{REVIEW} The Heir by Kiera Cass

Title: The Heir
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance
Series: The Selection
Book: 4
Rating: ★★★

Blurb from Goodreads:

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.


Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

My Reaction/Thoughts:

Now I am probably one of the biggest Maxerica shippers in this fandom and I was more than just a little excited when I found out that Kiera was writing another Selection novel, so it really pains me that I found this book to be just okay. I am soooooooo sad! I wanted to love this book! I really did. And I really, really tried to as well, but I think the only redeeming qualities this novel had were the goofy, cute guys that were vying for Eadlyn's attention. At this point I really don't know who I am rooting for. Scratch that, I know it's Kile, but I still love Henri and Erik. But I am looking forward to the next and final book. I need to know what happens to my belove Maxon and America (which was seriously lacking in this book) and who Eadlyn will finally fall for. I want to see how their put the Illea back together also.

My only big complaint with this novel was Eadlyn. I couldn't stand her for most of this book. She was such a snob. I know she grew up in a privileged environment and she is stressed out because she needs to step up and be Queen, but she just had the worst attitude. I hated that she would look down on people who weren't like her or on her level. She talked so much crap about other people that I just had to skip over her sometimes. I also couldn't believe her little tantrum she threw when Maxon and America told her that they wanted to throw another Selection to calm the uprisings going on in the country and Eadlyn responded with "You're ruining my life!" 

Nevertheless, I am excited to see Eadlyn just finally own her role as Queen and spread her sass all over in the right places. She was becoming a more enjoyable character at the end and I loved seeing her more comfortable side with the boys. So I will definitely read the next book! 

The gorgeous boys in this book are what really made me enjoy this novel. I loved Kile so much. I still don't believe him that he didn't throw in his name into the Selection, but I honestly think he's endgame. How can he not?! But I also want Cass to throw a curveball and choose Erik because he's not even in the competition and I know he's falling for Eadlyn! He's just so sweet too and he's really acting as a good confidant for her. Henri is just a sweet, sweet character as well and I love all his little scenes. They are all just so sweet and adorable! I DON'T KNOW WHO TO CHOOSE!

Friday Finds #1

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

My finds:

    

  

• Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini
• The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West
• Endgame: The Calling by James Frey
• Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
• My Life With The Walter Boys by Ali Novak

COVER REVEAL: The Heir by Kiera Cass

OH MY GOSH I AM BEYOND EXCITED! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL I COULD CRY! *BOUNCES AROUND HAPPILY SQUEALING* The cover has been revealed for the upcoming book in Kiera Cass's The Selection series and I could not be any happier! 

Title: The Heir

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection

Book: 4

Genre: Young adult, Dystopia, Romance, Fantasy

Expected publication: May 5, 2015 by Harper Teen

Official Synopsis:

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.

OH MY GOODY GOODY GUMDROPS! ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL! I am so excited for this. I loved The Selection series so much. It holds a special place in my heart and America and Prince Maxon are seriously one of my OTPs. The fact that this series was already over and Kiera Cass decided to give us two more books has completely sent me over the hills and into another galaxy because I am so happy. I cannot wait! I cannot wait! I cannot wait! This is beautiful. That dress! That tiara! Oh my goodness *dances around*

Book Cake Tag!

The lovely Yvonne from a world between folded pages tagged me to do the Book Cake tag! Thanks lovely! Tags are always fun. 

Flour: A book that was a little bit slow to start off but really picked up as it went along.

I choose The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. I was into this book from the beginning, but I feel like it took a little while for it to get going. I felt like I was just going through the motions at first. But then I got into it and found it quite intriguing, even though it was a little bit like The Hunger Games at times for me. 

Margarine: A book that had a rich, great plot.

I immediately think of The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. Shadow and Bone was so intriguing and grabbed me from the very first pages. I loved the characters and the beautiful magical world that Bardugo created! I could not put this book or series down. 

Eggs: A book you first thought was going to be bad but actually turned out quite enjoyable. 

