Bout of Books Read a Thon 9.0

It is time for another Bout of Books read a thon. This will be my 8th time participating in the read a thon. I love  it and encourage everyone to join. I am going to keep my goals low this time. I know I probably will not get through all these books, but I always love to try :)

My goals

Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire

No Place Like Oz- Danielle Paige

The Pilot's Wife- Anita Shreve

The Cuckoo's Calling- Robert Galbraith

Stacking the Shelves (Christmas Edition)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I hope this will be my last haul for awhile because it is crazy huge. I got a ton of books for Christmas then gift cards so I bought a whole lot of books. I have put in another order but it is a pre-order so I will be waiting awhile. I asked for the other books I ordered to come when the pre-order does since I have so many to read already so I am in no rush.  I hope you had a great Christmas if you celebrate and if you do not then I hope you had a great holiday :)

Bought New (Kindle)
Reason to Breathe- Rebecca Donovon ($2.12)
Barley Breathing-  Rebecca Donovon ($2.12)
Out of Breath- Rebecca Donovon ($2.12)
Shadow of Night- Deborah Harkness ($2.25)
The Bone Season- Samantha Shannon ($1.99)
Soulless- Gail Carriger ($1.99)

Gifted (including gift cards)
Crush- Nicole Williams
The Rosie Project- Graeme Simsion
Amy and Roger's Epic Detour- Morgan Matson
The Bronze Horseman- Paullina Simons
Lola and the Boy Next Door- Stephanie Perkins
The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfuss
Noughts and Crosses- Malorie Blackman
Birdsongs- Sebastian Faulks
It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini
Ready,Player One- Ernest Cline
The Hunger Games Trilogy
Harry Potter 15th Anniversary Edition Box Set- J.K. Rowling

Borrowed
The Pilot's Wife- Anita Shreve
Sever- Lauren DeStefano 
Barney's Version- Mordecai Richler
Dexter in the Dark- Jeff Lindsay

What books did you get?

Booktube a thon Wrap-up

I did surprisingly well with my list. I finished two of the three books I put on my list. I did not get any reading done on the first two days but on the Sunday I managed to get two books read. This is a super late post, I have had no time to do anything it seems unfortunately.  

The List
Something Real- Heather Demetrios
Fracture Me- Tahereh Mafi
September Girls- Bennett Madison

Stacking the Shelves (101)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This week was super busy so I did not get that much reading done but I still managed to accumulate books.

Bought Used
Walking Disaster- Jamie McGuire
Valiant- Holly Black
Wallbanger- Alice Clayton

Bought New (Kindle)
Fracture Me- Tahereh Mafi
Rule- Jay Crownover
The Pledge- Kimberly Derting 

Borrowed from the Library
How to Love- Katie Cotugno

Gifted
The Summer Garden- Paulina Simons 
The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield

What did you get this week?

Booktube a thon: Christmas Edition

I have been a complete slacker this month for posting and reading so I am hoping the booktube a thon will help me out. I am keeping my list super short because I have to work Friday and this weekend I am getting together with friends before the holiday so I do not have a ton of free time but I am still determined to get some reading done. 
This is not a set list because I am just giving myself some options

The List
Something Real- Heather Demetrios
Fracture Me- Tahereh Mafi
September Girls- Bennett Madison

Hidden Girl- Shyima Hall

Title: Hidden Girl
Author: Shyima Hall
Source: Blogger meet up grab bag
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4/5
Publication Date: January 21 2014








Goodreads Summary:
Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude—but her journey to true freedom was far from over.

Shyima was born in Egypt where it is common for parents who are poor to sell their children into slavery. She was sold off when she was eight years old to make money for her family and to also pay back for the money her sister stole when she worked for the same family. Shyima lived with the family in Egypt until they moved to the United States and brought her with them. She continued to be enslaved for a number of years until someone called the local police department and she was rescued.

This story is a heartbreaking story. Shyima gives a unabashed description about her life as a child slave. Her family was upset with her once she was rescued and told her to go back because she was no longer making money for her family that sold her off. She bravely stood up for herself and even spoke about her experience in court to be able to have the people who enslaved her prosecuted.  Even after her rescue she deals with the anxiety and depression of missing out on so much of her childhood and trying to find a place to call home and redefining her belief of what a family is. 

