Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Goodreads description:
From the Flying Start author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, a powerful novel about hope in the face of heartbreak.

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

My thoughts:
Second Chance Summer is one of the saddest books I've ever read. It is an absolutely heartbreaking story about love and loss and I think it's one everyone should give a go.

It's not a summery feel good romance like Morgan Matson's other books but that doesn't mean it doesn't have all the charm her other stories have. Like all her books there is a big focus on family and friends.

I loved getting to see the family dealing with the situation and how each member of the family reacted differently. I liked how we slowly get to know them as they start getting to know each other. There's a big focus on parental love as well as love between sibling. I liked reading about how they learn means to be there for each other in times of need.

My favourite relationship that is explore in Second Chance Summer has to be Taylor's relationship with her father. It's incredibly heartwarming while also being incredibly heartbreaking. I think it's definitely the relationship that was developed the most.

Friendship is another big aspect of the story particularly how childhood friends are sometimes the ones that mean the most. Taylor gets a second chance at trying to fix a friendship that fell apart years ago. She's learns how to go about this and how to rebuild the relationship after the falling out.

I really liked Taylor, I found her to be super relatable. Her character development is amazing. She's a very different person by the end of the book. She grows and changes so much over the course of this one summer. The changes in her are so subtle you don't even realise how much ha changed until you think back to how she acted at the start of the book.

Henry, the love interest, was linkable. Usually I love Morgan Matson's male characters but I didn't love Henry. Personally I would have liken more from him.He didn't stand out to me as a character I'll remember. He felt a bit 2 D to me.

Overall I would highly recommend Second Chance Summer to everyone but be warned have tissues at the ready because you'll need them!!

My rating: 4.5 stars
Thanks for reading,
A :)
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The Crown by Kiera Cass

*Warning this post contains spoilers for the previous books in the series: The Selection, The Elite, The One and The Heir*

Series: The Selection, #5

Publication:May 3rd 2016 by HarperTeen

Goodreads description:
When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

My thought:
The Crown wasn't terrible but it wasn't the happy cute read I expect from The Selection series. The writing, world building, plot etc are not great, everyone seems to know this so I only read these books because they're just so addictive but to be honest The Crown was missing that addictive quality. I still flew through it in a few hours but I didn't enjoy it like the other books.

Eadlyn's character development is probably the one of the best parts of this series (The Heir and The Crown). She's let go of her egotistical self centred side and has transformed into much nicer young woman and above all a leader. I really liked how when she stepped into the role of regent she didn't let anyone tell her what to do or walk all over her,she stood her ground and did what she wanted.

My favourite part of The Crown has to be Maxon. I loved getting to see him fretting over America and being all concerned for her health and just generally being the Maxon I grew to love in the original trilogy. He still funny and just down right endearing. The only thing that I had a problem with was a decision he makes in The Crown. It was totally out of character and I felt like it was just thrown in there for the benefit of making the story mildly interesting.

The romance in The Crown is so predictable - it was so obvious (to me anyway)who Eadlyn would end up with but nevertheless I still had hopes for my ship and in the end it didn't sail so I'm pretty annoyed at that. I don't think Eadlyn made the best decision. I didn't feel any spark between Eadlyn and the boy she ended up choosing in the end. Their relationship felt seriously underdeveloped.  I felt like her chemistry with one of the other boys was much more evident and he should have been the one she chose.

When I heard that there was going to be two books added onto the original trilogy I was so exited because it meant Cass would have the opportunity to focus on the world building she neglected in the first three books. So I went into these books hoping Kiera Cass would  finally expand on this world and I'm always disappointed. Relations between continents and countries are briefly touched on in The Crown as Eadlyn becomes regent for a while but Cass didn't take advantage of what I think this was an excellent opportunity to explore the world in which these books have been set, to go deeper into the politics and stuff.

The ending was super rushed and everything was resolved so easily and quickly it was almost laughable.

Overall I think this series should have ended with The One. I had an okay time reading The Crown and there was definitely parts that I really liked but ultimately I think this series should have finished after The One.

