Waiting On A Wednesday: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Book 1 of the An Ember In The Ashes series

Synopsis: 

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
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I read this book a while book and absolutely loved it- it's definitely a must read. It's full of suspense, drama and the plot is incredible, not to mention the great character development and each and every word written was perfect and fit in beautifully and the way the dystopian world is set up is incredible. The story alternates from different POV's, which I really like and there's a good dense of action with just the right touch of romance to tone it down. Review soon to come, but in the mean time here are some of my favourite quotes: 

“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.”

“You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.” 

Review: 99 Days by Katie Cotugno

99 Days by Katie Cotugno


Synopsis:
Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.
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I highly recommend this book if

a) You are into brother-brother love triangles

b) You enjoy characters that never, ever, ever learn from mistakes and repeat them over and over again without remorse.

I DNF’d this book at around 50% because I just couldn’t take it anymore. 99 Days is about a girl named Molly, who slept with her ex-boyfriend Patrick’s brother Gabe very shortly after they broke up (within a day of their breaking up if I remember correctly) and she tells her mother about it, who then goes on to publish a book about it, humiliating Molly and making everyone hate her. So then she moves on to go to boarding school for senior year, without telling her friends or anything. The book starts off when Molly returns, only to find that everyone in the town hates her, even her best friend (no surprise!) and the only exception to this is Gabe, her ex-boyfriend's brother. 

Gabe is the only one that doesn't hate her, and as we find out later in the book, has had a crush on her for the longest time! And let's not forget he's the one that slept with Molly very shortly after she broke up with his brother. But I'll leave that for now and move on. 

Let’s talk about Molly. She is by far, the most stupendously irritating character I’ve ever read about and if I ever met her in real life, the first thing I’d do is give her 3 tight slaps across the face. Despite the fact that I had a lot of sympathy for her during the first half of the book and even empathised with her, come the second half and I came so close to wanting to reach in and give her a good shake! So she comes back to town to find that everyone hates her, and in the beginning I feel sympathy for her, I really do. But as the story goes on, I found myself wanting to slam my head against the wall repeatedly and slap her as hard as I could? Why the sudden change? Let me explain it. 

So she cheated on Patrick, the boy she has known since forever. It's not something small, but it happens. And when something like this happens, the norm tends to be you apologize, feel remorse, learn from the mistake to improve yourself. But this doesn't happen at all in the book! Molly acknowledges she cheated on Patrick, she takes the consequences yet not once do we see that she feels remorse!  But then I told myself, it's okay, just look past it. 

And I did until I came to the next part that made me put down the book. After getting together with Gabe and having the perfect boyfriend (Loving, caring, with absolute adoration) she goes and freaking cheats on Gabe with Patrick! I mean, are you kidding me? Do you never learn from your mistakes woman? The main character is selfish, self-centred and utterly weak and helpless! 

This book turned out to be very dissapointing, which is sad because it could have been a really good book had it not been for the repeated cheating! I know that cheating is part of the book, but you can only go so far before it gets irritating. I'd give this book a 2.5 stars out of 5. 

Top 10 Mondays: Best Covers

So todays Top 10 Mondays post is going to be on.....*drumroll* Best Covers!

1. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

2. The Heir by Kiera Cass

3. Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Sánez

4. Incarnate by Jodie Meadows

5. Across The Universe by Beth Revis 

6. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

7.World After by Susan Ee 

8. The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

9. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

10. Panic by Lauren Oliver 

Book Recommendation Of The Week: The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare

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The book of the week (okay more like series of the week but it's impossible to choose!) is The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis for Book 1, Clockwork Angel: 

Magic is dangerous; but love is more dangerous still. 

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London's dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters; including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. 

Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....

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There are no words to express how good this book is and how much I love it - think epic romance , fantasy (shadowhunters!) and action. Clockwork Angel was released first in 2010, and from there it's just gotten more and more popular. The story focuses on a young girl (around 17 years old) named Tessa Gray, who goes to London to find her brother, only to find out that she herself is a supernatural being! - half Shadowhunter and half warlock, and has the ability to shift into anyone's body provided she has an object of theirs. The story has lots of twists and turns, and along the way she finds love with the 2 boys living at the institute that could no be more different yet are as close as brothers: the soft spoken but gentle and determined Jem, and the fiery, outspoken and confident Will with a curse haunting him. This book is deinitely worth your time and you will be on the edge of your seat the whole time - once you've finished the book I promise you'll have the biggest book hangover ever, and may, or may not be stuck in a fetal position for days. Not that that happened to me. 

TBR of the week: The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh 

Synopsis: 
A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
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This book was released some time ago, in May if I'm not wrong and I've been seeing it everywhere, on my favourite blogger's reviews and instagram, and ever since I've been dying to read this book!

It's supposed to be a romance based of A Thousand and One Nights and an re-imagining of The Arabian Nights so I guess a little bit of a Arabic setting and also is a little bit of a historical fiction book/fantasy fairy tale retold- I'm really pumped to reaed this book! And look at that gorgeous cover!

That's it for todays TBR of the week, hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you're currently reading!