This is a page turner. I highly recommend it. Shyima not only told her story of being sold into slavery but she also gave an account of what she dealt with after being rescued and how hard it was for her to adjust to being a normal teenager and how people still tried to take advantage of her even though they were suppose to be people helping her. I gave this a 4.5.

Stacking the Shelves (100)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This is my 100th stacking the shelves. I have bought a lot of books over the course of starting Stacking the Shelves. Amazon had some amazing deals this week so I took advantage of them.

Bought New (Kindle)
Wait for you- J.Lynn 
The Testing- Joelle Charbonneau 
The One and Only Ivan-Katherine Applegate
Eleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell
The Lord of the Opium- Nancy Farmer
Uglies- Scott Westerfeld

Reading Resolutions for 2014

I gave myself some reading resolutions last year and I found that I did stick to them...mostly and they did help me a lot so I decided to do the same thing this year since 2014 is going to be a crazy year.I am getting married in June and I still have a ton to do.

These are goals that I know I can achieve and it will keep me from stressing out too much :).

1) Read one e-book a month. I try to do this now but some months I do not use my kindle at all so I want to use it more because I really do love having  it.

2) For every library book I read, read one of my own books. I get caught up with all the pretty new books I get from the library that I neglect the books sitting on my shelves so if I force myself to read one of my own books for each library book I own I will feel less guilty.

3) Read one book I own for every book I buy. I buy a lot of books, I can admit it so I need to read more of what I already own.

4) Finish the incomplete series on my shelves. I made a post about this last month. I have a lot of series where I have the entire series but I never finished it or I have not started it so I am going to try to put a book from that list on my TBR each month.

5) Read every day. I try to read every single day at least a little but but sometimes I slack off. I really enjoyed pushing myself to read every day this year even if it was only for 10 minutes so I want to do it again.

7) Stick to my monthly TBR. I am guilty of consistently not finishing my TBR, but I need to force myself to do it because I put every single book on their for a reason and when I do not read it when I have put it on my TBR it usually takes me awhile to get back to it.

8) Re-read more. I love re-reading books and this is why I buy my favorites but I feel guilty for re-reading a book because I  have so many unread books so I am going to try to re-read one book a month.

9) Read big books.  They are intimidating but I need to get past it and read them.

10) Get out of my reading comfort zone. I try to read from a variety of different genres but I know I still hesitate sometimes with a genre I am unsure of so I need to stop hesitating and try it out.

What are your reading resolutions? Let me know :)

The Book Addicts Reading Goal

I participate every year in the The Book Addicts reading challenge. I made a list awhile ago but I finally narrowed it down.

1) The Demon King- Cinda Williams Chima
2) Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire
3) Blood Promise- Richelle Mead
4) Nightshade- Andrea Cremer
5) The Dark Heroine- Abigail Gibbs
6) Slated- Teri Terry
7) The Black Echo- Michael Connelly 
8) Jessica Z- Shawn Klomparens
9) Fall On Your Knees-  Ann-marie MacDonald
10) The Rules of Civility- Amor Towles
11) Shine- Jeri Smith-Ready
12) Across A Star-Swept Sea- Diana Peterfreund


Alternatives:

13) Lucid- Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass
14) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling

Stacking the Shelves (99)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I bought way to many books this week but with the Cyber Monday deals and the Kindle monthly and daily deals running I found a lot of interesting books for cheap. I need to go on a book buying ban...starting in January of course.

Bought New
To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee (I own 3 copies now)
Crash and Burn- Michael Hassan
Insignia- S.J. Kincaid (Kindle)
The School of Good and Evil- Soman Chainani (kindle)
A Coalition of Lions- Elizabeth Wein (kindle)
Poison Princess- Kresley Cole (kindle- 99 cents)
Shadows- Jennifer L. Armentrout (free on kindle)
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging- Louise Rennison (kindle)
The Goldfinch- Donna Tartt ($2.99 on kindle)
Burial Rights- Hannah Kent ($2.99 on kindle)
Altered- Jennifer Rush

Borrowed from the Library
Finding it- Cora Carmack
September Girls- Bennett Madison

