1984 Review

1984 Review by George Orwell

Summary from Goodreads
The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of "negative utopia" -a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel's hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions -a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time. 

My Review

I'm not entirely sure how necessary the summary was from Goodreads, but I included it anyway because I always do. First, let me state that this was required reading for me just recently, as I’m sure it was for many people, and I can safely say this is one of my all-time favorite required reads, ever. 1984 is a classic for very obvious reasons, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to love it, but I'm so glad that I can say I did love it. 1984 paints a terrifying and shocking image in the reader's mind of what the future could be like. Even if this future may have already passed, it doesn't entirely rule out the possibility of it still happening. There is also the fear that this future may happen or may be happening right under noses. It makes for a very thought provoking read, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The relationship between Winston and Julia was also extremely strange. Actually, all of Winston's relationships were very strange, between him and O'Brien, and even between him and his mother. Winston was very guarded and didn't really trust anyone, so that made forming relationships with other people kind of difficult. Winston's odd relationships were a huge part of the book and also may have made for the biggest turning point in the book.

My favorite section of the book was definitely Book 3. Book 3 was gruesome at some points, (minor spoilers ahead, if anyone cares) but seeing the inner workings of the Ministry of Love and the thinking of the Party was extremely interesting to me. The minds and ideologies of the Party were so twisted and corrupted that their thoughts could be highly disturbing at some points. The Party's ways for dealing with people who disagree with their beliefs is so brutal and unrelenting that I sometimes wanted to look away, but at the same time, I had to know what was happening to Winston.

Overall, as so many before me have, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and, if you haven't read it yet, I would highly suggest doing so. I gave 1984 5 out of 5 stars.

The TBR Book Tag

I was tagged by Clary at Paper Castles to do the TBR Book Tag. Thanks Clary! :)

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?

Goodreads, that's just most convenient for me.

Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?

Print, I don't read many e-books, and my library has a lot larger selection of YA in print than e-book.

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

I mostly choose based on whatever mood I'm in.

A book that has been on your TBR list the longest?

Paper Towns, according to Goodreads, and I think that's mostly accurate. That book has been on my TBR since I think I read The Fault in Our Stars maybe three years ago. I almost read it, but then I saw the movie first and I lost my motivation. Oops?

A book you recently added to your TBR?

I recently added Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff to my Goodreads shelf, and I added Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor to my personal collection of TBR books on my shelf.

A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?

The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove, if you haven't seen it, it's one of the beautiful ones with two layers showing and a semi-transparent jacket. It is very pretty and it has a gorgeous map.

A book on your TBR you never plan on reading?

Just One Year by Gayle Forman... I wouldn't say never because I liked Just One Day, but I probably won't read it any time in the foreseeable future.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you're excited for?

Winter by Marissa Meyer, I just love the Lunar Chronicles beyond words.

A book on your TBR that everyone had read but you?

Either City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare or The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, two final books I am very ashamed of not having read yet.

A book on your TBR that you're dying to read?

Never Never by Brianna Shrum, because Peter Pan, whom I love dearly.

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?

140 books.

I nominate Kirsty at Kirsty's Bookshelf and anyone else who wants to do the tag :)

Rebel Belle Review

Rebel Belle Review
By Rachel Hawkins

Summary from Goodreads

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

My Review

With this being my fourth Rachel Hawkins book (I previously read and loved the Hex Hall trilogy), I have found that her books are best read quickly, within a couple of days, possibly a week tops. That being said, this book took me around a month to read. Between school and homework and obligations and such, I didn't have much time to read and I just couldn't justify spending time reading, so then I didn't and this book just sat half-read, staring at me guiltily on my desk. I flew through probably about 200 pages of this really quickly, and I probably could have flown through the rest of it too, if I'd tried. It was overall a very quick read and a really fun time.

Rachel Hawkins writes very sassy female main characters. They don't take crap from anyone and they know who they are and that they can kick-butt. Harper, our main character, was no different. Harper was super sassy and had some great lines, and her interactions with other characters were always thoroughly entertaining. However, in the beginning, Harper bothered me a little. While she was a really fun POV to follow, she also just irked me a little. She came off as little shallow and stuck-up at times, and it just bothered me. She did grow on me as the book went on, though, and I ended up liking her.

"Brandon's hair was a few shades darker than Bee's, more gold than blond, and while I guess he was attractive in a clean-cut jock kind of way, I'd never go for his type. Too many muscles, too few brain cells." (p. 70)

One thing that kind of bothered me was the situation with Harper's sister. I won't go into depth on the situation, because spoilers (I think?), but it just didn't really feel fleshed out. It was mentioned in the beginning, so maybe it's just because I read the beginning so long ago, but the situation felt a little brushed over to me and almost a little unnecessary at points, and it was kind of dropped once there was more drama in Harper's life. This is why I should have finished the book sooner.

