The Infinite Sea | Rick Yancey

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ . 5

My mind has like blown into shards of what is left of my dignity. RICK YANCEY! HOW DO YOU WRITE LIKE A GOD? I have come to a conclusion he is already a writer I look up to and his work is amazeballz, like you will like physically cry because it's too good. 

The is the second book in what I believe is a trilogy. The first book is The 5th Wave which I'm quite sure the majority of you have heard of as it was hyped up at the beginning of last year. The third and final book I believe is coming out in Autumn of 2015 and I cannot wait, this series is so good I don't even know why I ever doubted it. I have a goodreads review on The 5th Wave here.

There isn't a lot I can say without spoiling but I highly recommend to star with The 5th Wave and contemplate whether you want to continue.

'After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.

Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up'

I've noticed in both books actually, you think you know what gonna happen and then Rick Yancey's like 'lmao no' and then you just sit there like 'Wow, how do you make it even more epic?' This seems to be a recurring theme, I seem to 'think' I know and then it just takes a turn and plot twist! My mind is boggled. 

Something weird happened to me that hasn't ever really happened to me with other books. I totally blacked out when I started this book. I didn't remember how The 5th Wave ended and I was pretty confused so I went and googled the plot line but that didn't really help so I just had to like go with it. Not to fret as I continued through the book around 50-100 pages in I got back into the world and lingo, it also didn't help that Yancey doesn't write who's POV it's in....ever (as the book is written in more than one POV). It's a weird thing but that another thing that makes this book tremendous. 

These books are like: you know whats happening but you don't know what happening. You're just always so confused but then once you get it you're like 'motherf*****' and it blows your mind. 

Basically the book just picks up from what happened in the first book. I just have a terrible memory, actually I don't but I don't know how to explain this. What I do remember is that I picked up The 5th Wave during my exams in April and whilst dying cause of exams I remember being chuffed after reading this. 

The Infinite Sea isn't as big as The 5th Wave in size, like its almost half of the first book. I would expect that the books would gradually get bigger as it's a trilogy and there was just so much action in the first book but I guess not; never the less I really enjoyed this book. I'm not sure whether I enjoyed The 5th Wave more (I gave that five stars) but I think I liked it slightly more than this because it was jam packed from the beginning whilst this took off two bloody thirds into the book. This book was quite passive compared the first book. I say that loosely because it picks up with so much action in the last half of the book. 

The characters in this series make the series. If you've read my review on The 5th Wave on goodreads you'll know that I adored Cassiopeia (Cassie) the main, she's kick-butt and awesome. Then we get into The Infinite Sea and my thought process changes a bit, I still really adore her but I think I like this new character that gets introduced in the last third of the first book: Ringer. She's great! She is literally so funny and in my opinion even more kick-butt. We also get more of Ringer in this book as she gets huge chunks in her pov. 

Cassie just gets more boy infatuated and annoying. So sorry. Maybe she'll get better. 

We also get introduced to couple of new characters which I loved, however we also go into more depth with the main characters as well. 

Like I said before, there isn't a lot I can say without spoiling so all you can really do is get the first book, then the next book and then sit patiently like me for the third book *eye twitches*. 

The DUFF | Kody Keplinger

Wow! A realistic teen contemporary with a realistic heroine with realistic friends and a somewhat realistic family/life. For once I'm actually mind blown! 

After searching and searching for this goddamn book I caved and ordered it online. Once it came in the mail and read it in less than a day, probably four hours to be exact. It's such a fast pace book and a great page turner! You just can't get enough and you have to know what happens next. When I say 'fast pace' I don't mean filled with action, rather 'too good to not finish.' 

I highly, highly recommend this as a 'pick me up' if you need a good book to fan over after reading something like Clockwork Princess or Noughts and Crosses. 

Bianca Piper despises Wesley Rush, the school man-whore who sleep with everyone and everything. One night when she's forced by her friends to go to a party Wesley in return, insults and hurts her by calling her the DUFF. The designated ugly, fat friend. Although Bianca's home life isn't getting any better and when her parents are on the verge of divorce and everything in her world seems to be falling apart she finds an escape. Sex with Wesley Rush. 

This is a young adult, contemporary/humour. It's very funny. I actually laughed/cried.

Oh also just to put this out there, this book has hella sexy times and when I said that it was very realistic I didn't mean that the majority of teenagers go around boning each other and thats why it's realistic. I meant that everything besides the sex in this book was also worth mentioning (again not saying that every family is like the main character in this book) and the way Kody Keplinger chose to handle family issues and being 'The Designated Ugly Fat Friend' and juggling school was very much relatable to many people. I also do know that some teenagers look to sex as a distraction from their everyday lives which is a big part of the premiss of this book.

