Darken the Stars by Amy A. Bartol

As the war for Ethar continues, everyone see Kricket as a pawn. She isn't as weak as her enemies might think. Seeing into the future might benefit her, but it might also make it harder for her to make the choices necessary. Darken the Stars is the third book in the Kricket Series.

"Deep down, however, I fear that I've come to love a lie." 

Thanks Amy, for confusing the crap out of me... my heart doesn't know what direction it wants to go in. This book messed with my head for multiple different reasons.

When I finished Sea of Stars I was 100% team Trey. Now that I have finished Darken the Stars I'm so torn between Trey and Kyon... Actually I might not be?!? Ugh I truly don't know where to start! Trey, Kyon, Kricket... I'm a glass case of emotions! Much like I did with my Queen of Shadows review I'm going to do a lot more talking about characters than I am about plot.

I'm not going to lie to you or beat around the bush with this.... We get a lot less Trey in this book than I was ever expecting... and at first this had me super peeved. I was mad that all our free time wasn't again filled with stolen moments and forbidden romance. Needless to say I was a little bit huffy the first few chapters in.  That was until it dawned on me that if Amy gave me all the things I "wanted" then it was would be book two repeated and that what I really wanted was something different and new for this series. I got it too.

Trey was just Trey in this book. As much as I still wanted more of him I was again still thankful for what we got instead. He's still seems just as sexy and strong as ever... but he is still the same Trey. The man that thinks he has to stand in front of Kricket instead of besides her as equals. Darken the Stars is more about Kyon and Kricket's story. Yes, you heard right; WE GET A LOT OF KYON!!! Never thought I'd be excited to say that. I'll get to that in a minute though... Kricket is still the whip smart fire cracker that we got in the first two books, but in this one shes a little more vulnerable and dare I say more like-able. Don't get me wrong, I liked her in the previous books, but I liked getting so see the raw more emotional side of her. We get to see more into her thought process and how seeing into the future really effects her. I like her wits over fist persona and her strong will to fight for what she wants. Not what the world needs but for what she needs. Some might think that comment sounds rather selfish for a leading lady, but in my eyes it's refreshing. Then there's Kyon. Everyone from here to Mars knows I love the villains. I always swoon over the bad boy... and what's better than your average bad boy? The bad boy who knows he's bad and doesn't care to be anything else! He owns it. Kyon has the same thing going for him that Warner from The Shatter Me Trilogy has. At first ya boy is beyond creepy and clingy and you're biggest worry is when and where he is going to make a skin suit out of Kricket. As time goes on though you start to see why he is the way he is. That he might be the "villain" but that he gives something to Kricket that no one else has. I also want to mention how I loved how he wants to teach Kricket things. He want to confide in her, and also sees her as an equal. He was the biggest surprise in this book for me. He becomes charming, jokey, romantic, fierce, he's always man-handling someone, he doesn't wear a shirt often.... and holy hot half-breed I just want to lick his face... and that seafood dinner scene... Whoosh, sorry. Excuse me. Got caught I up in the moment.

"Courage is a value that you hold dear. You live for danger... I can't avoid danger. There's a difference... No. You slap danger in the face and wait for it to react."

Darken the Stars plot does take a slower pace than the two previous. The first two are all about action packed Wtf moments and chase scenes while this one is more about answering the unanswered questions we had from the others. It's about giving us more of a world history and character development. Also I don't know if I'm the only one whose going to think this, but whatever, I think the plot for DTS is a lot darker as well which I found to be a plus... I don't even want to get into how my number one biggest fears is present in this book. When that bomb gets dropped I almost threw up from being terrified. I'm not even going to mention what it is because I do feel like it's a little bit of a spoiler, but if you know me at all, then you'll already know what it is... because again it's number one on my list of biggest fears. Just shuttering thinking about it again. DTS is more a book that is set into place to set things up for the further installments in the series. The pace really doesn't pick up till closer to the end and takes several turns that I didn't except... And that ending! I just have no idea where this book is headed, what will come in the future, and this has me both stressed and very excited.

 Sigh. There's going to be no other way for me to get over this book hangover that Darken the Stars has given me than watch really low rated movies on Netflix and binge on Ben and Jerry's. Goodbye cruel world.

10/10 Stars
-Angela 

BURN, REWRITE, REREAD pt 1

We recently asked our goodreads friends for some blog ideas and one gave us the idea for this! Burn, Rewrite, Reread. This has been going around the Booktube community for sometime, but I don't think we've ever seen it done on a blog before. If you've never seen the videos before let us give you a little idea of how it works... The Idea behind it is you put a bunch of books in a jar, then you pull out three at a time, and among the three you pick one you'd be willing to burn, one you'd want to rewrite, and one you'd want to reread. We did 8 rounds so here are our picks.

