2018 Reading Challenge - A to Z

Early this year, I saw a post online somewhere that people were trying to read a book for each letter of the alphabet this year. I decided that I wanted to try it too. I wasn't sure how I was going to go, but I think I've done quite well. If there's a book in the list that you'd like to see a review of but it hasn't been done yet, leave a comment and I'll review it.

The rules:

- The word "The" didn't count towards the letter T. For example, The Great Gatsby would be under G as Great Gatsby, The.

- At least one title per letter, not the author's name (although I may attempt that another year)

- You get one freebie to use as you wish. Only one though. Such as if you couldn't find a title beginning with Y that you wanted to read, you could use the freebie and use any book you wanted for that letter instead.

A

• A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) - by Claudia Gray
• Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) - by Beth Revis
• Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes #1) - by Shannon Dittemore
• And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street - by Dr. Seuss
• A Mother's Confession - by Kelly Rimmer
• Awakening, The (The Vampire Diaries #1) - by L.J. Smith
• Assassin's Blade, The (Throne of Glass #0.1-0.5) - by Sarah J. Maas

B

• Before I Let You Go - by Kelly Rimmer
• Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3) - by Libba Bray
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) - by Maggie Stiefvater
• Black Heart (Curse Workers #3) - by Holly Black
• Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) - by Seanan McGuire

C

• Cleaning & Household Hacks - by Evelyn Craig
• Cat in the Hat, The - by Dr. Seuss
• Cat in the Hat Comes Back, The - by Dr. Seuss
• Celebrated Cases of Sherlock Holmes, The - by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Complete Sherlock Holmes, The (Sherlock Holmes #1-9), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) - by Sarah J. Maas
• Christmasaurus, The: The Musical Edition - by Tom Fletcher

D

• Diviners, The (The Diviners #1) - by Libba Bray
• Dream Thieves, The (The Raven Cycle #2) - by Maggie Stiefvater
• Dr. Seuss' ABC - by Dr. Seuss
• Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) - by Seanan McGuire
• Dear Tiger: I Don't Think I'm Human Anymore (Letters Across Space #2) - by Carlie Simonsen
• Dear Tiger: Don't Look Back (Letters Across Space #3) - by Carlie Simonsen
• Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab (Letters Across Space #4) - by Carlie Simonsen
• Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) - by Seanan McGuire [again]
• Don't You Cry - by Mary Kubica
• Dear Tiger: Let's Go A-Hunting (Letters Across Space #5) - by Carlie Simonsen
• Dear Tiger: Help Me Find My Sisters (Letters Across Space #6) - by Carlie Simonsen

E

• Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) - by Sarah J. Maas
• Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) - by Seanan McGuire
• Eve (Eve #1) - by Anna Carey
• Eve of Man (Eve of Man Trilogy #1) - by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher
• Everything, Everything - by Nicola Yoon
• Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) - by Seanan McGuire [again]

F

• Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay - by J.K. Rowling
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Hogwarts Library) - by Newt Scamander (J.K. Rowling)
• Foot Book, The - by Dr. Seuss
• Fawkes - by Nadine Brandes
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Hogwarts Library) - by Newt Scamander (J.K. Rowling) [again]

G

• Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, The (Guide #1) - by Mackenzie Lee
• Green Eggs and Ham - by Dr. Seuss
• Granny Finds a Gas Mask (Granny Finds Adventure #1) - by Carlie Simonsen

H

• Hunted - by Meagan Spooner
• Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2) - by Ransom Riggs
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas - by Dr. Seuss
• Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) - by Sarah J. Maas

I

• Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! - by Dr. Seuss
• InterWorld (InterWorld #1) - by Neil Gaiman & Michael Reaves
• I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1) - by Barry Lyga
• In Full Flight (Wings #3) - by Carlie Simonsen

J

• 
  

K

• 
  

L

• Last Academy, The - by Anne Applegate
• Lorax, The - by Dr. Seuss
• Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #3) - by Ransom Riggs
• Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) - by Libba Bray
• LIFEL1K3 (Lifelike #1) - by Jay Kristoff
• Les Miserables - by Victor Hugo

M

• Marge in Charge - by Isla Fisher
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1) - by Ransom Riggs
• Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? - by Dr. Seuss
• Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! - by Dr. Seuss