My rating: 3.5 stars
Thanks for reading,
A :) Follow my blog with Bloglovin

The Last Star by Rick Yancey

*Warning- This post contains spoilers for the first two books in the trilogy, The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea*

Series: The 5th Wave trilogy, #3

Publication: May 24th 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Description:
The enemy is Other. The enemy is us.

They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.

But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.

In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves…or saving what makes us human.

My thoughts:
If your hesitant to pick up The Last Star because you didn't like The Infinite Sea a much as The 5th Wave I'm here to tell you pick up The Last Star it's way better than book 2!

Rick Yancey's writing just gets better and better with each book! There was a good bit of cursing which I'm not a fan of but other than that his style is truly unique. Some of the passages in this book are so poetic and other times he just tells it like it is. I really like his style.

I find that a lot of authors can't write different point of view to sound different but Rick Yancey can. I never got confused as to who was narrating. Each character has their own distinct voice which made it easy to follow who was narrating.

The plot of The Last Star is so fast paced. There is so much going on in this book. It is action packed from start to finish and I couldn't put the book down, especially because of the short chapters and cliff hangers at the end of each POV.

My only problem with the fast pace was I would have liked if the plot was slowed down a little so we could have a few more character driven moments rather than plot drive ones. I understand that the characters don't really have time to be sitting around chatting but it would have been nice.

Looking back at where some of the characters were in The 5th Wave and where they are at the end of Th Last Star you can really see how the characters have grown and changed.

I still love Cassie. Her narration was probably my favourite just because she's so snarky. She's does make some rash decisions in The Last Star and I didn't really agree with her all the time but I couldn't help but admire her courage.

Ringer definitely has a lot going on in The Last Star. In The Infinite Sea she gets the 12th System downloaded into her body so she has enhanced abilities and she really explores them in The Last Star which I really liked reading. It was interesting swing her relationship with Zombie/Ben after the events in The Infinite Sea, we do get to see them interact a good bit in The Last Star but I wanted a bit more.

Zombie/Ben is my favourite character in this series. His sarcastic remarks in The Last Star were the best. I really liked seeing him step into a father figure role in The Last Star not only for Nugget but for Megan too.

I really liked how Cassie and Evan's romance was pushed aside in The Last Star. Personally I was more interested in the other stiff going on so i was happy about this.

The ending was satisfying enough as well as bittersweet. It was definitely predictable but I didn't mind.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Thanks for reading,
A :)
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Rebel of The Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Series: Rebel of the Sands, #1

Publication: March 8th 2016 by Viking Books for Young Readers

Goodreads description:
She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him... or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

My thoughts:
Rebel of the Sands is a fast paced fun adventure!I found it really easy to get into. It's was captivating from the first page to the last. I really enjoyed reading it and definitely recommend it for those looking for a fun easy read!

The plot of Rebel of the Sands is super engaging and fast paced. There is lots of action and adventure. I couldn't stop reading. I flew through it in 2 sittings in under 24 hours!

Amani is probably my favourite character. She is just so cool; she's a sharpshooter, something I never really come across in my reading! I really liked her. She take risks but she's also smart and has a goo was on her shoulders. She can be a bit naive but I guess that's because she hasn't really seen the world as she's been stuck in Duskwalk her whole life.

I did like Jin (the foreigner mentioned in the blurb) but I wasn't overly impressed with him. I am glad that the author decided to go in the direction she did with him as I know a lot of readers will/have been surprised about a reveal about who he is. He's definitely a mysterious character and I do want to learn more about him.

We meet a lot of new characters towards the end of the book. I felt like we were only introduced to them though and I really liked a lot of them so I'm excited to learn more about the  in the next book!

I got a sense of Insta love at the start of the novel and was thinking "oh no, I'm not going to like this" but then the romance really took a back seat and became a kind of subplot, which I really liked. There was hardly any focus on the romance for the majority of the book!

The setting was really cool- I've never read a desert setting before!
I think the author really captured the hardships and the heat of the desert well.

The world building was okay. We learn a lot about the fantasy side of things by listening to characters tell stories so I found it a bit info dumpy which I'm not a fan of.

Overall I really enjoyed Rebel of the Sand it was a quick fun read and I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series!

