October wrap-up + TBR!

I'm relatively proud of my own reading this month. I finished a trilogy and started two others...so yea!

Books I read this month:

- Shatter Me by Tahareh Mafi

- Destroy Me by Tahareh Mafi
- Unravel Me by Tahareh Mafi
- Fracture Me by Tahareh Mafi
- Ignite Me by Tahareh Mafi
- Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
- The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I did a series review for the Shatter Me trilogy, if ya want to check it out: *le click here*

November TBR:

- The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

- The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson
- Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
- Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier


I try not to be too ambitious since school is kicking me in the groin at the moment, but...it won't keep me from reading :)


xoxo, Maria

Shatter Me by Tahareh Mafi [SERIES REVIEW+BOOKTALK]

The Shatter Me series by Tahareh Mafi
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers
Genres: Fantasy, Dystopian, Adventure, Science Fiction, Romance,Young Adult
Goodreads • Book Depository • Amazon

Overall rating:

Shatter Me (paperback)  -Book 1, Published on November 15, 2011
Destroy Me (paperback bind-up ) -Book 1.5, Published on October 2, 2012
Unravel Me (hardcover) - Book 2, Published on February 5, 2013
Fracture Me (paperback bind-up) - Book 2.5, Published on December 17, 2013
Ignite Me (hardcover) - Book 3, Published on February 4, 2014

SYNOPSIS:

I have a curse
I have a gift

I am a monster
I'm more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

_____________________________________________

REVIEW [spoiler-free]:

I'm speechless. I'm dying. I don't know what todotodotodo. 

Finishing this book I'm not done yet there must be more I was left feeling both hollow and full to the brim I want moremoremore and completely satisfied with everything and I don't think there could have been a better way or place to end the trilogy. 

The writing is fantastic and unique in a way that complements the story and the main character, Juliette (who is now officially my new hero), so so well, and I want to  bow down to the queen applaud Tahareh Mafi simply for being brilliant. Her choice of words and Juliette's musings were just so beautiful and inspiring, and made me want to experiment more with my own writing style. 

While there was an external conflict in this series, it is not the main focus. The internal conflicts, character development and the struggle to accept yourself is, I think, the main drive of this story and it was an incredibly interesting and intriguing journey to follow.

The few flaws I noticed in the first installment where are all the girls? where corrected as the series progressed and made more sense. I know I'm not the only one who noticed this and where annoyed by it, but it didn't hinder my enjoying the books - especially because other female characters started to have slightly bigger roles in the 2nd and 3rd book.

All-in-all this is one of my favorite series of all time - despite it's flaws - because the message and the atmosphere of the books just hit me deep in the chest and has taken root. 

Booktalk [WARNING: SPOILERS]:

The Book Blogger Test

The rules:

You must answer all of these questions truthfully and once you’ve completed this tag, tag 5 other book bloggers to answer the questions next.

My answers:

1. Cover changes, stickers on the cover, boring chapters.

2. Someplace quiet, like on a couch with cozy lighting and a cat curled up beside me.

3. My otp's are often doomed but I ship them anyway. I actually enjoyed The Vampire Diaries. My too-read list is 6 times bigger than my list of books I've read.

4. Reading Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor. (I was a mess)

5. 4, but I'm only reading one of them.

6. I don't usually snack while reading..but, sweets or chocolate, I guess.

7. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Shamer's Daughter by Lene Kaaberbøl. (I would add Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor, but I think some people might find it too weird so...)

8. ♥♥♥

9. They are all.

10. I tend to judge books by their covers. Because I'm human and beauty is attractive to me, but an ugly cover won't stop me from reading a book if I've heard good things about it. Though, I usually read the blurb and read a preview before buying.

TAGGING!:

I don't know who to tag so I'm tagging everyone - readers, consider yourself tagged! :)

This tag was created by Laura of Laura's Book Reviews on Wordpress.

Book review - Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on November 6th, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance,Young Adult
Pages: 513
Goodreads • Good Books • Amazon

When I first held this book in my hands and I saw how friggin' massive is was...I was not scared off by any means: the larger the amount of pages the larger the amount of genius, I thought.

And I was right, of course. Even though some bits were harder to get through than others, Laini's imagination and cleverness and humor just kept knocking my breath away.

Halfway through I was desperate for the book to end - NOT because it was horrible or anything - I just wanted the characters to get the happy endings they deserved and see the bad guys vaporize into eternal evanescence - though a burning hell would be preferred. Because Laini masters this thing called 'villains' so you feel just the right amount of seething hatred towards them, but she also masters another thing called 'lovable characters' so you desperately need want them to succeed and see it happen.

The series is a perfect blend of grief, action, love and hate, all mixed together to concoct a masterpiece.
And this final book in the trilogy wrapped it all up in a perfect, but still loose-ended way - because it ended with a happy middle instead of a happy ending (well, that sentence was confusing).

Overall, I gave this series a 5 out of 5 stars, so it's safe to say that I highly, highly recommend this series!


xoxo, Maria

Surprise unboxing!

So...There's this book that I preordered and...I didn't think it'd be coming out until the 16th but...Then I opened my mailbox this morning and THIS was in it!:

   

*le open box* (how the frick does one unbox on a blog?)

The sequel to the 5th Wave, The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey! (*squeeee*) 

And that cover is just perfect...

