Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Thought I'd Like MORE/LESS Than I Did

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

 

Books I Thought I'd Like LESS:

 

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This one is a big deal for me, because if you've seen my review or heard me talk about it, you'd know that this is one of my favorite books EVER. But before I actually, you know, READ it, I was soooo skeptical, and I did not think this would be my cup of tea. I thought it was interesting, but I thought I'd get bored with it. I WAS SO FREAKING WRONG.

 

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

My friend Dolly pretty much verbally abused me until I agreed to read this one. And, oh sweet goodness, I am so thankful now. I thought this book would be so dry and take forever--even though it's a small book. But I read this book in less than a day and wish soooo much that I owned it so I could look back on this perfect awesomeness as much as I want. Goodness, y'all...*TEARS*

 

 

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

I'd had my eye on this one for a while but was always too much of a wimp to actually grab it and give it a chance. But then one day, I was sitting in the library and decided "WHY THE HECK NOT?!?!" and checked it out. 24 hours later, I was crying myself to sleep about Ty and..just...goodness. Love. Love love love.

 

 

Love's Forbidden Flower by Diane Rinella

Because of the content of this book, I kind of doubted how much I'd really enjoy it. But then I started reading it....and I was freaking HOOKED. Now I wish Christopher was real and am dyyyying for book 2.

 

 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

I made a whole bunch of assumptions about this book before I read this one. Then I read it and was a MESS and wanted to slap myself around a bit for being so stupid. This book is FANTASTIC, guys.

 

Books I Thought I'd Like More:

 

 

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

This book had such an interesting premise and I really liked a few of her other books. But this one? Did not work for me. I got so confused and it just ended up giving me a headache. I'm still a fan of Elizabeth Scott, though!

 

 

The Temptation by Alisa Valdes

I thought this one would have everything I looked for in a book--cool paranormal stuff, a swoon-worthy boy, and a character that made me laugh. This one did, but all of that was given to me in cliches that I just did not like.

 

 

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Ohmygoodness, this book. It looked like something I'd love, all angels and love. And at first, I actually thought I kind of liked it. But then it sat on my mind and I was thinking about it and thinking about it and...no. Just no. No just no. These books do not work for me. None in the trilogy. Boring characters, a plot that I simply do NOT like. My biggest problem with this trilogy was the change in Gabriel. jut...ugh! I hope Adornetto writes something new so I can read it and love it. But for now, this author is not on my happy list.

 

 

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

I know what you're going to say, okay? I KNOW. But I'm not saying I hated this book. I actually very much enjoyed this book. But not as much as I thought I would. This was my second-to-last Sarah Dessen book I read--I'd read all of them except What Happened to Goodbye before this one. And that was only because What Happened to Goodbye wasn't released yet. But compared to her other novels, this one was just not as good to me. I love her other ones better. SO, DO NOT GET ME WRONG. I heart Sarah Dessen and her books more than I can say. But this one was not as fabulous as I thought it'd be. That is all.

 

The Mephisto Covenant: The Redemption of Ajax by Trinity Faegen

I love Jax. So much. But this book, overall? Did not live up to my expectations at all. It was a lot of repeated back-and-forth, fickleness. That bothered me. There WERE parts that I got all googly-eyed over, but I still thought I'd like this book more. Nevertheless, Ajax? Is in my heart.

 

Okay, that's ten, y'all! I think. Let me check...

 

Yep. That's ten.

 

Do you do Top Ten Tuesday? Link me up!

 

What do you think of my list? Let me know!

 

If you do Teaser Tuesday, feel free to link me there, too. Just because I'm not doing that right now does not mean that I don't like to be teased! :)

 

♥Jessica(:

Top 10 of 2012 ♥ Book Boyfriends

 

There were A LOT of boys I wanted to include on this list, but I'm following the rules. I just want it to be knows that I WANTED to put Noah Shaw on this list. But I haven't read The Evolution of Mara Dyer yet. I plan on it as soon as I can get it into my hands, though. Okay? Okay. Now, for lists!

 

Honorable Mention:

Dawson

The only reason he's an honorable mention is because I'm trying to make it only one boy per book, and, well....I'm sure you can guess what's coming later in this list. So yeah. Dawson's a sweetheart, though.

 

**From here on out, it's SO. HARD. To put a number on these. So...everything except, like, the first 2 or 3 are in no particular order, really**

 

10. Cadan

Dear Courtney,

Even if we're plane-wrecked on an island, Cadan is mine. MINEMINEMINE. There shall be a plane full of gorgeous boys, though, so you should be fine. The important part here is that Cadan is mine. Because I love him. K, thanks.

 

9. Trevor

I was always Team Trevor. I completely acknowledge that Oliver is a sweetheart, but Trevor's my boy. <3

 

8. Seth

I admit, I was Team Seth. Like, SERIOUS Team Seth. I emailed Jen about it and everything. Then I read Deity and decided Aiden was amazing. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm all over Seth in Pure. Can't help it. And, urm, I REALLY hope he doesn't die in the last two books.

