Angela's October Wrap-Up

Clockwork Prince- Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Princess- Cassandra Clare
The Vincent Boys- Abbi Glines
Lev- Belle Aurora
Y the Last Man book 2- Brian K Vaughn
Steelheart- Brandon Sanderson
Room- Emma Donoghue
Romeo and Juliet- William Shakespeare
The Girl of Fire and Thorns- Rae Carson
Six of Crows- Leigh Bardugo
Addicted to You- Kristia Ritchie
Everything Leads to You- Nina LaCour
This Girl- Colleen Hoover


October is super special because I reached my Goodreads reading goal... Yes, I reached book 185! I can't believe it either! So freaking pumped about it. Don't know how I'll be able to top that in 2016... Might have to sell my soul or something. With reaching my goal I kind of took it easy this month. Honestly I'll probably be a little more sluggish about reading till the end of the year. I have a lot of events and movies coming up so those will probably eat away at a good bit of my free time. That's actually a reason this is being posted early. Leah and I are headed to Atlanta for WalkerStalker Con. This is the first time we've ever been and were both excited and a bit nervous since we don't really now what to expect. Of course well be posting about it once we get home so keep an eye out for that post. Enough of that though, lets get on to my tops and flops.

My top picks for October are: Clockwork Princess, This Girl, Lev, and Six of Crows. First Clockwork Princess was just as amazing as the hyped lead it to be. I'm so glad that I waited until this series was completely finished and for some of the buzz to die down before I got into it. Cassandra Clare nails love triangles. This book had me a mess. I did however still preferred The Mortal Instruments series to this one, but to each their own. On to This Girl, the third and final book in the Slammed series. It was so nice to get back into this story and hear everything from Will's point of view. I fell in love all over again. This was another book I was glad I waited on reading. Next is Lev. Thanked my luck stars when Belle sent me an ARC of the first book in her new series. She gives us a leading male like none I've ever read before. Such a good time read and I can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy. Lastly, Six of Crows. This would hands-down be my number one pick for the whole month. I liked her Shadow and Bone trilogy (emphasis on like) but this book... What a way to start a series. It blew my freaking mind!!!! I feared with so much hype and with so many main characters things wouldn't live up. It does. It has some of the best characters and world building I've read in the longest time.

As for my flops for October we have: Girl of Fire and Thorns, Addicted to You, and Everything Leads to You. I feel very mislead when it came to Girl of Fire and Thorns. I heard all this buzz about how great and action packed it was, but 150 pages in I had to DNF it. Our leading lady spent most of the book bashing her physical appearance. It got old fast! I tried so hard to push through it, but just couldn't. After DNFing it I so many people comment on my status/review saying that the end of the second book is where it picks up, and then right after someone would say that I was right to put it down. So I have no idea when Ill get back to this one. Might not revisit it until next year. Addicted to You  had the same problem. It was so hyped up in the world of romance reviews. People saying that this is their favorite NA/romance series, and I just could not get into it. I got 75% into the book before putting it down... That really says a lot because if I reached that point in most books I would just keep going. I will say this is a book I will for sure be revisiting in the near future because a part of me fears it might have just been "wrong time" read. Lastly, Everything Leads to You. This was a cover buy for me. I don't usually do contemporary but this book looked and sounded so sweet that I just had to give it ago. Also wanted to try it out because the lead girl in it is gay. This book was so boring! Nothing happens. There's no dramatic events, no plot twist, just one sluggish thing after another. I don't think I've ever DNFd so many books before. Sigh.

Till next month.
Angela

Leah's December Reads

The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

Altered by Jennifer Rush

The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Fire In The Woods by Jennifer Eaton

Fallen by Lauren Kate

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Wicked by Jennifer Armentrout

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Rush by Maya Banks

Raw by Belle Aurora

Slated by Teri Terry

December has been a really good book month for me! It's nice that I was able to find good reads this month since I had been coming down from a hardcore slump. The only bad thing about this month (and by bad, I only mean in the reading sense) is the holidays! I have been jam packed since Thanksgiving and haven't had a ton of time to devote to reading. As much as I have enjoyed hanging out with friends and family, I am looking forward to after the first of the year when my social obligations go away and I can go back to being a hermit.

One cool thing I signed up for this month is the Fandom of the Month club that I found on Instagram. You play $13 a month and you get sent fandom inspired jewelry each month. For December, the theme was Narnia so I received a bracelet, earrings, a ring, and a really cool bag to put it all in. (This isn't a sponsored post, btw, just wanting to share something cool I found!) 

