Series I'm Afraid to Finish

The UNFINISHER!

So... I have a confession to make. I'm a serial book series unfinisher, we will call this SBSU for this post. I have so many book series sitting on my shelves that are complete and I have read half of the last book but put it down because I just COULD NOT let the series end. In 2018 I tried to fix this problem by reading a few ends of trilogies but that's as far as I got. I FINALLY read A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray this year and I swear I was so proud and so mad at my self at the same time. It ended. It's over. WHY! So I have decided to air out my dirty laundry, err books, and make a list of the series I have left unfinished.

1. Throne of Glass

In my defense, I did read the entire series in October of 2018 for the first time. Then Kingdom of Ash came out and I started it THAT DAY with intentions of finishing it THAT DAY but that never happened. I put the book on my shelf and walked away about halfway through. I'm scared ya'll!(I have since finished it and UGH WHY DID I FINISH IT NOW IT'S OVER WHHHYYYY)

2. Harry Potter

So, in 2016 I decided to read the entire series for the first time. I got to the part in Deathly Hallows where Fred wasn't alive anymore and I just couldn't read on. Nope. Sorry.

3. The Lunar Chronicles

This one is kind of bad. I have reread all the books up to Winter 3 times but every time I get to Winter, I will read 1/3 of the book and just stop. I actually WANT to finish this series but my SBSU ain't having none of that.

4. Vampire Academy

If I thought The Lunar Chronicles was bad then I have no idea what to say about this one... oh Dimitri! I own ALL the books and even credit this series for giving me my love of YA books but I never finished the series. I got to book 4, Blood Promise and just could never push myself to continue. This one had reasons though. It broke me. 

5. The Lux Series

Yeah... I own about 40 different Jennifer L. Armentrout books. I have ever met her twice. BUT I have no managed to finish this series. I have 3 sets of books too. English, English bind up with new covers and the German editions. I think that is pretty bad. Hopefully, in 2019 I can get this unfinisher disease under control and get this series done. Especially since there is a new book out in the same world!

I know there are more series that I have left unfinished but these are the ones that stick out the most to me. Do you have any book series that you have started but never finished?

Mini Review: Dry by Neal+Jarrod Shusterman - 4.5 stars

Title: Dry

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Author: Neal + Jarrod Shusterman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publication: October 2nd 2018

Cover Rating: 3/5

Reading format: Owned Hardback

Goodreads | Amazon

Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman is a book about California without water. It is a pretty realistic representation of how people would be if water all of a sudden wasn't available anymore. 

Alyssa is the main character for this book. As a whole, we really don't get to know her very well, she is just the face chosen to represent this plot-driven story and even though we don't really get to know her, she is still a good main character to ride along with.

Now what I mean when I say "plot-driven story" is that this event could have been told through anyone's eyes that was going through this drought and we still would have understood what the author was trying to portray. We might have gotten to see different personal events and endings but the overall plot would have been the same. But I am glad we got to see things through Alyssa because we got to see many sides to the story, we got to see many different people and how they were all dealing with no water. Alyssa was also a very strong individual and I appreciated her viewpoint on things. 

This book showed us the desperation and violence that can occur when people know they are in danger. It is even worse when there are mass amounts of people who know they are in danger. It turns into every man for himself and things quickly go downhill. Almost all shreds of humanity disappear and we get to see exactly how people would react in a crisis and it is not pretty. It pretty much shows that we, as the human race, would have a hard time fending for ourselves without the luxury of being supplied all the essentials for our needs. Hungry? Go to the store. Need water? Grab a bottle that you bought from the store. 

In the end, I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this book. I have never actually read anything by Neal Shusterman but I own a lot of his books. I'm also not sure what made me pick this book up first but I am glad I did. I enjoyed this book enough but I feel like his books can only get better from here. But, a book about no water? You better bet I was drinking water while reading it. This book was scary but I think it was pretty impactful because IT CAN HAPPEN.

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

REVIEW: The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson - 5 stars

Title: The Vanishing Stair

Genre: Young Adult Mystery

Author: Maureen Johnson

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication: January 22nd 2019

Cover Rating: 4/5

Reading Format: Owned Hardback

Goodreads | Amazon

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson is the second book in Truly Devious series. This book continues a little bit after the first book ends. It is a continuance of the mystery/murder that happened in the first book plus Stevie is still trying to solve the first mystery that happened at this school in 1936, the kidnapping of the school owners wife and daughter. This is an amazing mystery/thriller book series so far and I highly recommend it to anyone when I get the chance

Stevie's parents took her out of the Ellingham Academy after all the chaos with the death of one classmate and the disappearance of another. This broke Stevie's heart and she would do absolutely anything to get back to Ellingham. Well, that anything comes in the form of Edward King, the politician that her parents work for, the man she hates and the same man who happens to be the father of the boy she started and ruined a relationship with back at Ellingham.

King offers Stevie the chance to go back to Ellingham by talking her parents into letting her go back, he even offers to have her flown there on his private plane. What's the stipulation? Stevie has to keep an eye on David, his son. David stopped going to class and has been acting crazy ever since Stevie left. So, since she said she would do anything to go back to Ellingham, she agrees and is spirited away back to campus.

When Stevie gets back to school she starts working with a woman who wrote a crime novel on the Ellingham crims and the academy. Stevie supplies this woman with fact checks and information about the school so she can write another book. But it soon becomes clear that there might be an inheritance for whoever solves the crime of what happened to Albert Ellinghams daughter, Alice.

While all of that is happening with the inheritance and Stevie working with the author, things at school and with David started out good and then quickly went south especially after finding the body of his friend. David started acting out even more and doing very strange things and by the end of the book, it is made abundantly clear that David might have something to do with the fire that happens at the end of the book that happens to kill someone.

You know that feeling when you wait all year for a book to come out and when it finally does you are so excited and scared and hesitant to read it because you know it isn't the last book and you don't want to have a repeat of the last book you read and have to wait ANOTHER year just to find out more? Yeah, that feeling is sooo real with this book, it's not even funny.  But, I pushed through the fear and I read the book in about four hours and I REGRET IT SO MUCH! 

In the end, this book didn't end on a cliffhanger, it just ended. Most books at least lead you up to something and while, yes, this book did have a pretty open ending with much for me to ponder while I wait ANOTHER YEAR for the next book, it just ended. I ranted to my husband for 20 minutes about how much I love and hate these books because they just suck me in and don't let go even when they end. Truly Devious and The Vanishing Stair are honestly two of my favorite young adult mystery/thriller books and I can not thank the author enough for writing them. Also, WTF DAVID! (you'll understand this when you read the books) 

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.

Repost Review: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson - 5 stars

Title: Truly, Devious

Genre: YA Mystery

Author: Maureen Johnson

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Publication: January 16th 2018

Cover Rating: 4/5

Reading format: Owned Hardback

Goodreads | Amazon

I love mysteries. I love everything about them. I can usually figure out the answer really quickly and sometimes that makes me feel good and sometimes that makes me a little annoyed because then all the fun/suspense of the book is ruined. I picked up Truly Devious because it sounded like something I would love. I was afraid I would figure everything out within the first few pages but luckily that never happened and I was very pleased with this book.

Our main character is Stevie. She got accepted and is currently attending the prestigious Ellingham Academy. A free school set up by a very rich man in 1936. This school is a  character all in itself so we will get to that in a bit. But Stevie loves crimes. She loves trying to solve them and studying them. She gets accepted to this school because she wants to try and solve the massive crime that happened there. 

So, about this school. In 1936 Albert Ellingham bought a piece of land, built his house on it and then made a school around it. He made this school so he could offer free education to kids who were struggling to be challenged by normal school work. So he opened up this school and all was going well until a murder/mystery happens that uproots his entire life. The book centers around this murder/mystery and the school.

