Isla and the Happily Ever After

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Author:Stephanie Perkins
Series: Anna and the French Kiss (#3)
Pages: 339 (hardcover)
Published: August 2014 by Dutton
(All links below lead to the respective books' goodreads pages)

Summary: From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

My Thoughts: Oh boy, where to begin with this book. I'm such a huge fan of the other books in this series. They're a couple of my favorite contemporary young adult books so when I got this book, let's just say that I had high expectations that were sadly not all met. I didn't hate it but I certainly didn't love it either, however I had a lot to say about it. Warning: this is sort of a long post. Ye be warned.

Let's start with the setting shall we? In the previous books of this series, the setting was a character in and of itself. With Anna and the French Kiss it was Paris and in Lola and the Boy Next Door it was San Francisco, but here in Isla and the Happily Ever After it could have taken place anywhere. The only time I felt in touch with the setting was when they were in Barcelona, which was only about a few chapters of the book. The setting to me felt about as distant as Isla did to her own self-awareness.

Which brings me to my next point: the characters. I didn't have too many problems with the other characters, it was just Isla who drove me up the wall. I've never had this problem with any of Stephanie Perkins other works, but I just couldn't relate or even like Isla as a character.

Oh goodness where to start with Isla. She was selfish and it was like she was trying to guilt trip Josh any time she caught a whiff of his past life before they started dating because of her deep rooted jealousy. She wanted to be a part of something that has already happened so badly that she was willing to be act out by being needy and high maintenance while at the same time sabotage her mostly physical relationship with Josh (Why did they even like each other again? No really remind me, I can't remember.)

And when it came to her interactions with her family, it was as though they were just side-side-4th-party characters that didn't have much say in the matter of the story whatsoever. They're vague and stereotypical for the most part so why is it that I prefer these blurry images over Isla, our narrator of the story? I barely felt any attachment towards Isla, but I did enjoy Josh's and Kurt's characters a little more since they seemed a lot more reasonable and levelheaded as people. I didn't hate the book and I quite liked pretty much all the other characters, but I can honestly say that Isla might be my least favorite character. Do you see my problem?

I mean for someone who doesn't like and shies away from attention Isla certainly is dramatic. She often goes into soap-opera-worthy hysterics especially when it comes to Josh, that seem sort of over the top for someone who's only been dating this guy for a couple months. And I think that's what bothers me the most about this book: the instant head-over-heels, I-would-die-for-you-in-an-instant love between Josh and Isla.

Their love doesn't feel real. It feels staged and forced on Isla's side, like she's trying to fly thru their relationship just so she can get to the good parts even tho she says time and time again that when it comes to Josh, she wants the good with the bad yet acts out like a pouting child when she finds out details about his life that she doesn't like.

But like I said, I didn't hate this book. It was the cute, melt-your-heart moments between Isla and Josh that really drove and ultimately saved this book. Like I mentioned earlier, the Barcelona scene was like something out of a loveable rom-com and so were most of the scenes near the beginning when Isla and Josh were just getting to know each other better. And let's not forget the scenes with Lola, Anna, and the gang. Omg O. M. G. When they came into the story I had to step away from the book because it was so darn cute and I missed them so much, I just couldn't even handle it.

In general, this is hands down my least favorite book of this series, with Anna and the French Kiss in first place and Lola and the Boy Next Door in second.  However, I'm not upset that I took the time to read it. I didn't feel like I wasted my time with it and honestly I couldn't put it down most of the time, which gives me hope for the next Stephanie Perkins novel, whatever it may have in store for us.
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Clockwork Angel

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices Series (#1)
Pages: 479 (hardback)
Published: September 2009
(All links below lead to the respective books' goodreads page)
Summary: In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...

My Thoughts: I had heard from so many different book reviewers that this prequel series to The Mortal Instruments was even better than the original series, which I love, so of course I had to check it out. I love history and historical fiction as well as the world that Cassandra Clare built in The Mortal Instruments books I had read so far and expected to fall in love with this series, as well.

First off, it took me forever to finish this book (about a year from start to finish). I started it when I was in a slump and subsequently had a hard time getting into it because of this slump. But I persevered! I was determined to finish this book before I started reading the fourth book of Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels, which I so desperately wanted to read recently.  It was a great book, don't get me wrong, but I just found that I couldn't get completely sucked in sometimes. I'm going to mostly chalk that up to the aforementioned slump and not the sometimes dragging and overly detailed scenes I would occasionally run into while reading this book.