 

7. Zuri

THIS BOY. Thisboythisboythisboy. I love him so much.

 

6. Andrew

In my review, I believe I said he was perfect. Oh, sweet goodness, HE IS.

 

5. Maxon

How can I not love such a sweet prince?

 

4. Daniel

Funny thing about this one, he is LITERALLY my book boyfriend. Seriously. Ask Nancy and everything. She will tell you he's actually mine. I love this boy. Can't wait for Book 3!

 

3. Adrian

I've always had a soft spot for our Ivashkov boy. I mean, I must if I learned how to spell his name, right? ;) LOVE HIM. Cannot wait for The Indigo Spell, which I'm sure I've mentioned already. How Sydney can deny this kind boy, I have no clue.

 

2. Aiden

I was Team Seth and Aiden STILL managed to win me over. That's a big deal. Plus, Aiden's just a bog sweetie. WHERE IS APOLLYON?! *sigh*

 

1. Daemon

I KNOW that didn't surprise you. I don't really try to be covert with my Daemon loving. He's just downright awesome. He's my favorite book character EVER and I just....AH, I adore him. There will never be enough Daemon. Ever. I love Jen so much for creating Daemon.

 

Fun fact: Next year, I have this huge feeling a swoon-worthy boy named DANTE WALKER's going to be allllll over these lists. Especially this one. I'm kind of excited to see where he ends up... ;)

 

Tell me about some of your book boyfriends! Please?

 

♥Jessica(:

Top 10 of 2012 ♥ Best Book Covers

  So, I was able to keep it to 10 this time, BUT the actual ORDER was a little hard to choose. But this is roughly in order by how much I want to cuddle with these covers.   10. The Selection by Kiera Cass We all know that dress is gorgeous. I STILL happy dance whenever I see this on my shelf.   9. Rapture by Lauren Kate I think this might be my favorite cover of the whole Fallen series. It's super close to Passion, though. Either way, this book is so pretty.   8. Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor Ohhh, I love these covers. Amazing writing and amazing covers. I loved the red on this one. And it's just so beautiful.   7. The Secret of Ella & Micha by Jessica Sorensen I have not read this book yet. But I DO own a Kindle copy thanks to the wonderful Jessirae from Words, Pages, and Books. So *squee!!!* I plan to start reading this as soon as I can. I'm so excited. I love the red of this cover and the lip piercing... Let's be honest, guys, Micha's so freaking hot.   6. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows This book....LOOK at the cover.   5. Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout This one's RED. In case you hadn't noticed, I love the color red. It's my favorite. Plus, all the Covenant covers are so pretty.   4. Elixir by Jennifer L. Armentrout I considered including this with Deity since it's a novella, but no. A cover is a cover. And this one is so amazing!   3. Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout I don't know why this book is only #3. This is especially where my numbers get jumbled, because I adore all these covers so much! But Pepe. And Sztella. Perfect Daemon and Katy. And the purple is so niiiiiice. I just love this book inside and out.   2. Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout I LOVE the flower on this one. It's so gorgeously beautiful. And as much as I love the color red, the blue in this one...it's just perfect. And it completely GOES WITH THE BOOK. That means a lot to me. As pretty as a cover is, it bothers me when the pretty is random. So this book (and cover) is so great!   1. Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout As I said for Onyx, Pepe and Sztella are the perfect Daemon and Katy. And as I said for Pure, I love when covers mean something in the books. So this cover is PERFECT in both of those senses. This is another book I adore inside and out. Man, do I love these books.   And that is my list. There were TONS of beautiful covers this year. This is by no means all of them. But these ARE the ones I like the best when I try to think of my favorites.   What are some of your favorite covers from this year?   And...it's Christmas! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I hope it's a great one for all of you. :)   ♥Jessica(:

Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor♥

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
Release Date: November 6, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 528 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Source: Bought!!

Description from Goodreads:
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

This is one of those reviews where I know exactly what I want to tell you. I'm just not sure how to say it. *sigh*

Let's start with Laini's writing. It is still completely beautiful and descriptive and engaging. It still dragged me in and held me captive for unknown amounts of time until I (reluctantly) had to put the book down for a little while for whatever reason.

Next, the emotions. Guys, this book is so depressing. I mean, come on, it's a book about a WAR for goodness' sake. What would we expect? It's amazing how captivating this book was despite the fact that I was dreading what might come next a lot of the time. There were just...just so many feels. You know?



I cried for this book, you know. I also laughed. Hysterically, actually. It was more of a relieved thing from time to time. Oh, and when Zuze & Mik were around. Those two are adorable.

Character Rundown:
The characters! SO. MANY. Great ones this time around.

Karou: I may not be a huge Karou fan, but I respect this girl completely. She has a backbone, though it does take her a bit of time to, you know, FIND it. Also? Her blue hair is so badass.

