Reader Rayna

Month: March 2016

  • Beautiful Covers: Purple

    Hey peeps, welcome to another Beautiful Covers! I’m working my way through the rainbow, so check out the rest of the colors when they come out over the next several weeks!

    Today’s color is: purple!

    Purple has often been a symbol of royalty and high class, and I just love it for the richness of the color. It’s a very beautiful, calming color and I think that these book covers truly exemplify that beauty.

    1 . Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

    theirfracturedlight

    This was probably my favorite book in the trilogy, and it probably has the most beautiful cover in the trilogy, in my opinion. I love the purple of Sofia’s dress and how she has a pink glow around her. She stands out against the dark purple sky, and then Gideon beside her? I just love this cover all around!

    2. Cress by Marissa Meyer

    cress

    I’ll admit that the Lunar Chronicles covers are some of the most gorgeous around, but if I had to pick a favorite I think it would be Cress. I love seeing Rapunzel’s hair (I know her name is Cress in the book, but she’s based off of the fairy tale, so yeah) and I love how the purple is always in the background of these books. I think that this is a beautiful cover because it looks like a painting from the Renaissance era.

    3. Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

    magonia

    Okay, if you had this book in your hands and had it reflect toward the light, you would see that that giant expanse of sky around the feather reflects purple, SO, I’m not cheating. This cover is simply stunning on many levels. Not only does the bottom look like a photograph, but the feather on the front with how it breaks into birds is breathtaking.

    4. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

    theirondaughter

    Again, these covers are some of my favorites because of the thorny swirly outline around the perimeter of the book. I think that the model is also very lovely and that the colors really compliment her. The colors on this one are a lavender kind of color and I think that it’s simply beautiful in person.

    5. Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

    fractureme

    This is arguably my favorite of all the covers for the Shatter Me trilogy and novellas. I LOVE the feather texture and look of the eyelashes, the colors of purple, gray, and blue as they all blend together and away from one another, the puffs of stars, the sheet loveliness of the typography. This whole cover is gorgeous from top to bottom!

    Guys, I can’t even with this color this week. These covers are all SO GORGEOUS. Ugh. I can’t stand it. I need more purple covers because, surprisingly, I don’t own, nor have I read, many with lovely purple covers.

    What do you think of my selections this week? What book covers that are primarily purple do you consider beautiful? Let me know!

  • Earth’s End Book Review

    earthsendTitle: Earth’s End
    Series: Air Awakens #3
    Author: Elise Kova
    Publisher: Silver Wing Press
    Publication Date: February 11, 2016
    Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy, Romance
    Pages: 348
    Format: Purchased eBook for Kindle

    A woman awoken in air, a soldier forged by fire, a weapon risen from blood.

    Vhalla Yarl has made it to the warfront in the North. Forged by blood and fire, she has steeled her heart for the final battle of the Solaris Empire’s conquest. The choices before Vhalla are no longer servitude or freedom, they are servitude or death. The stakes have never been higher as the Emperor maintains his iron grip on her fate, holding everything Vhalla still has left to lose in the balance.

    This sequel was unexpected in its intensity, especially toward the end, and it shows just how far Vhalla has come as not only a sorceress, but as a woman: brave, strong, and unrelenting.

    As this is a sequel, there may be spoilers.

    This book destroyed me. My emotions felt like they were just on a roller coaster that wouldn’t stick on a straight path most of the way through. Oh man.

    As far as the plot went, I really enjoy how it keeps advancing to a common goal and a main purpose of Vhalla having to fight for the crown and to hopefully win her freedom. Throughout the events that happen in this book, that never changed, but it was always met with one challenging opposition or another. I’m rooting for Aldrik and Vhalla, and to see their love grow and blossom, only to be torn down, hurts. Challenge after challenge got in their way, and even though they both fought for each other in their own ways to strive toward an end together, things became so rocky in the end that I could feel my heart pounding as I read it all unfolding before me.

    I found that there were secrets and many twists and turns in this novel. Vhalla is becoming a much stronger individual even in the face of death surrounding her. She doesn’t give up and she strives to protect the prince she loves. I think that although that is her primary driving force, she does so with so much passion that it’s hard not to root for her and to hopefully see her through to the end. She’s much more bold in the presence of the Emperor (whom I wouldn’t mind seeing NOT in a place of power, thanks), never backing down and asserting her intelligence among people who would otherwise belittle her.

    I thought that Vhalla was a force to be reckoned with in this book as we saw her use her magic many, many times than in the previous two books, and how far her training has brought her. She’s unafraid to hurt and kill if the need be, which is extremely useful in a solider. I loved being able to see her use her strength and power to her advantage because it really shows how far she’s grown from a meek library apprentice, to a stubborn, strong headed, Windwalker.

    Aldrik was also someone that I worried about at the beginning, but once he recovered from injuries at the beginning, I was glad to see his protective and loving nature over Vhalla come back right away. At times I thought he was too overprotective, much in the same way he was in the previous books, but I saw that his love came from somewhere deep inside of him and he wanted to express that. We also got to see more of his epic fire wielding skills as he fought alongside Vhalla and WOW, those two are incredible together. I thought that mentioning how they fight stronger and better together was an important aspect of the book, for sure, because they bounced off of each other so naturally.

    As for some of the other characters and side things going on, I thought that Daniel was a good constant companion, though I could see something brewing between them momentarily, Vhalla seemed to quickly shut it down. Elecia and Fritz are in this as much as I would have wanted, but still seeing their presence there, and the interactions they have with Vhalla, really comforted me that friendships weren’t just cast to the side in way of the romance.

    Speaking of the romance, OH MAN. Things got hot and heavy up in here and I was just like, “YES. FINALLY.” Yup, no shame.

    But let me just say: that ending, man. I am a ball of angry emotions because WHY CAN’T THEY CATCH A BREAK. WHY. I mean, I knew the Emperor would find some way to twist and turn everything around and make things miserable for them, but ARGH. I’m so mad. I mean, that’s not an entirely bad thing, but wow, so many emotions. I need the fourth book now, thanks.

    There were a few problems I did have with the novel, though, and they mainly had to do with the formatting of the book. I don’t know what happened, but on the Kindle it read weirdly and didn’t separate paragraphs at times or separated them in chunks. It was strange and distracted from reading because I oftentimes didn’t know who was speaking when sentences would run into each other in the same paragraph.

    Also, there were a lot of typos that I noticed, too, as with the other books. That became distracting, too, but I easily chugged forward.

    Other than that, I really enjoyed this sequel. It was heart pounding, action based, very romantic, and a whirlwind of emotions (see what I did there?). I’m definitely excited for the next book and I can’t wait to read it.

    Overall, I thought this was a solid sequel and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s read the first two novels.

    I rate this book 4.5/5 stars.

  • Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Five Star Reads

    Hey peeps and welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday as hosted by the lovely people over at The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is all about ten of your most recent 5 star reads. Five star reads aren’t a super common thing for me, but the way I determine if a book is a five star rating for me is my overall enjoyment of the story, characters, plot, and setting. If I feel that a book deserve a five star, that’s what it’s going to get.

    So here are my most recent five star rating reads:

    1 . Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor. Oh. My. God. So many feels that I just can’t even wrap my heart and mind around it.

    2. Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor. So much cutenss packed into this novella that I just squeed and laughed out loud so much while reading it! And I don’t laugh out loud often when I read.

    3. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. A great look at a type of OCD and how she copes with it through poetry.

    4. Saga vols 1, 2, & 3 by Brian K. Vaughan. This series is just so epic. Read it if you can handle a lot of mature content because it’s an amazing series so far.

    5. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. So many emotions were to be had here as we mainly followed Ronan in this story and the concept of dreams and taking from them.

    6. The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. OH MAN. Read this one if you want an epic fantasy journey of action, Allomancy, light romance, and so much more.

    7. Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. So much beauty in this book, I absolutely loved it. So many characters came together, as did the plot, and I fell in love with Gideon and Sofia. Just read this trilogy, seriously. Plus, LOOK AT THAT COVER. Stunning.

