Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Hello Lovelies!! Since I fell so behind in my reviews over the last month and a half or so, I decided to group some reviews up by genre. Here's the books I've read with a fantasy twist. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu Published: Sept 27, 2011 Publisher: Walden Pond Press Received: Borrowed a copy from the library! In this retelling of The Snow Queen, Hazel and Jack have been next-door neighbors and best friends forever. But after an accident on the playground, Jack changes. He doesn't want to hang out with Hazel anymore. But Hazel knows that this is the normal growth her mom keeps saying it is. So when Jack goes missing, Hazel goes into the forest to find him. I loved that this retelling keeps the characters young (like my other favorite retelling of The Snow Queen by Mary Engelbreit) and the relationship platonic. The thing I love about The Snow Queen is that Gerda loves Kay because they're friends. It isn't about romance. It's about friendshi...

The Last Olympian is the fifth and final book of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I found it to be a pretty fitting conclusion to the Percy Jackson series. As some of you who've been following me know, I'm not a super fan of the Percy Jackson series. However, this book really did amp up the action level. The whole book basically takes place over a week and a bunch of stuff happens. My problem with this series is still that I just can't get into the characters. My two favorite characters are background characters who hardly get any time. For me, I care less about the action part of books and way way more about the people part of books. So, overall I thought this was a well-rounded conclusion to the series. It leaves it open for the next installment to take off, but it ties up the major loose ends. Prequel / Sequel Challenge Points: 74 +2 = 76 + 10 = 86 points

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare is the third installment in the Mortal Instruments series. I could definitely tell that this was supposed to be the end of the series. A lot of the "major" moments were ruined for me because I knew there were three more books coming. It took me about 130 pages or so to get into this book. Partly it might have been because I read the last book about a year ago, so I was a little shaky on how things ended. But then it started to pick up and coalesce. Really only to come crashing down about a hundred pages after that. I called the plot "twist" basically immediately. And I told my friend that and she was like No, you can't have! It'll be so surprising! And I was like, maybe I'm wrong? But I also kept yelling at the characters constantly: You're an idiot! Of course that's not right! Duhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I don't really like stories that I can predict right away. I like to be able to ponder it out. Or if I do pre...

The One by Kiera Cass is a wonderful ending to The Selection trilogy. I thought Cass did an excellent job of winding up all the loose ends of the series. She made the relationship outcomes believable, and the situations were realistic in the set-up of the universe. I mean, I don't think it was a perfect book. The more I thought about The Elite the more disgruntled I became with the King's sudden personality change. I also think that this book wrapped up a little too neatly. All the strings were tied up in one event that really didn't take that long. I just expect resolutions to occur in stages when there are multiple issues presented. Overall, I think The One gives a satisfying conclusion to The Selection. Favorite Quote: "Bravery hides in amazing places." Prequel / Sequel Challenge Points: 36 + 2 = 38 + 10 for series completion = 48!

Ahhh!!! I just finished The Elite by Kiera Cass and I am so excited. I posted about 50 pages in that I thought this was going to be a long book because of what I presumed would be the obvious back and forth in America's mind between Maxon and Aspen. I was so wrong!  First of all, I was genuinely nervous that this book was going to be all about the love triangle, but I was so wrong! Cass manages to include more on the Rebel attacks occurring, more on the gradually failing state of Illea, and more character development than in the first one. To be sure it's a little bit easier to provide character development when your cast of main or semi-main characters goes from around 50 down to around 20.  Sure, I did still get a little annoyed with America's back and forth, but usually her reasoning behind it made sense. She knows what she wants in a relationship; unfortunately, America has the same problem which most people have of idealizing something that can never ...