Mount TBR 2018 discussion
Level 1: Pike's Peak (12 books)
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Good luck with your climb. Maybe I will see you later in the year on the slopes of Kilimanjaro!
Karen wrote: "Good luck with your climb. Maybe I will see you later in the year on the slopes of Kilimanjaro!"Thanks, I hope so!
Bev wrote: "Welcome back, Natália!"Thank you, Bev!
Happy reading and good luck! :-)
Lisa A ⛅ wrote: "Happy reading and good luck! :-)"Thanks Lisa!
The first step is always the hardest, but this one was a breeze! Great way to kick off my year!#1:
"The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic" by Leigh Bardugo
Finished on: January 03, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:This little collection of dark reimaginations of fairy tales set in the Grishaverse is just amazing. The book in itself is beautiful, so colorful and impacting! And each tale is just not what you're expecting. Loved it! My favorite has to be The Witch of Duva, but When The Sea Sang Fire has also won a place in my heart.
I have two other ongoing reads that will fit this challenge, so I'm hoping to finish them soon! I'll have the weekend all to myself since my parents and sister will be away on a vacation, so lots of reading time!
#2:
"Daughter of the Pirate King" by Tricia Levenseller
Finished on: January 10, 2018
Rating:★★★★
Comment:An entertaining, quick read. It has a crew of girl pirates, a spirited, quick-witted, sharp-tongued and overall badass main character, a little touch of romance and lots of adventure. I really, really enjoyed it. It wasn't the most original of stories, or a fantastic one at that, full of plot twists and such (although there was a very clever one at the end), but it was still highly entertaining and I had fun while reading. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!
#3:
"Cruel Crown" by Victoria Aveyyward
Finished on: January 13, 2018
Rating:★★★★ - actual rating: 4.5 stars
Comment:I really enjoyed some background on these important characters - it not only gave me some information that I believe will be relevant to the series, but it gave me insight into some of the characters I already met in the first book and made their actions more believable and interesting. I especially loved Coriane's novel. I loved her character and felt so sorry for this intelligent, kind and lonely girl. I like how she started to question the Silver superiority, and how she really, really loved Tiberias and how he loved her back. And this highlighted how much Elara is coy and devious. I hate this woman so so much more now! Farley was a surprise. I didn't expect to like her novella as much, but I felt engrossed in her story - how she met Shade, the inner workings of the Scarlet Guard (which was super important to understand a bit more of the main series in itself) and how she met Mare. It also gave the character a bit of humanity - she is not just the fearless 'leader' of Norta's Scarlet Guard, she's also a girl with a lot of secrets, who wants to change things and is clever and kind. I had a little bit of a hard time getting into the second novel, Steel Scars, and that's mainly why I took half a star from the grade, but I still loved it.
#4:
"Envy" by Anna Godbersen
Finished on: January 16, 2018
Rating:★★★
Comment:This series has been sitting on my shelf for years, but I'm finally getting through it. I really liked the first two books and was involved in the characters, the scandals and secrets. It's an easy book to read, the writing fluid and the plot uncomplicated, but this was my least favorite book so far. The comings and goings of Henry and Diana (my favorite couple in the previous books), Carolina being bitchy, Penelope made me BEYOND angry and I really really want her to fail epically in the final novel. Greyson was meh, Teddy was noble and cute but kind of boring. Elizabeth was the only one I felt kind of sorry for. She deserved a lot better than she got in this book, but eventually all the constant crying in the corners made me a little bit wary with her too. I do wanna see what will happen to her in the next book and I'm hoping she gets a nice, happy ending, though. Diana, which was my favorite character, was the worse disappointment. I don't know, I think the final events of the previous installment put out some of her fire and turned her into this silly, kind of childish girl, because some of her actions during this one were really naive and child-like. Yes, I know she's 16 and all, but that was not how her character was build previously and it felt inconsistent. I did like where she ended up by the end, and I felt sorry for her and frustrated for Henry, and I hope things improve by the final novel.
Hopefully this series will end up on a high note, despite this one.
#5:
"Rebel of the Sands" by Alwyn Hamilton
Finished on: January 21, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:This book was SO good! I needed a good fantasy who wasn't that dark but still left me on edge and invested enough to want to read at all times. And this was exactly the book! I absolutely loved the characters, the world building (I love stories set in middle-east, the desert and such. I find there aren't enough stories like this), the writing...and at every turn it managed to surprise me. Amani is already one of my favorite female characters of 2018! The ending left me already wanting to reach for the second book (which I already have, thankfully!). An easy 5 stars.
Natália wrote: "#5:"Rebel of the Sands" by Alwyn Hamilton
Finished on: January 21, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:This book was SO good! I needed a good fantasy who wasn't that d..."
The second book is even better. Eagerly awaiting the third...
Karen wrote: "Natália wrote: "#5:"Rebel of the Sands" by Alwyn Hamilton
Finished on: January 21, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:This book was SO good! I needed a good fantasy w..."
I started out the second one already and OMG, it's amazing already! Amani is such a compelling character!
#6:
"A Darker Shade of Magic" by V. E. Schwab
Finished on: January 31, 2018
Rating:★★★★★ - actual rating: 4.5 stars
Comment: This was a buddy read with Amanda and I enjoyed it so much we're already reading the next one! I love Victoria Schwab's writing. And the world building and magic system in this book is ON POINT. Although there were some pacing problems, I thought it was overall very quick to read and there were a lot of stuff happening (maybe tone it down a little to explore some information or background on some characters?). I loved the characters - Kell is such a sweet bb, Lila is badass (although I didn't like her much at first, but she grew on me and her interactions with Rhy at the end cracked me up) and even the villains were interesting. I so want to know more about Rhy and have him make a greater appearance during the book (maybe a more relevant role after the events at the end of this installment?). The ending was satisfying but at the same time it left some questions to be answered and other things to explore during the next two novels. I can't wait to be surprised by the following one!
So, 6 books in a month is not bad at all! I'm halfway through Pike's Peak already! I did read two other books during this month as well, a total of 8, but they were library books and didn't count for this challenge. Oh well, I have the next week off and a 24h marathon coming along, so I'm hoping to finish at least 2 books right off the bat!
Natália wrote: "#6:"A Darker Shade of Magic" by V. E. Schwab
Finished on: January 31, 2018
Rating:★★★★★ - actual rating: 4.5 stars
Comment: This was a buddy read with A..."
This was a lot of fun to do with you! I'm excited to discuss the next book!
#7:
"Traitor to the Throne" by Alwyn Hamilton
Finished on: february 7, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment: I absolutely loved this book. It was even better than the first installment, I think. There was never a dull moment here, and I couldn't put it down. The characters, especially Amani, are even better here - not only the old ones, but the ones introduced here as well. So many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting and a devastating ending that left me craving the final book already! A nice start to my February!
#8:
"Glass Sword" by Victoria Aveyard
Finished on: February 12, 2018
Rating:★★★★
Comment: Not as bad as I expected, but not as fantastic as I hoped, especially after the first book. Still, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was action packed, and I liked the new informations on the Scarlet Guard, the other kingdoms, and the addition of the newblood characters - some of them were really interesting, especially Jon and Cameron (even though I hated her at first, but now I see she was right). Cal grew on me during this book and he quickly became one of my favorite characters, along with Maven, Shade and Farley. I love Mare's family and I think they deserved better. Maven, although not physically present during most of the book, was always there, a shadow looming over the characters and I thought that was super well done, because it made everything that happened after much more terrifying. As for Mare...I loved her in the first novel, how brave she was, how compassionate and how much she wanted to protect those she loved and still do right by her people. But in this book...I get that she needed to harden herself a bit after everything that happened during Red Queen, but she became a selfish person, sacrificing people for her own ideas, pushing the people who loved her and wanted to help and protect her away and being an overall bitch. The ending of this book was devastating and I'm anxious to get my hands on the next! I'm hoping to have read everything before the release of the final book.
#9:
"A Pocket Full of Rye" by Agatha Christie
Finished on: February 14, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:I love Miss Marple's books, she is my favorite Christie detective for sure. And I really like when the author bases the plot in a nursey rhyme, poem or song, I think it's interesting and always keeps me making up theories. I didn't like the reveal here because I really liked the character who was guilty - and again, Agatha managed to surprise me, because I could not see that ending coming.
#10:
"The Archived" by Victoria Schwab
Finished on: February 16, 2018
Rating:★★★★
Comment:I really like Schwab's writing and how she builds her plots and characters. I had some issues with the book, especially how I could easily see what was going to happen before it did and that Mac was hard to like at first and the entire thing, as interesting and new a concept it was, reminded me of The Mediator by Meg Cabot, except Mac doesn't have the sharp humor and sarcasm Suzie Simmons has. Still, I enjoyed it a lot and want to continue with the next installments.
#11:
"Adulthood is a Myth" by Sarah Andersen
Finished on: February 17, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:Sarah Andersen brilliantly illustrates the struggles of adulthood in this collection of hilarious and completely relatable comic strips. THE BRA ONE WAS SO ME! I can't recommend this enough and can't wait to get my hands on the other collections!
#12:
"Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon #6" by Naoko Takeuchi
Finished on: February 18, 2018
Rating:★★★★★
Comment:The Infinity Arc is one of my favorite in the Sailor Moon mangá, because I love the Outer Senshi and the whole three talisman plotline. Also, Hotaru is introduced in this arc and she is my regent Senshi, so to speak hahaha
Aaaand with that I finish my first mountain! Yay, flag planted on Pike's Peak in two months! So far I'm in a good climbing pace
Mount TBR 2018
Books mentioned in this topic
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 6 (other topics)Adulthood Is a Myth (other topics)
A Pocket Full of Rye (other topics)
The Archived (other topics)
Glass Sword (other topics)
More...
Hopefully I can make another good dent on my TBR pile and finish more on-going series and books I really want to read this year!