Transitive Verve

I can't believe it's that time again! Here are the books that came out this year that I enjoyed most. I did not read nearly as many books as I wanted to read, so if you're looking at my list and wondering where X is and why it's not on my list - it could be because I just haven't read it yet. *hides* Please don't throw books at me. (I mean, unless they're good and you think I should read them. But try not to hit my head.) This list is in no particular order, and even though these are all technically YAF books, some of them have some adult content. (I think you will know what I mean, if you've read some of these.) A lot of these books are continuations of a series, which I know can be frustrating if you've never read them, but hey... now you have some things to put on your 2017 reading list. =P

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Synopsis (provided by publisher) :  “My name is Scarlet Stone, and my biggest fear is that someday I will find what I want most in life, and it will be impossible to steal.” What happens when life just stops? When one moment makes you question your entire existence? Scarlet Stone is a third-generation thief who has everything: a doting fiancé, a spacious London flat, and a legitimate job offer. In a single breath, everything becomes nothing, and she finds herself on a plane to Savannah, Georgia in search of the meaning of life. After securing a six-month lease for a beachfront house on Tybee Island, Scarlet changes the way she looks, thinks, eat...

In short: Fantastic Beasts  is tons of fun in its own way, but don't go in expecting Harry Potter . Let me start by saying that I was super excited because I've never seen an HP movie in the theaters (I didn't read the books until a couple years ago, so all the movies had been long out), but I also wasn't sure what to expect since I actually have a copy of the Fantastic Beasts  book, and upon flipping through it, I wasn't sure what sort of story they could put together from what is essentially a textbook about magical creatures. What I had gathered from the various Pottermore  essays and such in the last year or so was that it would involve Newt Scamander, author of the textbook (so it would take place long before Harry Potter was born), and it would involve wizards in America. (I got sorted as a Thunderbird among Ilvermorny's houses, how about you?) This is what I have! In the movie (and I promise to be spoiler-free), it's 1926, and Newt Scaman...

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Troy is an MP in the town of Seaside, dreading the onslaught of Christmas because of a family issue that had happened in the past. Allison is the director of the Seaside Veteran's Center, and is happy to be single - except at Christmastime, when her mother hounds her endlessly about dating and then criticizes any man she brings home. This year, after crossing paths fortuitously two weeks before Christmas, Allison has the perfect idea to bring Troy home as her pretend boyfriend - it'll get her mother off her back, and since it's not a real relationship anyway, she won't care what her mother thinks is Troy's fatal flaw. But as th...

Hey, my first blog tour post! I'm super excited to bring you my review of the latest JD Hawkins novel, Secrets of an Alpha Male . But first, a couple disclaimers: While my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: Connor is an up-and-coming MMA fighter looking to make his mark in the UFC by going for the gold. He's got all the swagger you can expect, but people are wondering whether he's got the moves to back up his trash talk. Frankie is a yoga instructor who knows her stuff - except for the part that involves keeping her yoga studio from going under. So when she gets the chance to hand her business card to Connor, she doesn't pass it up. Two seemingly opposite personalities, t...

Hey! A different sort of post than usual: since September, I have gotten SUPER into bullet journaling , and one of the things I've been trying to do every month is to dedicate a page to a literary quote about that month. Here's what I currently have in my BuJo, having now set up everything for the rest of 2016:

It's that time again! This month's theme was Once Upon a Time, so we got some fairy-tale inspired goodies and a very interesting book. Let's go:

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This is the part 2 of a duology. It is the sequel to Six of Crows . (Go here to see my review of that one.) This review will contain spoilers for the first book. Kaz and his crew barely made it out of the Ice Court alive with their target, and now they've been double-crossed by Jan Van Eck, the most powerful merchant in Ketterdam. AND he's got Inej. AND his son is stuck with his face altered to look like the boy they broke out of Fjerda. AND Nina is fighting a jurda parem  addiction. Schemes, tricks, and friends old and new come together as Kaz prepares perhaps the biggest con of all, to get the money they are owed, to get revenge on one of the other Barrel bosses, and to take down the corrupt Van Eck. But as they double-down on their bets and enemies old and new show up, they start to realize how much they stand to lose - not just money, reputation, or their own lives, but each other.

Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Books hold stories, knowledge, and magic. In Kelanna, where people have long been illiterate, Sefia is in possession of one, and she knows she shouldn't have it. Having spent her life on the run with her Aunt Nin after the murder of her father, she knows that the book, and her ability to read, is a dangerous secret. But when their pursuers finally track them down and take Nin, Sefia has to finally make sense of the book and rescue her aunt. As she follows the trail leading to the dangerous pirate Serakeen, her quest connects her to other pirates, assassins, and a boy she calls Archer, who has a dangerous history himself. As they get closer and closer to their goal, they realize that maybe the stories in the book aren't just stories after all, and that their fates are more intertwined than they thought.

Here we go, huh? I was super excited for this box!

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This is book 5 of the Throne of Glass  series. Spoiler warning for all the previous books in effect. If you would like to read all my previous TOG reviews (as well as all other SJ Maas reviews), click here . Aelin Galathynius is returning to Terrasen to claim her throne, raise an army, and defeat the evil demon king that has been threatening Erilea for centuries. But things aren't going to be easy - with enemies amassing all over and around the continent, Aelin also has to deal with new dark creatures hunting her, long-dead royalty sending her on dangerous quests, and her responsibilities towards her dearest loved ones, who have sworn to fight by her side. With the continent descending into chaos, new friends, old friends, new enemies, and old enemies all come into play as Aelin pushes the limits of her fire magic and prepares for a war at a price that only she can pay.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This book (part 1 of 2) is part of the Grisha universe and takes place after the events of the Grisha trilogy. (You can read my reviews for all of them here .) You don't have to have read the Grisha trilogy in order to understand Six of Crows , but I recommend that you do - you get a more detailed understand of the world and the stakeholders. In the small island country of Kerch, the main city of Ketterdam is ruled by a number of different gangs, and making a name for himself among them is Kaz Brekker, the criminal prodigy lieutenant of the Dregs. At the young age of 17, Kaz is already a legend, with his cane and his leather gloves, which only serve to further enforce his nickname of "Dirtyhands." A new drug is making the rounds in the criminal underworld, one that amplifies Grisha powers far beyond what was previously thought possible, but that leaves them quaking with addiction. It's a dangerous drug, o...

Alright, so... I have two Owlcrate boxes to share with you this time, because I recently moved to another state, and my July Owlcrate was delivered to my new address instead of my old one (which was fine, but it arrived there a week ahead of me), and then things have been hectic with the move ever since. I opened it and photographed stuff, but never got around to uploading the photos, and as such... now I have two boxes to share :) Let's start with July: July's box was special because the theme was Good vs. Evil, which meant that half of the subscribers were getting a "Good" box and the half were getting an "Evil" box. Which one did I get? Drumroll please....

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  It was just supposed to be a simple hookup - Finley is a model trying to shed her good-girl image to land some higher-paying jobs so that she can achieve her real dreams. Eddie is new to the modeling world, running away from... something. They meet at a party and enjoy each other's company for a night. But their chemistry is undeniable, and as they keep running into each other at various jobs and around their apartment building, they stop trying to fight the inevitable feelings that arise between them. But Eddie is hiding a rather major secret, and Finley definitely has a penchant for taking care of others and not putting herself first. They both find that going for what you want - especially if part of what you want is love - is not as easy as it seems.

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: This is book 2 of the Custard Protocol  series, and it takes place in the same universe as her other series, but much later in time. This review may contain spoilers for the first book, which you can read about here . Rue and her dirigible crew sail the aether again as issues both personal and political force them to head to Egypt. Their trip to India in the first book led to the discovery of new races of supernaturals, and not everyone is happy about this, or about Rue's executive decisions. The odd behavior of her father's wolf pack and their tension with the local vampire hive means that Rue needs to put on her big girl hat and take to the skies once again, this time carrying some unusual cargo. But they keep getting attacked, and as they suddenly find that they need to sail even further away into the uncharted areas of Africa, Rue finds a whole host of new problems to deal with, not the least of which are her f...

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  This book is a spinoff from Jewel E. Ann's Jack & Jill series, and can be read alone, but contains spoilers for that series. My reviews for those books can be found here and here . Having once lost her leg and her boyfriend in a car accident, Lake Jones has managed not only to survive but to thrive, working as a model/tester for experimental robotic prosthetics. However, her romantic life is lacking. Three years ago, she had met Cage Monaghan, the man of her dreams and her second chance at total happiness, but due to circumstances, they weren't able to keep in touch. Now, thanks to a new neighbor, he is back in her life again, and the connec...

Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  These are the last two installments of the Shatter Me series, and therefore, this review will contain spoilers for the previous books. You can find my previous reviews here and here . Fracture Me  is a novella told from Adam's point of view, discussing what happened during the final battle in Unravel Me  when Juliette gets taken away. Whereas the novel followed her, this novella follows him in the immediate aftermath. Ignite Me  is the final novel of the trilogy. Omega Point has been completely destroyed, Juliette has died (and come back), and the core group of Omega (including Adam, Kenji, James, and Castle) are in hiding, barely scraping by. As Warner hides her at the base and helps her recover, Juliette starts to formulate a plan to take down the Supreme Commander once and for all - but she needs Warner and her friends to work together, and that means dealing with some major issues (which mainly involve he...

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: These are the next two installments of the Shatter Me  series, and therefore, this review will contain spoilers of the first book. To read my review of the first book, please click here . Destroy Me  is a novella told from Warner's point of view, covering the approximate period of his being shot as well as the immediate aftermath. We are introduced to the Supreme Commander of the Reestablishment, his father, who is absolutely ruthless and who is upset (major understatement) at how his son has handled the entire Juliette situation - basically, it was a major FAIL that he ended up falling in love with her. Unravel Me  is the second full novel in the trilogy: Juliette, Adam, and his brother James are settling into life at Omega Point, the rebel movement consisting of many other "people with abilities" led by a man named Castle. Or rather, Juliette is having a difficult time settling in, and things get worse when...

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: Juliette's touch is deadly - as she was growing up, everyone around her, including her parents, treated her as if she had some sort of disease, or as if she were a dangerous weapon about to explode. After a particularly tragic incident, she's been locked up in an asylum for the past three years, in solitary confinement. But still she dares to hope that she might someday be free, among people who will accept and maybe even love her. However, as she's been locked away, the world outside has slowly fallen into pieces under fascist rule - animals are dying off, plants are no longer growing, and citizens are struggling to survive. But one day, a handsome young man is mysteriously forced to share her cell with her, and this sets into motion a chain of events which take her to the leader of The Reestablishment, who plan to hone her into a weapon to use against dissidents.  Her only hope is a boy she once knew before she...

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This is the third book of the Grisha trilogy . This review will contain spoilers for the first two books. You can read my reviews for the first two here and here . After the last major attack from the Darkling, Alina Starkov is severely weakened, and hiding underground among the vast community of Ravkans who pray to her name. They are on the run yet again, and Alina knows that the only way she can truly defeat the Darkling is to find the mythical firebird and unite all three of Morozova's amplifiers in order to gain the power necessary to go up against his shadow army. But as she and her loyal crew embark on their quest and fight battles at every turn, she starts to wonder if the cost is too great. And when she learns the truth about the third amplifier, she finds that the sacrifice required to wield that power may be greater than she's willing to pay.

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: This is book 2 of the Grisha trilogy , and therefore, this review will contain spoilers for book 1. Feel free to read my review for that one here . Alina and Mal managed to escape the Darkling at the end of book 1, but it nearly cost them their lives, and it definitely cost Alina a little bit of her soul, as she is haunted by the memory of lives lost at her hand. They are now on the run. They would both love nothing more than to find a place where they could live normal lives together, but Alina begins to realize that for her, life will never be normal. As the Darkling continues to pursue them, as they take up with privateer Sturmhond to locate a second Morozova amplifier, and as the streets of Ravka fill with people praying to her like a saint, Alina must decide whether to come back for Ravka and whether the cost of her heroism may end up being too high.

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  This novella takes place in the same universe as Carriger's other works - it doesn't require that you have read the Finishing School  or Parasol Protectorate  series. (But come on, why wouldn't you?) Preshea, one of the characters from The Finishing School  series, is now grown and known Lady Villentia. She is also known as The Mourning Star, having had four husbands who have all died by suspicious means. Of course, no one else knows that Preshea is a trained intelligencer and assassin. Preshea takes an assignment to protect the Duke of Snodgrove from assassination at his own house party. Little does she know that Captain Gavin Ruthven has also been assigned to do the same, by a separate party....

Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  In Ravka, there are non-magical humans who end up in the army, and there are magical people called the Grisha, who have a number of different abilities like controlling wind or fire or mechanical abilities or glamouring. Together, Ravka's leadership and forces work to fend off enemies to the north and south. They are also cut off from the coast by a swath of darkness called the Shadow Fold, which is inhabited by dangerous creatures. The Shadow Fold has been there for centuries, and its existence ensures that Ravka remains divided and vulnerable. Enter Alina Starkov. She is an orphan, with no one except her lifelong best friend/secret crush Mal, and together they prepare to make the dangerous journey across the Shadow Fold to the coast. But when an attack reveals a rare power that she hadn't know existed, Alina is taken away by the Darkling (mysterious, seductive, dangerous, and the most powerful man in Ravka) to the palac...

I literally just got my Owlcrate twenty minutes ago, and I was so excited that I had to post about it right away :) So let's just get to it!

This ARC was provided to me for free. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: Libby Strout is attending school for the first time. After her mother passed away, she became a viral cautionary tale as the nation watched her being airlifted out of her home because of her size. She has lost some of the weight but none of her spirit, and she is determined to succeed at a regular high school, despite the looming threat of bullies and harassment. Jack Masselin, handsome and well-liked, is hiding a serious secret - he suffers from prosopagnosia, a brain condition where he cannot recognize faces. He has learned to get by using identifiers to figure out who people are (counting freckles, noting hair styles, etc.) and also by not letting anyone get too close to him. Jack isn't a bad guy, but it's easier for him to let on that he is one. When a bullying incident throws the two of them together for after school detention, they form a close bond as they both try to ...

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: London has been ravaged both by bombs as well as by a deadly virus, leaving no adult survivors. The devastation comes courtesy of the queen of Germany and her son, Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer. Among the few survivors is Gwen Darling and her younger siblings Joanna and Mikey, who are barely scraping by, pilfering whatever is left from the abandoned buildings they find. Captain Hook and his Marauders have been kidnapping children in hopes of finding the one child who might be an Immune, but these children have disappeared, never to be heard from again. When they take Joanna, Gwen must put her trust in the mysterious Pete and his winged companion, Bella. Pete is the leader of an underground city of orphaned survivors, and with their help, Gwen might just be able to reunite what's left of her family. But they will have brave the dangers of a crumbling London - now christened Everland - and face Captain Hook in order ...

This ARC was provided to me for free.  Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This book is the second book in the series The Illuminae Files . Thus, this review will contain spoilers for the first book, Illuminae . You can read my review for that one here . Gemina  picks up just after the end of Illuminae , with the Hypatia  racing towards Jumpstation Heimdall after the mutual destruction of the UTA vessel Alexander  and the BeiTech ship Lincoln , as well as the rescue of Kady Grant. Heimdall is essentially shutting down for a long holiday as well as some wormhole maintenance, leaving behind a skeleton crew that includes the station captain and his daughter, Hanna Donnelly, and her boyfriend, Jackson Merrick; Chief Engineer Isaac Grant (yes, Kady's father); and the members of the Malikov crime family, including drug dealer Nik and his elite hacker cousin Ella. Unfortunately, also joining them for this long holiday is a mercenary BeiT...

Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary: Vika and Nikolai are two enchanters living in Imperial Russia. Vika is a powerhouse who can wield fire, ice, and other natural elements to her liking, while Nikolai is good with mechanics and building things with his magic. As is the custom in this fantasy world, only one of them can be the Imperial Enchanter (working for the tsar), so they must compete in the Crown's Game - one of them will win, and the other will die. However things are complicated by the fact that they are inexplicably drawn to each other, despite the fact that they are competing to the death, and things get even more messy as Pasha - the Crown Prince - starts falling in love with Vika as well.

It's that time again! This month's Owlcrate theme was steampunk, which is one of my favorite genres/aesthetics ever, so I was VERY excited for this box. Let's get to it.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary: Laia's life is changed forever when a group of the Empire's brutal soldiers - the Masks, so named for the eerie and off-putting silver masks they wear, which meld to their faces - raid her family home one night. After her grandparents are slaughtered and her brother taken away to endure god knows what, she seeks out the Resistance fighters to help her get him back, becoming a slave in the household of the cruel and violent Commandant of Blackcliff Academy. Elias' life is changed forever when, instead of graduating from Blackcliff and then deserting his future as a Mask (as he had planned), he becomes one of the four Aspirants fulfilling a prophecy to vie for the title of Emperor. Now instead of being free of Blackcliff, the Empire, and especially the Commandant (who also happens to be his mother), he finds himself committing the unspeakable acts he never wanted to commit in the first place, for a chance at a great...