I honestly enjoyed this book despite how long it took me to get through it. The characters, though a bit "Mary Sue" at times (specifically? I'm lookin' at you Tessa Gray), really ended up blooming in their own right and I can't wait to get to know them even more and see their personalities grow in the next installment of the series, Clockwork Prince.

This exciting novel was filled with twists and turns, love and gore, and some amazing thrill-inducing fight scenes. And I loved the steampunk aesthetic you got from the blending of the Shadowhunting world and Victorian London. This is only my second foray into steampunk, but I look forward to diving into this genre even more in the next novel of this series and thus continuing on this thrilling and beautifully written journey of Cassandra Clare's.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Booktubeathon Wrap-up

Well guys, this readathon stuff is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I didn't read nearly as much as I wanted to and I didn't even stick to my to-be-read list like I wanted to.

But I wasn't discouraged! I made sure that I read a little every day, and if I didn't feel like reading I didn't force it. There's nothing like forcing yourself to read something you don't want to read to make you slip into a reading slump.

I was really proud of how much I did end up reading, though. I ended up completing four of the seven challenges from the BookTubeAThon and I read three books, in doing so. Not exactly what I would call impressive, but I'm proud of my reading accomplishments!

Will I be doing more readathons? I think so! I really loved the camaraderie and the community feel that surrounded the BookTubeAThon and it was definitely a lot more fun when I participated than when I hadn't last year, even if I don't make Youtube videos.

I ended up reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (by J. K. Rowling), Leviathan (by Scott Westerfeld, review at this link), Maus: ASurvivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (a graphic novel, by Art Spiegelman), and I started reading The Spectacular Now (by Tim Tharp).  (The links with the book titles go to their respective Goodreads summary pages). And in total, I read 929 pages!

After having months of no reading at all a few months ago, I'm so glad I've gotten back into the swing of things enough to fully enjoy this readathon, and I'm even happier that I decided to participate in it this year. I hope join in on the BookTubeAThon next year and maybe even a few other readathons in between.

Leviathan

Title: Leviathan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Leviathan (#1)
Published: October 2009 by Simon Pulse
Pages: 434 (paperback)

Summary: It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.

My Thoughts: My very first venture into steampunk and I wasn't too disappointed. I loved reading from our resident BA's point of view, Deryn, who's a girl disguised as a boy so she can be a soldier and an airman for the British royal navy. I also loved discovering the fabricated "beasties" who played as big a part in the war as any zeppelin, plane, or machine gun in this world.

It was a little harder for me to read from Alek's point of view, however. The POV's switched every two chapters between Alek and Deryn, and I've got to admit, I often found myself trying to rush through Alek's chapters in order to get to Deryn's faster.  This made it a little hard to get fully immersed into the story for me, in the beginning.

But that's not to say it wasn't a good story, because when I got about 75% through the book, I was completely hooked. The Darwinists vs. the Clankers! Beasties vs. machines! I couldn't put it down, I had to see what happened next.  It only took three-fourths of the book for me to fully enjoy both point of views, but I'm glad I read it. I love history and this time period as well as biological oddities, which this book has an abundance of, and I will definitely be continuing on reading this series.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

BookTubeAThon!

It's time for another readathon! (Warning: this is kind of a long post. Prepare yourselves) If y'all don't know what a readathon is, it's akin to a reading marathon and they usually last about a week, and this year's BookTubeAThon readathon will be from July 14-July 20! I didn't get to participate in this readathon last year because of classes, but I'm free as a jaybird this week so I thought why not? I mean, most of my favorite booktubers are participating and even leading this event and it looks like a lot of fun.

This year's BookTubeAThon challenges include both youtube and reading challenges. I won't be doing the booktube/youtube challenges but I will be doing the reading challenges, even if some of them seem a little out of reach (7 books in a week?! I don't know about that one...).

Here's the video from the BookTubeAThon youtube channel (and one of my favorite booktubers, Ariel Bissett, here's the link to her personal youtube channel) about the readathon challenges from one of the hosts of the readathon.

Well if you couldn't tell, I'm pretty excited! So without further hesitation, here's what I'll be reading for the BookTubeAThon challenges! (All links below lead to each book's respective Goodreads summary page).