N

• Neverland - by Margot McGovern

O

• Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - by Dr. Seuss
• Oh, The Places You'll Go! - by Dr. Seuss
• Oh Say Can You Say? - by Dr. Seuss
• Outliers, The (The Outliers #1) - by Kimberly McCreight
• On the Other Side - by Carrie Hope Fletcher

P

• Paper Magician, The (The Paper Magician #1) - by Charlie N. Holmberg

Q

• Queen Heir (NYC Mecca #1) - by Jaymin Eve & Leia Stone
• Quidditch Through the Ages (Hogwarts Library) - by Kennilworthy Whisp (J.K Rowling)

R

• Remains in the Pond, The - by Ann Swann
• Raven Boys, The (The Raven Cycle #1) - by Maggie Stiefvater
• Red Glove (Curse Workers #2) - by Holy Black
• Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) - by Kerstin Gier
• Raven King, The (The Raven Cycle #4) - by Maggie Stiefvater
• Rocky and the Raptors (Otherworld Adventures #6) - by Carlie Simonsen

S

• Siren, The - by Kiera Cass
• Something of Substance - by Tia Souders
• Splintered (Splintered #1) - by A.G. Howard

T

• This Night So Dark (Starbound #1.5) - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
• Threads We Weave, The (Starbound #0.5) - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
• Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) - by Sarah J. Maas
• Their Fractured Light (Starbound #3) - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
• Tales of Beedle the Bard, The (Hogwarts Library) - by J.K. Rowling
• Tiger Lily - by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• Talon (Talon #1) - by Julie Kagawa
• This Shattered World (Starbound #2) - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
• There's a Wocket in my Pocket! - by Dr. Seuss
• Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose - by Dr. Seuss
• Tattoo Thief, The - by Alison Belsham
• Twice Dead (The Necromancer's Song #1) - by Caitlin Seal
• Tiny Pretty Things (Tiny Pretty Things #1) - by Song Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton
• Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #2) - by Sarah J. Maas

U

• Unearthed (Unearthed #1) - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

V

• Very Hungry Caterpillar, The - by Eric Carla

W

• White Cat (Curse Workers #1) - by Holly Black
• Whisper (Whisper #1) - by Lynette Noni
• What If It's Us - by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

X

• 
  

Y

• 
  

Z

• 
  

BOOKS COMPLETED: 21/26

The Dream Thieves - by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Dream Thieves
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: 17 Sep 2013
Series: The Raven Cycle #2
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis:
Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…




All of us have secrets in our lives. We’re keepers or kept from, players or played. Secrets and cockroaches — that’s what will be left at the end of it all.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

I sort of liked how Maggie put her own cars into it - the Mitsubishi Evo with the knife down the side and also the Camaro.

I haven't read a story before where a character can pull things out of their dreams and make them real and that seemed like a really cool idea. I like that we get to see more of Ronan in this book too.

"There aren't terrible ideas," the Gray Man said. "Just ideas done terribly."

Matthew is so precious and innocent and I want to wrap him in a blanket and cuddle him all day.

Chainsaw stacking random things on top of the cheese cracker she had - the sock, the bottle cap - so Ronan couldn't take it back as quite amusing to picture.

I never knew that Chainsaw was a dream object until they bluntly said it though, so that was a little annoying. But I'm not sure whether that's my fault for not realising or whether it just wasn't pointed out.

In the way of most families, he expressed his difference of opinion by raising a small army.

Originally, I didn't like Mr Gray, but then I starte to like him a little. But by the end I wasn't quite sure how I felt about him. Mainly because he changed his mind about Ronana too easily, and because of what happened at the end between him and his brother, I think.

It's unique that the ending music of the audiobook was done by Maggie Stiefvater, but I'm not sure how I feel about the music itself. I wouldn't have picked it for myself, but some parts of it weren't too bad. Other parts of it I just didn't want to listen to at all.

So many of the world's problems, he mused, were solved by sheer human decency.

__________________________________________________

All books in this series:

    1 | The Raven Boys

    2 | The Dream Thieves

    3 | Blue Lily, Lily Blue

    4 | The Raven King

Fawkes - by Nadine Brandes

Title: Fawkes

Author: Nadine Brandes

Published: 10 July 2018

Series: -

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.
Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.
But what if death finds him first?
Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.
The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.
The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.
No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

Have you no honor to stand for your beliefs?

Standing for my beliefs isn't always the same as standing for truth.

I received this book as an ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My favourite thing about this book is probably that Emma was a strong character who could look after herself and beat half the boys at their own game.