My rating: 4stars
Thanks for reading,
A :)
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The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

* Warning this post contains spoilers for the first two books in the series, The Winner's Curse and The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski*

Series:The Winner's Trilogy, #3

Publication:March 29th 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Goodreads description:
Some kisses come at a price.

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

My thoughts:
If you've read the second book and aren't sure- in telling you now pick up The Winner's Kiss- finish the trilogy. Marie Rutkoski did an excellent job with the concluding novel. The Winner's Kiss is definitely a satisfying ending to the trilogy.

The plot was engaging but I felt like there were points when things got slow for a few chapters and then they would pick up again. I will say there was a lot if action in the second half of the book because it was do war heavy and I really liked that because it made me want to never out down the book.

Like with the pervious two books there is a good amount of political intrigue going on which I liked as its bit something we see a lot of in YA.

Kestrel has always been a favourite character of mine and in this book particularly she comes across as a very admirable character. She is bit different in The Winner's Kiss compared to the previous books (won't say why- cause spoilers) but her growth in this book alone is absolutely amazing. I felt like we really get to see her vulnerable side in this one as well as her strong side.

Arin- while he can be very violent and an excellent solider i really liked getting to see him hesitating and his mercy. The death god

The romance definitely has a few ups an downs but I wasn't as frustrated as I was with Arin and Kestrel in book 2.

Roshar makes and appearance. I liked getting to see his friendship with Arin grow.

The series ended in a nice place but I would have liked a little bit more. Everything is wrapped up nicely but I would have liked a bow to complete it!

My rating: 4.5 stars

Thanks for reading,
A :)
P.S I'll be posting 2 post a week for the month of July as I'm on my summer holidays so I have lots of time to read! I'll be posting on Tuesdays like I normally do, but I will post something on Fridays too!
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Spoiler Free Review of The Captive Prince Trilogy by C. S. Pacat

Series: Captive Prince Trilogy- includes Captive Prince, Prince's Gambit and Kings Rising.

Publication of Captive Prince: May 22nd 2012

Goodreads description of book 1, Captive Prince:
"This was Vere, voluptuous and decadent, country of honeyed poison"

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the truthful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else...

My thoughts on the series (spoiler free):
So this series is not something I'd usually pick up. It's very dark and definitely an adult series. I didn't like the trilogy but I didn't hate it either. It was just okay. I have no strong feeling toward it.

There is a major trigger warning for rape and abuse in this series. I was warned, but I wasn't expecting it to be as dark as it was. Rape and abuse play an important part in both the plot and the world in which Captive Prince is set so if you don't want to read that kind of thing I wouldn't recommend this series. Personally, I don't like reading those kind of things so I skimmed a lot of these scene. If this series wasn't so highly praised I probably would have stopped reading because of this.

I think my main problem with theses books was that I wasn't emotionally attached to any of the characters and I couldn't relate to any of them either.

I liked reading about Damen but I couldn't relate to him. I felt like he didn't have anything that made him interesting. His situation was but he wasn't.

I wasn't emotionally attached to Laurent. In Captive Prince I did not know what to think of him. I did grow to like him more in Prince's Gambit and Kings Rising. I found Laurent a lot more interesting to read about than Damen, because I felt like I didn't know him in Captive Prince and slowly over the course of the three books I started to understand his personality.

The romance in the first book is almost non-existent. I was not invested in it to be honest. I didn't ship anyone with anyone and while reading Captive Prince I couldn't understand why some people would. My opinion did change after reading Prince's Gambit. I wasn't shipping anyone romantically but I could see why people were shipping certain characters.

The language was a bit hard for me to understand at times, which is something that's never happened to me unless I'm reading a classic. I just felt like the author used a lot of rare words I'd never come across in my 19 years.

I felt like there was no plot in Captive Prince. I didn't know where the story was going. It was just characters interacting as part of their daily lives. Luckily there is plots in books 2 and 3. Prince's Gambit and Kings Rising are much more structured. There is a middle, beginning and end.

The world Pacat created is very intense. She did an excellent job at building up different cultural norms between Vere and Akleios.
 The nobility keep people as 'Pets'. And they force slave to 'preform' for them.

I really liked how there was a big emphasis on politics and war. War is definitely something that is more of a focus in the second and third books as we spend more time with soldiers and armies. I liked how there was this web of politics woven through the story. There was lots of mystery and betrayal and I wasn't sure who to trust.

