Top Ten Tuesday: Characters Everyone Loved But I Don't Get Or Ten Characters I Loved and Others Didn't

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

It was really hard for me to pick ten for just one side so I went with five from each. 

**Five characters I loved that others didn't**

1. Maven from The Red Queen Series

Please will someone explain to me why everyone is in love with Cal? Like I like Cal but Maven is evil and a little bit crazy but I still fell in love with him and no matter what, I will love him. 

2.  Kaden from The Remnant Chronicles

Kaden is freaking perfect. I loved him from the start and that might be partly from his mysterious demeanor and 'bad boy' attitude. He's the one who betrayed her (Spoiler!) but I feel as if he's perfect and I will love him forever.

3.  Wolf from The Lunar Chronicles

So, I admit that I understand where people are coming from when they say that they disliked Wolf but I think that no matter who he was, he's still a cutie and perfect for Scarlet.

4. Brenda from The Maze Runner Series

Brenda is the girl that I told myself I would hate but I just couldn't bring myself to hate her. She shows what girl power is like!

5.  Piper from Heroes of Olympus

Piper is kind of like the girl who seems like she should be totally popular and stuck-up but I really like her. She managed to hold her own even if she did hang onto Jason at first. 

**Five characters Everyone Loved But I didn't**

1.  Gale Hawthorne from The Hunger Games

I have something very against Gale. He's never been my favorite. I liked him as Katniss' best friend but as soon as he was shipped with her, I was done. 

2. Cal from Red Queen

So, Cal was perfect on his own. He's cute and would be totally perfect for someone else but just not for Mare and that's kind of why I don't like him now. Like, I'd totally date him but he needs to step away from Mare.

3.  Ash from The Iron Fey Series

Maybe, it's because I've only read the first book but I thought he was totally rude, cold and calculating. Normally I wouldn't mind but since Meghan likes him I felt like he should show more of an interest and kindness towards her. Maybe my opinion will change. **crosses fingers**

4.  Tobias from Divergent

I only read the first book and part of the second but I still did not like him. I'm sorry all you Tobias lovers but I did not find him attractive (talking in the book) and he bothered me so much.

5. Frank from Heroes of Olympus 

It wasn't that I had something entirely against him, I just somehow found him annoying. I don't really know what it is to be honest. 

Music Monday #8

I got this idea from the blog Trust in the Words. 

Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya

So, I technically had two songs for this week's music monday but I narrowed it down to this one as it is one of my new favorites. I love this song 'cause it's really catchy. 

I also have a new found love for some of The Chainsmokers songs and Daya is a really good singer. 

Happy reading everybody! <3

Musing Monday March 7

Musing Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Books And A Beat

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

Up next I think I'll read....

Starling by Lesley Livingston. This book sounds so good and I need to read it because it is from the library. I love anything having to do with mythology so this book should be amazing! 

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Which characters (from which book) do you think deserve their own spin-off story? Why?

This is kind of a hard question for me but I have a couple of characters from different books that I think deserve their own spin-off story.  The first book is definitely Harry Potter. I would love to see a trilogy about The Marauders and what happened at Hogwarts during that time.  The second book is The Hunger Games. I'd love to see either the games Haymitch was in, the first Hunger Games, or maybe Finnick's story.  And the last book is The Remnant Chronicles series. I would love to see more about what happened before Lia's time as this series is so interesting. 

What are you musing about?

Lions in the Garden by Chelsea Luna Book Review!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is also spoiler free!

Lions in the Garden

Written by Chelsea Luna

Genre: Young Adult/Historical Fiction/Romance

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Pages: 236

Source: NetGalley

Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository

Recommended Age: 13 and up!

Summary:

Prague, 1610

Ludmila Novakova--Mila--has barely set foot outside Prague Castle in her seventeen years. But with the choice between braving the bandits and wolves of Bohemia's uneasy roads or being married off to a disgusting old baron, she's taken what she can carry and fled.

Escape won't be easy. Even Mila has heard the rumors of a rebellion coming against the court. The peasants are hungry. The king hasn't been seen in months. Mila's father, the High Chancellor, is well known and well hated.