Akiva: Akiva was always MY BOY. And he still is. Kind of. He just has to share me with some other characters I'll talk about later... Akiva is still Akiva. That was nice. It was great to see Akiva still be himself while everything else was a mess. He thinks and cares about Karou first and foremost. However, he does not let this consume him. He does keep going and doing whatever good he can and for that, Akiva will always have a place in my heart.

Ziri: Who IS Ziri, you ask? Why, Ziri is my freaking boy. He is just my EVERYTHING in this book. I worried for him the most, and he was the absolute kindest. Out of everyone, I think he had the purest intentions in everything he did. Just thinking about him now...GAH! I need the next book so I can see what'll happen with him!

Zuzana & Mik: I'm throwing them together because they are ALWAYS together. They are also super cute. These two bring the laughter into the story. Lighten it up a bit. And though their chapters were usually thrown in at parts where I was FLIPPING OUT, I always appreciated seeing them. I hope they get their happy ending when this is all over. Goodness, they deserve it.

Rath & Hazael: I was so worried for Rath! He's just a boy. He's just a boy, and all he wants to do is fight with the rebels and help them keep their kind safe. I just...this boy gets to me. And HAZAEL! I will love him forever for letting the "birds" get away. I cried over him, too. These two boys...they're some of the others that make Akiva have to share.

There are other characters, too, of course, but those are the biggies. I would consider Liraz important, too, but I chose to gush over Hazael instead. I'm coming to like Liraz a whole lot more now, though. She does have feelings. Good to see this.

DAYS OF BLOOD & STARLIGHT was one of those books that I just read and read and read, and then at the end, it hit me. This book was amazing. It was beautiful. And wonderful. And PHENOMINAL. While completely different from DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE, it's just as striking.

Whereas DAUGHTER was a tragic love story that left me a mess at the end, DAYS was a heartstopping story of the war that followed the ending of DAUGHTER. Which also left me a mess at the end...

The ending. What would life be without cliffhangers? Waiting for the next book just may kill me. I repeat: I was a mess.

Oh, and I'm Team Akiva. I positively ADORE Ziri, but it's obvious who Karou's going to end up with. I don't know if Laini meant for a love triangle, but still. I said it here. UNLESS something horrible happens to Akiva. Which hello, this is a WAR is possible. Sadly.

Overall, If you're one of those people who tend to stall on all sequels that aren't written by Jennifer L. Armentrout, you should pick this one up. It'll tear you apart then put you back together again more than once and completely blow you away. Beautiful, beautiful story.

♥Jessica(:

Teaser Tuesday! (21) ♥ Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

 

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Release Date: November 6, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

 

Description from Goodreads:

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

 

Teaser: "Maybe he wanted her to have to watch. And maybe it was just base instinct--an alpha urge to destroy a challenger. To destroy Akiva." ~pg. 57

 

Quick statement: I LOVE AKIVA! Okay, we can move on now...

 

As always, link me up! I love teasers!

 

♥Jessica(:

 

What I Got! (16) ♥ I officially own the Covenant books!

What I Got is a weekly meme hosted by Monica over at Cover Analysis :) where we tell y'all about the wonderful brag-worthy bookish things we got this week!

From Library:

   

Eve & Adam by Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate

I've been wanting to read this for a while. Then I saw Anna's interview with Michael and Katherine and I decided it was time to grab this one.

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

This book's going to make me cry. I can just feel it.

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Heard this was good from bookish friends. So of course I'm going to finally give it a try.

 

Gifted:

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Mary Lindsey was a cool person (along with a few other authors) at my school on Thursday. As the story goes, she was asking for me all day until I got there! Cool or what? When I finally got there third block, I got to meet her. There were hugs, smiles, and a signed book. See the book I'm holding? Now it's signed and beautifying my stack. I do not have Ahes on the Waves, though. Ha, I wish. (To be continued Wednesday...)

Thank you so much, Mary!

 

Bought:

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Laini was in Austin on Thursday (Thursday was an amazing day for me, as you can probably tell) and Billy & Angie were cool enough to take me to see her! Then, they bought me a copy of DoB&S. Let me tell you this--I was a mess after finishing Daughter. A. Mess. Now I have a feeling this book is going to tear me apart. There will probably be more tears. And anger. But it'll be beautiful. Laini does that.

Thank you to Billy & Angie for buying me this book!

 

Won:

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A bunch of signed bookmarks, some guitar picks, and a little more swag

I won Jen's Deity trailer and Apollyon cover reveal giveaway! YEAH. I was like this:

(thanks for the gif, Perez!)

Yeah. There was a lot of fangirling. And spazzing. And now I finally--FINALLY--own the Covenant books! I have been dying to read these for so long I can't even explain. Plus, they're signed! At this exact moment, I'm reading Half-Blood, but I'm going to finish it soon and start reading Pure within the next 24 hours. I WILL be reviewing these, so...yeah. Look out for those! I'll post those fast because...um, hello? She's JLA. Why would I NOT post them ASAP? Goodness. ;) 

 

I could go on about this all day, so I'll just stop there. What'd you get this week? Anything worth spazzing over?

 

♥Jessica(: