Desirae Clark's Blog, page 10

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #1)

DESCRIPTION: 

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

MY REVIEW:

I thought this book was a fantastic read with many great and likable characters. Celaena herself was just so epic. Out of all the fictional characters I’ve met, she’s my favorite because she’s brave, she’s strong, she’s an assassin and her whole personality is just so perfect. I love strong and badass female characters and Celaena also brought that to the table.

I wouldn’t exactly say she was cold-hearted because there were some scenes where she felt bad for some people, but she definitely didn’t have a problem with killing. It was really refreshing to see a fictional character who wasn’t a kicked puppy at the beginning of the book and then turned out to be everybody’s superhero. Celaena was badass from the very beginning. She was not a stranger to fighting for her survival because she barely survived.

Then we get introduced to Chaol and Prince Dorian later in the book and it’s clear that the two guys like Celaena. She was beautiful and different from every character ever. Celaena, unlike every other character I’ve known, was aware of her beauty and I could go on and on about her for days.

I didn’t know who I prefered though. Chaol was nice. He was the one who trained with her and made sure she was ready to fight for what she was destined for. He was overprotective of the Prince which was reasonable. Prince Dorian just liked reading but he was charming too. I feel like the characters weren’t involved enough for me to decide.

Which is another thing I liked about this book. It’s not just about romance. It’s about survival, justice and just a whole lot of badass stuff and Celaena being awesome.

This is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, I’ve enjoyed it, I loved it and still do… It’s just… ahhh! It’s perfect.

You need to read it if you haven’t yet and it’s a MUST-READ!

I need to buy the sequel ASAP.

Anyway, that was my opinion. I loved the characters, I loved the story and the plot twists.

Desirae

Review: Bully by Penelope Douglas (Fall Away #1)

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

SHORT DESCRIPTION: Bully is about a girl called Tatum but her nickname is Tate. She had a childhood best friend called Jared and they were really close. One day after Jared returned from his vacation with his father, he started acting weird towards Tate. In fact, when school started, he was her worst nightmare. There was lots of bullying involved and it wasn’t pretty. But after moving and spending a year away in Paris, Tate returns back to her old school and decides it’s time for the bullying to stop.

MY SPOILER FREE REVIEW:

This was such a fast-paced read.

Tatum is such a great female character who finally stood up to her former childhood best friend, Jared. She got the courage and ended up being fierce in her own way. I found this books quite enjoyable and nice to read.

There were several parts of the book where I got so into it that I started feeling mad at the certain fictional characters, for example her best friend. Where I would’ve stopped talking to my best friend if she did what Tate’s best friend did, Tate did the exact opposite. She was loyal, brave, strong and definitely someone we should all look up to. I don’t think there’s a word for it but she’s better than everyone.

Which at some points in this book got on my nerves. Why did she have to be so perfect? It made me feel bad about myself.

Jared on the other hand was quite the troublemaker. I hated him at first and hated him until I stopped almost at the end of the book. While we as the readers got to know why he did what he did, it still wasn’t an excuse. I resented him because I got so attached to Tate that I couldn’t forgive him for what he did.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and it was definitely a little different from the other books I usually read. It is a New Adult novel which I’ve grown to love and read in one sitting.

It has a few plot twists that make you want to go: OH MY GOD!

But as rarely as it happens, I found myself crying with this character and hoping for the best. I’ve gotten so attached to this book I don’t even know what life is anymore.

It is definitely a book I recommend.

Desirae

Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent Trilogy)

Description:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent. 

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My Review (spoilers!):
Review by Desirae Winterhart (I’m not writing this at the end of this review because the end won’t be so meaningful as I think it is now.) Okay. There’s a reason why I rated this book with 3 stars. But I’m not hating on it. I’m just going to explain why that’s the number of stars I gave it.I expected Allegiant to be like the first two books, something more than what this book honestly gave me.

I loved Insurgent, seriously. I also adored Divergent. But Allegiant just wasn’t that great for me. The whole story was so long and some of the things we just didn’t need to know. It was just dragging on to the point where I almost gave up on it. I started reading it as soon as it came out and put the book down a lot of times until I decided that I need to pick it up again and be done with it. And I had no expectations anymore because the first impression that I got was just: This book is boring and nothing like the first two books. At all.

And usually, when I heard people hating on Divergent, it made me extremely mad. It made me furious because I loved the books but this one just didn’t do it for me. I still love the series and I would still love to fangirl over it.