    8. The Amazing Book is Not On Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester. This one is definitely one to get if you’re a fan of Dan & Phil. I highly recommend the audiobook version, as well as the physical copy so you can follow along as they narrate it. So funny.

    9. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. I love, love, LOVED this book so much. Of course it had its flaws, and I’m not going to deny that, but overall I think that it was the best book in the series so far and I can’t wait for the next.

    10. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas. As a compilation of novellas, I felt that each story became better as they went as we got to follow Celaena during her time before Endovier. Loved it!

    And there you have it, my most recent five star reads! I’m actually surprised (in a good way) that there weren’t more in between these ones. I’ve read a lot of really great books, but like I said, they have to have that special something that just stirs in me the need to give it such a high rating. I obviously recommend all of these books to anyone who wants to read them.

    What are five of your most recent five star reads? Have you read any of the ones I read, and if so, what were your thoughts on them? Let me know!

  • Alice Book Review

    aliceTitle: Alice
    Series: The Chronicles of Alice #1
    Author: Christina Henry
    Publisher: Ace
    Publication Date: August 4, 2015
    Genre: Adult – Fantasy, Fairytale Retelling, Horror
    Pages: 291
    Format: Borrowed Paperback from Coworker

    In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.

    In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood…

    Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.

    Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.

    And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

    This was a different twist on the original tale of Alice in Wonderland for sure. It was dark, twisted, a little creepy, and full of murder and blood. The book did sound interesting, though, and I liked the voice the author had throughout the story.

    The book starts with Alice in an insane asylum when she is sixteen years old and quickly passes time to ten years later when she is still there. One day, her friend in the room next to hers, Hatcher, knows that the Jabberwock will be released and they have to get out.

    And things are only just beginning when they do. The world of the Old City is much more twisted than that of the New City, because in the Old City there are prostitutes everywhere, as well as people who just take girls to rape them. I honestly think that this was probably the one detail of the story that kept popping up again and again that I could have done without. It made me angry and made my skin crawl just thinking of it.

    When we’re first introduced to Alice, she doesn’t understand the world – at least, not as an adult. She only knows what the world was like as a teenager, and can’t remember all of the events that caused her to end up in the asylum other than her ranting about a Rabbit. I thought that she stayed pretty true to the Alice we know, albeit a confused one who doesn’t know what to think of the world and what’s going on. As time progresses, though, she does become fiercer, braver, sharper, and she knows that the only thing in this Old City is to survive and take down the Rabbit.

    I thought that her develop gradually increased, but I wasn’t necessarily blown away by her. She was definitely an Alice I was expecting and I’m kind of glad for that. There were a few other things I wish had been fleshed out for her, such as her family life as a child and why she doesn’t remember what happened to her, about her feelings for Hatcher and where they stemmed from, and what about the necklace she is later gifted – what is its significance?

    Hatcher, on the other hand, was very interesting to me. It wasn’t until much, much later in the story that I figured out that he’s based off of the Mad Hatter. He’s in the asylum for a much darker reason than Alice, and the reason why becomes clear as they journey through the Old City to find the Rabbit. I thought that his character stayed true throughout the entire novel, which was reassuring. He seemed like he had the mind of someone much younger, but at the same time of someone who understood the world in a much simpler way. Though he was the one who often had to kill people around them to survive, he had a bit of humanity in him that didn’t make him terrifying, but real.

    There were secondary characters, like Cheshire, the Caterpillar, the Walrus, and Dor, who were easy to spot their character equivalent of, and I thought that they were pretty true to their personalities from the original tale: Cheshire was smart and witty, but quick with a temper if crossed; the Caterpillar was cunning and cocky, thinking very highly of himself; the Walrus was just kind of a coward and I didn’t care much for him; and Dor was… well, she was only there briefly, so I can’t really say much about her.