"David's grin slowly faded and his fingers fiddled with the edge of his T-shirt, pulling it up and over his bicep a little. Since when did David Stark have biceps? How did you get any muscle tome when all you did was type and be annoying?" (p. 187) 

I really quite like David Stark very much. He balanced Harper out and brought her down to earth. David was so many things that Harper wasn't, but at the same time, they were very similar. David was kind of a dork (in the best way possible) and I loved every time he talked to Harper. David would always tease and kind of poke fun at Harper, which was such a change from Ryan, who just kind of annoyed me.Yeah, I'd take David over Ryan any day. Ryan is more or less your stereotypical, one-dimensional jock/homecoming king/boyfriend of the captain of the cheerleading squad. Okay, maybe he is slightly more than one dimension, but I still like David more.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I wish I had been able to read it faster, because I think that would have improved my reading experience. I will be picking up the sequel, eventually but I don't know how soon I will be reading because at this point I'm just not super inclined to read it. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Top Five Book Series You Wish Had More Books | Top Five Wednesday

Top Five Wednesday is a Goodreads created by Lainey, at GingerReadsLainey. Every Wednesday, there is different top five topic to complete.
Goodreads Group
Complete List of Wednesday-ers

This weeks topic is the top five series that you wish were longer and had more books.

5 The Heroes of Olympus

I wish the Heroes of Olympus, or Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan, had more books. Either would work, but I just want more Percy in my life, and Leo and Annabeth and everybody else, too. They were good characters. This is low on my list, though, because there are already ten books in the two series, so it's not a necessity in my life.







4 The Hunger Games

I would kind of like the Hunger Games series, by Suzanne Collins, to be longer. I feel like the series did end well, but it was so good, and it would always be nice to have more. It would be cool to see Panem recovering and trying to get back on its feet, but that's still not a top priority and not at the top of my list.






3 The Lunar Chronicles

The Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer, was originally going to be at number 2, but I think that may be a bit of a premature judgement. The series isn't even finished yet, but I can already tell that I'm going to want more as soon as I finish Winter. I love this series, the characters, and the world, so I would always accept more. 







2 The Legend Trilogy

The Legend trilogy, by Marie Lu, was one of my favorite trilogies of all time. I read this a couple of years ago, but I loved it and I was obsessed with it. I could always have more Day and June in my life, and I just remembered how it ended, and, oh, would I have loved to see more of the trilogy after that ending. For those who have read it, you know what I'm talking about, if not, you should really go read that trilogy, it's so good. I should really go reread Legend now.





1 Harry Potter

How can I not say Harry Potter? This is a constant conversation on all social media platforms and all over the internet, and everybody will always want more Harry Potter in their lives, including me. I don't think I need to elaborate further. 

Top Five Tropes You Hate | Top Five Wednesday

Top Five Wednesday is a Goodreads created by Lainey, at GingerReadsLainey. Every Wednesday, there is different top five topic to complete.
Goodreads Group
Complete List of Wednesday-ers

This weeks topic is the top five tropes you hate. A trope is basically an overused plot device or a cliche of sorts. I should preface this by saying, I'm talking about all these tropes I don't like, but I still read and sometimes really enjoy books that include these tropes. I don't hate a lot of tropes, so this is just a kind of dislike list.  

5 The Only Thing Special About a Character is Their Power

I couldn't think of a shorter title for the trope, so just go with it. I hate it when a character is treated as ordinary and unimportant, until they learn they have some secret power and then that just becomes their defining trait or characteristic. I feel like a character can be special and important in their own way before they learn about this extra special part of them.

4 Female Main Character

This may be a specifically YA problem, and I mainly read YA, so I don't know if this is as prevalent in other genres, but there are mainly female main characters in YA. I don't exactly hate this, because I enjoy those books I read with a female POV, but I do feel like there need to be more male POV's in YA. Out of all the books I've read this year, I have only read one YA book from a male POV.

3 Instalove

Nobody likes instalove. Nobody that I know of at least. The best part of a relationship in books is many times the build-up and the tension between the characters, and a lot of that is lost with instalove. Also, instalove just feels fake and kind of like a cop-out. A good romance isn't just love at first sight. That just doesn't really happen, and if it does, then that doesn't last.

2 When All Characters Are Perfectly Paired Off

Again, I couldn't think of a shorter title for this, so just work with me. You know that moment in a book, when every character just ends up with some other significant character, and everything just wraps up nicely, almost too nicely. Yeah, I don't like that. Not every person, especially in high school, is going to be in a relationship. Some people remain happily single. It just strikes me as off when at the end of a book everything just works out too perfectly.

1 Unnecessary Romance

Like the last trope, not everyone is always in a happy relationship at all times, especially as a teenager. This is kind of a combination of the last two on the list. I just don't like it when the author doesn't want a character to be alone, so they give the character a relationship that is completely unnecessary and unneeded for the plot. I appreciate platonic friendships, I actually really like them. A character can have a friend that doesn't end in a relationship, it's okay, these things do happen, the world will not end, I promise.

