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★★★★☆ In my opinion, this is where the series really begins. Though it's shorter, the plot is more concise, the characters deeper, the world more believable. I love Tyson and Clarisse and the roles they play. The humor isn't at the expense of logic and reality and doesn't have unsettling implications (which was often a problem in the first book). I love this book. Really brings me back to when I was Percy's age and I was exploring my love of reading. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★☆☆ Better than most of the Maze Runner books, this prequel lacked new material, created plot holes that didn't exist before, and added little to the existing characters. What makes it better, then, you ask? It wasn't rushed. Time was allowed to pass. While that time was often a little confusing (characters acting very different than their ages implied), it was over all much better than the constant action of the previous books. Also, lest I forget: Teresa is the worst. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★☆☆ This follows seemingly random characters as they attempt to survive the initial sun flares and then the Flare virus that destroyed the world prior to The Maze Runner . It's grittier than the trilogy is, actually showing who and what the Cranks really are. I really enjoyed the descent into madness that MC Mark goes through (I'm trash for that kinda thing) and found a lot of the imagery much better than anything in the trilogy. Unfortunately, the characters sucked. Mark was basically just Thomas but with a sliver of a personality, and the whole memory loss thing with Trina was pretty unnecessary and didn't add anything. Alec was fun and probably my favorite character but was still a random addition. None of the deaths were impactful, but I was surprised just how far some of the more intense stuff went. Over all, it was a fun read but not necessary to the trilogy in any way. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★☆ You all know Edward's lullaby. Now get ready for... Jacob's lullaby! 🎵 Close your eyes, shut your mouth, dream a dream to get us out, Dream dream dream dream dream dream 🎵 Okay, but honestly, these books are way more fun if you're seeing Taylor Lautner in your mind. He's just all sorts of animals, isn't he? Wolf, shark, alpaca, and misogynist pig! (Yay!) I'm pretty off topic, aren't I? I really like the Volturi. More murder, please. Bella is annoying but still fairly relatable somehow. I'm still Team Mike Newton all the way #AllMericanBoi Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★☆☆ After the train wreck of The Scorch Trials, my expectations were very low, but because the movies were so different for these last two, my curiosity was sufficiently piqued. Suffice it to say, I'm pleasantly surprised for the most part. The first half was dismal, pretty much just as bad as the second book. At one point, Thomas literally just sits there staring at something bad happening while everyone else is flipping out Brenda is yelling at him to go, and he just stares and sits and gets caught because of it. It was completely ridiculous. But then things got better with Newt's character, who'd always been the best character in the series. He brought more genuine emotion and set the story on a better track, and I found myself actually enjoying the book by the end. And Brenda became a human being! Yay! Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★☆☆☆ Oh my this was complete crap. At least the first book was enjoyable. I don't really have too much to say other than that the movie is completely different but way better in every way. An ideal example of this is Brenda's character. In the movie, she is an actual person and I quite liked her, in the book, she's ridiculous and instalovey, with extreme moments of inappropriate for the situation and uncalled for "sexual tension" with Thomas. She doesn't feel like an actual human being in any way. The plot, besides all that, is nonsensical and confusing. I don't understand WICKED's plan whatsoever. There's a lot of "what" that makes no sense but even more confusing is the "why". This doesn't feel realistic at all. It would make more sense if WICKED was just a psycho cult torturing the Gladers just for kicks and giggles. And why on Earth do all the cranks introduce themselves as cranks? Wtf? It's jus...

★★★★☆ "Welcome to Coldtown. Breakfast at dusk. Lunch at midnight. Dinner at dawn." The Writing and Worldbuilding This is my second foray into the writing of Holly Black and my first one didn't really impress me. Unfortunately, neither did this one, really. There's little that's unique or meaningful in her stories. She grazes the surface but can't seem to dip under. Between The Darkest Part of the Forest and this book, nothing is very different. Many of the characters are exactly the same (the MCs as a great example of this, though I found her to work better in this story than in the other one), and the endings both felt like set up for an non-existent and unnecessary sequel (because of how vague and unfulfilling they are). The writing itself is simplistic and unremarkable, relying too heavily on chapter epigraphs to provide meaning, and was often redundant when attempting worldbuilding, even if the concept was already adequately explaine...

★★★★☆ Ignorance was the enemy. Lies and superstition, misinformation, disinformation. Sometimes, no information at all. Ignorance killed billions of people. Ignorance caused the Zombie War. World War Z is absolutely nothing like the movie, I'll tell you that. Even the type of zombies was different (they're fast zombies in the movie, which does bring its own horror element, but they're slow zombies in the book for a reason that's central to the conflict and its resolution). The biggest difference was the turning point of the war, the catalyst of human victory. In the movie, it was a plot twist, a non-human element. In the book, it's human endurance. It was raw and emotional and very, very real. Suffice it to say that the book is way better than the movie. The monsters that rose from the dead, they are nothing compared to the ones we carry in our hearts. This book is very comprehensive, almost boring at parts because of it, but undeniably exciti...

★★★★★ Nov 16 update: SO I TRANSLATED THE BINARY (to the best of my ability and I didn't double check because honestly, who has the time for that) AND AIDAN IS ACTUALLY SAYING THINGS!!!! First of all, when he says 01001001 right before he awakens and starts his "I" monologue, he's literally saying "I" in binary, so yeah, that's pretty awesome. BUT WAIT! When he has that long stretch of binary in the shape of a heart beat monitor like some kind of Arctic Monkeys album cover, HE IS SAYING WORDS! I couldn't get a super good translation, but the only words that came up were as follows: "I will show you ... I will show you fear in a handful of dust." DANG BRB TTYL I'M GONNA GO DIE NOW THANKS < error > I literally read this in one sitting. I forwent food, drink, sleep, human contact, animal contact, hygiene, and my own sanity to finish this book because I 👏 COULD 👏 NOT 👏 PUT 👏 THIS 👏 DOWN! I started it at like...