    The plot continually moved forward, pushing Alice and Hatcher to find the Rabbit and put a stop to things. In fact, I think the two main plots were to take out the Jabberwock and to find the Rabbit. There were a lot of bumps and blood along the way, though, and many revelations for Alice as they continued. Many parts were dark and twisted, and though I wish there had been less of the girls and sex and rape and stuff mentioned in here, I understand that it is a part of this world (but I don’t have to like it just because of that).

    Overall I thought that the story was compelling and was definitely leading to something big, but I think that the last fifty or so pages fell kind of flat. I thought that  after so much mention of the Rabbit and his eyes and more would have lead to this epic battle scene or something – even with the Jabberwock – but it wasn’t and I think that’s where my disappointment crept in. The story felt like it was going in one direction and it ended in a completely different way. That’s honestly the saddest part of it all, plus I have a few unanswered questions like, Where did the love between Alice and Hatcher pop up? Was it because they had known each other from the asylum and therefore only knew what to expect from the other? What about the necklace that Alice wore, what was its significance in the end? Do we get to see what happens next?

    I mean, there will be a sequel, but I don’t know if I’ll read it given the deflated ending of this one. The book was good, though darker than I anticipated, but I don’t know if these questions will be answered. Plus, there were a lot of typos that I noticed, and misused pronouns of he and she on occasion, so that was kind of annoying.

    If you’re looking for a darker fairytale retelling with a creepy air about it, then check out this book.

    I rated it 4/5 stars and recommend it.

  • Camp NaNoWriMo 2016

    CNW_Participant

    Oh man, guys, it’s that time of year again! I’m going to be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo in the month of April and I’m pretty pumped about it!

    If you don’t know what Camp NaNoWriMo is, it’s a more relaxed version of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in which the goal for NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in one month. NaNoWriMo takes place every year in the month of November, but Camp NaNoWriMo takes place in both April and June of each year. The only thing is is that the goal for Camp is set from 10,000 to 999,999 words. So you have a much broader range in which to write!

    Check out their FAQs for any questions you might have.

    I didn’t participate in last year’s NaNoWriMo (well, I started to, but didn’t get far), and soo with this upcoming Camp NaNoWriMo I decided that instead of working on the same project I worked on last year, I’m going to start a whole new one! Yup, I’m that ambitious.

    What’s my new project going to be about? I wrote out the synopsis the other day and I’m actually pretty pumped about this one:

    Nara is a thief of the Rising City, and she’s been one since she was a little girl, trained and abandoned by her father. Now, as a twenty year old, she is one of the most infamous thieves in all of the Rising City. But when one mistake almost costs her her life, she is thrown into a life debt by someone she never would have thought she’d ally herself with: a Magician.

    Mikail is a Magician, a rare breed that is seldom seen in the world anymore, and he is still honing his skills. When his powers manifested at a young age, he didn’t expect to be in the eye of every powerful person in the Rising City – especially that of the Queen. But when one day his magic goes haywire and he saves a thief from most certain death, he thinks that maybe she is his ticket to freedom.

    Though the two cross and their lives mix, neither one could be prepared for what happens to them – or their hearts.

    I’m pretty excited about this one because I’m picturing more of a steampunk kind of setting, but we’ll see if I stick with that! My characters will take me wherever they want to go and that may not be the direction they want.

    So with this new story I hope to write every day, at least something per day. I have a goal of 20,000 words set for the month, but if I write more than that’s awesome! If not, well, that’s okay, too.

    My average words per day in order to reach my goal is 667 words. Very easily doable, honestly (considering some of my reviews are over 1,000 words, I’m pretty sure I can easily do this per day, haha!).

    If you want to check out my progress and add me as a friend, you can check out my profile!

    I’ll be posting weekly writing updates and wrap-ups, so be sure to check back to see my progress and how my writing’s going. And in those wrap-ups I’ll also talk about writing advice and tips and such for any of those who may need a bit of help or inspiration.

    If you’re participating this year, please let me know! I’d love to hear your ideas and talk about writing with you. If you’re not participating, then let me know if this is something you’d be interested in in the summer months. Maybe I’ll even join you and participate then, too!