Top Ten Tuesday #14 : Top Ten Fantasy Books I Really Need to Read

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday. This meme is created and hosted at The Broke and The Bookish. Every week there is a new top ten list for bloggers to take part in and enjoy!

1. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

This is one of my 2015 goals. I can't believe I haven't read the Harry Potter series yet! I really, really need to get around to doing that soon!

2. The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima

This is one of those series that you know will be epic and adventurous. I 'discovered' these books around mid-2014 and have been dying to read them since then. Look at these gorgeous covers!

3. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

This is a new fantasy series that everyone seems to be talking about. There are three books currently out and, I think, there will be six in total? Not sure. But, they say it's like Game of Thrones for teens so I'm intrigued!

4. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

I have heard nothing but amazing things for The Raven Cycle and Maggie Stiefvater's writing and the high ratings on Goodreads are making them all the more desirable for me!

5. The Fire and Thornes trilogy by Rae Carson

I want to read this trilogy so badly! The premise sounds amazing and I have had so many people recommend it to me!

6. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

This is one of those extremely popular and loved series that I can't believe I haven't read yet. The first two books in the series are currently sitting on my selves waiting for me to read them.... I will! I promise!

7. Snow like Ashes by Sarah Raasch

If there was a fantasy book I couldn't stop hearing about during the last months of 2014 it was Snow Like Ashes. I am really excited for this book! And look at that gorgeous cover!

8. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Beautiful cover and very intriguing premise... Need to get around to reading it soon!

9. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I have heard nothing but amazing things about this trilogy and since I started reading YA I have had countless people recommend it to me! 

10. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

I haven't read anything by Marie Lu but The Young Elites seems like an amazing book to start with!


Have you read/ planning to read any of these books? Which books you need to read ASAP?

Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

Let me just get this out of the way and say that I loved this book. It's probably one of the best books I've read in the past 3 months.

The first thing that I noticed about story was the writing. Mary E. Pearson's writing is phenomenal! It's descriptive and lush and beautiful and so many other things. It made me fly through this book easily and not once left me feeling confused. 

Another thing, was the setting. Terravin, the little village in which the princess heads to so as to start a new life, is up in the list of fictional places I would not mind living in! It's basically a small little town outside the kingdom that everybody seems to ignore it exists which grants the residents a peaceful and easy-going life. Which happens to be exactly what our princess needs!

This book is also told in three perspectives. Lea's (who is the narrator of the story), The Prince's and The Assassin's. Did I mentioned we don't know who is who? The Boys' names are Rafe and Kaiden but we have no absolute idea for at least half the book who is the Assassin and who is the Prince. I really liked that. I think it made it easier for the reader to connect with Lea as we go through almost the same journey as her since we actually get to know those two characters in the same way she does. Of course, it really killed me not knowing who was who! I kept trying to find any hinds in their PoVs that might lead me to a conclusion and when i thought I was on the right track something would happen that made go like "Nope, that's not it..". Needless to say I belong to the group of people that didn't get it right.... Oh well!

The story is also, I would think, separated into two parts. The first half of the book leans towards historical fiction while in the second part the story takes a more journey-like, adventurous turn where most of the character development happens since this is where our Main Characters goes through some more dark situations and starts being more connected with the element of magic and prophecies and her supposed destiny.

Lastly, I also loved our main characters! Lea was such a brave, loyal, stubborn and clever character with a bit of recklessness running through her veins (but we wouldn't have it any other way) and I loved seeing her grow through the book from an unsure princess that yearns for a little freedom to a strong female character who has the potential to be a great leader. The Assassin and The Prince were both very complex characters with unique personalities. They were both very strong male characters (although I liked the Prince more). 

The romance was really sweet and although a lot of people say that the love triangle took centre stage throughout most of the book i think it was not really that much of a triangle and nevertheless, Pearson managed to beautifully wove it with the story.

Overall, this story was beautifully written and heartbreaking at times, with amazing characters and swoon worthy male interests! I really do think this is the beginning of a great series!

Book info:

• Paperback, 489 pages
• Published, July 8th 2014
• Publisher: Henry Holt
• Genre: Fantasy, Romance
• Rating: 5/5

Green Cover  = Kiss of Deception

Waiting on Wednesday #3

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases we are eager to get out hands on!

The Darkest Part of The Forest by Holly Black

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Publishing Company: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy/Paranormal, Romance

Release Date: January 13th 2015

So excited for this one! What are you guys waiting on this week? 

Waiting on Wednesday #2

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases we are eager to get out hands on!

Compulsion by Martina Boone

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

• Publishing Company: Simon Pulse
• Publication Date : October 28th
• Source: Goodreads