Note: I enjoy romance and relationships in books way too much for the top three tropes I don't like to all be romance based. Oops.

Top 10 Auto-Buy Authors | Top Ten Tuesday

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly series created by The Broke and Bookish, and has weekly top 10 topics.

This weeks topic is the top 10 authors that you automatically buy books. Whether you didn't bother reading the summary or it's a genre new to you or the author, you will still buy it.

10 Stephanie Perkins
I will read anything Stephanie Perkins writes, but I don't know if I would always buy everything she writes. I would still probably be happy getting her books from the library.

9 Morgan Matson
I have only actually read one of Morgan Matson's books, and that was Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, but I do own all of her books, and I kind of bought them before I even read one of her books, so...

8 Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo's writing is so beautiful and descriptive, and I love the characters that she created in Shadow and Bone, so I would definitely be willing to read and buy more of her books.

7 Sarah J. Maas
The Throne of Glass series is a wonderful series, and Celaena is so awesome, and so are the side characters. I haven't read A Court of Thorns and Roses, yet, though, so I feel kind of like a cheater for putting her on this list, because I don't even own ACOTAR. I do have it checked out from the library, so I'm just going to count that.

6 Jenny Han
I have yet to come across a Jenny Han book that I haven't enjoyed. Jenny Han writes great contemporaries, and if that's what I want to read, Jenny Han will be one of the first authors I look at.

5 Alexandra Bracken
I loved The Darkest Minds trilogy so much, and Alexandra Bracken's next book, Passenger, sounds really interesting. Based on the synopsis and the fact that Alexandra Bracken wrote it, I will definitely be buying her next few books.

4 Rick Riordan
I have been reading Rick Riordan's books since third, maybe fourth, grade. I own almost all of his books, which is rare for me, because I use the library a lot more than I buy books. I have always bought every book he's written, but that might to slow down since there is no more Percy Jackson. I will still read Rick Riordan's books, though.

3 Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover writes some really entertaining books. I always enjoy her books and I've read most of them. I always know that I'm going to enjoy her books and they all cover such different and interesting situations. If I want to read New Adult, I go straight to Colleen Hoover. 

2 Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite series, ever. I absolutely adore that series, and that series alone is enough to convince me to buy all of Marissa Meyer's books.

1 Rainbow Rowell 
I love Rainbow Rowell's books. Fangirl is one of my all time favorite contemporaries and just overall books. Whether it's a YA contemporary or an adult book (a genre I almost never read) or a YA fantasy (I'm very excited for Carry On), I will read it if Rainbow Rowell wrote it. 

Onyx Review

Onyx Review
By Jennifer L. Armentrout

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS FOR OBSIDIAN

Summary from Goodreads

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

My Review

This book was really good, and I think I may have liked it more than Obsidian. I read the two in the bind-up edition, so it just kind of felt like one book, and the way they weave together, I think they are best read back to back. Onyx, I think, may have been better, just because I found it more surprising and shocking, and it was just completely captivating.

In this book, there was more of a mystery. I felt like I couldn't trust anybody, and it was exciting having no idea what was going to happen. I was so shocked when certain events in the book happened and I didn't expect it at all. The whole book was just a whirlwind of emotion and shock and surprise, and I loved all of it. So much happened in this book, and I have no idea where the next book is going to go from here. Onyx, while feeling like a continuation of Obsidian, had a completely different tone and story line. In Onyx, it felt like there was more at stake than in Obsidian, and everything felt more important, so the book was more serious, tense, and suspenseful because of this.

Both Obsidian and Onyx were really funny. I didn't discuss this much in my other review, but both books just have this lighthearted sense of humor, that can be sarcastic and sassy at times, and is always really funny. I always find myself smiling and laughing at the comments that Katy makes. The humor helps to make the books feel shorter and also makes them faster reads.

"[Daemon] stared out the window, one hand on the oh-sh*t handle. As if my driving was that bad." (Lux: Beginnings, p. 591)

I talked about this is my review of Obsidian, but I feel it needs to be mentioned again: I really love Daemon and Katy together. They are so good for each other in so many ways. They make make each other stronger and they balance each other out. It's also great that they both feel the need to protect each other. In some books, the female character can end up being a "damsel-in-distress," but Katy will do whatever it takes to protect Daemon (and Dee and anyone else she cares about, too), and she doesn't sit by idly and stay out of harms way if she knows she can help. Daemon and Katy are so funny together, they have great chemistry, and they are just such a good pair of characters. It's also nice that the two characters continue to exist and be interesting on their own, and they aren't completely co-dependent on each other.

"The tender touch was so at odds with what he'd just said. Deadly and sweet souls- that was what Daemon was; two very different kinds of souls rested in him, fused together." (p. 758)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and the Lux series as a whole, so far. I was a little concerned at first because the series has a lot of hype, but I think that this book lived up to its hype, and I think the rest of the books will, too. I gave Onyx 4.5 out of 5 stars.