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  Maya has been cursed by the stars, fated to be married to death and destruction, which makes her an outcast among the members of her father's harem and an undesirable match for, well, anyone. And actually, that's fine with Maya, who prefers reading and star-gazing over marriage anyway. Until Amar, Raja of Akaran, shows up asking for her hand. She has never heard of him or his land, but given no other choice, she accepts, and quickly learns that his land is no ordinary land, but a magical one, and Amar is the king who holds the balance of the universe in his hands. Promised equality and power, Maya also quickly learns that Amar's world, and Amar himself, is full of secrets, some of them dangerous. There are strange sounds in the night, and strange doors that must never be unlocked. As she begins to unravel some of the mysteries of her new home, she also begins to question her trust in her new husband, and a fat...

On a recent trip to SoCal for a Disney race, I decided that I HAD to visit the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter that just opened at Universal Studios. Because how can I NOT, right? HOGWARTS! It's a small "land" within the theme park, with two rides, lots of shops, and of course, FOOD. My general plan was to take lots of pictures and to eat lots of things, because while I can read the books and watch the movies at home anytime I want, what I can't  do anytime I want is have official butterbeer. So basically, this is going to be a pic-heavy post, just to warn you.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This book is the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses . For my review of ACOTAR, go ahead and click here . Everything from this point on contains spoilers for that book. It has been months since Feyre freed herself, Tamlin, and everyone in Prythian from the curse set by the evil Amarantha. Everyone is trying to return to normal. Feyre and Tamlin are preparing to marry. Except it's not that easy - Feyre is still haunted by the events of Under the Mountain, from the lives she had to take, to the fact that her own human life had been taken. She wakes up from her nightmares, vomiting. She can no longer bring herself to paint. She feels herself being suffocated by the pressures and duties that come with her position as the soon-to-be Lady of the Spring Court. And there's also the bargain that she made with Rhysand while she was Under the Mountain, and the fact strange things have been happening ever since she was broug...

Last week was kind of a fantastic week for bookish fangirling: First, on Tuesday, I got to see/talk to Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff for the second time, and also got to meet Stacey Lee, whose book Under the Painted Sky  has been on my TBR list for a while. Second, on Wednesday, I got to meet MY QUEEN. (More on that in a sec.) And then on Saturday, I WENT TO WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER. (I'll post on that soon.) So yeah, it's been a pretty major week for me, in terms of books!

Okay, so, while this is Book Riot's 5th YA Quarterly box, it's actually just my first one. I waffled about subscribing to this one for a while, because it's more than other subscriptions, and I already have plenty. However, this one only ships once every three months, and you get two books, so I decided to suck it up and try it - if I didn't like it, I had plenty of time to decide whether or not I wanted to continue. Alas... I LOVE IT. Let me show you what I got.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) This book is the sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn , and therefore this post will contain spoilers for that book. You can read my review of it here . Summary:  Rey is in tatters after it was hit by a mysterious magical storm, one that was probably caused by Sharhzad's father, who has gotten his hands on a book of dark magic. Having been forced to flee the city and leave behind Khalid, Sharhzad now finds herself in a desert encampment with her family, some old friends, and mysterious strangers. In the meantime, Khalid tries to seek inner peace by rebuilding his city. But nothing feels right now that his wife is gone, even if she is safe. Sharhzad realizes quickly that she isn't safe, as some of the soldiers in the encampment are apparently part of the band of mercenaries that were sent to kill her in the palace. They are part of a greater plan to destroy Rey and overthrow Khalid, so Sharhzad has to find a way to break the cu...

It's that time again! This is my second Owlcrate, and I was eagerly awaiting the possible items for their Dystopia themed box. Let's take a look: Every Owlcrate comes with a themed postcard. The front has some cool artwork, and the back details the items in the box.