November Wrap Up

This month was a good reading month. I read through my TBR pretty early on in the month and so I got a lot of my own books read. I did a lot of shelf cleaning this month. I read a lot of the novellas that have been piling up on my Kindle and a lot of books I picked up but never really put on my TBR to clear them out and make room for books I hope I get for Christmas :)

November's TBR
The Ninth Wife- Amy Stolls
Gone- Michael Grant (started-need to finish)
Iron's Prophecy- Julie Kagawa
Silent Harmony- Michele Scott
The Book Thief-Markus Zuzak (Re-Read)
This Song Will Save Your Life- Leila Sales

Books I own: 19
For Review: 1
Borrowed: 9
E-Books: 9
Total: 29

Gone- Michael Grant
Iron's Prophecy- Julie Kagawa
Silent Harmony- Michele Scott
This Song Will Save Your Life- Leila Sales
Just One Year- Gayle Forman
Fear: Inaccurate Realities- Multiple authors
The Ninth Wife- Amy Stolls
Macbeth- William Shakespeare
Dairy Queen- Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Alice in Zombieland- Gena Showalter
The Book Thief-Markus Zuzak
The 19th Wife- David Ebershoff
Tin Star- Cecilia Castellucci
Assassin Study- Maria V. Snyder
Zom-B- Darren Shan
The Aftermath- Rhidian Brook
Quidditch Through the Ages
The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman
Warm Up- Victoria Schwab
Takedown Twenty- Janet Evanovich
The Beginning of Everything- Robyn Schneider
The Space Between Us- Jessica Martinez
The Meeting- Richelle Mead 
Wild Cards- Simone Elkeles
Night of Cake and Puppets- Laini Taylor
The First Star to Fall- Diana Peterfreund
Orange is the New Black- Piper Kerman
Lovestruck Summer- Melissa Walker
Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Jeff Kinney

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten Tuesday topic is top ten 2014 releases I am dying to read

1) Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi

2) Dreams of Gods and Monsters- Laini Taylor

3) Cress- Malissa Meyer

4) The Retribution of Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkins

5) Rise and Ruin- Leigh Bardugo

6) Mortal Heart- R.L. LaFevers

7) Split Second- Kasie West

8) City of Heavenly Fire- Cassandra Clare
9) Panic- Lauren Oliver
10) Renegade (Mila 2.0)- Debra Driza

Stacking the Shelves (98)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

How is it that it is already December?! This entire year feels like it just started. This is by birthday hall and books that somehow find their way to me. I also got some delicious tea from David's Tea.

Bought New
Pushing the Limits- Katie McGarry (kindle)
Night of Cake and Puppets- Laini Taylor (kindle)
The First Star To Fall -Diana Peterfreund (free on kindle)
The Rose of Fire- Carlos Ruiz Zafon (free on kindle)
Throne of Glass- Sarah J. Maas (Black Friday kindle deal)
Savages- Don Winslow (Black Friday kindle deal)
Ella Enchanted- Gail Carson Levine (Black Friday kindle deal)

Borrowed from the Library
More Than This- Patrick Ness
The Bone Season- Samantha Shannon

Gifted 
Orange is the New Black- Piper Kerman
Ready, Player One- Ernest Cline
The fiancee also bought me a travel mug for my tea that keeps it warm for hours to go along with my new books :)

December TBR

December is going to be a crazy month. Christmas is crazy around here which means I do not normally get a ton of reading but this is my ambitious TBR.

The List
The Luxe- Anna Godbersen
The Painted Girls- Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King
Winger- Andrew Smith
Hidden Girl- Shyima Hall
Year of Mistake Discoveries- Eileen Cook
Something Real- Heather Demetrios
More Than This- Patrick Ness
The Bone Season- Samantha Shannon

Incomplete Series

I am completely and utterly awful at completing series. I can admit this and I am trying my best to do better and finish a series once I start it. I have listed my most shameful un-finished series that I own the complete series and it is my goal to finish them in 2014. 

1) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter Series)- J.K. Rowling

2) Rules of Attraction and Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry Series)- Simone Elkeles

3) Fourth Comings and Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling Series)- Megan McCafferty

4) Fire and Bitter Blue (Graceling Realm)- Kristen Cashore

5) Shine (Shade Series)- Jeri Smih-Ready

5) Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy)- Richelle Mead 

6) Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls)- Maggie Stiefvater

7) Eona (Eon)- Alison Goodman

8) The Alibi Man (Elena Estes) - Tami Hoag

9) Hallowed and Boundless (Unearthly series)- Cynthia Hand

What series do you need to complete?

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Author: Neil Gaiman
Source: Borrowed from the library
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4/5









Goodreads Summary:
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

I have read a few Gaiman books and I have to admit this is my favorite. It quite a short novel but there is a lot of story packed into this 180 pages.

The story begins with a man returning to his childhood home for a funeral. The home he remembers as a child was demolish a long time ago but he feels an urge to visit the farm at the end of the road. He falls into a memory of when he was seven and he meet Lettie Hempstock who lived at the farm and told him that the pond at the end of the lane was an ocean.

Lettie is a girl who is a little older than the main character but befriends him and saves him from strange and dangerous things when he is a boy. I really enjoyed the friendship between these two characters. The protagonist family falls into the background of the story and they are not really developed throughout the story. Lettie's grandmother and her mother are more dominate characters in this story. I loved all of these characters, even the wicked ones. 

The story was strange and whimsical. The plot is a little incomplete. There is a lot of ideas  and bits of back story thrown into this novel but I do not feel like we really ever truly find out much about why there is an ocean at the end of the lane or really any details about the characters. I did not notice this until I finished the book then I started to think of all of the things that were left unanswered. This was a really great book and I do highly recommend it. I hope this story or at least the world we glimpse in this story is continued on in the future.

Stacking the Shelves (97)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Bought New
Falling Kingdoms- Morgan Rhodes (kindle)
Tears for Tess- Pepper Winters (kindle)
World After- Susan Ee (kindle)
Takedown Twenty- Janet Evanovich
Finnikin of the Rock- Melina Marchetta (kindle)
11/23/63- Stephen King (kindle)
Warm Up- Victoria Schwab (kindle)

For Review
Cress- Marissa Meyer (This is on my most anticipated books of 2014 list!)

Dairy Queen- Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Title: Dairy Queen
Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Source: Bought new (kindle)
Series: Yes
Rating: 4/5









Goodreads Summary:

After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

D.J. is in charge of running her family's farm after her father injures himself. D.J. makes a deal with the quarterback of her high school rival team. Brian, the rival quarterback agrees to help D.J. on her family's farm if she will train him.

I was really put off by the idea of this book. A girl who is running her families farm and wants to be a football player? I thought it sounded a little odd but I seen tons of awesome things about it so when it went on sale on Kindle I grabbed it.

I like seeing the world form D.J.'s point of view. She is not the most popular girl and her biggest concern is taking care of the family farm. She was such a different character than most girls in YA novels.  I wish she would have stood up for herself a little earlier but that is really the only thing I could really fault her on. Brian was kind of a jerk. No, actually he was a jerk for most of the book. He had his nice moments then he went back to being a pretty big jerk, mostly to D.J. . He does end up being pretty charming. My favorite character was Curtis. He is just so sweet and ahhh. No words for how cute he is. He is just so quite but he has a lot of things boiling under the surface that he does not share with anyone. 

The story is a little odd and does take awhile to get into. The idea of a girl playing football is not a new one but the way the author took the story and made it into this amazing, cute book was spectacular. D.J's older brother played football and she decides she wants to join the team. The only problem is her dad stopped talking to her two older brothers when they left for college and continued to play football and of course the small fact that her school only has a boys team. D.J. works hard to make it onto the team but if the team votes not to let her play, all her hard work will be for nothing.

I must apologize for my rambling review of this book. I just really liked it and my thoughts are all over the place with it. If you have not picked this book up, I highly recommend you do. It has it's light and heavy moments. I gave it a 4/5.

