Title: Defy Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #5
Rating: 4/5

I actually did a full review for this one, right here.

Title: One?
Author: Jennifer L. Cahill
Rating: 4/5

**I received an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review**

This took me a while to get through, but I thoroughly enjoyed every word. It’s the perfect book to just take time to relax and read, which is exactly what I needed. The main characters all had different things to deal with and I found myself genuinely interested to see where each character ends up. I especially liked Penelope’s storyline, because she keeps getting guys thrown at her and she doesn’t want to end up with someone completely plain and boring. Which makes sense! The ending was a plot twist that I didn’t see coming and ended in a way that was basically a cliff hanger, so I can’t wait to read the next one. I’m team Alyx.

Title: Gemina
Series: The Illuminae Files #2
Authors: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Rating: 3/5

I’m not the biggest fan of the Illuminae series in general. I liked the first book enough to read the rest of the series, but there’s just something that this lacks that I can’t put my finger on. The formatting is phenomenal and unique and the story is fascinating and, at times, keeps me on the edge of my seat. But there’s so much unnecessary tech talk and background information that it takes away from the main story. Illuminae was certainly better, this just seemed like a forced sequel with new characters that I had to decide whether or not I cared about them. Overall, I found Hanna to be the stereotypical “tough girl” where she puts herself in gradually more dangerous scenarios to make herself seem more strong and independent (almost like Kady…hmm).

Title: The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm
Series: Tales from Alagaësia #1
Author: Christopher Paolini
Rating: 3.5/5

Eragon is not only one of my favourite series, but it’s also a very beloved book of mine that I hold close, so when this popped up in my inbox I just knew I had to buy it. The relief of being in this world again was amazing. The first portion, the Fork, was probably my favourite of the three stories. It showed where some of my most loved characters ended up after Inheritance so long after its release. The Witch was almost equally as good but dragged enough that I felt I was just going through the motion of flipping through pages, not really immersing me in the story. I could have done without the story of the Worm simply because it felt like a fairytale, which it essentially was. With this book, I had hoped for more actual stories of Eragon and Saphira, but I’ll settle for these short stories just to relive the experience and be inside the world of Alagaësia one more time.

Title: Dark Matter (ARC)
Author: Blake Crouch
Rating: 5/5

Sci-fi is one of my favourite genres and every time I read a book like this I remember why. Dark Matter is exactly the book I was looking for. From interesting main characters to heart-stopping thrills to scientific concepts that blow the reader’s mind, it has everything a sci-fi reader is looking for and more. Crouch shows that, with the advances of modern technology, the amount of possibilities we have at our fingertips is infinite, but that we need to exercise caution as well. With great power comes great responsibility, as they say, and the main character Jason can relate to that completely. After being torn away from his wife and the life he has always known, Jason enters the world of the multiverse theory. For those of you that don’t know, essentially this is the belief that every action we make splits us off into another, alternate universe that is completely or only slightly different from our own. This is the story of fighting the possibilities to find the life he loves more than any other, no matter what it takes.

Title: To Kill a Kingdom
Author: Alexandra Christo
Rating: 4/5

I have always had this fascination with sirens. There’s not really a reason behind it, I just think they’re cool and remind me of Greek mythology. I’ve heard that this is supposed to be a sort of retelling of The Little Mermaid but darker, which I can certainly see, but also kind of an insult considering how unique this whole concept is. The dynamic between narrators Lira and Elian (love the name) is refreshing and really helps build their relationship from the bottom up. The look at what a bad ruler/overlord/queen can do to their kingdom is quite frankly earth-shattering and almost disturbing to look at, but it’s the reality. Lira is sassy and doesn’t just take no for an answer, she goes and gets what she wants but without having the cliche tough girl act that drives me up the wall making her easily my favourite character in the book. Elian, while a somewhat typical prince that just wants to escape his duties, manages to add his own twist to the world by being a pirate! A pirate prince! That’s cool guys, come on. I’m so glad this was a standalone, though. So many books these days get dragged out into series and having this one story tightly bound and finished in just around 350 pages is exactly what I needed for an interesting, fast read.

The Queen’s Rising (Untitled Trilogy #1) (ARC) by Rebecca Ross
Without giving too much away, I adored this. I can’t wait for everyone to be able to pick this up and jump into Brienna’s life! This book is full of magic and adventure that every fantasy lover absolutely needs to get their hands on!

