Top 5 Wenesday:

Top 5 Wednesday (#T5W) is a weekly meme that was created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey. She has an awesome booktube channel. You should go check out her videos on Youtube. Lainey created a Goodreads page for "#T5Wednesdayers." Click here to check out everyone who participates on their blogs and/or their youtube channel. This weeks topic is Top 5 Fictional Technologies. Let's get started.

Top 5 Fictional Technologies:

(In no particular order)

5. The Games from The Hunger Games

They are slammed packed full of craziness. I love how they can control everything right from a computer. 

4. The Fearscapes in Divergent

It is so interesting how they can watch the actual thing on a screen. They get to see how you react to some of your biggest fears. 

3. A Steel from The Mortal Instruments Series

The steel can put a rune on your skin, and you can become whatever symbol you draw. For example, invisible or stronger.

2. Androids from The Lunar Chronicles Series

These androids are so complex they can actually have a personality (well it's a personality chip, but hey it's a personality). I love Iko from Cinder. She is Cinder's best friend, and my favourite character. 

1. Rebooting from Reboot

Doctors are able to bring the dead back to life. I'm not talking about slow, sluggish corpses, Reboots are soldiers who are trained killers. I want to know how the doctors do it. This book is awesome. The sequel is coming out soon. 

Until next time,

Bre

Top 10 Tuesday : Top 10 Book Characters That Really Pissed Me Off

You guys know the drill. CLICK HERE to go check out the creators of this weekly meme. This week's Top 10 Tuesday is a make it your own type of thing. I decided to do Top 10 Characters That Really Pissed Me Off.

 These are in no particular order. 

10. Count Olaf from The Series of Unfortunate Events

What a psycho! Don't get me wrong I do believe he makes the story, but he is such a jerk.

Sn: Jim Carrey played him perfectly. 

9.  T. Ray from The Secret Life of Bees

One word: Grits. If you've read it then you know what I'm talking about. 

8. Tom from The Great Gatsby

He is extremely annoying throughout the entire novel. He is the epitome of a douche. 

7. Trish and Maxwell from The Art of Racing in the Rain

They make me so upset throughout the whole story. Not only does Denny have to worry about his sick wife, he also has to worry about her pesky parents. If you haven't read this book yet it is a great adult contemporary told from a dog's point of view. 

6.Celeste from The Selection 

Celeste is an uber-biotch. Just think Mean Girls, and Celeste is Regina. At one point she actually rips America's dress because if she couldn't have it neither could America. 

5.August from Water for Elephants

Not only did he treat his wife terribly, he also abused the animals in the circus. 

4. Hilly from The Help

She deserved every bit of that pie ; ) 

The Help is one of my favourite books. Please read it or at least see the movie. It is fan-freaking-tastic. 

3. Anna from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

She was the popular mean girl at school. I could handle that, but when she stole Mara's notebook I was pissed. She tried to embarrass Mara in front of tons of people at school by showing off her sketches of Noah, the super cute popular boy.

2.Queen Levana from Cinder

Ugh! She is pure evil. I don't want to give too much away, but just trust me when I say she is completely 100% terrible.

1. President Snow from The Hunger Games Triology

He is such a jerk. He makes my skin crawl just thinking about him. He is the worst person ever. He kills kids for fun. What a psycho!

Until next time,

Bre

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book 1 in The Lunar Chronicles Series

Pages: 387

My Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Rating: 4.09

Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella, but with a sci-fi twist. Cinder is a cyborg who lives in New Beijing. She is the best mechanic in town. She can fix almost anything, except the kingdom's epidemic. One day, Prince Ky comes to Cinder's Mechanic booth, and drops off his android. The Prince and Cinder really hit it off. She caught herself thinking about the prince often, and he was also interested in her. There is are some big problems though, he doesn't know she is a cyborg or that she is planning on running away from his country. There is a big twist, although predictable, that keeps the reader hooked. This book had some predictable moments, but I still got lost in the story. I loved this book, and I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

Spoilers:
I enjoyed this story a lot more than I thought I would. The whole cyborg thing really through me off. I loved the Cinderella references. I could not stand her stepmom. The author did a great job creating her family. I really enjoyed Peony. She was a breath of fresh air for Cinder. It crushed me when she got sick. I wish Cinder would have been able to save her. I actually did not think she was going to die. Once she got the antidote, I was literally yelling at Cinder to hurry up and get it to her.