Zom-B- Darren Shan

Title: Zom-B
Author: Darren Shan
Source: Bought used
Series: Yes
Rating: 2/5








Goodreads Summary:

At first no one believes the images on YouTube are real: zombies devastating Ireland, leaving villages in ruins and mutilated corpses in their wake. Teenager "B Smith" is far more concerned with surviving high school and a volatile home life than an invasion of hungry zombies. But as the carnage spreads across the U.K., B must face a horrifying prospect. While a lucky few may outrun the zombies, many will fall... and some will be forced to join the army of the undead.

I have heard a lot of good things about Darren Chan so I decided to give one of his books a try. Unfortunately, it was disappointing.

The main character is B who is a girl which came as a surprise because of how the character was portrayed. Her father is abusive to her and her mother and is a racist. B is also a bully and a racist even thought she tries to tell herself something different. I was not a fan of any of the characters. I thought B was a terrible character. She was very racist and it was hard to get past that and try to get into the story. The zombies are talked about in the beginning of the novel but they do not really make an appearance in the story until the second half of the novel.

I like the premise of this novel but the plot and the characters fell flat for me. I do not think I will continue with this series and I will pass my copy along as it just was not for me. I may give Darren Chan another chance and see if I change my opinion. 

Stacking the Shelves (96)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I got a lot of books this week, everything I bought was a super deal. The kindle books were $2 each and the other two were under $7 each :)

Bought New
Reboot- Amy Tintera (kindle)
No Place Like Oz- Danielle Paige (kindle)
The Burning Sky- Sherry Thomas (kindle)
The Art of Fielding- Chard Harbach
Bunheads- Sophie Flack

For Review
Tin Star- Cecil Castellucci
Something Real- Heather Demetrios

Borrowed From the Library
The Aftermath- Rhidian Brook
The 19th Wife- David Ebershoff
Wild Cards- Simone Elkeles
The Beginning of Everything- Robyn Schneider
The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman

What did your get this week?

Alice in Zombieland- Gina Showalter

Title: Alice in Zombieland 
Author: Gina Showalter
Source: Borrowed from the library
Series: Yes
Rating: 2.5/5















Goodreads Summary:
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish

There was a lot of buzz surrounding this book and it sounded like an interesting premise so I was interested in reading it and finding out what it was about. I have to say I was not left feeling satisfied once I finished this book.

The big thing for me was the characters. I had a hard time relating to the main character and I found her childish and frustrating. I understand part of this is her age but I felt like her younger sister was more mature and well rounded while Alice acted like the younger of the two. Alice seems to constantly put herself in situations where she needs to be saved. She continued to make the same mistakes over and over again. The love interest was also not an overly likable character.  He was dark and broody and a little controlling which was not overly appealing. The side characters, including Alice's sister and her friends were the ones who really made the story.

The premise and the beginning of the story captured my attention immediately. The story starts with Alice losing her parents and her sister. She is taken in by her grandparents who were not a pleased when Alice's mother married her father. She meets a girl in the summer who becomes her friend at school  and introduces her inadvertently to  Cole who makes Alice see unusual things. 

I do have a copy of the second book and I will eventually get to reading it. I thought the story was ok.  I hope there will be more development and growth in the next book in this series.

Stacking the Shelves (95)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This is my gigantic haul from the Ontario Blogger Meet up. I met lots of awesome blogger's, ate some very delicious food and got tons of awesome books that I cannot wait to dive right into. If you are a book blogger in Ontario I suggest you check out the meet up. It is so much fun :)

Swap/Giveaway
A Midsummer's Nightmare- Kody Keplinger
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle- Haruki Murakami
Chopsticks- Jessica Anthony, Rodrigo Corral
Inedible- Dawn Metcalf
Warm Bodies- Issac Marion
Through the Zombie Glass- Gina Showalter
Year of Mistake Discoveries- Eileen Cook
Hidden Girls- Shyima Hall
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B- Teresa Toten
A Beautiful Dark- Jocelyn Davies

Gift Bag
The Blessings- Elise Juska
Find Me- Romily Bernard
Witchstruck- Victoria Lamb
The Girl With All the Gifts- M.R. Carey

Borrowed
Just One Year- Gayle Forman
Alice in Zombie Land- Gina Showalter

Bought New
Fear by Inaccurate Realities Volume 1 (A YA speculative fiction magazine)
The Darkest Minds- Alexandra Bracken
Stir-Fry- Emma Donoghue (I went to a reading and bought this and got my copy of Room signed also :) )

Bought Used (Store credit)
Bridge to Terabithia- Katherine Paterson

What did you get this week?