I am going to have to go with The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey for this one because I am just not a huge sci-fi, alien invasion reader. In fact, I hate sci-fi, but this book was great to me! I was hooked the entire time even though it did get confusing at parts. Many people have said that it is very slow at the beginning, but I didn't feel that way at all. From the very beginning I was hooked. I loved it. 

Sugar: A sugary, sweet book.

For me this has  Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins written all over it. This book was just ooey, gooey love. I absolutely loved it. The characters are all so lovable and the story is just so great. It's a quick and easy read. This will now be my go-to book for a quick pick me up when I am depressed or stressed.  

Icing: A book that covered every single element that you enjoy about a book (funny moments, action moments, sad moments, etc.)

I am going to have to go with Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead for this one. This is the last book in the Vampire Academy series and I was actually hooked through the whole series. I read the series in about a week and it has everything: a strong female heroine, witty characters, two sexy male characters that you will fall in love with, action, humor, and everything else you love. If you can get over how cheesy you may think Vampire Academy may be, you'll be surprised by how great it actually is. I know because I was one of those people who thought it was the most cheesy and stupid series out there, but it ended up being one of my favorites once I gave it a chance. 

Sprinkles: A book series that you can kind of turn back to for a little pick me up when you're feeling down. 

This is a little hard for me because I have so many series that I absolutely adore, but to pick me up when I'm down? That has to be the Shatter Me trilogy without a doubt. I choose this because I am so in love with Aaron Warner and if you say you aren't, you're crazy. This man is so sexy and wonderful that I just....gah I love this man so much. Because of his and Juliette's love, I would definitely turn to Shatter Me for many re-reads. 

The Cherry on Top: Your favorite book this year so far. 

Well this year is almost over and I am choosing City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare for my favorite book this year. This book was a great conclusion to The Mortal Instruments series and I was crying the entire time because it was so hard to say goodbye to all my favorite characters. Plus it had me in suspense throughout the whole book because I was so terrified that some of my favorites were going to die! But I am really glad with how this series ended. Clare certainly knows how to write a finale! It was also so nice to see my favorites from The Infernal Devices series as well. I think their cameos are what made me crying the most! I will forever read anything Cassandra Clare writes! 

*REVIEW* The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Title: The Infinite Sea
Author: Rick Yancey
Series: The 5th Wave
Book: 2
Rating: ★★★★

Blurb from Goodreads: 

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.


Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

My Rating/Thoughts: 
"It isn't that lies are too beautiful to resist. It's that the truth is too hideous to face." 

I absolutely loved The 5th Wave, but this book was just okay for me. I still enjoyed reading it, but I didn't get as much out of it as the first book. It just feels like a true filler book in my opinion. I felt like we didn't get to see much of Cassie and Ben as much as we did Ringer back in the compound. The whole first half of the story was just Cassie and Ben waiting around for Evan Walker to come back. It was uneventful. Even Ringer's POV was really long at the last third of the book and it still felt there was a lot of nothing going on. 

Cassie and Ben were holed up in the hotel waiting for Evan to come back. I did not have a problem with this so much as what happened when Evan did return. He came back with the warning of Grace and that she was a major problem for them to escape and leave the hotel, but it just seemed a little off to me.  Grace didn't serve a real purpose in my eyes besides the fact that she was brought in to turn Cassie into some insecure, jealous girlfriend when she realized she and Evan had a history together. Seriously, Cassie acted so immature upon meeting Grace that I was disconnected from her for a while because she was being an idiot. I just didn't think Cassie was as a good character as she was in the first book. Maybe because we didn't get to see her in the same light, but she kind of annoyed me. I still found her sassy and funny, but I just wasn't connected to her. For being "in love" with Evan as she seemed to say she was, she didn't really act like it either. I missed my cute, romantic Evan. I wanted more of him! 