I wasn't a huge fan of the first book, Captive Prince, but I decided to pick up the second one because I had heard too many rave reviews not to. The rating are also quite high on Goodreads and Sarah J. Maas (one of my all time favourite authors) recommended them in a newsletter so I wanted to give them another chance.

Personally I think Prince's Gambit and Kings Rising were better than Captive Prince. There was a lot more action and character growth in the second and third books. I particularly like Prince's Gambit because as reader we get to know Laurent a lot better and I felt like book 2 was really the start of Damen and Laurents friendship.

So all in all, I like the series as a whole but wasn't in love with it.

My rating:
1. Captive Prince: 2.5 out of 5
2. Prince's Gambit: 3 out of 5
3. Kings Rising: 3 out of 5

Thanks for reading,
A :) Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Inherited by Freedom Matthews

Series: Curses of VIII,#1

Publications:July 12th 2016 by Oftomes Publishing

Goodreads description:
If saying 'I love you' meant death, would you still say it?

The Wilted Rose, of faery-tale and folklore, is a pirate ship filled with unfortunate souls-each forbidden to love. One such soul is Valencia 'Lennie' Roux. Raised in a brothel and an heir to a curse; Lennie never expected to pique the interest of any man. Yet with the arrival of vivid-eyed Nathaniel, she is torn between wanting to know him better and fearing what that knowledge would mean.

With Nathaniel bringing the crew's total to six, the Wilted Rose sets off in search of the remaining two heirs. They hope that in reuniting, they will convince the faery Sorceress responsible for the curse, to end it. However lurking beneath the water is a long standing enemy of the Wilted Rose; who is determined to thwart their quest and bring down its leaders.

Together the eight heirs fight for survival, friendship and love.

My thoughts:
Unfortunately I didn't love Inherited like I thought I would. I had a lot of problems with it and it just wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be this epic quest of pirates fighting fantastical creatures while looking for the two lost heirs but it wasn't so I was kind of disappointed.

The author created a lovely whimsical tone and atmosphere in the first few chapter while introducing the characters and the boat but I felt like this whimsical tone got lost as the story went on.

I think one of the strong points in Inherited is Lennie's character development. She definitely goes through a lot of growth in the story and I think it was portrayed very well. Unfortunately I didn't feel connected in anyway to Lennie. Her character is built up to be this tough girl who has suffered terrible hardships, which is true, but I felt like these hardships were used to define her. Even after spending 500+ pages in her head I still feel like I know very little about her.

I really liked reading about Lennie's different friendships with the other crew members, in particular her relationships with Claudette and Butch. I felt like these where the two characters/relationships that were developed the most.

The plot was engaging at times and boring at others. At some parts it felt like too much was happening and at other times it felt like nothing was happening that was relevant to the what I thought was the whole point of the story which was getting rid of the curse. The pacing was a bit all over the place to be honest.

I thought the antagonist of Hadnaloy could have been developed a lot more. I felt like she wasn't built up to be that threatening in my eyes.

Lennie and Nathaniel's relationship is definitely a big part of the story. Unfortunately I wasn't the biggest fan of it. It was too insta- lovey for my liking but if you don't mind insta-love than this aspect of the novel wouldn't bother you.

Sometime I thought the dialogue wasn't great. The only I can think to describe it is choppy. It didn't flowing right and sounded a bit unnatural to me. Every time I picked up the book it would take a few pages for this to stop bothering me.

I think the world was very underdeveloped. I have a lot of questions about it that were never answered. It's built up to be a fantasy world with curses and witches and faeries. We are on a magical boat and we visit magical forests and then smack bang in the middle there's a section of the book that takes place in England. It's was kind of jarring to me to have a real place in the midst of what I previously thought was a fantasy setting.

It sounds like I didn't like this book but I did. I guess my expectations where just too high. I wouldn't not recommend this book to people because I can see why some people who love it but I just wasn't for me.

My rating: 2.5

Thank you to Oftomes Publishing for sending me an eARC of Inherited in exchange for a review. As always all opinion are my own!

Thanks for reading,
A :)
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