I really loved the idea of how the colour masks and Colour Test worked. The book is set in 1604, but doesn't have the 'ye olde english' feel to the words. Plus I adore this cover as it's so pretty.

There being a White Light as one of the colours was an interesting point to include in the book and how every colour apparently stemmed from it. I also loved its sass and how it sounded like a best friend would a couple of times. A couple of times I guessed that Guy Fawkes or Emma may have been White Light users too, but we do find out whether they actually are or not.

If someone, somewhere, somehow, can also make a Lady's Ball like how it was described in Fawkes then I will be very grateful as it sounded beautiful and definitely makes me want to go. Well, maybe make it without a few of the pieces we're told about.

I also cringed pretty hard at the end though when we find out how they attach the mask to the Gunpowder Plot plotter's faces. Plus the information we find out at the end of the book about the true story behind the book is pretty fascinating stuff too.

There has always been fear. There will always be fear. It's up to us to stand tall, even when the fear demands we bow to it.

Spoilers!

Norwood's death wasn't as sad as I sort of hoped it would be, but I still felt bad for Thomas.

I also guessed that Emma was black when my White Light idea didn't pan out, but it still surprised me.

Big question here though: How and why did Dee learn about and spread the Stone Plague?

But I loved that Thomas' mask was made from the same Stone Plague that had haunted him and been connected to him for years after he was freed from it.

End Spoilers!

The Raven Boys - by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: 18 Sep 2012
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis:
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

I listened to this as an audiobook.

I think that Ronan was possibly my favourite character. Seeing him stand up for Adam, wanting to help Noah (even though the way he planned to probably wasn't the right way), and the way that he cared for Chainsaw was lovely as he didn't care about much.

Noah was probably my second favourite. I don't think I could even tell you why, other than he's a softie who likes to pat Blue's hair floof and must be protected with love.

My hope is that in the next book that Ronan and Declan finally sort out whatever's between them and at least try and get along a little better.

I liked that the book was petty much about a self-made quest. It wasn't that they needed to do anything, it's that Gansey and the others wanted to do it. To find Glendover and prove that they've accomplished something.

Another thing that I liked about this book was the part about seeing someone on St. Mark's Eve if you weren't a seer. That you would either kill them or you were there true love. You never know which one it will be and my guess is that it would sort of plague you until you found out one way or another.

__________________________________________________

All books in this series:

    1 | The Raven Boys

    2 | The Dream Thieves

    3 | Blue Lily, Lily Blue

    4 | The Raven King

Their Fractured Light - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: Their Fractured Light
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Published: 1 Dec 2015
Series: Starbound #3
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
A year ago, Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness for their planet, and protect them from destruction. Some say Flynn’s a madman, others whisper about conspiracies. Nobody knows the truth. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were rescued from a terrible shipwreck—now, they live a public life in front of the cameras, and a secret life away from the world’s gaze.
Now, in the center of the universe on the planet of Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players, who will bring the fight against LaRoux Industries to a head. Gideon Marchant is an eighteen-year-old computer hacker—a whiz kid and an urban warrior. He’ll climb, abseil and worm his way past the best security measures to pull off onsite hacks that others don’t dare touch.
Sofia Quinn has a killer smile, and by the time you’re done noticing it, she’s got you offering up your wallet, your car, and anything else she desires. She holds LaRoux Industries responsible for the mysterious death of her father and is out for revenge at any cost.
When a LaRoux Industries security breach interrupts Gideon and Sofia’s separate attempts to infiltrate their headquarters, they’re forced to work together to escape. Each of them has their own reason for wanting to take down LaRoux Industries, and neither trusts the other. But working together might be the best chance they have to expose the secrets LRI is so desperate to hide.

I listened to this as an audiobook and followed along in my physical book. In the physical book, the words of the whispers are sometimes on opposite sides of the one page as if it was two of them speaking and you can see the whispers and Lilac have a conversation. But in the audiobook, the whispers' voices are quite creepy along with the background sounds of it, and at the end you get to hear the Butterfly Waltz.

"I probably could have stripped naked and laid down on his desk and he would've just moved his monitor so he could see over me."

The cover of this book is beautiful too. I absolutely love her dress on the front cover of this. And if you look closely on the front cover, you can see he has a tattoo just above his elbow.

The interaction between Sofia and Gideon was quite good. I like how their partnership changed as the book went on too - from enemies, to co-conspirators, back to enemies, before reaching friendship and (hopefully one day) a relationship.