Prince Ky was awesome. The first time we met him at Cinder's booth, I fell for him. He was such a nice and caring person. He has so much going on between his father's death and the visit with the Lunar Queen, that Cinder never tells him about her. I wish that Cinder would have at least told him about being Cyborg. The Lunar part was still new to her so I'm not blaming her for that one. The way the Prince interacted with Cinder was just adorable. He was so sweet. They are just the cutest little "thing." (I can't say couple even though that is totally what I'm wishing for)

I cannot stand the Lunar Queen. She is so terrible. She had the cure the whole time and just let Ky's father die. She is a cold hearted witch. I'm struggling with her character because I hate her but at the same time respect her because she is an awesome villain. Her powers are a bit weird. I can't wait to see what happens now that we are in the moon. Shots about to get real : )

I can't do a review without mentioning Iko. She is Cinder's android and my favourite character. I loved her personality. She is such a good friend to Cinder. I almost teared up when she was sold for parts. She was the perfect sidekick. I'm excited to see if she comes back in Scarlet.

Cinder is a Lunar. I was expecting it, but as I was reading I was in denial. I did not want it to be true. I felt so bad for Prince Ky at the end. How do you chose between your "love interest" and the fate of your country. I would have done the same thing. At least, we know that he has a plan to rescue her .

I'm ready to see what happens in book 2. I know it is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and Scarlet is the main character. I read the summary and there is a Wolf. What? How? I'm intrigued. I hope we get to learn more about the Lunars.

Until next time,
Bre

Book Haul + First Line Feature : )

Hey guys! My orders finally came in from book outlet. I'm super excited. I also picked up some books at Wal-Mart, Target and Goodwill. I'm trying something new today, so you should let me know what you think. I will not only include the summary, but I will also feature the first line of each book. I figure that will give you a little more insight into the story, and it will be fun to see what they are. Let's get started : )

Click the book's title to read their summary. 

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
I'm sure everyone knows about this by now, but it is an adult fantasy book. It is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire series.
"'We should start back,' Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them." -A Game of Thrones

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Life As We Knew It is a survival story that is written in journal entries by a sixteen year old girl. The moon gets hit by a meteor and knocks it closer to Earth. This changes everything. Earth starts experiencing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and massive tidal waves across the globe.
"Spring, May 7th, Lisa is pregnant." - Life As We Knew It

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Tiger Lily is a young adult fairy tale retelling of Peter Pan. Instead of getting Peter Pan's point of view, Tinkerbell tells the story. We get a lot more of Tiger Lily 's back story and what Neverland was like before Wendy. Turns out, Tiger Lily and Peter Pan were head over heels for each other until Wendy came along.
"She stands on the cliffs, near the old crumbling stone house." -Tiger Lily

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Looking for Alaska follows the story of Miles "Pudgy" Halter's transition in a boarding school. He meets a girl named Alaska who lives down the hall from him. She is wild, sexy, and everything Pudgy is not. She changes his world forever.
"The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party." -Looking for Alaska

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Beautiful Disaster is a new adult novel that a lot of people have been raving about. Abby and Travis  are complete opposites. He is the bad boy type, and she is a good girl. They make a bet with each other, and neither of them could have ever imaged the consequences.
"Everything in the room screamed that I didn't belong." -Beautiful Disaster

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Anna Dressed in Blood is a creepy story of a boy named Cas who kills dead people. His father also killed the dead until one day he gets murder by a ghost. Cas is on a mission to find the ghost that killed his father, and hunt down a local ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood. Anna is an extremely dangerous ghost who kills anyone who enters her old house.
"The grease-slicked hair is a dead giveaway--no pun intended." -Anna Dressed in Blood

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Claire
This is the 5th book in The Mortal Instruments series. I have only read the first book, so I haven't read the summary of this one. I also don't want to read the first line because it could spoil me. If you haven't read this series yet, I highly recommend it.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus randomly arrives and is only open at night. There are no posters to let the towns know when it is coming or when it's leaving. The story follows two magicians, Celia and Marco, who are competing in a game where there can only be one winner. Celia and Marco end up falling in love with each other, but what will that do to the game?
"The man billed as Prospero the Enchanter receives a fair amount of correspondence via the theater office, but this is the first envelope addressed to him that contains a suicide note, and it is also the first to arrive carefully pinned to the cost of a five-year-old girl." -The Night Circus

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
I honestly don't know much about this book except for the main character, Alina, gets training from powerful people, and Shadow and Bone is the first book in The Grisha trilogy.
"The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke 's house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, snaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches."-Shadow and Bone

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
This is the second book in The Grisha trilogy. Once again, I don't want to spoil myself, so I haven't read the summary.