Speaking of the new year, I can't wait for y'all to see what we have planned! We have some really cool posts leading up to 2015, and we have a TON of things planned for 2015. All I am going to say is that 2015 is going to be the year of the fandom for sure.

DECEMBER FAVE:

My favorite book this month was hands down, no contest Wicked by Jennifer Armentrout. This book is my absolute favorite JLA book so far which should say a TON. I love all of the characters, but my favorites are Ren an Tink. Ren is at the top of my book boyfriend list now. HOT HOT HOT. Tink, well, you just need to read the book to learn about Tink. I just love him!

Leah's November Reads

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

The Merciless by Danielle Vega

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Don't Look Back by Jennifer Armentrout

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer by Laxmi Hariharan

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Under Different Stars by Amy Bartol

Unteachable by Leah Raeder

November was kind of a tough month for me book wise. I was in a big rut after finishing City of Glass and had a killer book hangover. I started and stopped at least four different books and just could not get into anything. It felt like every book I did read was pretty mediocre, so it was just adding to my hangover. Angela was feeling the same way, so we did a book swap. We both filled a tote bag full of books that we thought the other would enjoy and swapped. We have similar tastes, so it was the perfect way to find good books without having to search!

My favorite book this month doesn't have a clear cut winner. There was a tie between The Retribution of Mara Dyer, City of Glass, and A Thousand Pieces of You. Retribution was the final book in the Mara Dyer series, so it was like the end of an era. I got all the conclusion I needed for Mara and Noah, so while I am sad it is over, I am happy that I got what I needed. CoG is the best book of The Mortal Instrument series that I have read so far. It took me forever to get through it, but once I finally finished it... OMG. This is what put me into such a bad hangover. It was SO awesome that my brain was just completely dead after finishing. I just couldn't bring myself to read anything else because I just wanted more Jace, Clary, Sebastian, Simon, Alec, and Magnus. This series will be the death of me though because it is such an emotional roller coaster. It is definitely one of my all time favorites. ATPoY was sooooo good. I am loving the trend of time/dimension travel books lately, and this one just was so well done. The world building was breathtaking, and I just loved the characters. I can't wait to see where the series goes.

That was all until I read Unteachable by Leah Raeder. This book was in the bag I borrowed from Angela. When describing the book to me, she said two words: HOT TEACHER. So I went into it knowing there was a hot teacher and lots of steamy scenes. Within the first few chapters, I found myself blushing uncontrollably and feeling like this was the type of book I needed to read in private because it was so, SO detailed during the steamy scenes. I kind of kept up the impression that this book was just going to be lots of steam, but only surface deep as far as story.

Man, was I wrong. This book reached inside of my chest and grabbed my heart and twisted it before yanking it out and throwing it on the floor and stomping on it. Maise is such a kick ass character. In fact, I really want to take her and transport her into all other YA books that I've read just to see what she would do. She is raw and rough around the edges and slutty in all the wrong daddy issues kind of ways, but she knows it and she owns it. She knows her life is one big screw up, but she tries her hardest to just keep her head above water so she can not end up like her dealer mom. The relationship she has with Evan is so taboo and inappropriate on every tradition scale. But the funny thing about it all is that he is just as screwed up as her. They are both very broken and together they come together and force the pieces of themselves together to make something real. This isn't a happy love story. Yeah, there are happy parts, but like any real love story, their are parts that make you feel high as a kite and then kick your legs out from under you.

The last quarter of the book I cried my freaking eyes out. My heart hurt for Maise because of Evan, Wesley, Siobhan, the mom, Hyman (I know that's not her name but that's what I called that effing C U Next Tuesday in my head), and just whole screwed up her life really was. The ending of the book was perfect. It has you on the edge of your seat and biting down every last bit of nail you have...... and then the ending. Bravo, Leah Raeder. You successfully made me feel all the feels and made me identify with every single one of your characters in some way. This book is one of the best books I've read all year, and it definitely falls into the "holy cow I didn't realize how good this was going to be" category.

Just as a heads up, there is sex. Lots and lots of sex. Steamy sex that you probably want to read when you're by yourself with not even your dog in the room with you. Actually, you'll probably want to read most of the book in the shower to keep yourself from overheating. Also there is a lot of explicit language. Maise's favorite word is the F bomb, so if you're not a fan of that, then this isn't your book. If I could give this more than 5 stars I would. It was absolutely amazing.

5/5 stars

I have a HUGE.... HUGE TBR list for December. I have the books from Angela to finish as well as some recent purchases PLUS a huge book haul that is my Christmas present from my puppies (they helped me pick them out, of course). I feel super optimistic that next month will be better than next, so get ready for lots of reviews!