Waiting On A Wednesday: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand 

Book 1 of the Unearthly series/trilogy

Synopsis: 
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees...
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.
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Unearthly is one of the best angel books I've read so far - the plot is amazing and well-written, not to mention the characters and the gripping romance in the book! Clara, the main character, is a very likable heroine, not one that makes you want to rip out your hair. You know the type : whiny, helpless and overall very useless until saviour(normally in the form of a dashing, young and hot guy) comes and boom, whiny heroine becomes supergirl and rides off into the sunset with said saviour. No, this book is nothing like that. The plot has twists and turns, and Clara is the perfect heroine in my opinion and there's a bit of a love triangle, as well as a kind of forbidden romance, which makes the book that much interesting. Full review soon to come!

Some of my favourite quotes so far:

"But she gave me the perfect gift."

"What?"

"You."

"Are you any good at it?"

"Pulling idiots out of the snow? I'm the best" 

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About The Author: 

Joint Review: The Iron King and The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

 

                                                  Join Review: The Iron King (Book 1 Of The Iron Fey Series) & The Iron Daughter (Book 2 Of The Iron Fey Series) by Julie Kagawa 

Synopsis for The Iron King: 
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Synopsis For The Iron Daughter: 
Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. 

Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

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Okay, okay, how to start? The first book of this series, The Iron King, is about a girl called Meghan Chase and one day her little brother Ethan starts acting very strangely, and as it turns out he has been replaced by a changeling, basically a faerie, so she and her long-time best friend Robbie (who actually turns out to be Puck/Robin Goodfellow from A Midsummer's Night Dream if you've heard of it) have to venture into the faerie land, the Nevernever, to get back her brother. Along the way, she finds out she is the princess of the summer court, daughter of King Oberon (Midsummer's Night Dream!), is half-fae, half-human and a whole bunch of other things. During the journey she also encounters alot of dangers, falls in love with the mysterious prince of the winter court, Ash (forbidden love alert!) and meets a cat the reminds me suspiciously of the Cheshire Cat.

What I liked: the characters and the romance (being the romance-sap I am)

Meghan was this wonderfully stubborn but determined girl with a fierce sense of loyalty and her love for her family, as seen from the way she ventures into an unknown land to get him back. She's strong, tough yet vulnerable and makes impulsive decisions sometimes, but all for the good of her friends and family.

Robbie, or more referred to as Puck in the book, is the court's prankster, but he has a lot of unexpected depth that the reader doesn't realise in the beginning. When the book starts out, you think he's just this boy who likes playing tricks on people, who is sarcastic but actually as the book goes on you realise he's much more than that. He's fiercely loyal to Meghan due to his feelings to her, as well protective of her. He adds that little bit of humour and lightness to the book that is needed especially during the more grim parts of Meghan's journey to rescue her younger brother.

Prince Ash, the youngest son of Mab, the Queen of the Winter Courts. He's the type of guy that every girl will fan over - hot, dark and deadly with a mysterious past and an icy wall built around him, only to be broken down by Meghan. His relationship with Meghan starts out kind of rough, but towards the end it smooths out and well... I won't spoil it for you but I'll tell you this : it gets very sweet and you will come very close to squealing your heart out. They fall for each other slowly (despite the fact that Ash tried to kill her in the beginning) and it's just perfect. Not too fast, yet not too slow.

And then there’s Grim the cat, whose standard answer to everything is “I am a cat”. Observe the following: 

"Wait, you already know where you are?" Puck demanded as we edged toward the mouth of the alley, stepping over trash and piles of debris. 
"How does that work, cat?" 
"Most cities are very much the same, Goodfellow." Grimalkin reached the edge of the sidewalk and peered back, waving his tail. "Trods are everywhere, if you know where to look. Also, I am a cat." 

This happens not once, not twice but many many times. Kind of reminds me of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, if you’ve seen the movie, who can only say 3 words. “I. AM. GROOT!” Grim's this mysterious, ever-knowing cat that I've come to love as the book goes on. In the begining, I'll admit, he irritated me a lot and I was very suspicious but then throughout the book he pops up at the oddest times to help Meghan and his sarcastic, wry and "I-know-everything-just-don't-question-it" manner makes me laugh. 

The plot itself in the first novel was fast-paced and a lot of things happened. Normally I don't like stories where a lot of things happen in them and just confuse me but it was okay for me in this novel because the writing smoothed it out, but by the time I finished the book I had a headache from staring so fiercely at the pages! 

Now, onto the second novel of the series: The Iron Daughter. In this second book, it continues where it left off in The Iron King: Meghan made a deal with Ash that if he helped her get her brother back, she would come back with him to the Winter Court where she was to be kept prisoner (or watched over) by the Queen Mab. But of course, as most stories happen, she manages to escape and a whole course of events take place and she finds out more about herself and her power. 

I thought this book was good, though it could have been better and I liked the first book much more. The plot, storyline and characters made up for it, though In the beginning of the book Ash really irritated me and I came close to wanting to lob his head off with a baseball bat, no kidding! It started of with the classic boy-ignores-girl situation due to icky circumstances and rules and I felt that Meghan obssesed a bit too much over Ash but the plot more than made up for it! The second book was also fast-paced, action-packed and thrilling, though like I said before, could have been better! 

Overall, I give the first book a 3.5/5 stars and the second book a 3/5 stars.