Christmas Book Haul!

 As you all may know, I love books. As a result of that, a lot of the presents I got where books. Here are the books I got this year:






In this picture, you will also see the lovely skull scarf I got from my sister for Christmas. It resides in the background.

Here are the books I got:

-Clockwork Prince by: Cassandra Clare
-The Unquiet by: Jeannine Garsee
-The Future of Us by: Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
- Persuasion by: Jane Austen
-Sense and Sensibility by: Jane Austen

Book Review: The Raven Boys by: Maggie Stiefvater

My Rating: ★★★
Date Published: September 18th, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 409
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

“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.”
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.

Review:

** spoiler alert **


I received this finished signed hardback copy of The Raven Boys by: Maggie Steifvater from my local library's ARC program.

Well. I have a lot to say about The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I remember reading her book Shiver, and I could not finish it because it was terrible. I almost gave up on this book at one point. I really did not like her writing style. It was confusing, and strange. In the beginning, the characters kept talking about a "ley line" and I had NO clue what was going on. The author should've explained what a Ley Line is earlier on.

Blue bothered me throughout the entire book. I thought that she was supposed to fall in love with Gansey??! I wanted her to fall in love with Gansey! Why is Adam in the picture? Blue would not make up her mind which really pissed me off. There were also just too many point of views. There was Adam, Blue, Whelk, AND Gansey. That was just too many point of views for me!

The story was a bit lacking. Gansey would not tell Blue why he was looking for Glendower, and I thought that that was a bit stupid, and the whole "kiss/kill" think was also stupid because it wasn't clear that she was making any kind of relationship with Gansey. Almost the entire book bothered me, but there were some things that I did enjoy, like the fact that Noah was a ghost. That was a really surprising plot twist, and I enjoyed that.

I liked the book, so I think that when the second one comes out, I will in fact read it. The end of the book made up for the fact that the beginning and middle wasn't so great.

Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by: Michelle Hodkin

My Rating: ★★★★
Date Published: September 27th, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 452
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

Review:

Honestly, I don't think there was anything wrong with this book. I loved every single aspect of the plot, and the characters. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, was truly a masterpiece. The entire book kept me on edge. I wish I could go to the bookstore right now and buy the second one. I don't know why I waited so long to buy this book.

I thought that the plot was really complex, and worked together, and I honestly didn't see anything coming. Especially a certain thing that Noah is able to do. Not only is the cover art beautiful, but so was the writing. That was one of the things that I enjoyed the most about this book. The writing was hauntingly beautiful. This book kept me up till 1 am yesterday, because I couldn't stop reading it.

The characters were amazing. Jude creeped me out, I loved Mara and Noah, Daniel was just adorable, and so was Joseph. Jamie was pretty amazing too. I wanted to punch Anna throughout most of the book though. Claire made me angry too. I really liked the fact that Mara's mom and dad were so caring, and cared a log about her. I also really enjoyed how the book started. The prologue reeled me in right away.

The romance in the book was PERFECT. Some authors push the romance too early in the book, and make they're characters kiss waaaay too much, but in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, they didn't kiss as much, and didn't even have sex, which was really good. And they also didn't like each other right away.

There is nothing negative to say about this book. Bravo Michelle Hodkin! That WA a fantastic story. Can't wait to buy the second one.

Book Review: Beautiful Creatures by: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

My Rating: ★★★★
Date Published:  December 1st, 2009
Publisher:  Litte Brown and Company
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages:  563
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Review:  **********************SPOILERS***************************************

I'm really conflicted about this book. When I started to read it, it was okay, but it wasn't amazing. There is A LOT of hype surrounding this series, and I was afraid I wouldn't like the book. Luckily, I liked it enough to keep reading. There were only a few times where it was really interesting, but the rest dragged a bit. Although the rest of the book was alright, the ending really made up for it. I couldn't put the book down for the last 100 pages or so. Ultimately that's what made me give this book 4 stars. The thing that I really liked about Beautiful Creatures, is that the writing is so similar, that it's really hard to tell that two different authors wrote this book.

The only thing that I HATE about this book, was that in the end, she didn't get claimed, and the claiming is pushed back to her 17th birthday. That REALLY pissed me off. The thing is, I knew it would happen. But I really hate that. It's one of the worst ways to end a book. The entire book is leading up to the moment she gets claimed, but she doesn't. The ending was a whole bunch of crap.

I liked the characters a little bit more than the plot line. My favourite characters were; Ridley, Reece, Aunt Del, Marian, Boo, Lena, Macon, and Ethan.

The other characters were okay, but they just weren't my favourites. Apart from that, I gave this book 4 stars. The ending was interesting enough that I will read the second book, but not yet since these books are massive, and I have a big tbr pile to get through