6 books everybody loved except me

This is a blog post idea inspired from Andye at Reading Teen- where I thought I would spotlight those books that EVERYONE else on the planet seemed to love... except me.

Do you ever feel like the only one who read a book and just thought... meh? But everyone else raves about it?
That feeling when you are so excited to read a book because it has gotten so many 5 stars- then you read it and wonder what all the fuss was about?

(my beautiful original artwork- I am quite the artist you know)

[I feel a little bit in danger of being surrounded and beaten with these books by people screaming "what do you mean you didn't like it??!!" but I love the variety of the YA book market, and the fact that what appeals to one person may not appeal to everyone. So I'm not saying that any of these books are bad books, just that  I never got the appeal of them.]

• A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young. So many people love this book, but I didn't like the fact that the main character has no choices. She is basically just told that she is destined to disappear and be forgotten by everybody who loves her, and there is nothing she can do about it. 

• I think I am the only person who found this book really dull. It has a very detached style, and it really bugged how the main character, after being released from the underworld for a limited period of time to see the great love of her life, just mooches about wasting time, and ignoring everyone, for MONTHS. I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen- but it has loads of 5 star reviews around the web.

• Before I Die by Jenny Downham. I read this one a few years ago, and it has recently been turned into a film starring Dakota Fanning (titled Now is Good). It is sweet and a real tear-jerker, but I struggled to like this one because I couldn't stand the main character. 

• Tithe by Holly Black. It's got fairies, a romance and it's written by Holly Black, but still, I just couldn't get into this book at all. It is one of the rare books that I DNF, and again- because I just couldn't connect with the main character. I didn't like the amount of bad language and the casual sex and drug taking among the teen characters. But other people (whose reviews I trust) love this series. 

• Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan. I know, I know- but I read the first one, and didn't hate it, but I still couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I've never been even slightly tempted to go on and read the rest of the series.  

• Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta. This is an okay book- I liked it- but all the reviews on Goodreads are 5 star, gushing reviews... and I don't quite get why. I love loads of contemporary YA fiction so it's not the genre, I just liked it instead of loving it. It was okay. 

Those are the books that everybody else seems to love... except me. 

*Hides*

Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Fever by Lauren DeStefano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Source: Library

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever. 

Book 2 in the Chemical Garden series

In the first book in the series I actually loved how closed off the action of this book is. Set in frightening dystopian world, the focus was all on this clutch of characters trapped together in a large luxurious house.

Fever shows us a much wider picture of the society, and the extent of the despair of the outside world, as Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the house and try to make their way back to New York to hunt for Rhine's brother. Because we gradually get to find out more about this dystopian society as part of such an exciting adventure along with Rhine and Gabriel, as they see it, I actually ended up loving this book just as much as the first, but for totally different reasons.

The world outside the mansion is dangerous and hard and the people are bleak and deceitful. The first hint of civilisation they stumble across is a carnival rife with prostitutes and drugs. Unlike in book 1 which was very enclosed within the house, we see a much wider segment of society, and see news speeches that hint at darker times still to come.

The story is dangerous, harsh and moves at quite a fast pace, but they never lose the sense that they are racing against time (their own short body clocks), or that they are still being pursued by Linden's sinister father. It is a very disturbing and dramatic book, but I love the emotions that power it, and cheering on the strong-willed characters as they struggle to survive.

It is also a very clever book, with some unexpected revelations, and twists that you would never predict. I love the descriptive, lyrical prose that felt almost dreamlike (nightmarish?). It flows very easily as well, making it a real page turner, and really gripping you in this story, feeling the anxiety, confusion and fear right along with these characters.

Fever is your typical middle book in the series- advancing the story along without resolving anything, but I love this series and am looking forward to reading book 3.

Wishlist Wednesday #23

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly book blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper where we will post about a book that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added, that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our bookshelves.

I love the sound of this book- even though I have Warped by the same author because I loved the sound of it and have still never read it.

Revel by Maurissa Guibord
Goodreads
There’s an island off the coast of Maine that’s not on any modern map.

Shrouded in mist and protected by a deadly reef, Trespass Island is home to a community of people who guard the island and its secrets from outsiders. Seventeen-year-old Delia grew up in Kansas, but has come here in search of her family and answers to her questions: Why didn’t her mother ever talk about Trespass Island? Why did she fear the open water? But Delia’s not welcome and soon finds herself enmeshed in a frightening and supernatural world where ancient Greek symbols adorn the buildings and secret ceremonies take place on the beach at night.