This Song Will Save Your Life- Leila Sales

Title: This Song Will Save Your Life
Author: Leila Sales
Source: Borrowed from the library
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4/5








Goodreads Summary:

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Elsie has trouble making friends, she has always been an outsider. She has never found anyone that shares her move of music outside of her family. She gives one final attempt to be popular and when that fails she debates giving up on everything until she discovers a underground night club called Start. She meets Pippa and Vicky who accept her and introduce her to Char who is the DJ at the club. She is given the opportunity to learn how to become a DJ. Elsie soon discovers how much she loves DJing and her nightlife. She continues to DJing even when it starts to cause problems with her family.

It took me awhile to like Elsie. She was a little frustrating at first, I felt like the author portrayed a high school really well and I sympathized with Elsie but I did not like how she turned her back on her family. Once she discovers Start she becomes a lot more confident in herself and her abilities. Vicky is one of the girls who introduces Elsie to Start. Vicky is in a band with her brother who is completely adorable. Vicky and her brother have great banter that brings a funnier side to this serious novel. Pippa is the second girl who introduces Elsie to Start. It soon becomes apparent that Pippa has a lot more to her than this happy go lucky party girl that comes out to Start with Vicky and Char.

I loved the story. There is a ton of music references but there was a lot of bands I have heard of so I did not feel a disconnect from the story at any point. I really enjoyed the story of Elsie and how she becomes this strong character that does not let anyone walk all over her. I was skeptical  at first but it was really good. I gave it a 4/5.

Allegiant- Veronica Roth

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Source: Bought New
Series: Yes
Rating: 5/5








***This review will contain spoilers***

Goodreads Summary:
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

This review has taken me a few days to write because it took me a little while to get my thoughts together. I am still in shock but I think I will be for a long time. I bought this the day it released and started reading it immediately but I took my time with it. I wanted to rush through and read it quickly but I made myself slow down and savor the story. I avoided the internet and reviews until after I finished it to make sure I was not going to be spoiled. 

This picks up where Insurgent left off. Tris and Tobias are still in Chicago and the city is still being run by Evelyn. The story is a dual point of view from both Tris and Tobias. A lot of things come out during this book and not all of them are so nice. This book I think was the darkest of the series, the flaws in the characters become apparent. A lot is revealed about Tobias that really surprise me. This almost sinister side of him becomes very apparent in this novel. He does not heed Tris's warning about Nita and blindly follows her instructions where Uriah is hurt badly.  Tris has grown a lot as a character since the beginning when she was just a girl from the abnegation faction to this girl who left her family behind to join the dauntless. She was very mature and level headed throughout the book. Her and Four still fought but I felt like she handled it like an adult and took it all in stride. I feel like she grew into this amazing well rounded character. Caleb is still a jerk. He tried to repair things with his sister but he still when he can takes the cowards way out of things and Tris never fully trust him again.

The plot was crazy. It starts with them leaving the city and going to the outside then they discover David who tells them their entire city is a experiment and there is no such thing as divergent. They are divided by being genetically pure and genetically damaged. The pure are mostly the scientist who are running the experiments while the GD are trying to cause an conflict. The creations of the factions are finally given an explanation and how Chicago is not the only "experiment". This book gave a lot of back story to the unanswered questions.

The ending was sad. I knew something was coming but I was not completely sure what it was. When it was announced that their would be a dual point of view I got suspicious of what was going to happen but I was in complete denial. I hated that both Uriah and Tris died in this novel. They were both such amazing characters and I know that this is the only ending that fits the series but I am still sad and in shock. I was happy that Tris got to see her mother in the end but still. Tobias is completely heart-broken and becomes very withdrawn. The epilogue is 2 1/2 years later when Tris's friends and Tobias are preparing to scatter her ashes. Tobias is just starting to heal very slowly. It hurt to see him so heart-broken. This ending was really amazing. I am sad about how it ended but I don't think their could have been another ending that could have made this series end on such a spectacular note. I love this entire series and I gave Allegiant a 5/5.