ROUND ONE

All Our Yesterdays, The 5th Wave, Confess 

Angela:

Burn- All our Yesterdays

Rewrite- Confess

Reread- The 5th Wave

Leah:

Burn- Confess

Rewrite- The 5th Wave

Reread- All Our Yesterdays 

ROUND TWO

The Winner's Curse, Reboot, The Darkest Minds

Angela:

Burn- The Winner's Curse 

Rewrite- The Darkest Minds

Reread- Reboot

Leah:

Burn- The Winner's Curse

Rewrite- The Darkest Minds

Reread- Reboot 

ROUND THREE

Vampire Academy, Ugly Love, Unteachable

Angela:

Burn- Vampire Academy 

Rewrite- Unteachable

Reread- Ugly Love

Leah:

Burn- Vampire Academy

Rewrite- Ugly Love

Reread- Unteachable 

ROUND FOUR

Rush (Maya Banks), Ignite Me, City of Bones

Angela:

Burn- Rush

Rewrite- City of Bones

Reread- Ignite Me

Leah:

Burn- Rush

Rewrite- City of Bones

Reread- Ignite Me 

ROUND FIVE

Requiem, The Kiss of Deception, Raw

Angela:

Burn- Requiem

Rewrite- Raw

Reread- The Kiss of Deception

Leah:

Burn- Raw 

Rewrite- Requiem

Reread- The Kiss of Deception 



ROUND SIX

The Raven Boys, Sea of Stars, Divergent

Angela:

Burn- The Raven Boys 

Rewrite- Divergent 

Reread- Sea of Stars

Leah:

Burn- The Raven Boys

Rewrite- Sea of Stars

Reread- Divergent 

 


ROUND SEVEN

Uninvited, Losing It, The Young Elites 

Angela:

Burn- Uninvited

Rewrite- The Young Elites

Reread- Losing It

Leah:

Burn- Losing It

Rewrite- The Young Elites

Reread- Uninvited 

ROUND EIGHT

The Jewel, White Hot Kiss, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Angela:

Burn- The Jewel 

Rewrite- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Reread- White Hot Kiss

Leah:

Burn- The Jewel

Rewrite- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Reread- White Hot Kiss


We plan on doing this again in the future. We had so much fun picking out which books we wanted for what. That being said we also wanna mention that just because we said we'd burn a book doesn't mean that we hated it. There are some on this list that we loved and yet still would scarifies over another.

Angela's April Wrap-up

Fallen Too Far- Abbi Glines

Never Too Far- Abbi Glines

Sea of Stars- Amy Bartol

The Law of Moses- Amy Harmon

Making Faces- Amy Harmon 

Kaleidoscope Hearts- Clarie Contreras

Beautiful Stranger- Christina Lauren

Beautiful Player- Christina Lauren 

Beautiful Secret- Christina Lauren

Beautiful Beloved- Christina Lauren 

Chase Me- Tessa Bailey

Unteachable- Leah Reader (Re-Read)

Me Early and the Dying Girl- Jesse Andrews

Easy- Tammara Webber

Ready Player One- Cline Ernest

The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise- Matthew Crow

Aftermath- Tom Lewis 

 April kind of went by in a blur. I felt really sluggish when it came towards reading. Think my month started out so strong, with such great reads, that by the end of the month it made me kind of "whatever" towards anything I picked up. Regardless of that this month was really good reading wise. I nailed out a lot of books I wanted too, managed to squeeze in one re-read, all while re-watching seasons 1-3 of Teen Wolf... So I guess overall it turned out to be a pretty productive month. I managed to knock out 17 books, which clearly is a high number, but fell short of my goal of 20 each month.

As far as my April favorites went I have a few. Sea of Stars, The Law of Moses, Making Faces, Beautiful Player, Beautiful Secret, Beautiful Stranger, and Unteachable all make the list. I wont talk too much about Unteachable since I don't really like to include re reads in favorites (because clearly I liked them enough to go back so it's kind of a give.), but I will again say how much I loved this book! It's amazing! Anyways, all the other ones were new too me this month. Sea of Stars and Beautiful Secret were both new releases in April and both nailed it! Sea of Stars was an amazing second book in the Kricket Series and I can barely breathe waiting for the next book. What a cliffhanger! If you also couldn't tell I fell pretty heavy into some Christina Lauren novels this month. They have steadily became two of my favorite authors. They have this fun, witty way of writing that has won me over. As far as my top picks go I would have to say that Beautiful Stranger and Sea of Stars take that spot. Both were fun, action packed, good time reads and both have made it onto my favorites shelf. I would like to mention that even though The Law of Moses wasn't my overall top book(s) this month that it was still by far the most unique thing I've read not just this month, but in a very long time.

When it came to book let downs I only have 1.5. 1.5??? How can I have a half fail?? Well it's because I enjoyed the book and it was great, it just didn't give me what I was hoping for... And that is Me Earl and the Dying Girl. This book was hilarious, fun, and scattered brained. For all those reasons and a handful of others it had me enjoying it. But when I was done reading it I was just... I don't know. I just wanted more. People kept comparing it to TFIOS and it was nowhere near that book. Me Earl and the Dying Girl is becoming a movie and from the trailers we've seen so far, I think that it will be better film than book. So that is why I'm kind of throwing it into my fail pile. It was a good book, but it had the potential to be an amazing book, and just missed the mark. My number one fail without a doubt is Never Too Far. I HATED this book. This is the second book in the Rosemary Beach Series. If you saw my review for the first, then saw my review of the second you might have gotten whiplash. Book one Fallen Too Far was great so I figured that Abbi Glines would continue that momentum into book two, but it was like a completely different person wrote it. After reading the first few chapters I should have just put it down, but sadly didn't. I think this book is what ruined the rest of the month for me. I still can't grasp how a story went from such a high to such a low so fast. I'm on the fence about wither or not to finish the series so I guess we'll see.

