April TBR Jar Challenge

For this months TBR jar challenge I'm going to read a book that is not a novel. I plan on reading Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn, which is a work  of poetry

March Wrap Up

I'm just gonna say that the beginning of March was a bit of a struggle. I was so sure thatI was only going to get through a couple of books, but somehow I managed to get through 6 books and a graphic novel. So here are the books I managed to get through

1984 by George Orwell
Now this was a part of my March TBR challenge was to read a classic novel. It wasn't long, but for some reason it had taken me longer to read then it should have. When i was reading it I did enjoy it. I can see why so many people enjoy it and why it is considered it is a classic. Even though it is older, i felt that the topics can still be considered relevant to today's society. I give it 3 out of 5 stars















Vicious by VE Schwab
I ate this book up. I love Victor, I love the secondary characters, I love the plot I just love everything about this book. The action was just perfect, the connections made between the characters kept me engaged. I connected with Victor and questioned Eli. Ugh it was just soooo good.  I gave it 5 out of 5














Better When He's Bold by Jay Crownover
Now I just love Crownover, she just knows how to write an amazing male protagonist. Now when she started her Welcome to the Point Series I was unsure. The first installment was good, but there were points where I had felt that the bad guy act was a bit forced. Which understand that it was the first installment and the whole point of the series is that these are bad guys and they can never be fully redemmened. Anyways with this installment I hoped that she would change it up, which I felt she did with the hero. The Golden God was just perfect, I couldn't get enough of him and our heroine was just the perfect balance. I literally ate this book up in a bad, I just couldn't put it down. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars.








Wait for You by J Lynn
Ugh another one in the love column. I found that this was a perfect example of how a new adult / contemporary book should be. I had the right amount of feels and struggles. The hero was intruging and the hroine had her own kind of spunk. My ittle romantic heart just couldn't handle them. It was slow in the beginning and the author did take her time to get to the point at times, but once the reader was finally let in on the secret, everything was perfect. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.













No Attachments by Tiffany King
Now here was a similar situation to Wait for You. I loved it, but the author did take her time in letting the reader in on the secret. With this one once you learn the heroine's secret and why she had done what she did it is heartbreaking. You connect with our hero and understand his struggle, but at the same time understand why the heroine makes the decisions she made. Also her father is just the best secondary character and knows how to manipulate them to getting their acts together in the end. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.













Elite by Rachel Van Dyken
I love Rachel Van Dyken. I was unsure about the series, since the it is mob related and I just though there would be too much drama, but I was totally wrong, I feel in love with it and plan on reading the rest of the series. There is a semi love triangle, but I actually enjoyed it since it was in the back and as the reader you would forget about. While you're reading it though it is clear who ends up together in the end. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars















Elect by Rachel Van Dyken
This is the second of the series. It was a nice addition from the first. It's the same couple from the first, with the solution to the problem from the first book. I do plan on reading the third installment pretty soon. I gave this 5 out of 5 stars.















Saga Vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
This was my first Graphic novel in a long time and I wasn't disappointed. The art is amazing and the Storyline so far is great. I already have 2-4 and look forward to catching up. I gave it 5 out of 4 stars.

March TBR challenge

This month my challenge is to read a classic novel and my pick is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

February Wrap Up

This month I managed to catch a reading wave and it was a good one. There was a week where I read 4 books and couldn't stop.  So here are the books I read in February

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Now this book at first was a bit rough for me to get into. I had almost given up, but continued until I just couldn't put it down. At first it can seem confusing and dragging, which in the beginning it was for me. It wasn't until our hero and heroine truly started interacting that I was hooked and wanted to continue reading. Celia and Marco are truly magical when they work together and I think that is what kept me going. There were parts where I could just do without, and parts where I just wanted to go on forever. When I had finished the book was so pleased that I just wished there was a continuation, which I think lets me know how much I enjoyed a book. On good reads I gave this a 4 out of 5 stars and that was just because it took a bit for the story to get going.









The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Now I picked this book up based on the recommendation from a friend. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this seeing as I haven't read YA adventure books in a long time, but I decided to give it a chance. It was also the book I picked for the TBR February challenge. Now when I started I told myself to keep an open mind. Our hero Thomas is enjoyable to read. The writing was just right. I find when reading this kind of adventure novels the author can be a little much. It is they are trying to hard, almost as the are trying to be along the lines of JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien. Dashner I found had a good flow throughout the story and was organized. Now for the challenge I had to also watch it's adaptation. As a standalone the movie was good. It had a clear beginning and end as well as a twist to let you know there would be more. To compare the two obviously I prefer the book, it was just better organized. In my opinion I thought certain parts of the movie were just cut and pasted together, versus any real flow. I gave this book 4 out of 4 stars.




Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
This book I could just not put done. This started a trend of new adult contemporary romances. Boy do I love a good romance, and this was a good one. I fell in love with Miles and Tate. I'm a sucker for the tortured ones when it comes to my books. They just have the juiciest stories and make me fall in love. Now I had read Hoover before and know that I enjoy her writing style. It's smooth and consistent. Her male protagonist are just so dreamy and torture they pull my heart strings. There is a twist in the story that I did not see coming and rarely does a book make me tear up, but I so did and that how I know I found a good one. This is a book that I'll always recommend to those looking to get out of YA, but are not ready for full on adult romances.
(Forewarned the next books are all just going to be me gushing about how much I love them.)







Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
Another great one by Hoover. This just my be my favorite that I have read by her yet. My love for it is up there with Ugly Love. Now for this book she paired up with Griffin Peterson and wrote a soundtrack to be paired with it. This is suppose to heighten the reading experience. SO obviously I bought the soundtrack and listened to it while I was reading. It made the experience that much better. As the songs came up in the book I would listen to them and eventually sing along. Out of the musicians I have read Ridge might just be my favorite. He is extremely talented and has a quality that you don't realize until it is brought up(now you're just going to have to read it to find out). The struggles were real and heartfelt. I really sympathized with Sydney and wanted here to just keep going. Ridge I just loved, I could see his struggles and wanted him to just see everything clearly. The ending was just perfect and I was completely blissed out when I finished it. I gave this one 5 stars out of 5





Ripped by Katy Evans
I liked the change of hero for this one. The fact that he wasn't an underground fighter or apart of the organization was a nice change. I like Pandora and her personality, she's feisty, but can be really sweet. Obviously her tough girl act ca just be an act based on how she was raised, but I felt she was a really powerful character. She wasn't flat and wasn't whiny which is always a plus for me. Now our hero Mackenna is your typical rockstar when on stage, he really knows how to work a crowd. He also is Pandora's ex-boyfriend from when they were teenagers. So right away you know there is a story there. Why did they break up? what was wrong? there's just so many questions. They both see things differently. The attraction is there and has never gone away, but why aren't they together. As the story unfolds you'll learn that certain characters are at fault and Pandora doesn't know. She blames Mackenna for leaving and he was just trying to do the right thing. Now though he is done denying himself what he wants and she isn't ready yet to trust him. As things go along you see who is in the wrong and how they work their way back to each other. The fights are true and the love is steamy. Katy Evans knows how to write those juicy stories and I couldn't put it down. I gave it 4
stars out of 5

Razed by Shiloh Walker
Now this is an adult contemporary romance. I was gifted this for Christmas. Which personally you can't go wrong with getting a romance book for me. Since it was romance I knew there would at least be some parts that I truly enjoyed and that it would by a roller coaster of emotions. Our couple is Keelie Jessup and Zane Barnes. Keelie is a tattoo artist and Zane is a photographer. This is a second installment i the series, and I haven't read the first one, but I found that it wasn't a problem. The characters overlap, but the issues all seem to be standalone, which I enjoyed. Being that I either read paranormal romances or new about romances I never really read an adult contemporary romance. Being that it was my first I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other. I really enjoyed that the struggles were realistic and that they were overly dramatized. The writing wasn't difficult to read, I could tell that Walker really understands her style and her characters. Which as a reader I like when an author doesn't force the characters into certain roles. I really love Zane and how he over comes the barriers that Keelie has put up between them. All in all I just really liked the book and I plan on picking up the first in the series and continuing on with it.  I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.