I am happy for the multiple POVs that this book brought. It gave us more Ringer, another longer chapter for Evan, and Poundcake! It was really interesting to see his backstory and the reason why he doesn't talk. I felt so sorry for him! The only thing it lacked was a POV from Ben. I kind of missed his thoughts and feelings in this book. I hope we get to see his side in the last book. 

As for Ringer, I actually really enjoyed her the most and I think her chapters were what actually gave this book a higher rating than originally planned. I like that we see her backstory as well. We learn what happened to her before she was recruited, about her dad, and her name! Marika. Thought if I am being honest, the first couple of chapters I felt like I didn't really care about her (sad, I know, but I just didn't) but her last POV really opened up doors. I just kind of don't like that it was soooooo long. I think it should have been broken up more throughout the book. We didn't see her at all and I kept wondering what happened to her but then right when we see the big explosion at the hotel, we switch to Ringer for 100+ pages?! I was anticipating going back to Cassie and Ben so badly that sometimes I felt myself distracted with Ringer's story. I was getting bored reading about her just sitting in bed and not being able to eat. But I did enjoy her interactions with Razor (Alex, awe). I really liked his character as well. I thought it was so cute how he brought her a chess board and told her to teach him because she wanted to play. And the fact that he made up that silly chaseball game for her was so cute to me. I don't care if it maybe was a part of Vosch's plan, I thought it was cute. I just really liked their relationship together. I liked that he brought out a softer side of Ringer and was making her tell "jokes." 

"He brought me from the tomb. He raised me from the dead. He risked his life so I might have mine."

Which was nice to see him try to cheer her up and lighten her up because she's just so angry! She's so full of rage! And God knows Ben wasn't getting a smile out of her. 

"My anger is greater than the sum of all lost things."

Speaking of Vosch....what?! The twist involving the Others was pretty interesting and the reasons behind using Ringer as a tool was a pretty nice flip as well. Let's go hunt, Evan now because he fell in love! That's awful! Unacceptable! But I thought it was a lot Yancey threw at us all at once at the end. The rat metaphor was like "whoa mind blown!" No wonder we were so obsessed over those rats. These aliens basically see us as vermin and we are contaminating and ruining our home. We need to be wiped out. However, are they really aliens? What is actually happening? This series definitely took a nice turn and I am intrigued, so I am excited to see what this all actually means. 

But Ringer was pretty awesome and has definitely become my new favorite. Fierce! So Fierce.

"I don't want to save the world," I tell him. "I'm just hoping I might get the opportunity to kill you." 


I really liked this book. Solid four stars, but it wasn't as exciting as the first book even though we are given some pretty major questions. I think it could have been a bit better, maybe better spaced. I don't know. I just expected something more since it was one of my highly anticipated reads since I read The 5th Wave, so maybe I just expected more, but again it felt like a filler book. I can't wait for the last book though! 

*REVIEW* The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Series: The 5th Wave
Book: 1
Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Blurb from Goodreads:

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.

Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

My Rating/Thoughts: 

Wow. This book has left me speechless. I debated with myself for a long time if I should even pick this up and finally decided that I should just give it a try. If I didn't like it, no harm no foul. And boy, am I glad I did! Now this book took me awhile to get used to. To say I was confused was an understatement. I found myself reading pages over just to fully understand what was really going on. I felt like I must have been so stupid to not pick it up quicker, but I wanted to make sure I understood everything. So as a result, I felt like I was reading this book rather slowly. But once I got the feel of the book everything clicked into place perfectly. 

"We're here, and then we're gone, and it's not about the time we're here, but what we do with the time." 

The story and plot was what I actually liked the most. I was very skeptical at first because I do not read any sci-fi novels or anything that has to do with aliens or alien invasions. Like at all. In fact, I hate sci-fi. It's just not my thing. But this book was! I loved the story and the pacing worked great. I didn't feel like it went too fast or too slow. I know there has been many who said this book takes a while to get into because the beginning is very slow, but I didn't get that impression at all. I even enjoyed reading the multiple POVs, which is surprising considering I hate alternating POVs (unless they are done right). In this case, they were done completely right. I enjoyed reading from Cassie the most because I just loved her thoughts and humor. However, I also loved, loved Ben's POV as well. He had the same sense of humor and spunk as Cassie did so it was easy to love his character and thoughts as well. I found myself always getting comfortable with one character and once things got really intense the POV would change. I'd be thinking "No! Go back to Cassie!" or "Go back to Ben!" But it still worked marvelously and would get sucked right in again. 