Sean Gunn, a handsome young lobsterman, befriends Delia and seems willing to risk his life to protect her. But it’s Jax, the coldly elusive young man she meets at the water’s edge, who finally makes Delia understand the real dangers of life on the island. Delia is going to have to fight to survive. Because there are monsters here. And no one ever leaves Trespass alive.

RIGHT?! Love the sound of this!

Reviews:
Tumbling Reviews 5 of 5 stars
Reading Lark 5 of 5 stars
The Eater of Books 5 of 5 stars

Review: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Source: Library

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil held a wishbone between them.

And its snap split the world in two.

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living – one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel – a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.

This was not that world.

Book 2 in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series

If you haven't started this series yet- what are you waiting for??! Read it! Daughter of Smoke and Bone was easily the best book I read last year, and reading the new sequel this year has just reminded me why. Definitely darker than the first book, but still, this story- and this unique world pulled me in and gripped me- I couldn't put it down... and even when I did I'd be dreaming of deserts, monsters, and teeth.

So many times I would stop and re-read a page again just because it was so beautiful. There is a very lyrical  quality to the writing that makes you feel like you are in a old fairy story. But I loved the combination of the old-world charm and fantasy of the world of Eretz, and the modern world.

Karou and Akiva's story seems to be the most impossible tragic romance, and their actions have consequences for the whole world. The Angels and the Chimera are now at war and their war is leaking into the modern human world as well. There is a constant sense of doom, and impending disaster, and I loved the building tension and the unravelling of events.

This book is packed with so much tragedy, emotional upheaval and surprises! I don't know how I can be reduced to tears, be hopeful, despairing, terrified, and giggling with laughter all in one chapter- but apparently I can.

Much of the humour of the book comes from Karou's best friends Zuzana and Mik, and can I just say how much I LOVE them! The book would be a darker place without them in it. They are both so sweet, funny and completely supportive of Karou despite everything she drops on them. I adore their relationship, and Mik's attempts to complete Herculean-type tasks to win Zuzana's hand just had me  "aww"-ing and melting in a soppy puddle of goo.

As well as sticking with the familiar characters from the first book we also see a wider cross-section of Eretz and it's peoples, and I really enjoyed getting more deeply emotionally involved in this story and the characters' lives, plus the shifting perspectives between different characters gives us a glimpse into the bigger picture of what is happening across the world.

All I want to say shout from the rooftops to everybody is "read these books!" The story is just epic and incredible, the dialogue and descriptions are sublime, and I swear the pages drip with magic as you read them.

Exciting new April book releases

These are some of the new books coming out this month that I am most excited to read...

Most Hotly Anticipated

Goodreads

The Elite by Keira Cass (Selection, book 2)

Why I'm looking forward to reading it-

Because The Selection ended so suddenly, and I'm dying to know what happens next!

There are so many amazing books coming out in April- I really want them all!

Also released this month

(Please note these are the UK covers and release dates)

• Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting (Body Finder, book 4). One word- Jay! I just adore Jay and Violet together, I'm looking forward to seeing them again in this next installment of this fabulous series.
• With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent (Soul Scremers, book 7). One word- Todd! This is another one of my favourite series at the moment. 
• The Rising by Kelley Armstrong (Darkness Rising, book 3). Kelley Armstrong is such an incredible author, and this is an amazing series. 

• Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin, book 2). Yeah- bring on the return of the assassin nuns! Historical fantasy at it's finest.
• Acid by Emma Pass. This book sounds sounds so cool- a debut from a new author. 
• Imposter by Jill Hathaway (Slide, book 2). I thought Slide was so good last year. Looking forward to the sequel.

• Chosen at Nightfall by C.C Hunter (Shadow Falls, book 5)
• Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells
• Light by Michael Grant (Gone, book 6)

• This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer Smith
• Fractured by Teri Terry (Slated, book 2)
• The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd. This has been out in the US for a couple of months and I've seen so many positive reviews of it- it sounds so good. 

• Rise by Anna Carey (Eve, book 3)
• The Stone Demon by Karen Mahoney (Iron Witch, book 3)
• The Program by Suzanne Young

These are two books that sound so amazing but I can't find any evidence that they are planned to be released in the UK. Both of them look so great though and are on my wishlist!

• Nameless by Lili St.Crow
• The Ward by Jordana Frankel

Phew! so many great books coming out this April. What are you most looking forward to reading? Are there any exciting YA releases I've missed off this list that should be up there? Happy reading!