Don't want to bore anyone but:
Only 16% of teens have had sex by the age of fifteen,
48% of those aged seventeen,
61% of eighteen year olds and 71% of nineteen year olds.
Although teens are waiting longer to have sex than they did in the recent past years. 

There is nothing wrong with not have had any of this at any age! Everyone has experiences at different ages and stages of their lives, everyone develops differently. There is nothing wrong with never have had your first kiss whether your 11 or 27! 

Also don't feel like because everyone else is doing it you have to do it as well (sounds cliche but seriously!) It's better to wait for someone worth it. 

Now to the actual topic of the sex in this book, I read one of Kody Keplinger's blog posts where she remarked that most people bashed the book because of the sex scenes. Before I confuse anyone, I'm gonna put it out there now that I didn't mind the sex scenes at all (it's not at all anything like fanfic!), they weren't graphic to the point where you're shielding you're eyes. I'm not gonna lie here and say to you that teenagers don't have sex because there is no denying that they do. I'm also not too sure why sex in literature is taboo for some people when its part of human nature. 

As a feminist I'm proud that Kody Keplinger didn't write Bianca as some sappy school girl who can't stick up for herself and her morals. There are times in this book where Bianca stops thing from going to far when she doesn't want them to or when she doesn't let others bring her down because she's bigger than that. I understand when insults are thrown at you they hurt and the majority of writers would write a character as Bianca Piper as a wimp. Thankfully, Keplinger chooses to reinforce that you don't EVER have to make yourself look good or fix yourself for a guy or anyone for that matter! and that truthfully we are all 'the DUFF'. 

I believe as women we should be able to stick together; stand up for each other and what not a better way to reinforce this to the younger generation then through young adult literature as books are apart of so many lives. There are teenagers who read to escape from everything else in their lives. Sorry to go on a tangent but did you all see Emma Watson's he-for-she speech at the UN? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Here is the link. Worth checking out if you haven't already! 

I know this isn't much of a proper review but more of a rant/me-going-off-on a tangent but another thing I love about this book are the refreshing characters. One of the main parts of this book that didn't make it one of those stories where the girl has no friends or they all bully her; making it super cliche (and no I do not endorse bullying what-so ever!). 

In this book Bianca's friends (Casey and Jessica) are my favourite characters because they are so great and what f.r.i.e.n.d.s should really be. They pick her up instead of pushing her to the side and not giving a damn. Bonus, they are drop dead hilarious. 

Spending the Day with Tess | ...and her books ofc

So I spent the whole Saturday with my beautiful friend Tess and her beautiful family including her fabulous puppies. I had such a lovely time as always and we spent the day catching up at her house and the beach close by. Tess's room is one of my favourite places, only because of her disarray of books and freakish amount of books. We also just had to end up lending out books to each other, so I thought why not savour the memories and take some pictures. 

Shadow and Bone #1 | Leigh Bardugo

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ 

Just excuse Cress for the moment, I know it's very beautiful but please.....Shadow and Bone was epic! 

Gave this 5/5. This is another one up there with the rest of my 2014 favourites, I adored this book so much. I have to say now that this isn't going to be one of my 'normal' reviews only because there isn't anything abnormal that I have to say about this book except my undying love for it. 

Once again I suck 'D' at describing synopsis's of my favourite books so I can only hope that this goodreads one intrigues you enough:

'Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.'

Know that I cannot make you read something or not read something, although bearing that in mind one thing I do have to stress is that this is a fantasy/YA trilogy and I'm not sure how to say this but I don't think if you have never read fantasy before that you should go straight into this, same goes for if you don't read at all.....(why)......that you shouldn't start with this. It is very much fantasy fantasy and I found myself confused and a bit flustered at times (and I read fantasy like people need to eat food). Not to mention the first page has a map, when a book has a goddamn map you know already it's gonna be hardcore. 

I'm writing this review, probably around three of four days after I've finished the book. (1) I do this because it helps me digest my feelings towards a book (2) I am very lazy.

Here's an interesting fact: Whilst physically reading the book I found myself so engrossed, I even found myself 'aww'-ing in appropriate moments of the novel (I don't usually do this tbh). However once I finished reading the book and put off reviewing it for a couple of days just to digest my feelings, I realised there wasn't much I remembered about the book......what. 

It's not the inexcusable nutcase of 'she's totally forgot everything', 'she doesn't remember a thing' kinda situations because I do remember literally all of it and I can recall all the important moments of the book it's just all my feelings whilst reading the book are gone and it now just feels like 'ehh another book' even though I'd kill someone for this book. I hope we've all established now that I'm a freak......a v cool one though. 