Stevie goes to Ellingham to try and solve the mystery but she ends up solving something a whole lot bigger when one of her classmates ends up missing. I really loved the plot of the book. The romance was a bit annoying, especially at the end when Stevie found out she was being lied to, badly. It also kind of pissed me off that David reacted the way he did to something Stevie did when he was hiding something THIS big from her.

Aside from the funky romance, the friendships and other characters we get to meet in this book are very unique and interesting in their own ways. I think my favorite relationship is the one Stevie forms with Larry, the security guard/ex-police detective. He understood her and it was just a nice relationship.

In the end, I really enjoyed the entire story, aside from David and his lies, and I have never been so happy to know that a book will be getting a sequel! The ending was SO cliffy. I NEED TO KNOW!!!

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.

REVIEW: The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes - 4.5 stars

Title: The Black Coats

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Author: Colleen Oakes

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication: February 12th 2019

Cover Rating: 4/5

Reading format: Provided ARC(thank you)

Goodreads | Amazon

The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes is a contemporary novel about a group of women who go against the odds and fight back again people who hurt them. I do want to point out that this book contains sexual assault so TRIGGER WARNING. "We are in the business of righting the wrongs done to women." "...aren't you tired of being afraid in your everyday life, of not walking home alone after dark, of locking your doors, of making sure that your shorts aren't too short lest you attract some unwanted attention?" These 2 quotes are from the same conversation yet they have so much meaning towards what this book is about.

Thea seems to be your average, everyday teenage girl. But she isn't. Her cousin, Natalie was murdered and no justice was ever served. So Thea lives life scared and that is no way to truly live. While she is at school she received a black envelope telling her to go on this sort of scavenger hunt. Each envelope has BC written on it and it isn't until the end of this hunt that Thea is lead to a group of women that call themselves The Black Coats, restorers of justice. This group offers Thea something she can't say no to. They offer her revenge against the person who killed her cousin, but only if she works with the group.

This book is violent. I won't beat around the bush and sugar-coat things. But the violence is normally in retaliation of violence done against someone in the group or someone they care about. It is sad, most of the time you head 'Violence doesn't solve violence' but that is not always the case. The women in this book are tired of sitting back and just accepting whatever wrong is done to them and I can't help but agree with them. But, as with most powerful positions, corruption can happen. No matter how worthy your cause might be, there will always be doubts and someone who wants more.

I have no idea why but some part of me thought this book was going to be historical fiction. Just the thought of a group of women trying to go against wrongs screams HISTORICAL FICTION to me. But this book was present day, contemporary, and, although I would have LOVED this book to be historical fiction, I still loved it just as much. 

In the end, I am so glad this book exists. It is very empowering for all females but most importantly our female youth. This book shows that women ARE strong and don't need to continue to accept the things we are put through just because we ARE women. This is another book that will be going on my favorites shelf right next to Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis.

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

REVIEW: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan - 4.5 stars

Title: Girls of Paper and Fire

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Author: Natasha Ngan

Publisher: Jimmy, Little Brown

Publication: October 23rd 2018

Cover Rating: 5/5

Reading Format: Provided ARC

Goodreads | Amazon

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan is a beautiful and horrible Asian inspired fantasy story about a kingdom that is ruled by a Demon King. Humans are labeled Paper Caste and each year eight Paper Caste girls are taken away from their families to be trained in the ways of sexual pleasure for the king. These girls become his concubines for a year and then new girls come in. But this year, something different happens. A ninth girl is brought in and she might end up being the king's downfall.

Lei is the ninth Paper Girl. She is stolen from her home by a general trying to get back into the kings good graces. What makes Lei so special? Her eyes look like molten gold. This makes her rare. sadly, though, this isn't the first time someone has been taken from her family. Years ago, the king's army raided her village and took her mother. As Lei is accepted into the Paper Girl house she learns that things are going to be a lot harder for her than she imagined but she is determined to make sure the king never gets her and she is even more determined to figure out what happened to her mother.

