To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

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5 STARS

This book was FREAKING awesome!! I loved it! I was in need a good fantasy novel that do not dwell into clichés. This one was IT!

The lore and the myths in this book was well written that you could believe in it. Not everything was explained but what was necessary to our comprehension and imagination was there. It made it believable! I wanted to live there and explore the 100 places of the world and sail across the seas like a pirate.

As for the characters, they were great!

“That was the thing about sirens. They always went straight for the heart.”

Lyra was strong, independent and very bloodthirsty. I mean, in the first chapter she just kills someone and take his heart while he is still alive like it was nothing. She explained the ways (good and bad) of the Sirens so you could understand their point of views but also understand why it’s “wrong”. She was not a damsel in distress and could take care of herself. And God, do I like a strong female character.  I was afraid that the bickering between Elian and her would get on my nerves but it was ok. I could’ve done with a little less but it did not took away from the story.

“He has eyes like vast pools and a jaw made from shipwrecks and broken coral. Every movement he makes is as quick and fluid as a tidal wave. He belongs to the ocean. He is made from it, as much as I am.”

Elian was also great. He had a lot of chapters from HIS point of view and I thought that interesting. Usually, in YA books, authors tend to stay more with the female character and sometimes it’s for the better, other times, not really. This one was a good idea! Just like Elian we are intrigued by what Lyra can do in her human form. WE know her secret but we don’t know what she will do with it, just like him!

In general, it was a great read. Maybe a little short… I would’ve taken more of the world and their relationship! Well written, beautiful story, great myths and lore. AWESOME!

“How strange that instead of taking his heart, I’m hoping he takes mine.”

Like and comment if you enjoyed this review 😉

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Love & Ink by J.D. Hawkins

I’m a world famous tattoo artist with a six month waiting list. Everybody’s begging me to put my ink on them. I’m the hottest shit in L.A., and can get any girl I want. So the last thing I expect is for Ash Carter to walk into my shop and blow me off.

I’ve spent the last seven years screwing half the women in the northern hemisphere, but nobody could come close to the girl I left behind. Ash was my world. But in order to protect her, I had to let her go. It was the biggest mistake of my life. And now I’ll do anything to get her back.

It’s been seven years since we last spoke. Seven long years of trying to ignore the memory of her skin, her eyes, her incredible confidence. She is everything I remember. Still stubborn and feisty and sexy as hell. They say you should forgive and forget. But Ash can never forget what I did. And I can never forgive myself.

She’s left a permanent mark on my heart.

But even if she takes me back, will we be able to overcome the past? Will we be able to move forward towards our future?

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2.5 STARS 

This book really disappointed me…

I mean the cover looked great (a little cheesy, but still he is handsome!) and the synopsis was promising. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a GOOD new adult book. Those tend to be pretty rare these days. This one fell right into the forgettable books of 2018.

I was prepared for a good read, the reviews were amazing on this one. To be honest, I really don’t understand why…

The story was something that has been done hundreds of time before and the characters were underdeveloped as hell. I mean, second chances stories are something that are hard to read since the characters already have history before this story begins. The challenge of the writer is to make this story more interesting than their past one. And in Love & Ink, I was way more interested by their past than their present. I wanted to know how they met (girl from good side and bad boy), how they kept their love secret for 3 years, how their romance blossomed from a thing to Romeo and Juliet kind of love. That would have been a good story! Now the only thing we have is a past, that is briefly mentioned and a love story that starts waaayyy to fast!

Also, since the characters already knew each other prior to the novel, they weren’t developed at all. We can get bits and pieces of their personalities here and there but that’s it. Could have been done better…

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata

If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.

After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.

But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.

Including Ivan Lukov.

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3 STARS

I enjoyed this book until it was too long. The idea of the story was great! I mean, I love figure skating and right now, with the Olympics going on, it was the perfect time to read something regarding this sport. But to be honest, figure skating is not the real main focus of the story. It is there, I mean, both of the characters spend most of their time practicing and skating. But it was secondary for their journey. The book centers more on Jasmine’s journey to find and accept herself.

“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” he muttered.”

The characters were ok… Jasmine kind of got in my nerves in some scenes. She was acting childish even though she is suppose to be a 26 years old woman. I know that Ivan and her are suppose to hate eachother, but their bickering got on my nerves soooo much!! Sometimes they would be bickering during 3 to 5 pages! That is just too much! I’ve read stories that are ‘enemies to lovers’ and sometimes they were bad, sometimes they were great. And the great ones are the ones who would write those scenes with just enough ‘hate’ to make it believable. This one, it was just dragging.

Also the romance is not really present in the book… The real romance starts at like 80% of the book and is way too intense all of sudden. Miss Zapata is known for writing long and burning romance, but this one fell short. It just happened like that ‘Oops, I think I love him’. I mean, no, that is not cool! There are ways to write slow burning romances and adding a few hints in and there in the book. This one, I genuinely thought that they were going to end up being just friends… This novel is not that of a romance novel.