This is a Young Adult, Fantasy trilogy like I said before and all three books are all out and I cannot wait to get my hands on Siege and Storm the second book in this trilogy, I've ordered online and I should be getting in the mail any day now, I'm to excited. The books themselves are so gorgeous! I have the first book (the picture above) in (I think, not sure) a limited edition print and it's PURPLE. 

I flew through the first book like a drive through and I can only imagine how fast I'll read the next two. 

These characters are so well written and so loveable, I miss them already. The main: Alina Starkov I didn't mind too much, I thought she was very much similar to me in the sense our minds work pretty much the same way. She was alright. She was fine, and I think the reason I don't find myself ogling at the book anymore was because even though these characters are so loveable in the moment, once you finish the book it's like 'Oh that was okay I guess, I'll go eat some cookies now'.

Alina starts off very bitter. She compares herself to all the other beautiful Grisha girls, again quite realistic and I like how Leigh Bardugo didn't make her the not-pretty-but-then-she-finds-a-guy-and-she-becomes-pretty, like I hate that. Why can't authors make realistic heroines for their books??!??!? I will never understand. So like I said in the beginning I thought Alina was pretty realistic but then we progress and I start to see that she is very much like Bella Swan. However Alina is much more better than Bella, this was a very bad comparison I'm sorry. I still really like her though I hope she gets better.

Some people may say she is a bit wimpy and I understand where you're coming from but COME ON lets see you do better. It's one of those situations where you try and picture yourself; finding out you have a freaking sun inside your cells (not literally), like how would you deal with that! I thought it was realistic and fabulous! She definitely develops over the course of the book and I'm very certain at the end of the series she will bloom like a beautiful flower.  

This idea that Leigh Bardugo had for this series was epic, I mean at the beginning I was confused (so, so confused) but you gotta give it a chance and it just gets so much better. I do have to say that there is limited world building for such a complex world that she has in mind and I would like to have had more world building in the book, never the less I enjoyed it very much and her writing is as fluid as water. There is a type of lingo going on but every fantasy book has a lingo going on. 

I'm not exactly sure whether there is a love triangle going on here but this is one of the most interesting triangles ever! I mean so many plot twists you cannot resist but enjoy it. The Darkling, *swoons* goodness me how sexy does that sound? Maybe Leigh Bardugo has this all under control and I just gotta read the next book to really be head over heels over this series. 

I really recommend you give this a shot! Can I also just mention there is some amazing fan art out there based around this book. So swoon worthy. 

Four | Veronica Roth

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ . 5 

I made my little sis pose for this. She hates me now. 

I had so much fun reading this and jumping back into this fantastic world Veronica Roth has created, I didn't know I actually missed it until I started this book and familiarizing myself with the world again. When I first heard Veronica was going to write this companion novel I was like "No, just leave the series as it is!" and I wanted nothing to do with it because once authors do this (after they complete a last book in their series) they start writing other character perspectives and it gets complicated and stupid. 

However this was as I said not something I planned on reading but.... I was casually eyeing books in a bookstore (as you do) and I came across this (it also didn't help that the cover was gorgeous) and I caved in. I don't even regret it. It wasn't 'AMAZING GO BUY THE BOOK NOW OMG I CANNOT LIVE!' but it was alright and it was everything I wanted in the Divergent books that I didn't get but now sorta know about Four. I gave it a 3.5 star rating out of 5. 

Obviously this may be a bit odd for people who have picked this book up not have read the Divergent books beforehand; all I have to say to you is whyyyyyy go read Divergent then Insurgent then (with some tissues) Allegiant. Seriously though I recommend reading the actual books before this otherwise you won't know a flipping flick about whats going on and what is happening. You may understand some of it but then it gets complex and you dead. 

The book is split into 4 short stories (get it 4, Four...h...a........wow I'm hilarious)

...and they are all  just GREAT! 

This book straight up is about Four (wow who knew), behind the scenes that we didn't get in the Divergent books as it mainly followed Tris's pov. We found out what he was up to before the Divergent books and his past that we get a vague synopsis off in the Divergent books. It's similar to Untie Me (if im right?) by Tahereh Mafi which is a novella about Warner and it's all about his past. It's basically a novella in some sense. 

Not only do we get so much more of Four but we also get more of the rest of the Dauntless initiates/borns like Zeke, Shauna, Eric and others, we see the friendships and the hateships as well. We do also get in the last short story where Tris has joined as well *squeals* 

I fell in love with Four again, I loved him in the Divergent series but in this book where he is stripped of everything and we get the raw past it was quite emotional and I loved him even more. The first third of the book was a bit depressing (not the writing definitely not the writing) because of the situation Four had been in with corresponds to his childhood. 