Challenge #1: Read something with pictures in it
For this challenge I chose to read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan. I have had this book for years, but I've never had the urge to read it until this summer. It's a steam punk book and there are illustrations of the various machines, gadgets, and vehicles throughout it which makes it qualified for this part of the challenge! Never having read steam punk before, I thought that this book would be a wonderful way to start. I've only heard great things about it and I cannot wait to start it!

Challenge #2: Start and finish a series
This is one of the few challenges that I don't think I can feasibly complete. I don't own any series that I haven't already started or want to reread AND complete within a week, so I'll probably just pass on this challenge.

Challenge #3: Read a book with red on the cover
This is one of the challenges that I decided to double up on. I plan on rereading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, and when I finish it I'll watch the movie adaptation as well thus completing change number six. I've been meaning to reread this series and thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

And if I have extra time on my hands during this readathon, then I'll read the second book of Kimberly Derting's The Pledge trilogy, called The Essence, which is a social class based dystopian that also has a red cover. I loved the first book of the series, The Pledge, but I read it almost two years ago. However, this series is not overly complicated where you can't go too long between books, so I'm hoping I'll be able to jump into The Essence as easily as I did with The Pledge. And if you haven't read The Pledge but are interested in social classes, languages, dystopian societies, and matriarch led monarchies, then you've got to check it out, it was amazing.

Challenge #4: Read a book someone else picked for you
I asked my sister to pick out a book for me off my shelf that she would recommend to me, and she chose Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld. And since this book has pictures in it I decided to double up and make this my "read something with pictures in it" book as well! I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on this one, and I'm pretty sure I'll be reading this book first for the readathon. My sister has raved and raved about this novel for years, so I'm finally caving and plan on reading it this week.

Challenge #5: Read a book from the genre you've read least this year
 I had a surprisingly hard time picking something out for this challenge. At first I thought about having Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone be part of this challenge considering I haven't read much middle grades books, however I have read a bunch of paranormal books this year and I think that Harry Potter goes under that category. (Also, I'm pretty sure you can't triple up on challenges because where's the fun in that!)

Then I thought about making Leviathan triple up as well by having it be a part of this challenge, too, with it being a steam punk novel (I've honestly never read steam punk before).  But I want to challenge myself by beefing up my TBR pile this week and get into the true spirit of the readathon, so I will be reading a mystery novel, and more specifically an Agatha Christie book. I'm not quite sure which one I want to read, though, but I think I'm leaning towards And Then There Were None, one of her more famous novels (which just so happens to also have read on it's cover SCORE!).

Challenge #6: Read a book-to-movie adaptation (and watch the movie afterwards)
As mentioned above, I'll be reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for this challenge. With this month's opening of the new Diagon Alley at Universal Studios in Orlando, I've been inspired to revisit the world of Harry Potter, starting with this book. It's one of my favorite series of all time and I loved the books so I can't wait to dive right back into this world, wand at the ready!

But if I have enough time after Harry Potter, then I'll read Tim Tharp's The Spectacular Now. I watched the movie when it first came out without reading the book, and sort of regret not reading it first because I found the movie to be a little lacking.  I rarely feel that way when it comes to book to movie adaptations, though, so we'll see how I feel about the movie after reading the novel.

Challenge #7: Read 7 books or an average of 300 pages a day
Okay, this is another part of the readathon that I don't think I'll be able to complete. I don't have the attention span nor the time to read seven books in a week, but I think I can manage with the five books I've chosen above.

That is my BookTubeAThon TBR pile! I don't know if I'll be able to stick to this list but I'll post a wrap-up later to let give an update of what I ended up reading at the end of this month. And keep an eye out for book reviews on some of these books, too! If any of y'all decide to do BookTubeAThon, let me know what your TBR pile consists of in the comments! I'd love to see which books you choose for which challeges (TBR piles fascinate me)! Good luck and happy reading!

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Title: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Published: May 2010
Pages: 344 (hardback)

Summary: Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

My Thoughts: What a perfect summery contemporary read, am I right? Road trip? Check. A meet-cute situation? Check. Summery, sugary goodness? Check. Amazing characters that make your heart sing? Double check.

I cannot praise these characters enough, though. This is not just your run of the mill road trip story where "the road reveals everyone's true nature." No, this is a very character and character development driven story (which is in my opinion, the best kind).

And I'm not just talking about the Amy and Roger. It was like every time Amy met someone new, she discovered grew a little bit more as a person and came out of the shell she'd created since her father's death. Each new face and new personality had something to add to the mix in a way that seemed so natural and not at all forced, it was so beautiful and wonderful to experience as a reader.