Like and comment if you enjoyed this review 😉

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman

Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive – alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth.

The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

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2 STARS Did Not Finish… 35%

I was expecting maybe a little too much from this one…

The idea of the Titanic in space (somewhat the Titanic, it’s not a retelling but there were some similarities) was just a great idea to me and I became excited!

But the story fell short… The writing was somewhat ok. It didn’t bother me in the slightest. It’s the characters that drew me away from the story. They have a love-hate relationship and usually these I love very much. But theirs was getting more from the hate part and that was not good. They do have chemistry in some scenes but their bickering and hating and everything just overthrow their chemistry. How could people that litteraly can’t stand each other in the beginning end up together? I don’t get it!
I mean Lilac was throwing Tarver a side eye at EVERYTHING he was doing even when he was trying to comfort her!! That is nervewracking and a little childish in my opinion.

So yeah, the characters and their personalities were just not well written, at all in my opinion and that made me stop reading this one…

Maybe I’ll give it another try next year, we’ll see!

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

4 STARS 

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love…

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The world was something I wanted to immerse myself in. I love stories where the world is completely different than the one we live in. I can escape more easily and lose myself in the book. The experience of reading is ten times better.

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“Isn’t that what stories do, make real things fake, and fake things real?”

The characters were great. Kestrel (I don’t know why but I love that name XD) is an interesting character. She has flaws like everyone else. She is far from being perfect and I liked that. She is a general’s daughter but is not a good fighter, she lose battles and she knows it. She’d rather use her mind. I was tired of girl characters that are born exceptional fighters just because, well just because. Kestrel has to train and train in order to be able to acheive something and that is relatable. I also liked her personnality. She was just a little rebellious and very smart. She also has a musical talent which is not a good thing among her people since music is usually played by the slave. Just this part of the book was interesting for me. Since it was the slaves’ culture that brought music to her people, they shouldn’t play it and if they do, they are considered weird or even despicable. How horrific and interesting is that!

Arin was little developp in my opinion. He was good-hearted and sweet to Kestrel but apart from that he was bland. He has potential though to developp in further books. I guess his non-personality is to give him more mystery since he is a slave who even Kestrel doesn’t know anything about. But since he has chapters dedicated to his point of view, I thought we could get more from him.

The romance was sweet but a little fast. It was not ‘Love at first sight’ but close. It just happened all of suden without that much developpement. But still, I am curious to see how this relationship will evolve since it is kind of a weird one.

Overall a good read! The world interests me and it is now a rare thing to have lovable characters who are not copies of thousands of other ones especially in the Young Adult series.

Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

3.5 STARS 

When Drix was convicted of a crime–one he didn’t commit–he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the new Second Chance Program, the governor’s newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.

Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor’s daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn’t may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle’s parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix’s messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can’t imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves–Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence–and each other to finally get what they deserve.

I loved Pushing The Limits by this author! I thought those characters were great and Noah was so a hearthrob for me!
This one was like this but less satisfying…

“You think it’s smart for a guy like me to kiss the governor’s daughter? You need to know who I was before, so you’ll stay away from me, and before, I wasn’t a nice guy.”
Elle studies me too seriously and long enough it causes me to shift my footing. “You want to kiss me?”

In my opinion, her writing is still great but in this book, I thought it dragged a little bit. I don’t know if it’s because or the writing or simply because the characters were a little bland…

Elle was interesting, her personnality was lovable and excentric which are two traits that usually attracts me to a character. I just didn’t understand some of her actions. I thought that some of them were pointless and a little childish. She is young, but still, for someone who says that she had to grow real fast, she acted like a kid sometimes. Not all the time! Just on some occasions.

Drix was just bland… I mean I couldn’t even portray him in my head even though he was described pretty early on in the book. It’s just, he was suppose to be a bad boy (didn’t see any of that!) with a big heart. For me, he was just a normal guy who was kind and that’s it. I know he says that he is a bad boy to Elle and she denies it and everything. But he himself says that he used to get hammered and kick people’s asses. I had a hard time believing that he did… He is suppose to be good and everything but I don’t believe him to be a past criminal/bad boy.

Anyway, the story was something I have seen before but still interesting. We have seen those kind of stories before and this one was similar to those stories. I guess the only difference was that the story didn’t took place in a high school.

 

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

“Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.”

3 Stars 

I was actually a little excited for this one but it was just an ok read for me.

It’s been out since the beginning of January and the reviews were good. I even read one that said it was better the A Court of Thorns and Fury (or what it should’ve been) and loooooved that book. So I said “This book is going to be awesome!” And then the plot started to unfold and the characters started getting boring (they were at first but I thought it would change) and it didn’t… And the synopsis looked good and everything.