The writing was fantastic, Veronica Roth takes it home every-time, I actually have nothing to say. Her writing is so bland (in a good way) you understand everything, it's also very fluid and at times hilarious. She's also a very lovely person, you all should follow her on tumblr, she's great! 

I feel as though people love Tris more from the actual books and don't get me wrong I love her too she is one of my favourite female heroines ever it's just I think people underestimate Four and how amazing he really is. This was just a fast pace read and I enjoyed every moment of it. Veronica Roth is a godess! 

Champion | Marie Lu

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Actually so sad that this series has concluded for me. I absolutely fell in love with all these characters and tears were shed, I highly, highly recommend this series to literally anyone who's a bibliophile; a bonus if you're a dystopian fan.

It's not a typical dystopian; throwing around cliche words of rebellion. I'm really gonna miss reading about these characters *sighs* it was bound to happen, goddammit it happened again, I keep getting attached to stacks of paper. This is so ridiculous!


I didn't think I was going to love this series as much as I do; when I first started it with Legend- the first book in this series I was very iffy about it. There was insta-love and that degraded the whole book for me, I just...why....but you have to get to reading further and more of these characters to really understand. It truly gets better as it progresses, everything clicks although your heart shatters.

This whole series started with hella action and ended with hella more. Very fast pace and filled with so much suspense to keep you on edge. Prodigy (the second book) ended with some shocking facts about Day that I'm sure killed all us readers and the fact I read this series way, way after if came out I luckily had all three books in my possession. I seriously feel for all of you who finished Prodigy and didn't have Champion, wow the struggle it must have been.

All the books in this series are written in duel perspectives and in Legend- Day's perspective was written in yellow ink; in Prodigy it was blue and in the final book Champion it was red.

I was constantly figuring out how this would end as there is only so many ways it could, although this was the case Marie Lu keeps you thinking and thinking, and never in a million years would I have imagined it to conclude the way it has- it didn't disappoint.

The one thing that I will probably remember the most of Lu's writing would be the way she writes her characters- Day and June, or you could say the way she has developed them. Both these main characters have come such a long way from the beginning and this is why I strongly urge you to continue this series after the first book. You can really see how this journey has taken these characters to extreme lengths and how they have bloomed at the end of this fabulous series and that's why I love reading well crafted young-adult. June and Day are such loveable characters, you really can't forget them.

Around the last third of the book was where I really found myself flustered and brimming with tears. Just so much happens and you just gotta let it all out sometimes, I never really cry in books and it takes a skilled writer to bring tears to my eyes and to keep me questioning motives. Marie Lu is such a talented writing and I think everyone should read her books. Life is way to short to be reading crap books written by crap writers!

I put off reviewing this for around a week because I didn't know how I would approach this review because of everything that happens in this book, but if there is one thing I can write properly it would be: that I don't regret picking up this series.

It's actually over. I can't. 

▲ September tbr ▲

Haven't done a tbr list since June/July. I didn't do one for August cause that was a terrible reading month for me, the reading slump hit hard. In August I only read four book: Legend, Prodigy, IT and Landline and I have reviews for all four books. Obviously the reading slump was a buzz kill and I hope to do better in September and I plan to reading quite a bit having got out of my slump.

From top to bottom:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling 

Four by Veronica Roth 

Cress by Marissa Meyer 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (if you didn't know already...)

+ Champion by Marie Lu (which isn't in the picture because it was a spur of the moment buy and I've already finished reading it. 

Thats a grand (maybe not so grand) total of seven books, considering I just got out of a reading slump for a month and a half I think it's pretty alright. I may also switch out books for other books depending of my mood because I don't really like having a fixed tbr it makes me paranoid. 

I've already started Deathly Hallows and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe in early July but haven't completed finished either because of the many other books that suck the living out of me. Although I've already read Champion and :O 

I'm also trying to read more classics, this is because most of the conversations I tend to have with people (mostly a new adults/adults) about books always lead to classics and their favourites or which they dislike and I haven't read a whole lot of classics. I'm starting slow but I'll get there. If you have any classics that you love and would like me to read just let me know, I would be delighted to check them out. 

***p.s I'm like two books away from my 2014 reading challenge of 50 books, although all my friends say I could have done than and I should have done 100 instead, I am still quite proud (and yeah I should have done 100 but w/e). 

How many books have you read so far this year or how close are you to your goal?

~Hope you all have a great September and a lovely reading month.