Top Ten Tuesday: Books and Series I Decided To DNF – Do I Regret It?

Top Ten Tuesday was originally hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish and is now over at Jana’s blog, That Artsy Reader Girl.

This weeks’ topic was to do with travelling, but I didn’t have anything that fit in. So, instead I decided to do last weeks topic that I didn’t get to do because my laptop took two and a half hours to update. It was torture.

All the books in this list are either the first in a series or part way through that I didn’t finish for one reason or another.

1. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

This book has been sat on my ‘currently reading’ section of Goodreads since November last year, and I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to finish it. I was a little bored, but I somehoe managed to get over a hundred pages in. The third book is also on my shelf, but it doesn’t leave me with much hope if I stopped reading the second one.

2. Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

I really tried with this book. I even got to the halfway point, but I just wasn’t interested. It sounded great, however I couldn’t connect with the characters and the writing just didn’t flow for me. Whether that is because I don’t read a lot of sci-fi, or if it’s because it was written by two people, I don’t know. I feel like I should try and finish this, but it took me long enough to reach the halfway point.

3. House of Night Series by P. C. Cast

I used to adore this series! I started reading it just after I got into Twilight, and I couldn’t get enough. Every book I bought was amazing and I loved the characters. HOWEVER, I felt that as they went along the story lost it’s spark and I eventually stopped reading after Awakened, even though I’d bought Destiny. It would be interesting to see if I found them as good now. Probably not though.

4. Divergent by Veronica Roth

If it weren’t for the movie, I’m not sure I’d remember much of this book. I don’t even think I read the second book, which says a lot. It was just one of those series that I quickly grew out of, and I was never a big fan of dystopian anyway.

5. The Selection by Kiera Cass

Everyone always goes on about this series (for good and bad reasons), but after I read the first book I never bought the rest. Although, the covers for the series are absolutely gorgeous. I don’t even remember what happens in this book, so it obviously didn’t leave much of an impression.

6. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

I adored the Vampire Academy series, and so I figured I would really enjoy Bloodlines as well. I kind of did, and then I just stopped reading them. I remember reading the first one, but I don’t remember much of the second, and I never got around to reading the third. I didn’t even know there were six books until today!

7. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I actually remember loving this book so much and the characters, especially the male lead. And then I just never picked up the second book, which seems to be a recurring theme with me and books. I can’t remember why I didn’t, although it’s probably because I used to get too distracted by other books.

8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Can I just repeat what I said above? Another book I enjoyed and never carried on. Everyone says they love this series and I feel like I missed out, and I’m probably at the point where I wouldn’t go back and read them.

9. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Again, another series I feel like I missed out on. I originally read Shatter Me before it was published in the UK, as I bought the US edition from the Book Depository, and I remember really enjoying the story. I can probably blame other books getting in the way as my reason for not reading the rest of the series. Story of my life.

10. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Please tell me I wasn’t the only one that stopped reading this series (and the other series’ set in the universe)? I read the first four, bought the fifth and never read it. I even have these covers, and they all have brand new ones now. Plus, I can’t even remember half of what happens in them.

I actually managed to come up with a lot of books and series for this (which is probably really bad now I think about it).

What book series did you DNF?

Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Title: Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1)

Author: Neal Shusterman

Publisher: Walker Books

Date: 1st February 2018

I finally did it. I finally found a sci-fi book that I fell head over heels for. I had heard of so many people loving this book, and while I was hesitant at first I decided to give it a try. I don’t read a lot of sci-fi, mainly because I can’t get into it, but from the get go I was hooked by Scythe. It is such a unique book, with an incredible world that feels so similar, yet foreign to us as a reader. There were little references to things we have into our world now, and Shusterman has created characters that I rooted for and that I cared about.

All of the world’s problems have been solved. There is no more hunger and poverty, no war and disease, no more pain and death. The Thunderhead has created a perfect world that is safe for everyone in it. To curb over-population the Scythedom was created, granting Scythes the power to ‘glean’ people. Due to strange circumstances, both Citra and Rowan have been chosen to become scythe apprentices under Honorable Scythe Faraday. Neither wanted this, but now they must master the art of being a Scythe in order to save their lives. For it has been decided that only one can become a fully-fledged Scythe and must glean the other.