Six lives, six threads. We shall see what fabric they weave.

Spoilers!

My guess that Sofia was Towers was sightly off, but I think I'd still call that a win.

I cried when the Daedalus ship crashed to Corinth and Tarver was crying as it fell with Lilac on board - in denial of what was happening in front of him.

Her hands slide up inside my T-shirt, finding skin, and my brain starts to shut down higher function so I can concentrate on getting her shirt off without breaking the kiss for more than a couple of seconds.

When Lilac tells Tarver that she held on so that she could come back to him I also ended up crying. I can be such a sap when it comes to books sometimes.

Another moment I started to cry? When Sofia was with Gideon at the end and she was thinking about what story she should tell the Collective and she thinks about the Butterfly Waltz.

Gideon: I still like yours better. The one with the lights and fringe.
Sofia: The one that got shredded and full of holes because I was wearing it during a spaceship crash? I think there's more dress missing than there.
Gideon: Why do you think I like it? 

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | These Broken Stars
 1.5 | This Night So Dark
    2 | This Shattered World
    3 | Their Fractured Light

Life's Rainbow

It was a rainbow.

It was red. The colour of a rose, a strawberry, an autumn leaf. The colour of a sunburn after laughing and playing in the sun all day. The colour of an oversized bow in a little girl’s hair.

It was orange. The colour of a marigold, a penny, a maple tree. The colour of a pumpkin on a front step at Halloween. The colour of orange juice through a straw while unwell.

It was yellow. The colour of a bright and shining sun, a polka dot dress, sand at the beach. The colour of butter as it’s spread on some bread. The colour of a lemon as it sits in a fruit basket.

It was green. The colour of trees, a frog, a cactus. The colour of freshly mown grass just before it rains. The colour of a lime slush drink as it gives you a brain freeze.

It was blue. The colour of a cloudless sky, a robin’s egg, juicy blueberries. The colour of a warm blanket on a rainy day. The colour of the overalls on a little boy.

It was purple. The colour of grapes, a butterfly, a violet. The colour of a chocolate bar wrapper as the goodness inside was eaten. The colour of paint as it’s rolled onto the wall.

It was a rainbow.

Until it wasn’t.

It was purple. The colour of bruises on the little boy’s arm and cheek from where he had been abused by his parents. The colour of the robes of a pastor as they molested a child.

It was blue. The colour of depression that had been left alone too long, turning them to suicide. The colour of a car as it came hurtling towards a motorbike, crushing the rider.

It was green. The colour of jealousy as they find out their partner is cheating. The colour of the vomit as someone forces themselves to throw up to stay thin.

It was yellow. The colour of the sky before the smoke as the bomb went off. The colour of the alcohol as it consumed the little girl’s parents to the point of no return.

It was orange. The colour of the fire as it erupted from the forest, the trees fuelling it on. The colour of the warning that no one listened to.

It was red. The colour of fury and hate as they tore each other apart. The colour of blood as it slowly choked the streets, no one noticing how many lives lost until it was too late.

It was a rainbow.

Eve of Man - by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher

Title: Eve of Man
Author: Giovanna & Tom Fletcher
Published: 31 May 2018
Series: Eve of Man Trilogy #1
Rating: 4 stars
Synopsis:

AGAINST ALL ODDS, SHE SURVIVED.
THE FIRST GIRL BORN IN FIFTY YEARS.
THEY CALLED HER EVE . . .
All her life Eve has been kept away from the opposite sex. Kept from the truth of her past.
But at sixteen it's time for Eve to face her destiny. Three potential males have been selected for her. The future of humanity is in her hands. She's always accepted her fate.
Until she meets Bram.
Eve wants control over her life. She wants freedom.
But how do you choose between love and the future of the human race?

I listened to this as an audiobook but kept up in my physical copy.

I love this Fletcher family so much and they are so very talented. I was excited to read this book as the synopsis sounded very interesting, plus I was eager to see how they would write together.

The book was well written and I couldn't stop listening. The narrators also did a wonderful job. I loved the voice of the person who narrated Bram, and the person who narrated Eve reminded me a little of the actress Natalie Dormer who plays Irene Adler in the TV show "Elementary".

My first question was how old is Holly? Eve was the first one born in fifty years, so where did Holly come from? This gets explained as Holly is a hologram type of program with 3 different sets of operators - one set being Bram and Hartman. Hartman also reminded me a little of Ron Weasley in the way that he spoke.