 “If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”

First thing I have to say is that none of the characters that were in the book were loveable or someone I could relate too even by one bit. I mean, it has happened before that the main character was someone I couldn’t relate to or I thought I was bad, but there  were always another one to take his place and gain my heart. This one had NO ONE! Jude was horrible in my opinion… She was hot-headed and childish and she thought that this translated to courage and rebellion or something. It was just getting on my nerves… Cardan, the suppose “love interest” was just horrible. He is suppose to be cruel but if you want me to like him, give him some personality traits that are good… He had not that much! And the rest of them were a little forgettable. The characters is the main reason why I gave only 3 stars…

Because the world was really interesting and I wanted to learn more about all the little things that happens in their world. All the things the mortals had to do in order to not be compelled or killed by fairies, were really cool.

But again, the writing was childish a little bit and the whole plot was going nowhere that much. A few thing kept me reading but overall it was just a book that I’ll never read again… I’m not sure I understand all the good reviews I read, in my opinion, this is not it…

 

 

Keep Her Safe by K.A. Tucker

Noah Marshall has known a privileged and comfortable life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that’s been rattling in her closet for years, and succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family’s life. Reeling with grief, Noah is forced to carry the burden of this shocking secret.

Gracie Richards wasn’t born in a trailer park, but after fourteen years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it’s all she knows anymore. At least here people don’t care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop, murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Here, she and her mother are just another family struggling to survive…until a man who clearly doesn’t belong shows up on her doorstep.

Despite their differences, Noah and Gracie are searching for answers to the same questions, and together, they set out to uncover the truth about the Austin Police Department’s dark and messy past. But the scandal that emerges is bigger than they bargained for, and goes far higher up than they ever imagined.

Complex, gritty, sexy, and thrilling, Keep Her Safe solidifies K.A. Tucker’s reputation as one of today’s most talented new voices in romantic suspense.

My goodness I thought I was gonna hate this book!

I didn’t! (Obviously!) The book started real slow, I mean REAl slow. I thought the characters were bland and I hated the P.O.V. change from Noah to Grace. But then, they met and everything changed!

Then the characters started having personalities and emotions and a real thing going on. I guess that seeing both characters through each others point of view was a good thing! We could finally see what was going on in their heads and discovering their personalities through the actions and through their reactions from what was going on. And then the whole mystery started building and answers were giving and then I was hooked! I have to say though that it was a tiny bit too dramatic a the time… I know that thing like that can happen to people in life and that it is a very dramatic situation BUT everything happening to ONE character and the same character still smiles through life, well I have a hard time picturing that to be real. Maybe it’s just me!

Overall it was a good read, not a 5 stars worthy but something interesting to read if you’re into a reading a good mystery book and a romance at the same time.

Ryan’s Bed by Tijan

I crawled into Ryan Jensen’s bed that first night by accident.

I barely knew him. I thought it was his sister’s bed—her room. It took seconds to realize my error, and I should’ve left…

I didn’t.
I didn’t jump out.
I didn’t get embarrassed.
I relaxed.
And that night, in that moment, it was the only thing I craved.

I asked to stay. He let me, and I slept.

The truth? I never wanted to leave his bed. If I could’ve stayed forever, I would have.
He became my sanctuary.

Because—four hours earlier—my twin sister killed herself.

DNF… 25%
I was apparently never a fan of Tijan (having given 2 or 3 stars to her books…)
This one was the same!
The synopsis was so intriguing and I wish that the rest of the book was the same… I mean look a the synopsis!! How good does it sound! Mysterious, you’re in for a dramatic love story right? WRONG! At least for me… Unfortunately, it fell short for me. The writing in the book is way to “high school” for me. I know that the book is suppose to be narrated by a high school girl but her rambling was way too childish for me. Some YA books know how to balance well written sentences and teenage situations so the reader who is older than 17 can read the novel without rolling his or her eyes.
It could have been good but unfortunately it was not for me!

Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1) by Jaime McGuire

5 STARS

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

I loved this book!! Even after all these years I find it as good as I did back then! The characters are lovable, the story is well paced and the romance is not the insta-love we are used to read these days.

Abby was a great heroine, not a stupid girl who falls for the bad boy. It took time and more friendship for the relationship to developp. Her back story was not a dramatic one, which was good! I mean, now every story has a girl with a dramatic background and it’s suppose to add to a character… No. It doesnt. How you write the character and her actions define her, not her past!

Travis was your typical bad boy, tattooed love interest. What I like about him is that he was flawed. He was not the golden boy who changed everything for a girl. He still kept his temper and was a pain sometimes. He was also extremely funny!

The writing was great! I laughed more time than I thought possible. The only part that I found was not as great as I remembered was at the 3/4 of the book where Abby’s father comes into the story. It didn’t add anything in my opinion, it could have been cut and the story would have been great anyway.

Good book! Still recommending it!

Enjoy guys!