review: queen of shadows (spoilers ahoy)

From Goodreads:

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past...

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.



Question: How is it possible that every book in this series is so much better than the rest?

Answer: Because Sarah J. Maas is a fucking queen, that's why.

Just a warning in advance, this whole post is probably going to contain quite a bit of profanity. So if you're not into that, this is your cue to move along. I just finished this beast about two hours ago and am still catching my breath, so you'll have to excuse my overly-excited sailor talk. Okay? Great.

Queen of Shadows was 100%, absolutely perfect. Honestly, I can't say a bad thing about it.

That's it for non-spoilery stuff. Proceed with caution.

review: everything, everything

Release date: September 1, 2015 (Delacorte)

 From Goodreads: 

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

review: extraordinary means

From Goodreads: 

At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.

There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.

But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down. 

Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.

(kind of) review: the heir

From Goodreads: 

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

review: isla and the happily ever after

From Goodreads:

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

This book, guys. 

I kid you not, when I finally turned the last page and closed it I had happy little tears in my eyes. And there are not a lot of books I can say that about. I was extremely late to the whole Stephanie Perkins bandwagon - I only read Anna and Lola at the beginning of the summer - but I swear, the wait killed me just as much. And once this book was in my hands, it was squeals all day. I actually was lucky enough to get the book early since I preordered it and it just ended up at my house way before expected, so that was awesome. 

If you're looking for a cutesy romance that will fill your tummy with warm fuzzies and make you smile, look no further. Stephanie Perkins has a way with teenage romance, and I am all for it. She's an expert on capturing the feeling of first loves and everything that goes along with it, good and bad. About 60 pages in I got that excited, falling-in-love feeling that only a really well-written book can give - you know, butterflies, giggly, all that jazz. I was actually reading at work and started smiling to myself so much that I had to stop and just put the book down. It's that captivating. 

A huge part of this book, as well as Anna and Lola, are the descriptions of settings. When I was reading, I could see Paris. I could see Kismet Cafe, a boy drawing in his sketchbook. I could see the streets of Barcelona. Every detail comes to life. This is the secret ingredient of a great book. 

I have to say, even though a lot of people had issues with Isla and her enormous crush on Josh, I found it endearing because girl, I've been there. I've been that girl with an irreversible, inconsolable crush on a boy. I'm dating that boy now. I think the fact that I identified so strongly with Isla is a huge reason why I loved this book so much. I could see so much of myself in her, and I understood her thought process down to a tee. 

And Josh. Oh my goodness, Josh. I just couldn't get enough of the artsy, kinda mysterious, romantic type. The graphic memoir. The fact that he rewrote it. The fact that he makes mistakes and fixes them. I just. Sigh. I won't lie, he's might just be my new book boyfriend. 

One last thing that I absolutely love (and there are way more, but I just can't sit here and list them all day because we'll end up with a novel-length analysis and nobody wants that): the cameos. THE CAMEOS!!!! They made my heart so happy and I just smiled so huge for that entire scene. Even the references to St. Clair and Anna throughout the book made me smile, but that part near the end of the book... 

And the thing.

You know. 

The thing. 

With St. Clair and Anna.

I might have shed a tear or five million.

I think this is a good stopping point now that I've gotten a good deal of my fangirlish squealing out of the way. If you haven't already guessed, I adored this book and I will read it over and over again. This is the most bittersweet thing because I know this series is over and that's so sad, but it is such a good series. And this final book is just the icing on the cake. Utter perfection. If you haven't picked this up yet, please do yourself a favour and sprint to the nearest bookstore. I promise you won't regret it.

review: since you've been gone

From Goodreads:

The Pre-Sloane Emily didn't go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn't do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just... disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try... unless they could lead back to her best friend. Apple Picking at Night? Ok, easy enough.Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a Stranger? Wait... what?

Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go Skinny Dipping? Um...

Let me start off with a little disclaimer: Since You've Been Gone is, without a doubt, my favourite book I've read so far this year. I love everything I've read by Morgan Matson and would probably pay to read her grocery lists, just because she writes that beautifully. Seriously, I'm already going through withdrawals and I'm kind of dying a little bit inside because I have no clue when her next book is coming out. But, I digress. 

Pros:

The relationship dynamics - This book puts a refreshingly strong focus on the dynamics of friendship over the romantic aspect of the story - Emily is so completely focused on finding her best friend, she doesn't even begin to consider Frank as a potential love interest until much later in the story. I find that often with YA lit, the relationship between friends takes second place to romance. The fact that Matson switches this around and leaves romantic relationships as kind of an afterthought is just awesome. Even more, I loved how at the beginning of the book, when Frank is introduced, it isn't even mentioned that he has a girlfriend. Because it's honestly that irrelevant to Emily at that point in time. There's no whining about the unattainable guy, there's no love - or even attraction - at first sight. He's just some guy from school that she's seen around who becomes a friend over the summer. This is probably my favourite part of the book, to be honest. 

Sloane - I want a friend like Sloane. My high school self would have benefited so much from a Sloane in my life, I just want one. At some points in the story I was starting to get scared that it would end with Emily and Sloane not being friends anymore, and that would have just ruined me. 

Emily's transformation - I loved seeing Emily come into her own during the course of this book. I know everyone says stuff like this, but I could see a lot of myself in Emily at the beginning of the story, feeling so lost without her best friend. It made me proud in a weird way to watch her grow up and become confident on her own. It's very inspiring! 

The new friends - Frank, Collins, and Dawn play such a huge role in helping to break Emily out of her shell without even realizing what they're doing. They adopt this lonesome little lost puppy into their lives and help her find who she is outside of Sloane. 

Frank - Duh. (But in all seriousness, the fact that Frank isn't this total alpha-male hot guy is awesome. Their runs together were awesome. His wheezing and not being super athletic and strong was awesome. Frank is awesome.) 

Cons:

The whole Sam/Gideon storyline - This isn't really even a con, it just felt kind of unnecessary to me. Like, I didn't really get why seeing Gideon after not even dating was such a big deal? I know that the flashbacks were meant to show how strong and unbreakable Sloane and Emily's friendship was, so I guess there's that. I can't even say I have an issue with this, so let's not even count it as a con. This book is perfect. 

Final Thoughts:

Since You've Been Gone is one of those rare books that has a perfect mix of friendship, romance, and self-discovery that's really hard to balance in a way that works just right. It's unique in its fixation on strong, true friendships over love, and it tells a story of growing up and finding who you are once the person who defines you is gone. This book is about taking chances, being independent, and doing things you've never done before. I think everyone should read this book, it really is amazing.