The way that Eve's situation was described reminded me a bit of the royals - having suitable partners chosen for you to pick from, the public watching in amazement and wonder, the tight security measures, the isolation you're forced into... I do feel sorry for the way Connor's first impression went though.

I did love the way that the Drop was described though and made me sort of wish I could jump into the book experience it for myself. In my mind, the Freevers also called themselves that as it's short for "the Free Eve-ers". It might not actually be, but I'm going to keep on thinking that as it sort of makes sense in my head.

The ending was so lovely too. A little cheesy, but still quite cute.

Spoilers!

I teared up at Mother Nina's funeral. She was so loving and kind and shouldn't have died. But she did it to save Eve, who she love like she was her own daughter.

It also makes me sad that Bram was abused by his father, but it also explains the way that he acts around him and also with the way he treats his father during the book too.

Is Bram's Dad using Vivian like Holly's being used? A hologram type of projection program? Or is she actually a real person?

I did have a moment of wondering if Bram's mother was Ben, but I'm still not too sure whether I believe that or not yet.

When I was right about guessing who the informant was, I was quite proud of myself. I'd guessed that it was either going to be one of the Mothers or Hartman. Mother Cardi was the informant and was also married to Frost from the Freevers, who sacrificed himself to save Ernie and everyone else who was in the house - which I also teared up at.

Last question though: Were the little humans in the glass things in the Doctor's lab Eve's babies? And if so, were they all baby boys? I'd sort of like to think so, but I could also be very wrong. It does make me sad to think of all those little beings in glass tubes being prodded and not being laid to rest in one way or another though.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | Eve of Man
    2 | The Eve Illusion

Across the Universe - by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Published: 11 Jan 2011
Series: Across the Universe #1
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis:
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. 
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

The narrators of the audiobook did a really good job with their parts as the book alternated between two points of view.

I might have heard about this book once or twice, but not enough to stick in my head entirely. What mainly made me pick up this book was the beautiful cover. The colours and the design of it too.

So I do what any reasonable person would do when faced with a crying girl - I get the frex out of there.

I think we've all felt that that at one point or another too. Angry at the world, sad beyond tears, feeling so alone that you think nobody cares, and feeling like if you made one wrong move then you would completely fall apart.

Across the Universe was written well as you could picture the ship and everything that was happening and the different levels of the ship too.

Because if I wasn't holding on to myself, I think my body would fall apart like a puzzle lifted at the corners.

Spoilers!

I guessed that Orion was the last Elder who had supposedly expired, and by the description of the scar I guessed that his Y comm had been taken out too. I also guessed that he was probably the one pulling the plug on all the Frozens. It turns out that I was right about all of these tings.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | Across the Universe
    2 | A Million Suns

2.5 | As They Slip Away

    3 | Shades of Earth

A Thousand Pieces of You - by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: 1 Nov 2014
Series: Firebird #1
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis: 
Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions.
Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer—her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul— escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.


So what if hair pulling is a girl move? It hurts, and it works.

I listened to this one as an audiobook. The narrator did a wonderful job and did the different voice accents each time they changed too which was lovely and added to the story.

Originally, I hated Paul - which I guess is the idea as it open with a scene about her wanting to kill him. He did really grow on my throughout the book though.


For one split second, it's hilarious. I'm going to marry Prince William. I'll get all Kate Middleton's cute coats.

It's nice that having your period in Russia before technological advances was put into the book. It was only mentioned once, though. Even though it there would have been an entire week of the pre-tech period, it's never mentioned again.

I need him to be one more of those assholes who thinks my brain couldn't hold anything other than gossip and favourite colours of nail polish.

I sort of loved the text messages from Theo in varying states of panic though. How the texts cut each other off and it was sort of like he couldn't even get his main thought in edge-wise because of all the panic.

I didn't know it was possible to go from making out with someone to wanting to smack them upside the head hard in less than a minute, but here we are.

Spoilers!

I did guess that the Tsar wasn't her father in the Russian universe as how else was she supposed to be there? She did say something similar to her unique DNA make-up being the only one she could go to.

