Top Ten Tuesday #11: Top Ten Books I Read In 2014

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. The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

I enjoyed every single aspect of this book. The setting, the mystery, the romance, the characters. Couldn't put it down!

2. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass

I read Throne of Glass during summer vacation. I was so engrossed by its sheer awesomeness that I rarely managed to close it and actually socialise. My best friends were a little annoyed by me... In short, it was so good!

3. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I couldn't stop thinking about this book after I had finished reading it. It had grabbed me from page 1 and didn't let me go. I loved how it captured people's need for survival and how dark and deep it was. Loved it. 

4. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

I loved everything about this book. The action, the suspense, the romance. It made me laugh, swoon and even cry (Seriously. The day I picked it up, I actually burst into tears by reading the first sentence because I realised it was the end of my favourite series... I'm such a crybaby..). This was one of the series that introduced me to the YA genre and its conclusion was as epic as I expected it to be.

5. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss never fails to leave me feeling all fluffy and wonderful inside! I just love it!

6. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

One of my favourite dystopians. The writing was amazing and the characters very complex and interesting. One of the best Dystopians I've read in a while.

7. Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

I cannot really explain how this book made me feel (and that's one of the reasons I will not post a review for it). It marked the end of a series that entertained me and kept me company since the age of 7. I couldn't find a flaw in it even if I wanted to.

8. The Fault in our Stars by John Green

I read The Fault in our Stars in preparation for the movie and even though it killed me a little bit inside it also made me laugh quite a few times. It is one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read and I plan to re-read it again soon. 

9. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I've come to understand that Cassandra Clare's books always manage to earn a seat on my favourites self. Maybe it's her amazing writing. Maybe it's her ability to create swoon-worthy guys. We may never know...

10. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Dark and spooky accompanied by an intense romance, how could The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer not be on my top ten of 2014! It made me laugh, cringe and blush! Loved it!

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

After reading Anna and the French Kiss I am convinced that Stephanie Perkins may just be the queen of contemporary novels. This book was amazing! Cute, light-hearted and funny, it gave me butterflies and left me grinning like an idiot!

I loved Etienne and Anna's relationship! They become fast friends from the beginning of the book  and through out its course they quickly turn into best friends. Their interactions were often 'laugh out loud' hilarious and very sweet! But even though the romance was incredibly cute it was also a bit frustrating. We know that Etienne has a girlfriend but even when he realises he has feelings for Anna he still refuses to break up with her because,  after a heart-breaking revelation about his mother he is afraid to be alone. And even though I understood him at some point, I was still a bit frustrated with his choices, as was Anna.

I think Anna was a great main character. She was funny and flawed but she was the kind of girl that, in the end, recognised her own faults and tried to make things right. (Spoiler) Like with Juliette. When she found out she was with Trip she cut all ties with her but, at the end of the book, she understood why she did what she did because she had done the same thing to Mer. 

She wasn't there, they fell in love and Juliette didn't how to tell her. I really respected Anna when she wrote that letter back to her. (End of Spoiler) 

And let's not forget Etienne. How could anyone not like Etienne St. Clair? He is witty, charming and British!

.... I seem to have developed a thing for British guys lately...

Okay, confession time. I have been studying French for the past 4 years or so and even though I love the language, I've never been really interested in the country. Until this book. I felt like Anna and the French kiss was my personal tour guide of Paris and even though it didn't show me everything it did spark my interest for the City of Lights. The Louvre museum, the point zero, all those little theatres.. It would be a dream come true to one day visit them myself!

Overall, Anna and the French Kiss was an entertaining, cute, fluffy love story that made me laugh, swoon and tear up. Definitely a book I will be re-reading soon!

   Book info:

Paperback, 372 pages

First Published, December 2nd 2010

Publisher: Speak

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult.

Rating: 5/5

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.
They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

Goodreads    

I picked up The Evolution of Mara Dyer literally a few minutes after finishing The Unbecoming and considering that was around 2 am in the morning I think it shows how much I already loved the series. Well, this book made me love it even more!

It was dark and even more creepy than the previous one. I'm ashamed to admit it, but by the end of it, I had stolen my fair share of glances behind me to make sure everything was still normal and I also jumped on the sound of my dad knocking at my door.... Yeah.... It was creepy alright...