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
This is the second book in The Unwind trilogy. I LOVED Unwind. It is such a dark and twisted thriller. I ordered this copy from bookoutlet, and it was a scratch and dent copy. It came without the dust jacket, so I was pretty bummed until I opened it. Autographed Copy say what?!

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
I love this book, and I talk about it way too much. Currently Reading : )
"I first discovered I was trash three days before my ninth birthday-- one year after my father lost his job and moved to Secaucus to live with a woman named Crystal and four years before my mother had the car accident, started taking pills, and began exclusively wearing bedroom slippers instead of normal shoes." -Dorothy Must Die

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Another book I don't know too much about. I know Bernadette is a mom who is afraid of everything including people. Bee is her daughter who wants to plan a family vacation to Antarctica. That is all I know. There has been  a lot of hype over this adult book. I can't wait to read it. P.s. I found this hardback book in perfect condition for $2 at Goodwill. WHAT?
"The first annoying thing is when I ask Dad what he thinks happened to Mom, he always says, 'What's most important is for you to understand it's not your fault.'"-Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Until next time,
Bre

March Wrap-Up:

Wrap-Up:
# of books in March: 5
Read in 2014: 10 books
Challenges:
Books over 400 pages in March: 2
Books over 400 pages in 2014: 4
Classics: 0
Diverse Authors in March: 1
Diverse Authors in 2014: 2

It's time to do my Wrap-Up for March. I can't believe it is already April. March flew by for me, but I did manage to read five books this month. So let's jump right in.

The first book I finished in March was

Twilight: The Graphic Novel Volume 1

By Stephenie Meyer and Young Kim

Published in 2010

My Rating: 3 stars 

Goodreads Rating: 3.63

Challenges: Diverse Author

I found this graphic novel and volume 2 at the Goodwill. It was only $2.00, so I had to pick it up. I have been in the mood for vampires. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Twilight, it was nice to dive back into the world. The drawings were beautiful. They were all black and white with the except of a little bit of colour splashed here and there. I enjoyed this, and I will be picking up volume 2 soon. 

The second book I read was

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

By Michelle Hodkin

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Rating: 4.13

Challenges: A book over 400 pages

I have already done a review for this book. You should go check it out: CLICK HERE : )

The third book I read this month was

No Place Like Oz

By Danielle Paige

Published in ebook format

Released in 2013

Pages: 125

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Rating: 3.94

No Place Like Oz is a prequel novella to Dorothy Must Die. I loved this short story. It gave us a lot of insight as to why Dorothy has gone crazy. Dorothy Must Die is told from the perspective of Amy, the other girl from Kansas. No Place Like Oz is told from Dorothy's point of view. We can really relate to Dorothy until she starts losing it. I definitely recommend reading this before you pick up DMD. I'm so excited for this series. I have heard that the CW is contemplating on signing this as a tv series. WHAT?! I would love to see that happen!

The fourth book I read was

Cinder 

By Marissa Meyer

Released in January 2O12

Pages: 387

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Rating: 4.09

Cinder is a Cinderella retelling with a twist. Cinder is a cyborg who is the best mechanic in all of New Beijing. I have to say this book had me hooked. I tried to listen to the audio book sometime last year, but just couldn't get into it. Everyone really hypes up this series, The Lunar Chronicles, so I decided I needed to give it another try. I'm so glad I did. I love Cinder. I had to give it a 4 stars because I had a few minor issues. A full review is coming soon : )

The last book I finished this month is

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

By Brian Selznick

Released in 2007 

Pages: 525

My Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Rating: 4.22

Challenges: book over 400 pages

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a middle grade adventure story. The story is told in pictures and words. The drawings were amazing. I believe they really added to the story. I liked the idea of the story, but the characters really annoyed me. I did not care for Hugo and Georges relationship. Georges was a mean old man who owned a toy shop Hugo stole from. I felt like Georges character could have been written better, especially with the twist at the end. My biggest struggle with this book is the overarching theme of theft. Hugo steals food and toys all throughout the book because his uncle taught him how to steal. Isabella steals from her godmother, Georges wife. I understand theft is a reality for some people, but with this being a middle grade book I thought it was a bit overdone. There is a movie based on the book on Netflix called Hugo. I will have to say I enjoyed the movie more than the book. It might just be because of Chloe Moretz. I love her!

I did not finish Panic this month. I'm just going to put it down for now. I can't get into the story. It tried to put me in a reading slump, but Cinder came to save the day. I was nervous to read The Archived after Panic because I had to avoid the slump. I'm not sure if I will love The Archieved, but I had a pretty good feeling about Cinder. I will post my TBR soon.

Until next time,

Bre