WoW {2}: Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme in which bloggers discuss the upcoming releases they're excited for. Hosted by Breaking the Spine.

From Goodreads:

Orphan Maia doesn't see the point of love when it only brings pain: Her dying mother made a bargain with the evil, all-powerful ruler of their world that anyone who hurt her beloved daughter would be punished; her new stepmother went mad with grief when Maia's father died; and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother's approval, yet she always spurns them. And though her family has turned her into a despised servant, Maia must always pretend to be happy, or else they'll all be struck dead by the curse.

Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn't believe in love either—not since he discovered that his childhood sweetheart was only using him for his noble title. What's the point of pretending to fall in love with a girl just so she'll pretend to fall in love with him back? But when his father invites all the suitable girls in the kingdom to a masked ball, Anax must finally give in and select a wife.

As fate would have it, the preparations for the masquerade bring him Maia, who was asked by her eldest stepsister to deliver letters to Anax. Despite a prickly first encounter, he is charmed and intrigued by this mysterious girl who doesn't believe in love. Anax can't help wishing to see her again—and when he does, he can't help falling in love with her. Against her will, Maia starts to fall in love with him too. But how can she be with him when every moment his life is in danger from her mother's deadly bargain?

You guys, I am so excited that there are only two weeks left until the release of Gilded Ashes! Ever since finishing Cruel Beauty, I've been dying to read more about the world Rosamund Hodge has created. While I'm a bit sad that this novella will not be continuing the story of Ignifex and Nyx, I'm sure that I will love Anax and Maia's story just as much. Fairy tale retellings are quickly becoming my new favorite YA trend!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books On My 2014 Spring TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic:

Top Ten Books On My 2014 Spring TBR List

1. A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller. This is at the top of my list because it is currently sitting on my dresser, waiting to be read. As it's a library book, I'm determined to read it soon. Laini Taylor also gave it a nod on twitter recently, and if she likes it I'm sure I will, too!

2. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. If you've been following my blog for a while then you know just how excited I am for this book! I think I've included it on at least two other 2014 most-anticipated lists. And the release date is almost hereeeee!

3. Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington. This is a case where the cover immediately drew me to the book (and the summary sealed the deal).

4. Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge. As you may have noticed, I absolutely loved Cruel Beauty. Even though Gilded Ashes is not about my beloved Ignifex and Nyx, I'm still super excited to read Hodge's novella.

5. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman. World War II stories have been frequenting my TBR list since finishing The Book Thief. So excited for this one!

6. The Archived by Victoria Schwab. I've been seeing this book crop up a lot on my tumblr dashboard lately and it sounds really interesting!

 

7. The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder. This book sounds like a great get-ready-for-summer read: best friends on a road trip across the US.

8. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. After seeing all the hype surrounding this series, I've finally decided to give it a go. I really want to see what's up with this Juliette/Warner ship everyone loves. And I may also have been swayed by Tahereh Mafi's YouTube channel--she's hilarious!

9. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. I'm obsessed with The CW's Reign, which has made me want to get back into historical fiction. I've heard lots of good things about this series.

 10. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. With Dreams of Gods and Monsters coming out in April, I really need to get on the ball and reread DoSaB so I can catch up in time to read the last book.

What books are you all looking forward to reading this spring?

The Liebster Award

Earlier this week Stephanie from Her Reviews of Books, Movies, and Everything nominated me for the Liebster award (Thanks Stephanie)! From what I've gathered, the award is really just a way for bloggers to give recognition to blogs that they love, but that may have smaller followings than more well-known blogs. It's a great way to be introduced to new blogs you may not have heard of before and spread the book blogging love! :)

Once you're awarded, you're tasked to write eleven facts about yourself, answer the questions created by the blogger who nominated you, and then nominate eleven bloggers of your choice. To read my facts, answers, and to see who I nominated, follow the "read more" link! :)

The Rules
1. List 11 facts about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions chosen by the person who nominated you.
3. Ask 11 new questions to 11 new bloggers. They must have less than 200 Bloglovin followers. (You cannot renominate the blog that nominated you.)

11 Facts About Moi
1. My love of manga and anime lead me to study Japanese all through high school and part of college. (My favorite manga/anime of all time is Sailor Moon, in case you were wondering.)

2. My favorite bands are Paramore and Muse. I've seen each of them twice in concert (best concerts of my life).

3. I've been to nine midnight releases: for the Deathly Hallows book release, the last three Harry Potter movies, all the Twilight movies (except Twilight because I was in high school and it was on a school night), and The Hunger Games.

4. When I was little I was absolutely obsessed with books about volcanoes, earthquakes, and tornadoes. My favorite movie was the made-for-TV film, Night of the Twisters. My parents even taped it for me so I could watch it whenever I wanted! Despite the fact that all of these things absolutely terrified me and gave me nightmares, they still fascinated me and I wanted to learn all about them. I became so obsessed with learning about storms that a family member gave me a field guide to clouds. I would take it with me on car rides and try to figure out what kind of clouds were in the sky that day. Now that I think about it, it's kind of amazing I didn't grow up to be a meteorologist!

5. I got my driver's license when I was sixteen but didn't drive again until I was twenty-one. Driving is scary! Too many crazy people on the roads!

6. I own multiple copies of my favorite books because I have no self control.

7. My favorite TV series at the moment is Reign on The CW. I don't even care that it's totally inaccurate--it's so good! Last week's episode broke my heart.

8. My biggest dream is to work in publishing and/or write a book of my own someday.

9. The dorm I lived in in college looks very much like Hogwarts and holds "Hogwarts Week" every November, a whole week is dedicated to Harry Potter. They screen all the movies, have HP-related activities (like wand-making workshops, wizard dueling, and fanfiction readings), and end the week with a quidditch match. It was a truly awesome place to live for four years.

10. My favorite colors (in case you couldn't tell) are purple and pink.

11. I am currently obsessed with Ellie Goulding's music. Halcyon Days is probably the most listened to album on my iPod right now.

Questions from Stephanie
1. If you could bring only 1 physical book (no more) to a deserted island, which book would you choose?
Ah, I see what you did there! Limiting it to one physical book so I can't cheat and say I'd bring my Nook! ;) That makes this question significantly harder to answer. But...I think I'd have to go with one of the Harry Potter books. Either five, six, or seven since they're the meatiest and would still be interesting after rereading them multiple times.

2. If you could only eat 1 type of food for a week what would it be?
Pasta/noodles. :) I'd just go to Noodles and Company and try a new dish each day.

3. What is your all time favorite book? That book that you love more than anything and you have probably reread it more than once...
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I've read it at least ten times and still manage to swoon over Edward and Bella's romance every time.

4. Which author(s) are you flailing over the most right now?
Recently, it's been Rosamund Hodge and Stacey Jay. I absolutely loved their Beauty and the Beast retellings!

5. What book gave you your latest book hangover?
Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay.

6. Which movie that is based off a book has been your favorite adaptation?
It's a tie between Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

7. What is your favorite genre to read and why?
Paranormal Romance because it combines my love of love stories with my fascination with the supernatural. And having vampires or werewolves or fairies or demon hunters in your story automatically makes it more dangerous and interesting!

8. If you could meet any (1) author today and get them to sign your book, who would it be?
It's my dream to meet J.K. Rowling. I admire her so much.

9. Which social media is your favorite? Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram?
Tumblr! :P

10. Which "being" would you rather be? A mermaid, a witch/wizard, a fairy, werewolf, vampire, or something else?
A witch. I've wanted to be one since I nine years old reading my first Harry Potter book. Still waiting for my Hogwarts letter...

11. What do you enjoy doing when you aren't reading or blogging?
I love watching movies. It's the next best thing to reading a book.

Questions for My Nominees
1. What is the first book you remember reading on your own as a child?
2. What is your favorite bookish memory?
3. Physical books, e-readers, or both?
4. Which literary character do you most relate to?
5. If you could write, produce, and direct a mini series or film adaption of a book, what book would you choose and why? Who would you cast?
6. Name a film adaptation you would like to see redone.
7. You're planning a dinner party filled with your favorite authors. Who do you invite?
8. Who is your fictional crush?
9. One day you wake up to find yourself living in a fictional world. Is it supernatural, dystopian, a fantasy world, or something else?
10. In your chosen fictional world, you get to have one superpower/strength/skill. What is it? (Think Alice's clairvoyance in Twilight, Katniss's skill with a bow and arrow in The Hunger Games, Hermione's intelligence in Harry Potter, etc.)
11. What book are you most looking forward to reading in 2014?

I nominate:
Lucy of Paperbackd
Kim of The Nomadic Book Hoarder
Missie of A Flurry of Ponderings
Kelly of Pretty Little Reader
Katelyn at Kate's Tales of Books and Bands
Lauren of Northern Plunder/Books and Tea
Rebecca of The Booker
Stephanie and Jessica of These Paper Hearts
Mara of Book Marauder
Renuka of Eternal Books
Marisa of Books Beyond Measure


Thanks again, Stephanie, for nominating me! :D

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite YA Paranormal Romance Books

Top Ten Favorite YA Paranormal Romance Books

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Twilight was my first foray into what is now my very favorite genre: YA paranormal romance. I read it for the first time as a freshman in high school and was completely enchanted by the story. Despite all the backlash and ridicule the books and movies have received over the years, they will always hold a special place in my heart. Every time I see them in the bookstore or the library, I'm instantly filled with feels. Like these kinds of feels:





2. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare: It took me a while to get into City of Bones but once I did I devoured it and City of Ashes. If you read my last post on finishing YA series, you'll know that I am pathetically far behind in this series.


3. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: I love Karou and Akiva! And Laini Taylor's writing is gorgeous, which makes this series even more fun to read.


4. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey: Horrible cheesy title but a cute read about a girl who finds that out she's betrothed to a vampire prince.


5. Die for Me by Amy Plum: Zombies that aren't totally gross and addicted to consuming human flesh? Now that's a zombie story I can handle.


6. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick: Oh hey, speaking of series I haven't finished, here's another one. I had every intention of reading Crescendo as soon as I finished Hush, Hush, but then college got in the way.


7. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater: Who wouldn't want a werewolf boyfriend who writes adorable songs about them?

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

Reading Rambles {1}: A Serie(ous) Problem

RReading Rambles is a sporadic feature in which I ramble about all things bookish and ask you to join in on the discussion.

Today's Ramble: A Serie(ous) Problem

(Excuse the punny topic title. I couldn't resist. :) Now, on to business.)

Lately I've been faced with a bit of a problem when it comes to reading: I'm finding it harder and harder to finish the multiple book series I've started. Surely I'm not the only one. With just about every YA story being published in a series of three or more books, it can get pretty overwhelming to stay up to speed with them all. And all the releases this year are just making it even harder: Cassie Clare and Laini Taylor's series are both coming to an end this spring, and Sarah J. Maas's next Throne of Glass installment is due out in the fall (just in time for my birthday! Lucky me!).

In some cases it's been years since I've read the earlier installments in a series, so I like to refresh my memory by rereading all the books that are already out before reading the newest book. This is especially important when a series has a long, complicated plot, like Harry Potter or The Mortal Instruments. It can be really fun to go back and pick up on little things I missed on the first or second read. But rereading takes time and it can get a little boring when I reach parts of the book that I didn't like the first time around. And it's when I get to those less interesting parts that all the other unread books on my shelf and TBR list start beckoning. Then I'm faced with the dilemma of how I want to spend my precious reading time--reading a book I've already read or one that's entirely new and exciting to me?

Look at these poor neglected books. I've only made it as far as City of Glass.

With some series, I'm questioning whether or not I even want to finish them. Take the Divergent series, for example. It's been a couple of years since I first read the book. I enjoyed it at the time and even bought Insurgent when it came out, yet there it sits on my shelf a year and a half later, still unread. And after the uproar over Allegiant, I did something I rarely do--I read the spoilers. I needed to know what could possibly have the whole fandom up in arms and, if it was really that bad, if I wanted to continue the series. Now that I know the major spoiler, it's definitely changed my feelings on finishing the series. Right now, I feel like I'm not going to continue, which has left me with feelings of book guilt. I know that I liked the first book and I already own the second book, so in a way I feel like I owe it to myself and to Veronica Roth to at least give Insurgent a try. But on the other hand, I don't know if I really want to put myself through all the emotional turmoil now that I already now how the series ends. Decisions, decisions.

Now I want to know: Do you have trouble keeping up with multiple book series? Do you like to reread older books in a series before reading the next installment? What are some installments/series enders you're most looking forward to in 2014? Are there any that you have given up on?

Book Review: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2013
Source/Format:Library / e-book
Length: 391 pages

From Goodreads:

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret…

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

I didn't think it was possible for me to love a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" as much as I loved Rosamund Hodge's Cruel Beauty…until I finished Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay. In fact, I'm having such a hard time trying to form my feels into coherent sentences that I'm going to do this review a bit differently--with a bulleted list.