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  Elena is a maaaaaaajor Star Wars  fan, so she decides to  overcome her introverted nature and to get in line a few days  early for The Force Awakens . It'll be just like in the news, with tons of fans bonding and having fun, celebrating their love for Star Wars , right? She ends up being third... in a line of three. Only two other superfans have decided to brave the great outdoors of the sidewalk outside their movie theatre. Between being outside on the cold cement in December in Omaha, and having to pee into a cup behind a dumpster in the middle of the night, this fan experience isn't quite what Elena had expected. But as opening day approaches, she finds that sometimes the unexpected can turn into something great.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  Misfits Dill, Lydia, and Travis are entering their final year of high school in Forrestville, Tennessee, each with their own dreams and burdens as they prepare to face life after high school. Dill Early Jr. has inherited a legacy of darkness and serpents - his grandfather, the Serpent King, went mad with grief and began hunting and killing snakes; his father, a preacher already notorious for his out-there brand of Christianity, was sent to prison for a detestable crime shortly before Dill started high school, and ever since, Dill's life has been a living hell, made only worse by the fact that his best friend/the girl he loves will be leaving town after she graduates. He's stuck in a town he doesn't want to live in, waiting for the darkness to consume him while everyone else moves on. Lydia is a majorly popular fashion blogger (but not to the jerks at their school), and she can't wait to ditch this backward ...

Apparently today is National Siblings Day, and what better way to celebrate (beyond reaching out to my own sibling - Hi Khoa!) than to go over some of my favorite sibling groupings! 

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: This is the seventh and last book in Dannika Dark's Seven  series. I'm linking to my reviews for the first book as well as the rest of the series , which contain information about the universe of the books as well as the individual characters. My review for this book will contain spoilers for previous books. I will copy and paste my summary of the universe here, though, for people who don't want to encounter spoilers: The Seven series is about a family of shapeshifters - specifically, they are wolf shapeshifters, so they live in a pack, in Austin, TX. This universe also contains other types of supernatural beings, like vampires (but they are different from other vampires in other books), beings that can trans...

Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Back in September, I did a write-up of the first three chapters of Soundless , so I'm going to go ahead and link it here , as it contains a summary and my initial thoughts on the setting and world-building. For the people who thought this book wasn't "Chinese" enough - what else were you expecting? Is Mead supposed to drop "won ton soup" and "kung fu" into every other sentence? The characters are Chinese, their names are Chinese, Mead draws from Chinese folklore (and I appreciated that in her acknowledgments, she mentioned that she consulted with people who knew more than she did in order to write this book), she tells  us that they are Chinese, so what else is she supposed to do? Fei and her fellow villagers experience love, suffering, desperation, and fear -  just like other human beings . Are love, suffering, desperation, and fear all white by default? Do Chinese people (or black people, or Latino p...

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  In this society, flaws have not only been eliminated, but they've essentially been made illegal: individuals who lie, who make bad decisions, who dare to rebel, etc., are declared Flawed and branded according to their Flaw. Celestine, on the verge of turning eighteen, is living the perfect life: she has a loving family, she gets good grades, and she's dating an amazing guy (who happens to be the son of Judge Crevan, the head person responsible for doling out justice to the Flawed). However, after one terrible mistake, Celestine is thrown into a maelstrom, and she no longer knows whom to trust. People either want a piece of her, to use her for their cause, or they want to see her in pieces. All she knows is that more people are questioning the system than ever before, and that she is at the center of it.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary: It's a retelling of the Scheherazade story - every day, Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride and every morning she is executed, with no explanations. Shahrzad is determined to avenge the death of her best friend as well as all the other girls, so she volunteers to be Bride #72. She manages to do the impossible - she escapes execution, by telling Khalid a story so compelling that he postpones her death another day. And so through her wit and personality, she keeps managing to convince Khalid to keep her alive, day after day after day. The entire kingdom is a-buzz - he must truly be in love with her. Except that while she is trying to assess his weaknesses in order to exact her revenge, she realizes that she is falling in love with him too, and that he is actually not a monster. So then why did so many girls have to die? As she tries to uncover the truth, various other factions are plotting against Khalid too...

