Stacking the Shelves (123)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This is a massive stacking the shelves. My amazing husband bought me the Douglas Adams book set I have had my eye on for quite awhile and while I was away a ton of books came in from the library for me which is awesome.

Gifted
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
The Restaurant at the end of the Universe- Douglas Adams
Life, the Universe and Everything- Douglas Adams
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish- Douglas Adams
Mostly Harmless- Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently's Holstic Detective- Douglas Adams
The Salmon of Doubt- Douglas Adams
Saga: Volume 1- Brian K. Vaughan
The Rithmatist- Brandon Sanderson
Deep Blue- Jennifer Donnelly

Bought Used
On the Island- Tracey Garvis Graves

Borrowed from the Library
Frog Music- Emma Donoghue
Prisoner of Night and Fog- Anne Blankman
Sea of Shadows- Kelley Armstrong
Great- Sara Benincasa

Review of Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Title: Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Author: Laini Taylor
Source:  Bought new
Series: Yes
Rating: 4/5








Goodreads Summary:

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

*** This is the final book in the trilogy and this review will contain some spoilers to the first two books in the series ****.

This is the conclusion to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and I liked how it ended, but this book took me quite a while to get into which is not an issue I had with the previous two books in the series. I think this had to do with me partially and the changing views between different characters.

The story continues from where the second book left off. Karou is becoming more confident with her role, the only issue I had was I feel like she left Akiva out of a lot of what was going on with the battle against Jael. There was a lot of things I feel like she should have told Akiva instead of leaving him and the others in the dark. I loved that Zuzana and Mik were a large part of this novel as they have been since the beginning. I love that Laini includes Karou's best friends from the beginning to the end in her life, even when things are hard  and it is close to impossible to keep a friendship together she finds a way to do it. I love all of the characters in this novel, every single one, even the bad ones are intricately intertwined into the story.

I cannot say to much about the plot without giving a lot away. The plot slowly unrolled and once it did there was a lot happening all the way to the end.  The only thing I will recommend is stick with this book, I wanted to put this book down a few times, but I knew if I did I would regret it so I read slowly and loved it. This was a great end to the series and I am sad it is done but I am looking forward to more books from Laini Taylor.

Where I have been

I planned on having posts all done up until I got back from my vacation but I got super busy right before my wedding and did not have anytime for anything. This will just be a quick update on where I have been and what I am currently reading.

I got married (finally the day arrived. I felt like it was never going to get there with all of the last minute details that needed to be done) on the 13th and then the next day we headed to Detroit since we were flying out the next day for our "honeymoon" to Vegas. We are calling it our "honeymoon" since it was more of a trip with friends than our actual honeymoon. We went for five days and we took one of those days to drive to the Grand Canyon which is so amazing and I am so glad I was able to experience it with some of my closest friends. We had an amazing wedding and an amazing trip and sadly I have to go back to work tomorrow. 

This month for reading has not been great for reading (so far) and I don't think it is going to improve for a little while sadly. I am going to use July as my catch up month since I don't have anything planned for July.

I will try to schedule a few posts today, I have finished my running around and my loving husband is cleaning the house while I relax :). Have a great day!

The Last of Us Review- Neil Druckmann, Faith Erin Hicks

Title: The Last of Us
Author(s):  Neil Druckmann, Faith Erin Hicks
Source:  Bought New
Rating: 4/5









Goodreads Summary:
Nineteen years ago, a parasitic fungal outbreak killed the majority of the world's population. In one of the few remaining quarantine zones, thirteen-year-old Ellie begins her new life as a ward of a military boarding school, where a friendship with fellow student Riley leads to her first trip into the outside world. Beyond the walls of the regimented civil order they know, Ellie and Riley are soon confronted with the violent way of life of the insurgent group the Fireflies--and with the monstrous victims of infection.

This book is suppose to take place before the events in the game, The Last of Us. My fiancee is in love with this game and he made me watch him play most of it and it looks pretty good. This is a set of four graphic novels based on the word in the game with one of the main characters, Ellie. 