This is definitely going on my list of Good Ways to Start Your Day!

xoxo, Maria

Beautiful September book haul! [6 books]

There are few moments more exciting than cracking open a box from the mail and it contains glorious, beautiful BOOKS. 

This time I hauled the Shatter Me series + the novella bind-up:

- Shatter Me by Tahareh Mafi

- Unravel Me by Tahareh Mafi

- Ignite Me by Tahareh Mafi

- Unite Me (Destroy Me + Fracture Me)

    

I also got the first two books in the exciting high fantasy trilogy, Girl of Fire and Thorns, from Rae Carson:

- The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
- The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Looking forward to diving into these, thanks for reading!


xoxo, Maria

Update!

So I'm currently reading Dreams of Gods & Monsters which is the third and final book in the trilogy (I'm on page 299 out of a solid 613) and of course loving so far. Laini Taylor keeps on humbling me with her writing and I can't wait to see how it all ends!

Anyway, I also want to let you all know, that I'm VERY, PAINFULLY behind on my reading and this is a just journey which I'm sharing with you so you can all follow me on my bookish adventures :)

Book review - Days of Blood & Starlight

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on November 6th, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance,Young Adult
Pages: 513
Goodreads • Good Books • Amazon

(★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★)

Reading Days of Blood & Starlight was hard. Not in the oh-god-this-book-is-bad-how-am-I-gonna-get-through kind of way, but in the ouch-my-heart kind of way. It was exhausting and life-giving, breathtaking and heart-throbbing, tears and joy--blood and starlight.


As a result, it feels like I've been moving the entire time, struggling alongside the characters, feeling what they felt, doing what they did and I have this strange notion that my breath should be ragged, my legs and arms heavy and throbbing from exhaust--except the only muscle in my body that is aching is my heart.


Oh, the deep-felt pain I had to endure...one character in particular, the last of the Kirin, had my heart in his scarred hands and crushed it until it bled several times - not that he's to blame. I cried inconsolably each time and I am not ashamed for they were well-earned tears.


And then there's the other stab to my heart, that I'm not going to mention because I'm still healing from its sting. And this review is supposed to be spoiler-free.


Having read this book I feel like I've been part of something magical and secret and sacred, although I'm all-too-aware that I am far, far from the only person to have read this and even farther away from being the first.


If I thought Daughter of Smoke & Bone was fantastic, I don't even know how to describe this sequel in one word. Can I just give it a gazillion stars out of five?

Grand arrival!

*sky opens*
*angels sing*

In a small town in a small country in a big world, on this this day, a young girl received mail - BOOKS. The two sequels to Daughter of Smoke and Bone has finally found a home on mah bookshelf an' it looks beauh-tey-ful!

 Just luk at deese covers *faints*

Have a look at the spines as well...just because?

Anyway, I'm beyond excited right now so I'll apologize beforehand for any absence and anti-social behavior - cuz I'll be diving into these as soon as I've finished with this post...which is now. Bye!

xoxo, Maria

Book review - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on September 27th 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance,Young Adult
Pages: 418
Goodreads • Good Books • Amazon 

This first installment of the trilogy is - sorry for sounding like a cheeseball - nothing short of a masterpiece. 

I cannot fathom my love for this book into words, but I can tell you why I loved it so much.

First of all, the writing. Holy smoke (pun intended) the writing kept wowing me as I read, it's so poetic and yet manages not to be pretentious at all. 

The worldbuilding is also A+, and Laini does a nice job of weaving it in so you don't get stuck on page 20, unable get through it. It's really inventive and genius.

Everything about it is really clever, and the few things that bugged me (trust me there were close to zero) were explained later on so I went like "Ohhh, oh my god! It totally makes sense now." But I also love how she puts out these tiny breadcrumbs and allows you to think for yourself. When realization hits you it hits you hard and I love it.

The characters are really complex and intriguing - especially Karou, the main character, I really like her. The ending gained her a complete new dimension, making her all the more interesting and layered. 

The point is, I really love this book and I so recommend it to everybody who haven't read it yet. 

I finished it this morning, and I've ordered the next two in the trilogy and the wait is already killing me...

Bookshelf Tour [AUGUST 2014]

At the moment, my bookshelf is a huge blob of organized mess. But I'm gonna show it to ya anyways. Mostly because I want to do another bookshelf tour at the end of 2014 and I'd like to have something to compare to.

So enjoy my hot mess of a bookshelf!

(Books with a * are books I've read)

Bookshelf No. 1

Greetings, fellas!

Since I don't have the camera nor the courage to start a video blog on YouTube, I have made the decision to write about books on a regular, mundane *shudders* blog for you guys to read along with! I find it easier to express myself through writing rather than talking. I originally wanted to do this as a sort of book-diary thingie, but I suppose there might come a few reviews and other goodies.

You wanna know who I am, you say? Well, uh, my name is Maria and I love books. Which, if you hadn't guessed, is the very reason I'm doing this. I can't very well write a blog about how much I hate books, can I?

Anyway, I'm from a teeny tiny country called Denmark  and I'm 16 years old at the moment, just about to begin my three gymnasium years (woo! --')


So yeah, I'd be happy if you'd follow me on my many book adventures!



xoxo, Maria