Unfinished Series (That I Plan to Continue)

Hi!

I thought today that I'd share with you the series that I haven't finished yet, even though all the books in the series are released, and I plan to finish them eventually.  This isn't going to include series that I haven't yet started - I might do that in a separate post one day.


1. The Newsoul Trilogy

I've read the first two books in this trilogy, and I reviewed the second book on this blog (you can see that here).  I was captivated by the concept, and I own all three books.  I'm not sure what's stopping me from finishing them!

Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

★★★★☆
Enjoyable and Adorable

Origin is the 4th book in the Lux series, which starts with Obsidian and will end with Opposition, due out this August.

As this book is part of a series, I will keep the review (fairly)  short and non-spoilery - even if you haven't read Obsidian you won't be spoiled.

I'll first say that the Lux series as a whole is a very fun and entertaining paranormal romance which will keep you coming back for more.  Obsidian follows Katy, a girl who moves to a small town with her mum, and her new life there - which happens to involve her alien neighbours.  Yup, you read that right.  As long as you don't take the books too seriously, I guarantee that you will enjoy them.  They start off pretty lighthearted but as the series goes on it gets a little more serious without losing the humour element.  So, if you haven't started this series yet, I highly recommend that you do!

Origin itself started off a little slow for me, and I definitely enjoyed the second half a lot more.  The action scenes were probably my favourites, but I did enjoy the romance of it as well.  Admittedly, Origin was a little predictable.  Was this due to me reading the blurb even though I knew from the previous books that the blurbs always give away half the story?  Uh, most likely...  Did it take away from my enjoyment? Absolutely not!  I still felt the expected emotions at the plot twists and damn, were they strong emotions.  But seriously, if you haven't read these books, don't read the blurbs!  I have grown quite attached to the characters - this is the fourth book, after all - but I feel like a couple of my favourites weren't as present in this book as I would have liked them to be, as the focus was on the main two characters.  I can understand why this was the case, and I'm hoping it'll be different in Opposition.

Another thing I had a problem with was the dual perspective.  After reading only from Katy's perspective in the preceding novels, it was a bit strange to suddenly have another point of view and I kept forgetting which character was speaking.  Fortunately, the different point of views changed fairly often so I never got sick of either one.

As I mentioned before, the action scenes were my favourite.  I really got sucked into them and forgot that I had an actual life outside of this story :P  There were also some incredibly adorable moments in this book that had me grinning from ear to ear.  I loved the jokes and realistic voices of the characters.


If you're looking for a story with a good mix of funny, paranormal, romance and also serious elements, look no further than this series!

Top Ten Tuesday - Movies and TV Shows

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, and I thought I might try this week's topic - Favourite Movies and TV Shows ("Let's talk about other types of stories!").

I'm going to split it up into 5 TV shows and 5 movies, since I love many of each!
* They're not in any particular order :)

TV Shows

1. Teen Wolf

I've been watching this show since sometime last year, and I was hooked after the first season.  Admittedly, at times it can be extremely corny, but I love the characters and the constant action.  The new season has just started (today/yesterday episode 4 was released, depending on where you live) and so far, I'm enjoying it well enough even though a lot of things have changed since season 3B! 

2. Smallville

This is a recent addition to my TV series favourites, having only started it a few weeks ago - even though the show finished in 2011!  I'm only up to season 5 so far, so no spoilers!!!  There is something that is just so addictive about this show.  Each episode has so far had its individual story as well as contributing to the overall plot, with barely any cliffhangers.  I am so late to the bandwagon with this one, it's ridiculous, but some friends of mine at school started watching it a little before me and got me onto it.  The only problem is that I know once I finish season 10, that's it!  It's going to leave a hole in my heart, for sure.

3.  Revenge

So Revenge is on a break between seasons at the moment, but it's still one of my favourite shows.  Lately, I've been losing a little interest because of some strange turns of events, but the last couple of episodes of the season renewed my love for the show. 

4. Once Upon a Time

This is another show that's on break between seasons.  Though sometimes the plot is slow and many frustrating things happen, I still love it.  Go Rumbelle!

5.  X Factor Australia

Okay, this is definitely a guilty pleasure show!  I'm addicted though, and I can't get enough.  The new season has just started, and I'm so ready for it :P 

Now on to movies.  I don't have specific favourite movies, so these are most likely going to be the first ones that pop into my head...

Mini Bookshelf Tour + Some Favourite Books

Hi there :)

As you can probably tell, I am very new to blogging.  I thought this would be a good post to kind of introduce myself, by showing you some of the books that I own that I have read or am planning to read.  This ties in with my favourite books, as unless I am buying a book from a series or a trusted author, I only purchase my favourite stories.
I'm leaving out a few unnecessary owned books, such as books from my childhood.   I'm also realising that I haven't taken photos of a few important series, but I'll mention those at the end.  And please excuse my non-existent photography skills!

