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Books that Rocked My Face off in 2015

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This year it was hard to narrow it down to just 10 books as there were so many books I really loved this year.  So to narrow it down, I had to ask myself which ones was I still thinking about even after I started reading the next book?  Those are ones I choose for the list. (These are really in no particular order

  1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray – This book I really wish I read when I was a teenager as so many of the messages I could have really used.  You would almost think that a book about teenage beauty queens stuck on a desert island would be caricatures but they weren’t.  They were very like girls I know or were me.  I could pretty much identify with all of their struggles.  Plus it was a lot of fun.
  2. Winter by Marissa Meyer -I am really going to miss this series so much.  Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter made me laugh, cheer, angry ( on their behalf) and proud of all of them.  Winter was by far the longest book of the series and it was non-stop action.  There wasn’t any filler or time to relax.  It was the perfect ending.
  3. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell  – A little bit Harry Potter and a little bit of fanfiction.  It was a great final book to an imaginary series.  I was surprised by many of the twists and turns and touched by the romance.
  4. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray – I loved the first book in the series and so I was nervous this one wasn’t going to be as good.  It was better.  Now my only complaint is that she doesn’t write fast enough.
  5. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – It was fun, tense and very interesting.  I thought I knew where things were going and then I didn’t.  I’m looking forward to what lays in store in the next book.
  6. Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow – This wasn’t anything like I thought it would be.  It was surprising.  It was fresh.  It had the sassiest A.I. in the history of A.I.’s.  For that reason alone, you all should read it.
  7. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – It was sorta historical fiction with a dystopian vibe and boy did it work.  It was brutal and it was tense but entertaining.
  8. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – This was very much an Ocean 11’s style caper with a little bit of a magic and darkness in only the way that Leigh Bardugo could do it.  It’s set in the same world but after the events of her last series but a completely different vibe.
  9. The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson – This is the third book in the series so the stakes are so much higher and it didn’t disappoint.  It’s full of humor, action and ghosts.  What else can I say.
  10. The Rose Society by Marie Lu – This is the second book in the series that tells the story from the villainess point of view (though I’m not convinced that Adelina is the real villain but whatever) It was intense and was surprising, maybe a little problematic but worth the read.

There was two books that I enjoyed so much that I read the other books in the that were out in the series this year too.  So I thought they would get their own category.

  1. Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas  – For those looking for a Game of Thrones fill in until George publishes the next book, I recommend this.  It  was has all the twists and turns and is not afraid to kill of a character or two.  I’m never really sure where it’s going to take us next but I know it will be well worth the ride.
  2. Talon series by Julie Kagawa – It has a little bit of everything.  A Romeo and Juliet Love, a love triangle, a betrayal and yeah dragons.  Who doesn’t love dragons?  Ok, the idea isn’t that original but I do love it anyway.

Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

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You know when you’re reading a book and you can see where the story is going and who is the villain and who is the hero before the heroine does and you just want to scream at her to wake up and pay attention! That was me with this book.  Despite this, I flew through reading it. It was exactly the distraction I needed after a few tough books.  Mare Barrow has no skills besides pick pocketing and in this world that means when she turns 18, she’ll be conscripted to the war front.  She is a Red, born with red blood and is forced to serve and work for the Silvers, those born with silver blood and who have extra powers.  When her best friend loses his job and will be sent to war, she tries to save him.  This leads to her finding out she’s more than red.  She has powers, too.  Silvers can’t let her walk away after this discovery so they try to cover it up and force her to live with them and marry one of the princes.  That doesn’t sound like such a punishment but she’s basically their prisoner whose life is at their whim.  At the same time, a rebellion is starting to take hold and Mare wants to be a part of it.  The more she becomes involved with the Silvers and the rebellion things get complicated.  She’s playing a game she doesn’t know the rules to and anyone can betray anyone.

Mare is strong but full of vulnerability.  She doesn’t have skills like her sister and jobs are scarce so she does what she can to help out her family, steal.  Her family isn’t exactly happy about it since her sister has a job and is their ticket out of poverty.  It’s hard to compete against.  She is loyal, almost to a fault.  If she has a fault is that she is so focused on her family and friends and what she sees as injustices that she fails to see the bigger picture and it gets her into trouble.  Her suitors are abundant.  First their is Kilorn, her friend that she will do anything to save.  Prince Cal, the perfect prince and Prince Maven, her betrothed.  Mare is one of those YA heroines that doesn’t think she’s pretty but has guys falling all over her.  I find this kind of annoying.  We’ve been there and down that but it does actually make sense here.  At least with her relationship with the Princes it’s not so much she thinks they wouldn’t fall for her because of how she looks but that she is beneath them.  As for Kilorn, her loyalty and feelings of having to take care of him blinds her to his feelings for her which is pretty obvious for the reader.

As I said at the beginning, I knew that Mare was being played by some of the characters but despite that I kept wanting to read to see how it plays out.  It’s paced well, the characters are interesting and I do look forward to the sequel.