Stacking the Shelves (94)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I attended the Ontario Blogger Meet up this weekend and got a ton of awesome books which I will show in a haul next week. It deserves a whole post to itself. I have have a ton of books this week that I accumulated somehow. My BookCloseOuts ordered arrived and Kindle had a ton of awesome deals this week so I have a lot of books.

Bought New (Kindle)
Winger- Andrew Smith
Perfect Ruin- Lauren DeStefano
Dust of 100 Dogs- A.S. King
Another Little Piece- Kate Karyus Quinn
Stir Me Up- Sabrina Elkins
The Tragedy Paper- Elizabeth LaBan
A Spy in the House: Agency Series- Y.S. Lee

Library Sale
A Little Wanting Song- Cath Crowley (paperback)

Borrowed from the Library
This Song Will Save Your Life-Leila Sales
The Ninth Wife- Amy Stolls

Bought New (BookCloseOuts)
Flying Changes- Sara Gruen (birthday present- I already own this one)
Cinder- Melissa Meyer (hardcover)
Scarlet- Melissa Meyer (hardcover)
Sapphire Blue- Kerstin Gier (hardcover)
Hallowed- Cynthia Hand (paperback)
Boundless- Cynthia Hand (hardcover)

October Wrap Up

October was a crazy busy month but I did manage to get some reading done somehow. My birthday is in November and I took some days off around my birthday so hopefully I will get a ton of reading done. Fingers crossed.

October's TBR
MaddAddam- Margaret Atwood (Started but need to finish)
The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman 
Gone-Michael Grant (I started this one so I hope to finish it this month)
My Life Next Door- Huntley Fitzpatrick
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock- Matthew Quick
Rose Under Fire- Elizabeth Wein
On Dublin Street- Samantha Young

The List
Borrowed from the Library: 12
Books I own: 5
E-Books: 1
Total: 17

MaddAddam- Margaret Atwood
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock- Matthew Quick
The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
Rose Under Fire- ElizabethWein
On Dublin Street- Samantha Young
A Really Awesome Mess- Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown- Holly Black
Thornhill- Katherine Peacock
Vicious- V.E Schwab
Starry Nights- Daisy Whitney
Asylum- Madeleine Roux
My Life Next Door- Huntley Fitzpatrick
Smoke- Ellen Hopkins
Allegiant- Veronica Roth
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies- Sonya Sones
Omens- Kelley Armstrong
Where'd You Go Bernadette?- Maria Semple

November TBR

Happy Halloween! I hope you are enjoying lots of delicious candy. This month should be a little less hectic so I hope to get a little more reading done. I have a lot of books that might come in from the library so I will leave this pretty short.

The List
The Ninth Wife- Amy Stolls
Gone- Michael Grant (started-need to finish)
Iron's Prophecy- Julie Kagawa
Silent Harmony- Michele Scott
The Book Thief-Markus Zuzak (Re-Read)
This Song Will Save Your Life- Leila Sales

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish.

I do not generally read a ton of creepy books because I do the most reading before I go to bed and usually I go to bed before my fiance so I hate freaking myself out, especially when he's not come but I did manage to locate some creepy books I have read.

1) The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
2) Asylum- Madeleine Roux
3) The Coldest Girl in Coldtown- Holly Black
4) I Hunt Killers- Berry Lyga
5) Doll Bones- Holly Black
6) Ten- Gretchen McNeil
7) Anna Dressed in Blood- Kendare Blake
8) In The Shadow of Blackbirds- Cat Winters
10) The Madman's Daughter- Megan Sheppard

Stacking the Shelves (93)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I have way to many books this week. I need to start reading the books I have because they are piling up not only in my house but also on my Kindle. What did you get?

Bought New (Kindle and Chapters)
Allegiant- Veronica Roth 
Slated- Teri Terry
A Little Too Far- Lisa Desrochers (Kindle)
Silent Harmony- Michele Scott (Kindle)
Iron's Prophecy- Julie Kagawa (Kindle-free)
The Program- Suzanne Young (Kindle)
The Fierce Reads Anthology- Multiple Authors (Free on Kindle)
The Fierce Reads Anthology: Volume 2- Multiple Authors (Free on Kindle)