But Mila can't sit behind a stone wall and let fear force her into a life of silk gowns and certain misery. Her mother's death has taught her that much. She has one ally: Marc, the son of the blacksmith. A commoner, a Protestant--and perhaps a traitor, too. But the farther she gets from the castle, the more lies she uncovers, unraveling everything she thought she knew. And the harder it is to tell friend from enemy--and wrong from right...

Review:

I love how this book starts right in the action which pulled me in automatically. This is the first book in a historical fiction series.

The historical fiction aspect of this book was on-point and really made me want to find out more about the time period. I like how there was a lot of information about what life was like in that time period as it helped me understand what was going on more.

A little bit of the time period didn’t seem to fit right. For example, the fact that Mila could just run away from the castle without people wondering where she was kind of confused me. And the fact that she didn’t act as a lady should shocked me. In this time period, ladies had to stay indoors and were usually watched.

MILA

We first meet Mila when she is fleeing her home in Prague because she fears that her father is going to marry her off to a wealthy old man. Mila was a wonderful female protagonist who was sheltered for most of her life yet still manages to remain strong on her own. I feel as if she wasn’t completely developed in this book but maybe they will do that in the next book. She really cared about others and was independent, trying not to rely on someone else to solve her problems.

MARC

You first meet Marc when he rescues Mila from an attack by vagabonds. Marc was the typical male love interest but he really seemed to keep Mila’s best interests at heart. There was a time in the book when he ‘betrayed’ her and I was shocked but it didn’t turn out to be real. I feel as if we will learn a lot more about him in the next books.

RADEK

I have mixed opinions about this character. When we first meet him, he seems like a genuine person but then later on, our opinion of him changes [or at least mine did]

There are also some other characters such as Marc’s family and Mila’s kidnappers but I’m not going to go into detail about them.

PLOT

I found the plot enjoyable and it kept my attention for most of the time which is good. Everything in the book happened within a couple of weeks. A rebellion is brewing against the Catholics and Mila finds herself in the middle of it.

ROMANCE

The romance in this book gave me different emotions. Any romance between Mila and Marc had me aweing in cuteness but between Radek and Mila, I was kind of disgusted. I also felt like the romance between Mila and Marc was kind of insta-lovey and that didn’t sit that well with me but the moments between them were adorable and had me wanting more.

Final Thoughts:

This book didn’t quite make it to 5 Crowns with me but it might have if some of the minor details I didn’t like were absent. But I still highly recommend this book.

Quotes from the Book:

Coming Soon!

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Crowns

March Books on my Shelf!

March Books on my Shelf!

Here is my March TBR! Yes, there are way too many books on this list but I have a break this month and will be trying to read around half of these books and I will feel accomplished.

My Challenge for this Month is: Read a contemporary novel.

For this challenge I am going to be reading A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris

Alessandra D’Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea.

One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat’s Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less is hesitant to live the life of a twenty-first century teen…until she meets the infuriating—and infuriatingly handsome—surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in…and introduces her to a world filled with possibility.

With the clock ticking, Less knows she must live every moment of her modern life while she still can. But how will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she’s come to love?

I NEVER read contemporary books as I feel like they are usually too overhyped and are overly cliche but I found this in the library and thought that I may like it. So we shall see.

A lot of the next books were in my TBR jar of books I want to read.

The first book I have is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I have put off reading this book since April of last year but since the tv show is becoming a success I have decided that it is time for me to try this popular series. Who knows? Maybe I’ll love it.

The second book I have is Stars Above by Marissa Meyer. I borrowed this from a friend and I am almost finished with it. This book contains short stories about the characters from Marissa Meyer’s wonderful series The Lunar Chronicles. I love this book and short review will be coming soon.

The third book I have is Dangerous Deception by Sarah Zettel. I have had this book out for many many weeks and it is seriously time for me to start reading this book.  This is the second book in The Palace of Spies series and I read the first book a while back. This series is about a girl who is hired to impersonate a lady at court while she tries to find out what happened to the girl she’s impersonating.

The fourth book I have is The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. I am re-reading this series as it is one of my favorites of all time.