What I Loved About Of Beast and Beauty

• The mythology of the world. The story starts off with a beautifully written prologue about two entities known as the Dark Heart and the Pure Heart, and the dark bargains the humans make with them when they first arrive on the planet. It was so convincingly written that it felt like I was reading an actual myth. I loved how Jay incorporated the iconic roses into her retelling, turning them into living, bloodthirsty things. There is some seriously evil magic going down in this book.

• Multiple points of view. After the prologue, the story is split between three main characters: Isra, the princess and future queen of Yuan; Gem, a Monstrous soldier; and Bo, a Yuan soldier and the son of Isra's calculating head advisor, Junjie. I have mixed feelings about books with different POVs--sometimes it works, other times I find myself wondering why they're necessary. This book was a case in which the different POVs definitely enriched the story.

• The romance. As with any good "Beauty and the Beast" story, the romance doesn't blossom right away. At first, Gem and Isra are so caught up in their mutual hatred of each other's kind that you wonder how they will ever end up together. Even after Isra grows more caring toward Gem, sympathizing with the plight of his people, Gem still clings to his long-held hatred of the "Smooth Skins." Though he recognizes he has feelings for Isra, he is conflicted by his emotions and his duty to his people. 

• The villains: Bo and Junjie. I hated them so much. At first, Bo seems to be harmless, apart from his overeager attempts to woo Isra. But boy when that switch flips, you find out real fast that Bo is not a good guy. Not even close. He is chauvinistic, domineering, prejudiced, and bent on getting his way. At times I was so disgusted by him that I found myself literally shaking with anger while reading his point of view (props to Stacey Jay for writing such a villainy villain). And Junjie, ugh. No wonder Bo is so nasty, having such a cold, calculating man for a father.

• The book is constantly raising the question "who is the beast?" Is it Isra, who has been brought up to believe she is "tainted" by Monstrous traits? Is it Gem, a Monstrous himself, who looks like a beast and burns with hatred for the Smooth Skins? Or is it the power-hungry Junjie, and the nobles of Yuan, who fear the Monstrous and punish those born with the mutations?

•  The ending. I don't want to be spoilery so I'll just say that I may have shed a few happy tears. :)

So, have any of you read Of Beast and Beauty? What did you think?

Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Authors I've Never Read

Top Ten Popular Authors I've Never Read

I feel like I had to cheat a bit making this list--I've read so many "popular" YA books that it made it really difficult for me to figure out who I haven't read. So, after browsing through various "Best YA" lists on Goodreads, I came up with these:

1. Judy Blume: Honestly, I really don't know how I grew up without ever once reading a Judy Blume book. It seems like every girl on the planet read her books growing up. I guess I was more of a Beverly Cleary girl.

2. Neil Gaiman: Okay, so I know you should never judge a book by its movie but…I watched Stardust when I was in high school and was so disappointed by it that it turned me off from wanting to read the book.

3. Diana Wynne Jones: I've heard good things about Diana Wynne Jones but somehow I've never read her books. BUT, Howl's Moving Castle is on my TBR list! I will get to it someday!

4. S.E. Hinton: I know, right? Who hasn't read The Outsiders? I think it's required reading in middle school, but I had moved back to Indiana with my family right after the English class at my new school had read it. So I missed out on studying it in school and haven't had much interest in reading it on my own.

5. Brian Jacques: If every girl I knew in elementary and middle school had read Judy Blume, then every boy had read Brian Jacques's "Redwall" series. I don't know much about the series other than it involves talking animals, which is the main reason I've avoided it. I'm just not a fan of books/movies with all animal characters.

6. Eoin Colfer: I remember seeing the Artemis Fowl books in the bookstores around the same time as Harry Potter and I think I might have tried reading the first one in middle or elementary school but couldn't get into it.

7. Holly Black: This is really sad because I have checked out Tithe so many times from the library but always end up returning it unread. I do own The Coldest Girl in Coldtown though, so I will get around to reading Holly Black at some point.

8. Ellen Hopkins: My little sister loves these books but I've always tended to avoid them because I'm not really a fan of verse novels, or poetry in general.

9. Tahereh Mafi: Ms. Mafi has been creeping higher and higher up on my TBR list because I've heard so many people raving about Shatter Me and now Ignite Me. I've also started watching her YouTube videos and just adore her as a person--she's so funny!

10. Beth Revis: Poor Beth Revis. Her book Across the Universe has been sitting on my shelf, ignored, for about two years now. It's not that I don't want to read it--I do!--it's just that I've been distracted by other books.

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