And it’s not *spoiler alert*

Tris’s death that makes me not like it, it just got to the point where it got too complicated and I grew more and more frustrated every time. Each time I put this book down, it was harder for me to pick it up.

It revolved too much around Genetically Damaged and Genetically Pure people. Like, why do you want to put a label on it and why does it matter anyway? Tobias way over-reacted when he found out that he wasn’t GP-Genetically Pure. It just revolved too much around it and it made this book so much more boring.

But on the other side, I loved the character development and the whole thing with people trying to make the world a better place. The whole book showed the reader the corruptness of government and people. It also showed me how people can change and hat grief is a terrible thing.

I fell in love with Tris’ mind and her way of thinking, but I got angry with Tobias when he chose not to put some trust into her words and at least have some doubts about people around him always telling the truth. I think he was just eager and desperate to believe into something and believe that not all people are bad – which they aren’t – only he should choose to trust the right ones.

I was sad when I read about Uriah not waking up. He was always there for Tris and always cheered her up. He was like a rock, a person who, for me, made every bad situation seem not so bad. Uriah was probably one of my favorite people in Divergent. The fact that he died also made me feel like it’s all right, at least he and Tris will be together wherever they are. I would honestly hate to see him go through the same emotions that every person he loved went through.

I actually liked Caleb and I didn’t stay mad at him at all. I think Tris’s anger was understandable, but at the same time pointless. It was obvious that Caleb was regretting his decisions just like she was hers. She killed Will, whom she loved and he almost killed her. I think that she lost so many people that she should just realize that holding grudges was meaningless when life was so short.

Peter also wanted to change who he was, be a better person but I feel like he didn’t know how and that was the reason that he erased his memory. He chose to start over and I really liked it.

I absolutely despise David though. I feel like he should have been executed and I wouldn’t even regret it if he was.

Evelyn and Tobias’ relationship was fixed and I liked how they were a family again. I feel like the Tobias we knew was just gone. I missed Tobias we met in the first book and read about in the second. He was brave and determined, but in Allegiant all he was is insecure, like a small child, ready to make hasty decisions based on almost false information.

Another honorable mention here should go to Tori, who shall rest in peace and live forever in our hearts. Christina and Cara should also be mentioned for their determination to make the world a better place.

I understand why Tris died though. I liked the way she died. It was brave, just like she was. She was so many things, beautiful, smart, brave, selfless, loyal, a fighter for justice and also a great person and it made me feel honored that Veronica let me into her life, read her story and live through it. It made me feel so many things and I was happy that she died – even though she did not die peacefully – with forgiveness and love. She forgave every single one she had to and she let the people she loved know that she did love them no matter what.

Her memory will always live inside me and inside these books and I think, that we should honor Tris every single day by being selfless, brave, kind, smart and at the same time thoughtful, honest and also the best person we can be. I think we should honor Tris by being what she was. We should be all those things. We should be Divergent.

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles)

Description:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review:

I’m not going to do a review like I usually do –  a long one, explaining the whole story. And there’s a reason why. Because I cannot be sure if it’s safe enough. I might accidentally slip and tell you a spoiler without realizing it so that’s the reason why this review is going to be shorter and much different.

May I just state that this book series is absolutely incredible! The Lunar Chronicles is just a fantastic series to which a reader will get hooked!

The whole series is based on fairy tales, but transformed into a modern age storytelling everyone would enjoy. The first book – the one I’m going to talk about – is called Cinder and you might’ve already guessed it… it’s based on the tale of Cinderella.

Not only has Marissa Meyer incorporated children’s stories and fairy tales into her book but she also added them special twists and this book is such a fast-read that you just can’t put down. I read it in one sitting. Although the story is much different, with different plot twists and many emotional moments, in the end, you still know that it’s similar to Cinderella’s life.

And can I just say that I am so inspired and never have I loved fairy tales more in my life. This was just a beautiful and well thought-through series which you realize in the second book named Scarlet and third book called Cress. It is so well connected and again, AMAZINGLY thought-through. Oh my Gods, someone call an ambulance because never have I felt so thrilled and excited to see what happens next!

The characters were likeable, the story was so unusual yet so intriguing you can’t help but read on.

If you haven’t read Cinder yet and are just reading reviews to see if you should, let me tell you something. Put down whatever book you’re reading and replace it with Cinder! Now. You will not regret this decision, I promise you!

Desirae Winterhart

Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux series)

Description:

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring… until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something… unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review: 

This is the first book in the Lux series written by a cliffhanger master Jennifer L. Armentrout. Not only do all of the books in the series have massive cliffhangers, but they are also impossible to put down. These books will grow under your skin like a parasite and they will never leave. Before you start reading these books, I need to warn you, you will become obsessed.