I sympathised a lot more with Mara, who goes through so much in this book. From being thrown into a mental hospital, sleepwalking, getting wierd prophesies from crazy old ladies and being kidnapped, this girl couldn't catch a brake! And that was only half of it! 

Though, despite all the crazyness of the book there were some pleasant surprises too! One of them being Jamie! He's back! 

Jamie is one of my favorite characters in this trilogy! He's witty, a great friend and overall fantastic! Him coming back, was one of the high lights of the book for me!

Another high light was well.... almost every scene between Mara and Noah!

I can't describe to you how much I ship those two! Their romance was intense and beautiful. I loved how their relationship developed through out the book! They became closer and opened up more to each other about how they felt. Also some of their scenes were pretty hilarious.

Noah, was even more perfect in this book. How could he not be? He's loyal, always supportive of all the crazy plans Mara comes up with, deviously witty, loving and, let's not forget, Brittish. How can you not love him!

We also meet a few new characters, one of them being Phoebe. Oh, how I hated Phoebe. She was one of the teens in the mental hospital-school-thing Mara was enrolled to and she was creepy, disturbing and a complete psycho.

Lastly, The Evolution answered a lot of questions from the first book but, of course, left us with a couple more. Also, something worth mentioning is Michelle Hodkins writing. I said it before and I will say it again, her writing is so easy to get through! It's descriptive and yet it also flows really well! Makes you fly through the book!

Overall, The Evolution of Mara Dyer was a fantastic read! Dark, creepy and full of romance, the sequel in the Mara Dyer trilogy was as thrilling as the first one! Fingers crossed the last one will be as good!

    Book info:

Paperback, 546 pages

Published, September 23rd 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre: Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult.

Rating: 5/5

Top Ten Tuesday #10: Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015

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. End of Days by Susan Ee (Penryn and the End of Days)

2. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (The Dark Artifices)
Los Angeles. It’s been five years since the events of the Mortal Instruments when Nephilim stood poised on the brink of oblivion and Shadowhunter Emma Carstairs lost her parents. After the blood and violence she witnessed as a child, Emma has dedicated her life to to discovering exactly what it was that killed her parents and getting her revenge.Raised in the Los Angeles Institute with the Blackthorn family, Emma is paired as a parabatai with her best friend, Julian Blackthorn. A series of murders in the city catch her attention — they seem to have the same characteristics as the deaths of her parents. Could the murderer be the same person? And her attention isn’t the only one caught: someone has been murdering Downworlders as well. The Fair Folk make a deal with the Institute: if the Blackthorns and Emma will investigate the killings, they’ll return Mark Blackthorn to his home. The catch: they have only two weeks to find the killers. Otherwise it’s open war between faeries and Nephilim.The Shadowhunters of the Institute must race against time to catch the killers, even as they begin to suspect the involvement of those closest to them. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with the one person in the world she’s absolutely forbidden by Shadowhunter Law to love. Set against the glittering backdrop of present-day Los Angeles, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.

3. Court of Thorns by Sarah J. Mass            

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

4. Things we know by heart by Jessi Kirby

When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all. Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn't want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they're connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.

5. The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker                        

 Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. When she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to die at the stake. Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful wizard in the kingdom, offers her a deal: he will save her from execution if she can track down the person who laid a deadly curse on him.

As she's thrust into the world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and all-too-handsome healers, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies, and of love and hate

 6. Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor. As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world. And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend.
But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes. Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.And now it's too late to walk away.

7. The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury                           16-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, no one speaks to her. No one even looks at her. Because Twylla isn't a member of the court. She's the executioner.As the goddess-embodied, Twylla kills with a single touch. So each week, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love her. Who could care for a girl with murder in her veins? Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to her touch, avoids her.But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose playful smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the goddess. Yet a treasonous romance is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies-a plan that requires an unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

 8. Ensnared by A. G. Howard (Splintered #3)

I will post no description for this one so none gets spoiled. :)

 9. 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?

10. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab
Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes—as such, he can choose where he lands.There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there’s Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see—a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—and that is proving trickier than they hoped.