With all that said and done I am SO excited to go into May! Mainly because at the very end of it Leah and I are headed to New York for BookCon!!!! CAN'T FREAKING WAIT!!!! We are on the edge of our seats waiting for the list of signing times to be posted. As far as panels go so far we only plan on attending one, and that is John Green's Papertowns Panel. Hopefully once everything is posted Leah and I will be able to post a little something up on the blog to let yall know who will be seeing and what are plans are for those few days! Can't wait to see everyone in the big apple!

Oh and if there isn't a review posted for one of the books then listed it will be up in May. Since I have so much going on with work, friends, books, and travel my reading might be a little light in May so I have them set to post during that time.

Well till next time.

XOXO
-Angela

Sea of Stars by Amy Bartol

According to Alameedan prophecy, one house will rise to power and the other will be completely wiped out, and Kricket is believed to be the weapon that will tip the scales. Kricket is forced to come face to face with finding out if her fate really is written in the stars.

THANK YOU AMY BARTOL FOR GETTING ME OUT OF MY READING SLUMP!!!

Sea of Stars literally picks up where Under Different Stars left off. We are still following Kricket's story as she continues to be a fugitive. Kricket in this novel much like the first, is still a force to be reckoned with. She is still so strong and insanely smart. The big difference between book one and two is that this one is over-packed with action (yes this is a good thing). You’ll find yourself barely having time to breathe with all the twist and turns that are happening. The first "OMG" moment happens so early on in the book that I’m still floored by it. All the action in this book has a snowball effect…. Gets going right away and as the novel continues just gets bigger and bigger.

We get to learn not just more about Kricket’s powers but more about her past. This making her an even stronger character than she was in the previous novel. The other character plus in this book is Trey. If you’ve read Under Different Stars than you know how amazing and swoon-worthy he was in book one… In Sea of Stars he just gets even better. As much as I did like him in the UDS I still wanted so much more out of his character and I got it in this book. We also get re/introduced to several characters. We still have Trey's boys, Jax and Wayra. I wish I would have gotten more of them in this book, but never was let down when they were present. We still have have Kyon as the villain. Loved him in this book! He is an amazingly written villain and I can't wait to get more of him in the next book. I loved getting a  little peek into his softer sides as well. We finally get to meet Charisma and Trey’s parents (Sadly kept calling his father Vaseline in my head, didn’t mean to but couldn’t stop myself). All were great sub characters, but none I have yet to connect with. Hoping that in book three we'll get more of them. My favorite however is a new one, Giffen. Too me he gives off this Rowan from Heir of Fire feel. Which I loved! He still has a lot of mystery surrounding him, but I look forward to seeing him in book three. I think he is going to add something so grand to this series. I want to go more into detail about him because I really liked his character, but for spoiling reasons I'll leave the convo about him at that.

On to my favorite book subject… The romance! BE STILL MY BEATING HEART! I’M SWOOING ALL OVER THE SOUTH! I loved that this book had a lot more Tricket moments (Yeah, I went there). I loved getting to see them on a more personal level, I loved their banter, and I love how they are towards each other. I feel like in a lot of books like this relationships are built of half truth and a lot of hidden secrets. This isn’t the case with them and I really enjoyed that.  

“I want to discover every thought… every look… every other freckle." "Why every other freckle? Why not all of them?”
“Well, I didn't want to sound obsessed, and also some freckles aren’t as good-natured as others" As I laugh harder, Trey rises on his elbows, smiling down at me. "That's the sound that I want to live in for the rest of my life."

Sigh, just loved it. Any and every moment these two are present was written to perfection. I'm on pins and needles waiting to see where their relationship goes next. I want NEED more of these two. 

The world building in Sea of Stars, is so on point. We get a deeper and move descriptive look into the universe. Amy paints a powerful picture of life in Ethar. We also get shown some super badass weapons. As far as the plot went, as I stated before, it's massively action packed. We never get a moment to rest our legs. It's just one insane moment after the next. *Small Spoiler ahead if you haven't read book one* My favorite thing about this book was how Kricket is learning more about her powers and how she can control them. I feared Kricket being able to see into the future would be hard to write and have play out well, but Amy does it flawlessly. I can't stress enough how much I absolutely loved how all the vision played out! Seriously did not see it coming! It's just great! Found myself having to pick my jaw up off the floor after everything is revealed and comes together. Oh and that ending... Seriously!!!! 

This is torture! How can you leave us hanging like that?!?! I mean, hey I'm super thankful for such an amazing ending, but I don't know how I'll be able to wait for the next book! Not only does this series have some of my favorite covers, it's steadily becoming one of my favorite series.

As one of my most anticipated reads of 2015 I wasn't let down.

10/10 Stars
-Angela 

(Sea of Stars BookDepo)