I don't think that she should have left Evil Theo in the sub-like machine under the water, though. Plus finding out that through pretty much throughout the entire book we weren't reading about Real Theo and that we were reading about Evil Theo did emotionally suck a bit though.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | A Thousand Pieces of You
    2 | Ten Thousand Skies Above You
    3 | A Million Worlds With You

LIFEL1K3 - by Jay Kristoff

Title: LIFEL1K3
Author: Jay Kristoff
Published: 29 May 2018
Series: Lifelike #1
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
On a floating junkyard beneath a radiation sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.
Eve isn’t looking for secrets—she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she’s just spent six months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her Grandpa from the grave was the fistful of credits she just lost to the bookies. To top it off, she’s discovered she can destroy electronics with the power of her mind, and the puritanical Brotherhood are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.
But when Eve discovers the ruins of an android boy named Ezekiel in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world comes crashing down. With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic conscience, Cricket, in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, infiltrate towering megacities and scour the graveyard of humanity’s greatest folly to save the ones Eve loves, and learn the dark secrets of her past.
Even if those secrets were better off staying buried.

"Hey, you. Yes, you. Put this grimy, beautiful, devastating, hilarious, screaming, writhing, all-out post-apocalyptic girl-buddy-road-warrior-lost-princess-techno-thriller in your face and read it right now. It is every kind of badass." - Laini Taylor (blurb from the back cover of the book)

Oh. My. Goodness. Laini Taylor's quote about this basically sums up how I'm feeling right about now. I really don't want to wait until May 2019 for the next book in the trilogy, that's how good it is. The picture also doesn't show it but the coppery colour on the edges of the front and back cover are metallic and shiny and oh-so-cool!

I like that we see action within the first chapter so it doesn't take too long to get into it.

There were so many awesome points to this book.

It's easier to base something from something else than it is to create something from nothing, so the lifelikes were modeled off the Monrova family. Grace from Eve's mother Alexis, Gabriel from her father Nicholas, Raphael from the eldest sister Olivia, Hope from the second youngest sister Marie, and Faith from Eve herself.

I liked that the twelve lifelikes were named after angels and virtues. Gabriel, Ezekiel, Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Daniel, Hope, Faith, Patience, Verity, Grace, and Mercy. It was also good that they had the same emotional capacity as an adult, but without the knowledge or experience of how to deal with them.

There is insta-love in this book, but it's not your usual kind. This is the kind that rips out your heart and stomps on it until it is nothing but mush. The kind that shows you what horror and pain it can cause to people and their emotions. The kind that shows you that love and lust are two completely different things.

It was good to see that when restarting Myriad, four things were needed (voice ident, retinal scan, blood sample, brainwave imprint) and it took at least twenty minutes too boot up - not simply an instant restart and away you go...

The flashbacks were interesting to watch unfold. Also the layout of the pages towards the end where a character's mind spirals a bit was really nice to see. It reminded me a bit of the layout of the Illuminae Files trilogy.

The language was a bit to take in a first, but I managed to wade my way through it. Some of the language I had to figure out, like 'sprogs' and 'fugazi'. And some was pretty self explanatory, like 'bestest', 'brainmeats', 'fizzy' and 'recyc'.

One theory that I had was that the area was called Dregs because it's what remains once everything good has left, such as humanity. Kind of like how the few tea leaves and the little half-sip of tea at the bottom of the mug are called dregs.

There was only one point when I was confused about what was happening, but it's sort of self explanatory as to why that was when you get up to that part in the book. It also made my mind spin out of control with theories...

Definitely recommend this book! Also, I need the next book ASAP please, Mr Kristoff!

Stronger together, together forever.

Spoilers!

When I'd only hit page 84, I already had to try not to cry because of poor Kaiser.

Why did I cry overall? Kaiser went boom, Cricket was crushed, Silas and Ana were shot. Enough said.

Now for the part where I got confused. How was it Ana's voice and retinal scan, but not her blood? Was there a complete blood transfusion? Was it because the blood sample may have been a mix of blood and saliva? Or was it possible that Nicholas used Lemon's blood, but still Ana's eye scan and voice? And here's my craziest theory yet. One that's probably so far off the planet that it's created it's own gravitational pull: Is Lemon the Monrova's true daughter, but was given up so that she would be saved?

Finding out that Eve was a lifelike was so shocking that I actually had to put the book down and yell and swear at nothing in particular while in my car, waiting for my own 'bestest' to finish work. Plus finding out that Lemon Fresh was the one with the electrical crushing power was another big shock.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | LIFEL1K3
    2 | DEV1AT3
    3 | TRUEL1F3