The story starts off with Ellie being brought into the military school for children. She is upset to be left there and does not take it well. She soon meets another girl named Riley who also is unhappy with the way they are living and they soon become friends. The world has been taken over by a disease which causes people who become zombies. In the game it does go further into detail about how the disease is started and spread and it is quite creepy. Riley wants to escape and meet the Fireflies who are a resistance group against the government.

Ellie's story is just starting to emerge in this story so I can't really say much without giving too much away. I recommend reading this version of the book if you can find it since it does have all four books in it and each individual book is not very long. I thought the book was interesting, and  the artwork is gorgeous. I highly recommend it.

Stacking the Shelves (122)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Borrowed from the Library
I Don't Want to be Crazy- Samantha Schutz
Dorothy Must Die- Danielle Paige
The Harlem Hellfighters- Max Brooks (more for the fiancee but I might read it too) 

Bought New
Crash Into You- Katie McGarry (Kindle)
The Last of Us: American Dream- Neil Druckmann, Faith Erin Hicks (I bought this for the fiancee but I already read it).

Vacation TBR

I will be heading to Las Vegas with some friends on Sunday to have a "honeymoon". We want to do our official honeymoon hopefully next year and go to Europe so this trip is just something fun to do after the wedding.

I am currently reading Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor but it's a beast and it is not the easiest thing to lug through the airport so I think I will be leaving it at home and taking some soft cover books.

My TBR:
It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini
Amy and Rogers Epic Detour- Morgan Matson
Find Me- Romily Bernard

I don't think I will finish all of these books, but we are driving to the grand canyon so I hope to get some reading done on the way. Let me know what I should read first.

May Wrap Up

The List

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho (re-read)
The Girl With All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Dreams of Gods and Monsters- Laini Taylor
Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi
Defiance- C.J. Redwine (started- need to finish in June)
Hungry- H.A. Swain (for review)
The Black Echo- Michael Connelly
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn

The other goals I setting for myself this month:
1) Buy less books than I read
2) Donate at least one book
3) Re-read at least one book


Book I own: 8
Borrowed: 5
E-Books: 0
Total: 13

Beautiful Stranger- Christina Lauren
Beautiful Bombshell- Christina Lauren
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn (for review)
The Black Echo- Michael Connelly
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal
Fly on the Wall- E. Lockhart
Hungry- H.A. Swain (for review)
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life- Bryan Lee O'Malley
The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho (re-read)
The Girl With All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
The Guard- Kiera Cass
Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong- Prudence Shen

Stacking the Shelves (121)/ Unhaul #5

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This week I finished Defiance and I liked it but I didn't love it so I am donating my physical copy since I still have a copy on my Kindle.

Bought Used
The Essential Spider-Man- Stan Lee (Found this at a garage sale for 50 cents)

Unhaul
Defiance- CJ Redwine

The Truth About Alice- Jennifer Mathieu

Title: The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Source: From the publisher
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4/5









Goodreads Summary:

Everyone has a lot to say about Alice Franklin, and it’s stopped mattering whether it’s true. The rumors started at a party when Alice supposedly had sex with two guys in one night. When school starts everyone almost forgets about Alice until one of those guys, super-popular Brandon, dies in a car wreck that was allegedly all Alice’s fault. Now the only friend she has is a boy who may be the only other person who knows the truth, but is too afraid to admit it. Told from the perspectives of popular girl Elaine, football star Josh, former outcast Kelsie, and shy genius Kurt, we see how everyone has a motive to bring – and keep – Alice down.

This is a super short book that delivers a powerful story.  The chapter's are each from a different point of view of people's opinion about Alice. We see how people who don't know Alice and people who were not even at the party perceive Alice and how a rumour at a party manages to turn almost an entire school against Alice and how powerful words can be. 