The fifth book I have is The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. I’m a little intimidated by this book but it looks so interesting that I will get over that detail. All I really know about this book is that it is a fantasy and the girl in the book is a princess in hiding who needs to claim her throne.

The sixth book I have is Starling by Lesley Livingston. This book includes Greek Mythology and I seriously can’t resist a book that includes mythology.

The seventh book is The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa. This is the second book in The Iron Fey series and it is a must for me to read as I want to read the whole series. It is an amazing series and I highly recommend it.

Then I have some books I received from NetGalley:

Lions in the Garden by Chelsea Luna. This book is set in 1610 and is about a Lady who is suddenly caught up in the Protestant rebellion. A review is coming.

I also have A Daring Sacrifice by Jody Hedlund. This is basically about a female Robin Hood and I am down.

A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau and Joe King. 

A Lady is dead. Her noble line ended. And the King’s Reaper has come to reclaim her land and her home. In the marches of Aedaron, only one thing is for certain. All keeps of the old world must fall. 

Elinor struggles to find her place in the new world. She once dreamed of great things. Of becoming a hero in the ways of the old world. But now she is a Reaper. And her duty is clear. Destroy the old. Herald the new.  

The last book I have from NetGalley is One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank. I am starting to read contemporary fiction again and this is one that really appealed to me. It is set to release on June 7, 2016!

I also have a couple of extra books which I will probably not get to but I added them anyways:

One: The Heir by Kiera Cass. This is the fourth book in The Selection series which is one of my favorite series. People haven’t really liked this book but one of my friends is reading it and does like it so I thought that if I have time, I shall read this one.

Two: Nexis by A.L. Davroe. I received this book from my sister at Christmas and I seriously need to pick it up. The main character is a naturally born person while most of the others are genetically-altered Aristocrats. She really wants to be like everyone else but then her father is killed. She escapes into Nexis; the virtual reality game her father invented. Ugh this book sounds so awesome and I need to get to it.

Three: The Rose Society by Marie Lu. This is the second book in her new series The Young Elites and I loved the first book so I should read the second book. This series features a girl who was a survivor of the blood fever which swept through the land nearly ten years ago. Many died but many children also received strange markings and some even had remarkable powers. The main character is more villain than hero and that’s what I really like about this book.

Four: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. This is a contemporary/romance YA book. This is about a girl who wrote to all the boys she’s ever liked/loved. Then one day she finds out all her secret letters have been mailed. People have said great things about this book so I am going to try it.

That is it for my March TBR!

February 2016 Wrap Up!

February Wrap-Up

Time for this  month’s wrap-up!!!

February wasn’t the best reading month but I am still proud of how many books I actually managed to read.

The first book I read was The Conjurer’s Riddle by Andrea Cremer. This is the second book in The Inventor’s Secret series. I really enjoyed this book as a sequel even though there wasn’t as much action and romance as I thought there would be. I also rated this 4.5 out of 5 Crowns.

The second book I read this month was Winter by Marissa Meyer. This is the last book in The Lunar Chronicles which is one of my favorite series of all time. I rated this 5 out of 5 Crowns.

The third book I read this month was Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza. This book was really good and I rated it 4 out of 5 Crowns.

The fourth book I read this month was The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson. I rated this 5 out of 5 Crowns. This is the second book in The Remnant Chronicles series and I might have even enjoyed it more than the first one. It had me in tears, laughing and almost ripping the book to shreds. My review will be linked at the bottom of this post.

The last book I read this month was The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this book and of course rated it 5 out of 5 Crowns.

I also have a couple books that I didn’t finish as I either didn’t have time or didn’t like it.

The first book I didn’t finish was The Death Cure by James Dashner. I didn’t finish this book because I can’t seem to bring myself too. I’ve been trying since October so one day I will just sit down and read it but probably not until Spring Break.

The second book I didn’t finish was Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis. This was because two days after I started it, there was a hold on it at the library and I had to return it. :(

The last book that I didn’t finish was Prophecy by Ellen Oh. This is because I thought it was up my ally but turns out it really wasn’t. I didn’t enjoy it so I returned it and didn’t finish it.

That’s all for the books I read in February. I will be seeing you soon for my March TBR and a book review of a book I just finished.

Reviews Mentioned:

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson