YOU IT GETS CUTE!

The two leading men in this book are King Mather the childhood bff who Meria has always had heart eyes for and Prince Theron whose has both brains and brass. I think some will think this as a love triangle, but I don't really feel like it is. IF HOWEVER it does turn out to be one then I already know whose side I'm picking. If you know me you wont need to ask...

To compare this book a little more, much like Throne of Glass this book is about war, fighting, and having power, with a very strong leading lady. The only downfall and the  reason the rating isn't high is because at some points there was a lot being thrown at you and it was so descriptive it felt like an information overload. There is however a twist toward the end of this book that has set up this series, at least the next book, to be amazing.

That being said go out and get some banners made because Meria is a feisty and strong fem lead that you will be cheering for.
Snow Like Ashes lived up to all it's hype.  






8.5/10 Stars 



-Angela