The story starts with every one's reactions to the humors that start flying about Alice after a party. The first rumour is Alice had sex with two guys in one night at the party. The rumours almost go unnoticed until one of the guys Alice is accused of sleeping with, Brandon dies in a car accident and Alice is blamed.  Her best friend turns on her and more humours start flying around. Alice tries her best to handle everything coming at her, but slowly Alice becomes more withdrawn. Kurt who has always admired Alice from a distance becomes her only friend. The story is told from the perspective of Josh who is a jock and a close friend of Brandon who first blames Alice for the accident. The other character who really causes tension is Kelsie who is Alice's ex-best friend. We also get a view of the story from the outside through the eyes of Kurt who is a shy genius who is biding his time until he can leave for college and finally from the point of view of Elaine who is Brandon's on and off girlfriend. The things they say and do to Alice are horrible, and sadly the things Alice goes through are things teenagers go through everyday. 

This author shows both the dark side and the good side of high school and I feel like she portrayed it realistically. Alice is clearly hurt by what is happening but she is resilient and she finds a way to make it through. Kurt is also an amazing character, he knows he is different but instead of shying away from this he embraces it and acknowledges how different he is from other people in his high school. The  secrets of the people who attack Alice starts to emerge and gives a lot of difference perspectives of the story. I love the ending of this book, it was not perfectly tied up and it was not a completely happy ending. There was a lot of things left unsaid.

I really cannot express how much I enjoyed this book. It was so good and me trying to explain it in a review is not going to do it justice so you should read it and recommend it to everyone. 

Review of Hungry by H.A. Swain

Title:  Hungry
Author: H.A. Swain
Source: Published for review
Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5









Goodreads Summary:
In the future, food is no longer necessary—until Thalia begins to feel something unfamiliar and uncomfortable. She’s hungry.
In Thalia’s world, there is no need for food—everyone takes medication (or “inocs”) to ward off hunger. It should mean there is no more famine, no more obesity, no more food-related illnesses, and no more war. At least that's what her parents, who work for the company that developed the inocs, say. But when Thalia meets a boy who is part of an underground movement to bring food back, she realizes that most people live a life much different from hers. Worse, Thalia is starting to feel hunger, and so is he—the inocs aren’t working. Together they set out to find the only thing that will quell their hunger: real food.

Thalia lives in a world where people do not eat, they take a medication that supplies the nutrients that people need, but Thalia's stomach starts to grumble and she has no idea why until her grandma explains that she is hungry.  She meets a boy named Basil who is part of an underground movement to bring food back and Thalia finds out the company her parents work for is keeping secrets from everyone.

The premise of this novel intrigued me and I enjoyed the concept but the insta-love knocked it down for me sadly. I liked Thalia for the most part, she makes some decisions which made me shake my head but I also understand she is coming from a sheltered society, however I did not feel that Basil deserved the same leniency.  He was arrogant and he was very rude to Thalia. I found that Thalia being an elite and not knowing anything different seemed to questions things more than Basil did who constantly reminded Thalia that they were from different worlds and he put her down a lot.  Basil willingly seemed to follow anyone who was against One World .

The concept was interesting but the characters hindered me from loving this story.

June TBR

I did not finish my TBR from May since I was running around trying to get everything done for the wedding. I am almost there :). 

The List

Dreams of Gods and Monsters- Laini Taylor

Find Me- Romily Bernard

Lola and the Boy Next Door- Stephanie Perkins

Amy and Rogers Epic Detour- Morgan Matson

The Selection- Kiera Cass (re-read)

The Elite- Kiera Cass

It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini
Lucid- Adrienne Stoltz 
Defiance- C.J. Redwine

The other goals I setting for myself this month:
1) Buy less books than I read
2) Donate at least one book
3) Re-read at least one book

Stacking the Shelves (120)/ Unhaul #4)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Bought Used
Attachment- Rainbow Rowell 
Loki's Wolves- Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr
The Six Rules Of Maybe- Deb Caletti

Unhaul
The Girl With All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Shade- Jeri Smith-Ready
Shift- Jeri Smith-Ready