Amid Stars and Darkness (The Xenith Trilogy #1) by Chani Lynn Feener
I make my love for this book no secret. Sci-fi is one of my favourite genres and throwing hot aliens into the mix just makes it 110% better. Main character Delaney is so awesome, I just can’t get enough of her. Seeing what an alien culture would be like without all of the corruption and change humans would bring is facsinating. Book two comes out July 24th 2018 and I am more than ready to get my hands on it!

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifacts #2) by Cassandra Clare
This book once again throws us into the lives of Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn (who is, let’s face it, perfect). If the entire book was written in Julian’s POV I would love it so much more, but apparently multipul POVs is the hit new thing and we’re forced to read about Livvy, Ty, and Kit as well. I love them as much as the next character, but they get in the way of me reading about Julian and Emma, which makes me just want to skip their chapters. Not to mention a certain something that Clary brings up in this book that sent me reeling. I am now incredibly nervous for Queen of Air and Darkness.

Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) by Jay Kristoff
Jay Kristoff is amazing. His world building skills are on point and, for the most part, I love his characters. Mia, beautiful character. Mr. Kindly, not only an amazing character but perhaps my favourite. Furian, I wanted so much more of him, he had so much untapped potential. However, I cannot get past how biblical his writing is. By this I mean that I have a hard time understanding one paragraph and find myself gravitating to the dialogue more than anything. Mia and Ashlinn were a fun plot, but I can’t find it in me to trust anything Ashlinn says and, for this alone, I didn’t like them together.

The Piper’s Price (The Neverland Wars #2) by Audrey Greathouse
Neverland has always been a special kind of world. In a way, I think it’s one of the first fantasy worlds we learn about as child, so reading this as an adult is such a different experience. Gwen and Peter are adorable together and if I had one complaint about this book it would be that I didn’t get more of them together. With the amount of twist and turns in this, my head was swimming with theories and assumptions almost the entire time!

Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi 
This is always my go-to book to read when I have a book slump. I adore Warner and with the upcoming 4th book, I just had to immerse myself in this world again. His relationship with Juliet is so heartbreaking and beautiful it’s hard not to fall in love with it over and over again.

The Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo
I finally decided to read Crooked Kingdom, so naturally I read Six of Crows as well. If both books were entirely from the point of view of Kaz, I don’t think I would have been disappointed, but I still loved both books. Kaz and Inej have so much depth to their characters that I can’t help but want more about their lives and relationship, especially after reading the last page of Crooked Kingdom. I can only hope that there will be more of them in the future!

Fire Falling (Air Awakens #2) by Elise Kova
This wasn’t as amazing as the first book, but it was still fantastic. For some reason I didn’t realize how much older Aldrik was than Vhalla and that made me pause for a while, but after the initial realization I got over it and went straight back to loving them. I have no idea why it took me so long to read this other than the fact that now I have to go buy the third book. The last page was a bit of a disappointment and not near as panic-inducing as intended.

Dreamer (Traveler #2) (ARC) by L.E. DeLano
I make my love for the first book no big surprise, so the fact that I love this one as well came as no shock. Finn and Jessa have to be one of my OTPs, but throughout the entire book I couldn’t get it out of my mind that I was somehow betraying the original Finn. I love Pirate Finn, but the fact that he wasn’t, dare I say, my Finn made me feel like I was doing something wrong. I get that he’s essentially the same person in every reality, but it was at the back of my mind from page one. As much as I want to love Ben, he angered me so much with his clinginess to Jessa. This book was overall heart-breaking and earth-shattering. I can’t wait to have my hands on the final copy.

I try to avoid spoilers, but in the off chance that I say something spoilery in the following mini reviews, consider this your warning!

1. The Summoner Series (#1-3) by Taran Matharu
This series was just…magical! Main character Fletcher and his little demon buddy, Ignatius, were actually friend goals. They were so adorable together I could just not get enough. Fletcher’s family was…heartbreaking. In more ways than one. I found myself feeling so terrible for him on more than one occasion, especially in the beginning of book 2! I feel like there was so much more that could have been in the story. Not even necessarily the main plot, but sub plots and little adventures. Also, Sylva and Fletcher had so many possibilities that were unexplored! But other than some of those little missed opportunities, I love this series!