The story itself was beautifully told, the writing was gorgeous and the world building was pretty but could have been a bit more. Girls of Paper and Fire is a book that proves that things can be both beautiful and tragic. Yes, this plot was mostly fantastical, a lot of the elements came from truth.

This book does contain a lot of sexual references and a lot of sexual assault but the book has a lot of meaning and fact behind it. I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine about how different things are for women in Japan and Korean, she didn't want to touch on China because she didn't personally know how they work and this was coming from her personal experience with her own culture and family members. She really opened my eyes to many things and I am grateful to her for talking to me about the subject matter.

Aside from the sexual assault and gratuitous sexual mentions, there is a romance in the book between Lei and a girl and it is an amazingly beautiful relationship built on trust and a mutual understanding and hatred of the king. So not only does this book contain a lot of cultural meaning, but it also contains an LGBT+ romance that adds so much depth to the story.

In the end, I recognized that this is one of those books that I will probably have to read a few times in order to fully grasp everything that went on. All the good, bad and treacherous deeds that occurred throughout this story are something that needs to be digested over a period of time. I am sort of happy about this because aside from all the horrible things that the girls in the book faced, the story itself, the words the author put onto paper, was beautiful. It was almost like the author wrote the stories onto the skin of the Paper Girls themselves and allowed them to tell their own stories to the reader and I cannot wait to see where the girls take us in the next book!

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

REVIEW: Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh - Paige

Disclaimer: I received this book from Razorbill and Rockstar Book Tours. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 

Publication Date: January 22, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, death, disease, slight gore, addiction)

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 416

Amazon Link

Synopsis: 

The Dead must stay buried.

Karthia is nothing like it used to be. The kingdom’s borders are open for the first time in nearly three hundred years, and raising the dead has been outlawed. Odessa is determined to explore the world beyond Karthia’s waters, hoping to heal a heart broken in more ways than she can count. But with Meredy joining the ocean voyage, vanquishing her sorrow will be a difficult task.

Despite the daily reminder of the history they share, Odessa and Meredy are fascinated when their journey takes them to a land where the Dead rule the night and dragons roam the streets. Odessa can’t help being mesmerized by the new magic–and by the girl at her side. But just as she and Meredy are beginning to explore the new world, a terrifying development in Karthia summons them home at once.

Growing political unrest on top of threats from foreign invaders means Odessa and Meredy are thrust back into the lives they tried to leave behind while specters from their past haunt their tenuous relationship. Gathering a force big enough to ward off enemies seems impossible, until one of Queen Valoria’s mages creates a weapon that could make them invincible. As danger continues to mount inside the palace, Odessa fears that without the Dead, even the greatest invention won’t be enough to save their fates.

In this enthralling, heartrending sequel to Reign of the Fallen, Odessa faces the fight of her life as the boundaries between the Dead and the living are challenged in a way more gruesome than ever before.

For the most part, I really liked this book. It was an excellent end to the series and I liked how Odessa and Meredy didn’t have that fairytale romance ending. I liked the writing and I felt that it was easy to follow along. Finally, I like how the author kept some consistences from the first book. Odessa was still dealing with her addiction and they both continually dealt with their partner's deaths. While a lot of readers would say that this was prolonged, I disagree on the principle that it is realistic and needs to be written that way. It’s not realistic to think that you’ll be over a breakup or death in a matter of days. Weeks, months, and sometimes years later the sadness still lingers. I loved that the author didn’t write this any other way.

However, I do think that the pacing was off and I didn’t like how slow it got in spots. I feel that the book had a lot of weird character developments and it didn’t feel natural like it did in the first book. I also feel that the characters weren’t as connected as they were in the first book. I don’t know, something just felt off about the whole thing. I also feel that Azelie and Karston weren’t given the attention they deserved as characters, and in the end, I felt that Karston was given the middle finger as he wasn’t even mentioned in the end when Odessa was remembering everything that happened and such.

Verdict: An good ending to a great duology.