★★★☆☆ I received this digital copy from Urban Epics via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. Actual rating: 3.5 Obligatory Summary Clara Clark (whose name makes her sound like a comic book character) is a 15 year old who self describes herself like this: I have a dark sense of humor that few people get, and a passive-aggressive sarcasm that comes from having an overbearing mother and a fear of any kind of conflict. TL;DR she is ~ so unique ~ So Clara's overbearing mother (and her dad) die in a car accident one day as she's singing in a concert and she is sent to live with her Irish grandfather that she didn't know existed in a small town in Ireland. Once there, she tries to discover the mysteries her mother left behind, while also changing in ways she never imagined (like getting hot overnight and reading people's emotions). She also meets a rude bad boy wiz kid and...

★★★★☆ This book was what made me a voracious reader. It was recommended to me by a friend at the Scholastic book fair of 2010 (who rightfully told me to read the books before watching the movie). I devoured the books and read them twice (possibly more but it was so long ago). A friend of mine and I were discussing them because I was reading the Harry Potter series for the first time and we decided to start a IRL book club. And so for the first time in 8 years, I re-read The Lightning Thief. I was so nostalgic reading this. I felt 11 again, in love with Percy and giggling at the little comments. However, I wouldn't be honest if I said that there were some things that I hadn't noticed the first few times around that really stood out now. A lot of the situations were silly to the point of unbelievability, and sometimes even stupidly unrealistic. I know, I know, this is blasphemy! But, come on, that ending with Medusa's head is...unsettling in its implicatio...

★★★★☆ Everyone else over here be in team Edward or team Jacob. I'm team Mike Newton all the way. What a pal. Good family, too. Honestly, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this! I love the movies (you can't have a bad time watching those movies; they're unintentional comedy gold) but I'd tried reading Twilight once when I was 16 and couldn't finish it. Perhaps it just wasn't the right time for me to read it. The Writing and Worldbuilding It's a quick read, with simple, easy language and pace. It's definitely good for reluctant readers (which I am definitely not lol). Everything was actually fairly normal, not even particularly unintentionally funny, until the romance started, which was too quick and too cheesy, but still fun and engaging. I found the atmosphere lacking, however, whenever Bella wasn't in nature. I've been to Forks and La Push many times (I live in Washington), and I could really see the la...

★★★★★ Lots of good books this month!  ★★★★★ (Descending from pure awesomeness to horrible awfulness) 1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ~ J.K. Rowling  ★★★★★ 2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ J.K. Rowling  ★★★★★ 3.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ~ J.K. Rowling  ★★★★★ 4.  Cruel Beauty ~ Rosamund Hodge  ★★★★★ 5. Broodhollow Book 2: Angleworm ~ Kris Straub  ★★★★★ 6. Through the Woods ~ Emily Carroll  ★★★★★ 7.  Broodhollow Book 1: Curious Little Thing ~ Kris Straub  ★★★★ 8. Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening ~ Marjorie M Liu & Sana Takeda  ★★★★ 9. The Maze Runner ~ James Dashner  ★★★★ 10. The Darkest Part of the Forest ~ Holly Black  ★★★★ 11. Twice Dead ~ Caitlin Seal  ★★★ 12. Peeps ~ Scott Westerfeld  ★★★ 13. The Bane Chronicles ~ Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, & Maureen Johnson  ★★★ See you in October!

★★★★★ It's difficult to put into words how much I loved this. I started this series out of a desire to more fully understand and appreciate the complexities of Voldemort and found myself loving Harry and his little band of misfits more than I can ever imagine (for the record, I love Voldemort too #HotTomRiddle). To be honest, the first few books (excluding my OG number one fav Hot Tom Riddle and the Giant Snek ofc) didn't really draw me in. Prisoner of Azkaban wasn't all that interesting to me. But from the Goblet of Fire on down, every single one of these books has delivered more than I could ever imagine . I wish I'd never seen the movies, not yet at least. I wish I'd experienced this story along with everyone else (my excuse being that for the first few books' releases, I had yet to be born). The wonderfully executed plot twists and character deaths in this final installment would definitely have shocked me more than they did (though for the rec...

★★☆☆☆ Good grief I'm finally done with this. I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this. I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to be more brief than I usually am, especially when I have so many feelings. Here are my general feelings about the characters, the plot, and the themes of the book: I found that all the veteran characters were cardboard cutouts of their former selves. They weren't really there long enough, their feelings and thoughts weren't touched on enough, to really warrant any feelings on my part. Victor was reduced to a hand flicking, wall leaning, t...

"I understood the whole world. And then I forgot." This is fantastic!!! I want a whole book about this!!!! Read the short story here

★★★★★ I received this eARC from Orca Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Around here anything can happen, and it very often does. Obligatory Summary Jolene is struggling with the sudden absence of her brother while trying to go to school, eat, walk her dog, hang out with friends, and deal with her absent parents. The only thing that gets her through is her music. But when does a coping mechanism become a crutch, and when does the problem become too much to ignore? How will long until she can't stay in her hometown? How long until she joins Matt? This is a story about sadness and loss and avoidance through action and inaction. It's a mystery and a coming-of-age and a drama. It's about the grieving process, and how it takes time to be okay, and how you'll never be the same again, but you can learn to love what you have and what you've lost too. I don’t know if I believe in time. I mean, I don’t believe it works for m...