On this shelf:

-  The Mortal Instruments Illustrated Movie Companion

-  Divergent and Insurgent (my dad is currently borrowing my copy of Allegiant) by Veronica Roth

-  Anna Dressed In Blood and Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

-  Incarnate, Asunder and Infinite (I have not yet read Infinite) by Jodi Meadows

-  Angelfall and World After by Susan Ee

-  The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Also in the back you can see Cloudstreet by Tim Winton - this is not a favourite, but required for school.

See more after the jump!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

★★★★★
Wow

Beware: This review may have high levels of gushing.  I just loved it so very much.  In fact, I am having difficulty writing this as all I want to do right now is go and read the second book in the series.  I can hear it calling to me from my bookshelf...

Moving on.

I don't want to try and summarise this story, because there is a lot going on, and trying to tell you all of it would only ruin it for you.  All I will say is that it is a young adult fantasy/paranormal book which is certainly worth your time if you don't mind strange, magical things.

The main thing that stood out to me in this story was the writing.  It was so smooth and most of the time reading this was as easy as breathing, which is something I rarely find in a book.  Because of this, I was sure within the first few pages that this was going to become a favourite.  The setting was also an important aspect of my "favourite-detection" - Prague.  I felt it was the perfect place for this story to take place in, it just suited the mood of the book.

I also loved most of the characters and their relationships with each other.  The main character and her best friend's conversations always made me smile.  In fact, I think the best friend, Zuzana, was my favourite character in this book.  She was such a normal person with normal reactions, which I was amazed by.

The last thing that I can say without spoiling anything is that I loved how everything seemed to fall into place in this story, like pieces of a puzzle.  Yes, I still have questions, but in my opinion, that's just part of reading a series.  I can't wait to read the second book, and I highly recommend that if you haven't already, you should pick this book up!

I'm going to move into some more of my thoughts, but they're going to contain spoilers, so don't read on if you haven't finished the wonderfulness that is Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

July TBR

I think I'm stretching my limits with this TBR considering I've been struggling to finish even one book a week lately, not to mention the length of some of these books...
Anyway, if I don't finish these this month, they'll most likely carry on to August.

First up is Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.  I'm hoping to finish this soon because I've already started it - I'm almost 100 pages in.  However, if I don't end up getting more drawn into it, I might put it down.  So far, it's been really strange but also funny, so I'll see how it goes.

Next I'm hoping to pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.  I've heard great things about this series, so assuming that I enjoy the first book, I'll probably continue on with the trilogy this month.

After those, or possibly in between, I think I will read The Maze Runner by James Dashner.  I've currently got this from the library, so I may run out of time to read it before it's due back, but hopefully not!  Not only have I heard that the first two books in this series are amazing, but I want to read it before the movie (starring Dylan O'Brien) comes out.

On top of these, I need to reread Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and The Quiet American by Graham Greene for school (since I can't remember all the details).  Also I've been waiting for Origin (Lux #4) by Jennifer L. Armentrout from the library for a few months and it might arrive for me this month.

So this month is going to be busy for me reading-wise!  Hopefully I can get at least most of these read! :)

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

★★☆☆☆
 Slow to Start

The Body Finder is an interesting tale centred around a girl named Violet Ambrose who can sense dead bodies.  Well, that's not entirely true - she can only sense those who have been murdered.  This sense can be in the form of a noise, taste, smell or sight, and is unique to the killed and their killer.  Cool concept, right?  This book follows Violet's struggles, due to this - quite horrific - ability and also due to her feelings toward her lifelong best friend, Jay.

I personally found the first half of this book to be a bit too slow, and I did consider putting it down a few times.  In the end, I would change my mind because something would happen to convince me that this was worth my time.  And it was, but only just.  This is mostly because the story was heavily focused on the romance side, rather than the thrilling tale of catching a serial killer that I was expecting.  At times, it seemed like the murderer was the secondary plot, which annoyed me.  I don't know about you, but I think I'd be more worried about the crazy guy out there killing young girls like me than whether my best friend is in love with me or not.  But, as mentioned before, every time I tried to put the book down, something minor would happen to do with the murders, and I would be hooked again, waiting to see if the story would get more intense.  There were actually times in the book when I couldn't put it down - they were few and far apart, but there all the same.

I liked the fact that it wasn't only human's that Violet's ability sought out, but animals as well.  Is that a really terrible thing to say?  I thought that it made the concept more realistic (ha!), and added to the creepy feel of the woods near Violet's house - I wouldn't be going for jogs out there if I could feel the echoes of murdered forest creatures!

Violet as a main character definitely wasn't the best.  Most of the time I found her to be boring and, well, stupid.  She made dumb decisions when there were better options and was always complaining about Jay.  She did have some redeeming moments though, which I was grateful for.

I wish Violet's friends (excluding Claire, who was annoying as heck) and parents had had more of a part in the story, but I guess that could change later in the series.

So I enjoyed the overall story of The Body Finder and the intense scenes, but I thought there was too much time spent discussing Violet's relationship with Jay when there were more important (and actually interesting) things going on for me to give this book a higher rating.

I'll go into more of my thoughts, including spoilers now, so if you haven't read the book, don't continue reading this! :)