Not only were the secondary characters great, but so were Amy and Roger.  I mean, I was a little frustrated with Amy near the beginning and some of the flashbacks felt a little long to me, but she grew so much throughout the story.

And as Amy's character development took off during their "Epic Detour," so did Roger's, who was at the beginning of this quest just a love sick puppy still licking his wounds from a past relationship. I honestly thought he would end up being a Mary Sue, practically perfect in every way, kind of dude, and I was glad when he proved me wrong by (finally) being the one to coax Amy out of her shell. Also, can you tell I enjoyed this book?

Side note: immediate side effects include wistful giant smiles whilst reading and a sudden urge to plan a road trip. In the summer time. Across the US. In a Liberty. You have been warned.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Time to Reread Some Books

As more and more sequels continue to come out, I'm becoming tragically aware of how behind I am in finishing most of the series I've started over a year ago. I don't know why, but for some reason I haven't been keeping up on series' for about a year. Honestly it's probably because of the awful reading slump I was in for 9 months and my terrible case of short-attention-span-itis.

But I'm no longer slumping! And I want to read and finish a crazy amount of series on my TBR list, however there is a catch: I can't remember what happened in the majority of the Book One's of these series. Not only that, but I remember really enjoying these Book One's, so I'm not to averse to rereading them.

That brings us to the reason behind this post! Since my memory is failing me apparently and I loved these Book One's (I have no idea what to call them so I'm just going to use this name because why not) so much upon first picking them, I thought I would go ahead and re-read them. Here's the list of Book One's (there has to be a better name than that) that I plan on rereading in the next few months! (All links lead to the books' respective Goodreads pages).

Cinder - by Marissa Meyer
I read this book when it first came out and absolutely loved it, so when I heard that it was the first of four books in a series I may or may not have fangirled a bit.  Set in a future where people have colonized the moon and cyborgs live among us, this fairy tale re-telling is about a cyborg Cinderella. I'm a sucker for fairy tale re-tellings so it wasn't too long before this novel swept me off my feet. The sequel to this book, Scarlet, had not come out when I first read it, though, and when it did it became harder and harder for me to continue the series.

Now that it's only a year away until the fourth and final installment to the series comes out, I desperately need to catch up on this series. I remember key points and the twists that happened but practically none of the details in between. I've only heard good things about the second and third books in this series, however, and hope to reread this one to better prepare myself for the awesomeness that is Scarlet.

Legend - by Marie Lu
This kick-butt dystopian blew my mind upon first reading it, oh goodness. Even if I could recall everything that happened in it, I would still probably reread this beauty. Kind of a opposites attract sort of deal, June is from a well-off family and is a kid prodigy in the military training academy while Day is a "street rat" rebel out to stick it to the man in the Republic. Okay, so that may be oversimplifying the summary a bit (to check out the whole summary, just click on the link above), but that's pretty much how I try to sell this book when recommending it to my friends and family. I sped through this book so quickly, and I fully expect to do so again as well as with the rest of this book in this high-paced, beautifully built, and well-written trilogy.

Unearthly - by Cynthia Hand
I can't even remember when I read this book, but I just know that I loved it. This was the first book I read in the YA genre that was about angels, and let's just say that it left a positive impression. I think I would classify this book as paranormal, but sometimes it felt like a contemporary and like it wasn't in a set-in-stone genre, writing wise, which is probably why I loved it so much. This is another book that I would have reread even if I remembered every detail because I how much I enjoyed the reading experience, the world building, and the characters. Not only that, but this is one of the few series that I own the complete series of, which as a reader means reading-marathon-fun-times! It was a quick-paced, fun read, so I have no doubt that I will fly (haha get it?) through it once again.

A Great and Terrible Beauty - by Libba Bray
This was one of the first books I got into when I discovered YA in high school. It's been around for quite a bit, I must admit, which only makes me feel even more behind in my reading the rest of the series. It left a good enough impression that I remember enjoying the historical and paranormal elements immensely, but I cannot for the life of me remember the key plot points of this book.  I know that it happens in Victorian England and has touches of India in there with a strong paranormal backbone, but I don't remember who is who or what led to what. I cannot wait to pick this one up again so I can continue with this series, though. The second and third books look so good, in both plot and covers (I mean dem covers *swoons*), and honestly I'm surprised that I didn't pick them up sooner.