Now let's get into the characters. I don't think there was a character in this book that I didn't like.Obviously aside from Vosch, even though we didn't see too much of him the fact that he is the villain and the cause of all this? He sucks. Plain and simple. 

Cassie though...Cassie is great. She is so protective of her brother and she would stop at nothing to go back and save him. She refused to give up even when it seemed impossible to come out on top. I liked how skeptical she was of everyone and anything and I completely agree with her. She was running from Silencers, Aliens and humans who probably won't trust you anyway. Do you really blame her? I'd doubt everyone as well. In fact, I did! I did not trust a single person every time we saw a new character. 

"Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity's last war, then I am the battlefield." 

Zombie! Now Ben Parish was one of my favorites as well. I was not expecting to get a POV from him at all. I thought Cassie just mentioning him was because she had a crush on him. I suspected we would see him again, but a POV? SWEET! I loooooove how protective he gets over Sams though! It truly hit me in the gut with the feels how responsible and protective he was over him. 

"If anyone comes between you and me, they're dead." 

Now Evan Walker. How much I loved you with all my heart! You don't want to trust Evan at all, but you can't help it! He's protecting you, he's taking care of you, he's handsome, his hands are soft, and he smells like chocolate. *Sigh* Now I was skeptical of him the entire time right along with Cassie. I just knew something wasn't right. I knew it the entire time! I had my doubts and my hopes that this wouldn't end badly, but you can't help but love him all the same! In fact, everything he does and gives up for Cassie just makes you love him even more! 

"I didn't save you. You saved me"

Overall, I loved this book. I thought it was a little funny to me because about halfway through I felt like so much happened, yet nothing at all at the same time. But I thought it was wonderful and that means a lot coming from someone who has read absolutely nothing involving aliens or anything sci-fi at all! So I am definitely looking forward to get my hands on The Infinite Sea because with an ending like that?! Uh uh! Nooooooooo way! We cannot just leave it like that! What the heck?! 

*REVIEW* Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Ruing and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha
Book: 3
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Blurb from Goodreads:
The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for

My Rating/Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this series and I was a little more than anxious to get my hands on this book so it kind of pains me to say that this ending has left me a little bummed out. Don’t get me wrong I did like the ending and everything came together perfectly and I understand that for Alina it was the perfect happy ending that she always wanted. But for me? I wanted more for her. I wanted her to own her powers and be the invincible girl that I always knew she could be. She was happy and that's all that matters to me. It just makes me a little sad what resulted from the amplifiers. But it was still cute and I was happy with how things ended. I loved that everyone stayed together or kept in touch. It was so bittersweet.

“You might make me a better man.”
“And you might make me a monster.”
The only thing that really honestly bothered me about this book was that we didn’t get to see the Darkling as much! I mean COME ON! Every scene that we had with him just left me crying for more! It was nearly not enough and I missed all his interactions with Alina because they were what made these books so intriguing. He is such a complex character and it is sad to not see his character more because he was finally starting to show more of his “human” side. He just didn’t want to be alone. He wanted to have someone who was just like him and he believed that was Alina. He wanted it desperately and I just wished we’d see more of him. It came to a point where I was a little upset that Alina wouldn’t “go to him” to see him. I loved those scenes!

That aside, I loved reading about Baghra’s story! Oh my gosh I didn’t see that coming at all. It was so interesting to learn more about Morozova and how that connected to the Darkling. I really liked Baghra’s character in this book more as well. She was less evasive and more willing to give Alina the answers she needed. FINALLY! No more just telling her to “run” or “give up” let’s have a chat and I’ll finally explain to you why you need to run! Why this situation can’t possibly go well the way you are thinking.

Speaking of which...let’s talk about their “plan.” When I first read their first idea of a plan of attack I thought we were just bouncing ideas off our heads because no way that could possibly work right? No, wrong! That’s the master plan? That’s all you plan to do? Ok.. let’s do this, I guess see how it works because it can’t possibly be that easy, but whatever. and surprise surprise, it wasn’t that easy.

Which brings us to the amplifiers! I feel like this was a little silly when we find out what the third amplifier was. I mean it makes sense and goes well with the story of Morozova, but seriously? So we were around it the entire time and didn’t need to go put our lives in danger looking for another creature? Don’t get me wrong I thought it fit into the story pretty interesting and I was like WHAAAAAAT?!!? When I read this part but at the same time I was like? UGH!!!! STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP, BARDUGO!!!

and I am not even going to go completely into the love interests in this book because honestly, I have never read a book where I shipped the main character with THREE DIFFERENT GUYS! Two, sure...but three?! Seriously? A Prince, a tracker, and the “bad boy” Oh Lord, save me now. I LOVE Nikolai….I love Mal...I love the Darkling. How is a girl to choose?

“You were meant to be my balance, Alina. You are the only person in the world who might rule with me, who might keep my power in check.” 
The Darkling was just so…..sigh. When we found how human he was in his final moments it truly broke my heart. We find out his true name and he has never gone by the name in a very, very long time. The fact that he opened up and shared that part of him with Alina was beyond touching. He just kept wanting to hear his name on her lips until the very end. I just….I can’t. It was so heartbreaking and I was CRYING so much. I had to set my book down and calm myself down.
Plus, the prequel about him was truly unbelievable! I felt so terrible for him because he had to constantly hide who and what he was because anyone who found out he was an amplifier immediately wanted to use his power for their own greed. It made a lot of sense why he turned into the troubled character we know and love. 

“You are no Lantsov,” snarled the King.
Nikolai merely bowed. “I find I can live with that fact.”
The Privateer Prince. Nikolai? Well he’s just perfect. He’s cocky, sarcastic, charming, funny, and just *swoon* The fact that it was pretty much obvious that he didn’t stand a stand with Alina was a little unbelievable to me. I mean come on..he’s the Prince and he’s perfect! What more do you want, Alina?

“I would have been different too, without you. Afraid of the dark. But no matter who or what I was, I would have been yours.”
But Mal? Yes I have always loved Mal. I loved him in the beginning of Shadow and Bone and I loved him until the end. But God was he infuriating! He kind of reminded me of Eddie Castile from the Bloodlines series where he’s in love with someone he feels he is unworthy of and instead of just talking to her to see how she feels and trying to make it work he just tries to stay away and frustrates the hell out of you. I get it, he sees Alina destined for greatness, she is going to save Ravka and destroy the Darkling and the Fold blah blah blah but damn homie, just talk to her! Stop sulking like a little baby and talk to the girl you love! All this aside I really liked Mal’s development over the series. You see him go from protective of Alina to scared of and confused of Alina’s power to accepting of Alina’s power. Which I think I enjoyed most. The fact that he finally accepted her powers and was no longer apprehensive of them or fearful really was the icing on the cake. I can’t lie, I teared up when Alina saw his tattoo.

Now Alina really grew so much more in this book. She became so strong and powerful. I loved seeing how she stood up for her friends and how forgiving she was even to those who potentially wronged her. And I couldn’t help cheering for her when she finally put that Apparat in his place!
“A man so obsessed with holy fire should pay more attention to the smoke.” YOU GO GIRL!

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. I think it was paced perfectly and mirrored the other two books in the trilogy. We didn’t get too much thrown at us at once considering it was a conclusion book and it was just really good. I enjoyed myself. I was scared, surprised, happy, shocked, terrified, anxious and everything in between. I laughed. I cried. I wanted to rip my hair out, but it was a fun ride. I love this series and definitely will be entering a book hangover!