2. Illuminae (Illuminae #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
I would be lying if I said this book didn’t confuse the hell out of me in the beginning. Some pages read more like a book, others were seemingly random, some seemed like web pages with stuff I didn’t know, and it just took me way too many pages to figure out what the heck I was actually supposed to be reading and what I could skip over. By the end, though I finally got the hang of it and I truly enjoyed the book! I would absolutely love to see more interaction between Kady and Ezra, because couple goals.

3. It Gets Worse by Shane Dawson 
There really isn’t much to say about this. I could throw it into a ‘dark comedy’ category, because it gets super real at times. This book really makes you think, which is something I didn’t expect from Shane, since he likes to gloss over everything with comedy and jokes, but there was such a blanket of truth, that it really hit me. Watching his videos, it’s really easy to forget what a hard life he had and, yes, he obviously has a really low self-esteem, but he really is working on it and I am so proud of him for how far he has come.

4. Outsiders 2: Unfinished Business (Outsiders #2) by Tammy Ferebee 
I absolutely loved the first book, so when I got the opportunity to read book 2, I jumped at the chance. Jaylen and Michael are literally so adorable, but Michael pissed me off in the beginning of the book sooo much! This book was packed so full of intense moments and action that I am surprised it fit in 285 pages. I had so many questions at the end though, so maybe a book 3? I sure hope so, but won’t hold my breath, it seemed pretty final. Awesome indie read, though, that I love spreading the word about! Tell your friends!

It occurred to me that I don’t do full reviews of all the books I read over the month and decided that doing a post or two during or at the end of each month to get a few ideas out about the books I read, without going into lengthy detail! Bigger posts will still be made, but for the other books I don’t have so many thoughts on, they will go in here!

Each title will have a header and each one MAY contain spoilers. Fair warning!

1. A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J. Maas 

I thought this was a beautiful ending to the trilogy. The fact that it was a mirror of the events in book one at the end though kind of unsettled me a bit and I found the deaths (or lack thereof) strangely unlikely, regardless of the strength and power of the Inner Circle. And even though I love Feysand and I will fight for them forever, they lacked a tension that they had in the first two books that I missed (but they were adorable together). Even though the rest of the series isn’t supposed to focus on them, I do hope we see lots more of them later on.

2. Throne of Glass (books 1-5) by Sarah J. Maas

As a whole, I loved the series and can’t wait for more! After falling in love with Dorian in book 1, he almost got on my nerves in the later books (especially with Sorscha). And even though I loved Chaol in book 2, I absolutely, without a single doubt in my mind, hate him. So much. Rowan. My love. My poor small cinnamon roll. To precious for this world. But, like Feysand, he and Aelin lost that tension that I loved in Empire of Storms. Until the end of the book, that is. Now I need the book after this upcoming book, because this next one will be all about Chaol and that makes me sad. Love my badass Aelin, though! More badass assassin fighting please and thank you.

3. The Midnight Star (The Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu 

Oh this book…after loving book one and being somewhat disappointed with book two, I hoped for a lot more. Almost most important to me is Magiano and Adelina’s relationship, of which we got very little. Second, is what happens to Enzo, who was my first love of this series and I miss the book one him very dearly. The ending in general just makes me upset. I had higher hopes and expectations, but in a twisted way the ending makes sense, so I’ll let go of my personal opinions.

4. A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir

Elias… poor naive Elias. You don’t have to do everything alone, let Laia help you. Keenan…holy shit. Helene, please leave me alone. I’m so tired of your ‘I’m a girl but I can do it better than you’ act even though you turn around and make the wrong choice or lose the fight. The tough act doesn’t suit you, so please…don’t. More Elias and Laia please, their interactions give me life. Guys, spoilers. Just think, we get to see more of Laia and her brother in book three!!!

5. The Crown’s Fate (The Crown’s Game #2) by Evelyn Skye

Such darkness. What is it with all these books coming out and destroying my favourite characters?! In more ways than one. I’m talking mentally, physically, and spiritually. Nikolai is basically damaged beyond repair the majority of the book and I’m here mentally shoving him away from what’s-her-face and trying to push him back toward Vika so she might be able to help him and she does…kind of. Boi, Nikolai’s mother…*deep breath* I just cannot think of her without this uncontrollable rage coming over me, so I won’t even go there. Book three please?? P.S. my name is in the acknowledgements of this book and that is probably my greatest achievement in life.