So, let’s stop talking, or in this case, writing, about all the books and just focus on the first one. OBSIDIAN.

When you start reading the book, you get little glimpses of Katy Swartz’s life. We found out that her father died because of brain cancer, that’s why she hated hospitals and their smell, then we founnd out that her mother was constantly working, not because they lack of money, but because she couldn’t stand having nothing to do. Also, they just moved away from Florida.

Well, I think this was pretty understandable. If your relative died, you know, I think you would be pretty upset. It has been a long time since Katy’s dad died, but her mother was still grieving. I really liked the way Jennifer described Katy and her mother’s feelings when it came to Katy’s father. It made everything seem more real.

Katy was also a bookworm and a blogger, like me. She blogged about  books and gave them reviews, just like me. I mean, it never occurred to me that I could blog about books until I read Obsidian. So, thank you Katy for being my inspiration.

She didn’t have a great social life, I mean that in a way that she’d rather be alone on a Friday night, reading a book or writing/recording a review on her laptop. She also loved gardening, a thing her and her father did together. I loved that Jennifer included these things, memories and feelings. Although Katy’s dad died, it still gave us the impression through Armentrout’s marvelous writing that he had once lived.

I liked the beautiful and creative writing ability that Jennifer had. She could describe a place or a situation so well you would feel like you were there.

The characters were all well-written, especially Daemon Black. Now, if you ever tried to write your own story, you would see that it was hard to keep a character true to himself and to his description because your mind raced so much and you wanted to show that he wasn’t so bad after all. For me, I loved Daemon Black for his complex personality because of which I never knew what to expect. He, besides the story and plot twists, was what kept me on my toes.

Well if we focus on Daemon’s looks… I just want to state the obvious right now. Daemon was a total hottie. I loved the way he was introduced into the book, like a badass. One moment he was sweet, caring Daemon that you just couldn’t help but love, the next he was snarky, impossible to stand, cocky, a douchebag, and a hot infuriating mess. He was arrogant, mean with sexy green eyes that intrigued everyone. But the question was… Who wouldn’t be attracted to him?

Katy. Well, not that she wasn’t attracted, she just didn’t let him push her around. She wasn’t the type of girl who would easily let him taunt her. She stood up to him without a problem which made her fierce, feisty and witty. With that came the battles of wit, great comebacks and both characters created great scenes together, making you laugh.

But… Plot twist: Daemon also happened to be Katy’s neighbor.

Eventually, Katy did start to feel something for Daemon, but she kept denying her feelings to herself and to others. In a way, that’s what I liked because it was so unusual for me to find a book where the character didn’t want to be in love.

There is plenty of action in this book, making it impossible to put down. The ending alone was amazing.

I also feel the need to point out that out of all fictional characters, Daemon is one of my favorite bad boys.

So, if this review convinced you to start reading, then I suggest you do it now, because you don’t know what you’re missing.

This is it for this book. Enjoy.

Desirae Winterhart

Review: Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout (novella from the Lux series)

Description:

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane.

Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in.

Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence…and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

My rating: 4 stars out of 5

My review and description:

This isn’t a book, but a prequel/novella to the Lux series. If you really wanted to understand the books in the Lux series better, then I recommend you to read Shadows first.

The story followed two people, Dawson Black and Bethany Williams. Bethany was just a clueless girl, new to this mysterious town. And if you were looking for love-at-first-sight kind of book, this was the one. I was usually not a big fan of those kind of books, but this prequel was a nice change for my taste. The author managed to write the story so detailed, that I felt all this was really happening. I felt like I was there as if I was one of the characters. And that’s what only an excellent author can do.

The whole story to me was really interesting since this was the first alien book I’ve ever read and at first, diving into this kind of genre was a challenge for me. I had no idea what to expect, but thankfully, I was definitely not disappointed.

In this novella, you didn’t get aliens who looked like little green creatures or other sci-fi crap our world would usually expect to see or read about. No, the description of these creatures was far more different. They were called Luxen and in the book, they were described as creatures of light, which was a definitely nice surprise.

The thing was, Luxen and humans shouldn’t mix. Not that there was a specific rule, it’s just that it was dangerous for both kinds. But, the attraction they both felt towards each other forced Dawson and Bethany’s to interact more than they should. See, if a Luxen exposed himself/herself to a human, the human would disappear. There was also a huge chance that the human tried to expose the Luxen and tell others. That’s the reason why Daemon, Dawson’s triplet, but yet still older brother, didn’t agree with Dawson mingling around with Bethany. In fact, he hated it.