Taking Chances by Molly McAdams
Now I never write reviews on good reads, but this book I just had too. First of all it was a struggle to get through in the beginning. The characters all seemed to have too perfect scenarios and drastic struggles. On top of it I didn't think the writing was that great. The trio, Chase, Brandon, and Harper had a lot of drama. Which I didn't really enjoy since the story starts with her being 18 and it's her first year of college. Within the first week she falls for both of these guys and starts dating one of them and then cheats on him with the other, then she gets pregnant. Ugh right there it is already too much. Then half way something life changing happens, the baby daddy dies and she is felt alone pregnant. I just can't,mind you i actually liked the baby daddy since he was the tortured bad boy. Then Harper is left to mourn and deal with her feelings with the other guy. now I know I'm making this sound tragic which it is, but when reading the second half there were some good qualities, there was some actual development of the couple, which the first part had lacked. When I had finished it I felt that if this was taken and split into 2 different books, where some actual development could happen I may have actually enjoyed it. Or if McAdams had just started the book with the accident and then should Harper coming back and falling in love again, I would have enjoyed it more. Personally though I just don't like love triangles and probably never will. Just give me my one couple and all the sappy moments and a happy ending and I'll be happy. I ended up giving this 2 out of 5 stars.

February TBR challenge

This months TBR challenge is to read/ watch a book and its adaptation. The book I picked for this challenge is

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Books read in January

     I started the year with Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes. Having finished Broken Monsters I had a WTF moment when I put it down. It had been a struggle while reading it, but then with the last couple of chapters I was sucked in and more confused than ever. Have read a novel by Lauren for the first time, I was unsure of what I was getting myself into. Now though I feel I can read her other books with less confusion. I would give it 3 out of five stars
     For this month my TBR jar challenge was to read a book with 500+ pages. I picked Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon to fulfill this challenge since it is 800+ pages. Now I have read Kenyon before, it had taken me a whole summer to read her Dark Hunter series. So I was prepared and intrigued by Styxx as a character. In the beginning it was a little rough, but then within a few chapters I was dragged in and couldn't put it down. I did start out reading the hardcopy version, but quickly switched to the ebook version, since realistically who would want to carry a 800+ page book. Besides the size, I enjoyed it so much. I grew to understand and love Styxx, maybe even more than his twin brother Acheron. When comparing Acheron and Styxx in the action and romance I would pick Styxx over Acheron. I remember Acheron being lack lustered when it came to the romance. I felt that Kenyon had stepped up her game with Styxx and made you really care for him. I gave Styxx 5 out of 5 stars.
     Next I read, The Darkest Touch by Gena Showalter. This is her most recent installment in her Lord of the Underworld series. Now I have been waiting for Torin's story, he is the keeper of Disease. Now as the reader I could only imagine what it would be like to not be able to touch anybody or risk spreading world wide disease. Torin has always intrigued me, since he was the most isolated of the Lords. He's also their tech genius. I was pleased with the type of heroine Showalter developed for him. The Red Queen I would say was an excellent pick for him. She was the only one the I felt push him to do all the things that really wanted. For example, fight, for someone that barely got into the field to fight he was kickass. With his moody self and her self confidence it was a good match. I also enjoyed that she was funny and entertaining. It was rough in the beginning at first, but that could just be that I haven't read about the Lords in a while. Once I got into it though that was it, I was hooked. In the end I give it 5 stars.
     The last book I read Was Divergent by Veronica Roth. Now this was the first time I read a book after having already watched the movie. In most cases I wouldn't care, and I would try to keep both separate. The movie had helped set up the settings, but the characters description I could tell had been altered. Now if I was informed correctly Roth had written this when she was in her early years of college. So right away I took that into account when the wording is a bit much and there was unnecessary dialogue. There was also parts that I felt should have been left in that the movie had taken out. There were parts that I felt had been extreme and could understand why it was left out of the movie. I do think that the movie had better organized the story and reworked certain scenes to be better and to hold more power. For a first installment it wasn't horrible, I do plan on reading the rest of the trilogy just to see where the story continues to go and where it ends. For the first installment I give it 4 stars of of five

To Be Read Jar Challenge

For the start of the new year I decided to partake in the To Be Read Jar Challenge. I first heard about it from watching Katytastic's video, in the jar there are 12 different challenges, each month I'll pick one at random. I'll be doing this while working on my goal of 75 books for the year.

Challenges:

1. read a book with 500+pages
2. reread favorite book
3. read a 2015 debut book
4. read a book that someone else picks
5. listen to an audiobook
6. read a book that you DNF'd / gave up on
7. read a new-to-you author
8. read a book that is not a novel
9. read / watch a book and its adaptation
10. read an award winning novel
11. read a classic novel
12. read a series finale

I've already picked the first challenge and it is to read a book with 500+ pages, the book I've picked is Styxx(836pg) by Sherrilyn Kenyon