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: Iris was the twin with the hot boyfriend, popularity, a car, and freedom; Andria was the twin with epilepsy, an over-protective mother, and an all-black wardrobe. However, Iris was the twin with the drug problem and dark secrets; Andria was the twin left behind, her own life in tatters six months after Iris' possibly-not-accidental death by overdose. How could she have not known how bad things were for Iris? Andria is racked with guilt. They were twins , after all. Andria has a few good things to hang onto, though: she has been seizure-free for almost six months (the last one having occurred the day Iris died), so she may finally be allowed to get her driver's license; she has a love of astronomy, and when her nightmares of Iris wake her up in the night, she takes comfort in looking at the stars; and she exchanges lines of poe...

Happy birthday, Transitive Verve! A year ago today, at the encouragement of some friends, I decided to split up my blogging and create a book blog and a makeup blog (so happy birthday to Vivre Glam too!) in addition to maintaining Editions of Me , and I haven't looked back since. While I did do TONS of beauty posts before, I didn't do a whole lot of book-blogging, and starting Transitive Verve really gave me the impetus to dive deep into my love of reading and writing. Thanks for being along for ride, and here's to (hopefully) many more years of being book nerds!

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  This is the first book of Clare's Dark Artifices  series, but the series itself is a continuation of the Shadowhunter universe, so if you have not read any of the books from her Mortal Instruments  or Infernal Devices  series, you're going to get rather lost. This book takes place five years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire  (the last Mortal Instruments  book), and centers around Emma Carstairs, Julian Blackthorn, and the Los Angeles Shadowhunters Institute. Emma has spent the past five years trying to find clues as to who killed her parents. The Clave believes that it was Sebastian Morgenstern, but she knows deep down that it wasn't him, and that the killer is still at large. When some new clues arrive that tie in to some recent faerie deaths, Emma finds herself in a bind, because ever since the Dark War with Sebastian Morgenstern, any sort of affiliation with the faeries has been pr...

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  Jake was always doing crazy, stupid dares. That was just who he was. Was , because one day his luck ran out, and he died attempting to do a backflip off the top of a swing set. He was even still wearing his graduation gown. Five years later, his little sister Jaycee has just graduated high school herself, but she's never been able to shake the image of seeing him hit the ground. Jake's death has turned her abrasive and reckless, and she's lost much more than just her big brother - she's lost track of herself. Every year, she and Mik, Jake's best friend, meet up on the anniversary of Jake's death, but this year it's different, because this year she is joined by her ex-best friend Natalie, Natalie's boyfriend Zach, and Zach's best friend Bishop, all of whom are struggling with their own issues. When...

This weekend I went with some friends to the Hunger Games  exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. It's basically a cool glimpse behind the scenes of the movies. It was AMAZING to see costumes, props, etc., up close and to check out what went into creating the world of Panem on-screen. If you're a HG fan and you're able to come visit, I highly recommend it - click the link to go to the official website. (There is also an exhibition in New York.) I took a TON of pictures, so this post will be pic-heavy.

There is a neverending battle between those who love e-readers and those who love physical books. I fall somewhere in the middle. I love my Kindle, I love how easy and convenient it is to own hundreds of books and to be able to access them at any time, and I like how easy it is to read privately on a Kindle (because, let's face it, no matter how well-written a book is, if it has an embarrassing cover, I won't be carrying it in public). But I love physical books too. I know people talk a lot about the smell of books, but to be honest, I don't sniff books, unless there is some scratch-and-sniff feature to it. Old books smell like... really old books. Like dust and must and other people's hands. So the "old book smell" is not what draws me to physical books. Nope. What wins me over? Beautiful endpapers and interesting design features. These are things that you absolutely need physical copies to appreciate.

Thoughts at glance: *** (I liked it) This is the first book of Carriger's new series, The Custard Protocol , and it takes place in the same universe as her other series, but much later in time. Essentially, it has spoilers for the events of The Parasol Protectorate  series, so if you've never read any of those books, you might feel really lost while reading this one, unless you're really good at forming inferences and filling in the blanks. Summary:  Lady Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama is a metanatural. Her biological mother (Lady Alexia Tarabotti) is a preternatural (soulless) while her biological father (Lord Conall Maccon) is a supernatural (werewolf). By the way, her adoptive father (Lord Akeldama) is a vampire. Therefore, it can be said that Rue leads quite a singular existence, between her feisty, irreverent personality and her ability to temporarily steal supernatural abilities through touch. Rue is given her own airship, The Spotted Custard , and along ...