Since I read Shadows before the first book in the Lux series, I didn’t know any of the other characters, but only got to know Dawson. Which was great, I just had no idea how overprotective his brother was or the kind of person his sister Dee became. I liked that Beth had art skills, I liked that this was written in both of their point of views and that we got to see what they were like. Without this story, I would be completely lost in Obsidian and other books.

I loved the different personalities and the plot twists this book has introduced me to. I loved the whole world that Jennifer L. Armentrout had created and knew that this series would be one of my favorites.

I think Shadows was really amazing, I’ve enjoyed reading it but only gave it 4 out of 5 stars because I couldn’t wait for it to end, so I could start reading Obsidian, the first book in the Lux series. I know, it’s not fair but hey, isn’t it good if a prequel makes you want to read more?

Desirae Winterhart

Clockwork Angel (#1) by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices)

Description: 

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…

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review:

The Infernal Devices series is definitely one of my favorites for so many reasons. Not only do you FALL in love hard, but you also become a part of the fandom before you even realized it. Go, Shadowhunters!

Okay, let’s start with the actual review, shall we? We followed the life of Tessa Gray, who’s from America. She moved to Victorian London in hopes to find her brother after her aunt died. There, she’s met with Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black – everyone called them The Dark sisters – who just happened to be warlocks.

What I liked about this was that Tessa or the reader had no idea what was going to happen. In fact, it was kind of a surprise when Tessa became their prisoner. They told Tessa her brother sent them but it turned out that her brother was nowhere to be found.

And that’s how everything started. Tessa found out she wasn’t who she thought she was, she had to go through some really traumatic experiences and in the end, she still looked like a strong, well-meaning woman who fought for what she thought was right.

Tessa’s character development through these books could be seen, but right now, I’m going to focus on Clockwork Angel. At first, I felt bad for her because she was new to London, she didn’t know where to go and just seemed donwright clueless. But when we skip a few chapters and when she meets William Herondale, a Shadowhunter, you could see who she truly is. She is funny, witty, a bookworm like me and has a very kind heart. Loyalty is one of her best features.

This book gives us some kind of a love triangle. And out of all triangles that ever existed in books, this one was my favorite. You see, in other books, you grow to dislike one character while completely falling in love with the other. But in this case, two male characters were introduced to us in a hauntingly beautiful way and you couldn’t help but like both of them. While other people still managed to choose sides, for me, that was impossible.

Okay, I feel like I should mention why I think Tessa’s so badass. Here’s why: Tessa, the innocent girl, was also the person who reminded Will that hell was frozen while they both were running for their lives. Tessa who has proven to be extremely loyal and brave, often put Will in his place when his ego was over the top. Loving and caring Tessa, who was afraid but did not let that fear take over, sacrificed more than should ever be asked of one person, but she did it anyway.

To me, Tessa’s such a strong character with strong emotions and clear mind. She knew exactly what she wanted and I think that kind of a character was extremely hard to write.

Okay, we shouldn’t forget about James Carstairs, also known as Jem. He, unlike Will who left his family to move to the Institute, was an orphan. He was born in China, to his British father and Chinese mother. He was raised at the Shanghai Institute, which was run by his parents. Then, the Institute was attacked by a Greater Demon. His parents were killed, but he was tortured and poisoned with yin fen, a drug to which Jem became addicted to and could not live without it. He was one third of the love triangle.

Jem, overall, was a loving character. He was a sweetheart and cared for everyone in this book. Although he was sick, he managed to fight and protect his friends who were now his family.

Will was the person who I really liked because of his cockiness and humor. His arrogance was just perfect, but I didn’t like that he was pushing Tessa away. He wasn’t mean to her like you would see in some books, oh no. His arrogance was quite humorous. He was a nice change and always managed to make the book a little more interesting.

But on the other hand, there was Jem. Oh, sweet, loving, protective, reliable Jem. He is the person I fell in love with from the moment he was introduced to me as a reader. He stole my heart from the beginning. Just like Will.

Right after reading this book, I couldn’t stop myself from reading the next one and rating this one five stars.



Thank you, Cassandra Clare for making me feel things I never felt before because as a reader, I got so into this book, I cried with Tessa, smiled with her and felt every single thing she felt and also, as a young author in progress, I think that’s one of the best things an author can give to a reader.

And thank you for reading my review, new reviews coming soon, contact me to tell me what you want me to read next! 

Desirae Winterhart