I really enjoyed learning about how the Thunderhead came about. It was once the ‘cloud’, which I’m assuming is a reference to software we have now, and it grew to become this all-seeing thing. It has taken control from the governments who are no more, and it protects its citizens, although people are still scared of it. However, the Thunderhead has no control over the Scythedom, which is a really interesting concept given what happens in this novel.

The idea that there is no death is so strange. Of course, accidents do happen but there are revival centres that can bring you back to life. And if you reach the age of 80 and dislike the way you look, you can take a ‘turn’ and go back to being young again. Essentially you could live forever, and it made me wonder what it would be like to live in this world. Honestly, I’m not quite sure I would like it.

Scythe Faraday was a really interesting character, especially with his approach to gleaning. Each scythe has a different technique that they use to glean, and his involves a lot of data and using lots of different weapons. It’s actually quite fascinating how he chooses the people to glean by seeing the statistics of certain deaths in our day and age, then choosing someone who fits into them. He was a really unexpected character that I wish to see more of.

Something that I thought was a great addition to the story was the diary excerpts from infamous Scythes that were before each new chapter. The content in them was often reflected in the story and the people who wrote them eventually feature in the story prominently. I won’t give too much away, but those characters were so intriguing, and I hope I can find out more about them in the sequel.

Then we have Citra and Rowan. The book is mainly in their perspectives, and shows how they handle the circumstances they have been thrust into. Something happens that causes them to drift and from that point on the story is tense because we have no idea what is going to happen. Even towards the end there are plot twists that I didn’t see coming and I loved every one! I think Citra was my favourite, mainly because she was fierce and didn’t take any crap, although I felt sorry for Rowan at some points in the story.

This book is so addictive and I couldn’t get enough of the world. The ending hooked me and I couldn’t order Thunderhead quick enough! On the front cover of my edition, Maggie Stiefvater said that it was a ‘true successor to The Hunger Games’ and I agree with her. I definitely got that kind of vibe so if you enjoyed that series and love dystopian sci-fi worlds, I would recommend reading Scythe. It was so easy to give this book a solid five stars.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Liked But Will Never Re-Read

Top Ten Tuesday was originally hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish and is now over at Jana’s blog, That Artsy Reader Girl.

I missed out on last weeks topic but this weeks is a good one and I just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. This time we are talking out the books that we loved back when we read them, but would never pick up again for one reason or another. For me, this included going onto Goodreads and going through all the books I’ve read over the years. It was fairly easy for me to see which ones I loved the most (even if I wrote terrible reviews) and I found that I could remember some very well.

1. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I devoured this series when I first read it, which wasn’t long after I started getting into Young Adult books. Everything about this series was amazing and I even went on to read the spin-offs (but I never finished reading them). However, I don’t think I would go back and read them because I’m not sure I would like them as much. My tastes have changed a lot since I was 15 years old.

2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I can’t even tell you how many times I read this book when I first got it. Obviously, it was my favourite series and I was fan-girling hard over Edward Cullen (weren’t we all). However, I don’t think I could bring myself to read this series again, just because I know it would be bad compared to the standards of the authors I now read. But I can appreciate it for what it was and how it grew my love for reading again.

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth

At the time of reading these I was into the dystopian genre and couldn’t get enough, especially of these characters (although I never finished reading the series). Nowadays, I am much more into fantasy and I don’t think I would pick up a dystopian book again, definitely not Divergent as I am past it.

4. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

I loved this series when I read it, mainly because it was based off of Greek mythology and you can’t get better than that. I may not be able to remember most of the details on this book (I only remember bits) but I’m not sure if I would re-read them again. There is also the fact that I seem to have misplaced the series and can’t find it.

5. Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I swear I spent most of teenage years reading books by Jennifer Armentrout. She knew how to write characters that you could fall in love with. However, I don’t think I would re-read the series now. I still have them on my book shelf so the opportunity is there, I just don’t think I will take it. Too many new books to read.

6. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Ah, this book. Right around the same time I was reading Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, this book entered my life and took over. I loved this book, LOVED it. I did fanart (terrible fanart) and I can’t deny it, I had a book crush on Patch. However, I’m not sure how well this book has aged and I’m not sure I want to find out.

7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus has had so many mixed views over the years, and while I may have loved it at the time, I’m not sure how I would feel about it now. It’s not something I’m willing to find out as I want to keep the memories alive.

8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I was part of the group that read the books before the movies came out (although I still don’t like who they chose to play Katniss and Peeta) and I loved the series. I flew through the trilogy so quickly and the surprising thing is that I only read them once. Maybe once was enough, and as I mentioned earlier, I don’t read dystopian anymore.

9. Fallen by Lauren Kate

I’m going to start by saying that I love all the covers in this series, even if the books did progressively get worse for me. However, I really enjoyed the first (one I read around the time of Hush, Hush) and I was loving the idea behind it. I can’t remember details (and I haven’t watched the movie) but I don’t think I will be touching this series ever again.

10. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

The Vampire Academy is my all time favourite series and of course I read the spin-off series Bloodlines. However, as much as I loved them, I only ever read the first two books (the third is still on my shelf) and I’m not sure I would be able to read this series again to catch up. There’s a possibility I might, but there are so many amazing books out now that it would be tough.

Those are all my picks! There are probably more that I could have added and I had to pick and choose for a few slots, but it is finished.

What books would you never pick up again, even if you loved them?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant To Read In 2017 But Didn’t Get To

Top Ten Tuesday was originally hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish and is now over at Jana’s blog, That Artsy Reader Girl.

I’ve just realised that this is my first top ten Tuesday of 2018 and I’m glad that I’m getting back to a routine with my blog. The Top Ten Tuesdays are here to stay! This weeks topic is all about the books we wish we had gotten around to reading in 2017. For this topic I am purely sticking to books that were published last year.

1. Carve The Mark by Veronica Roth

When I heard about this book, I thought it sounded interesting and as I loved Divergent, I figured I’d give this a try. There seems to be some mixed reviews, but I still want to check it out.

2. Caraval by Stephanie Garber

This book has seemed to divide a lot of people and those are the ones I want to read this most. It definitely gives me Night Circus vibes (a book that also divided opinions) so fingers crossed I can read it before the sequel comes out this year.

3. Warcross by Marie Lu

I’ve seen this book being talked about everywhere (literally everywhere). It sounds amazing and something that I wouldn’t normally read. This year I am trying to venture out of my comfort zone and I can’t wait to check out this one.

4. Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Once again, another book I have seen everyone reviewing and honestly, I felt like I was missing out. Even though I haven’t even seen the Wonder Woman movie yet (I’m terrible, I know) I love superheroes so I’m bound to love this.

5. The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

Even though I didn’t get around to reading this book last year, I finally have it! I can’t wait to get stuck in and see what people have been loving about it.

6. The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

I read DeStefano’s The Chemical Garden series a while back and enjoyed them, so when I heard about The Glass Spare I was excited to check it out. Unfortunately, there are only so many books a girl can buy.

7. Renegades by Marissa Meyer

To me, this sounds like sci-fi and dystopian, which are genres that I want to get back into reading and I have to say, this book sounds great! Hopefully I can find the time to read it this year.

8. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

There have been tonnes of amazing reviews for this book and I’ve been wanting to get my hands on it since I first read the synopsis. It sounds exactly like the type of book that I enjoy.

So it seems I was only able to come up with eight books I missed out on reading (at least, the ones I really wanted to read). What books would have made your top ten?

First Lines Fridays

It’s everybody’s favourite day of the week and that is definitely something to be happy about! I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend after all the stress I’ve been feeling this week and to get on with writing my novel. It’s coming together nicely and I’m laying the foundations down in so many notes (they’re on my laptop, sticky notes, my phone and a notebook).

I love taking part in First Lines Fridays because the books I choose are ones I probably haven’t paid much attention to before and this feature definitely makes me want to read them.

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? It’s pretty simple really, the rules go like this…

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

So here are the lines from the book I have chosen…

“My mother thinks I’m dead.

Obviously I’m not dead, but it’s safer for her to think so.

At least twice a month, I see my Wanted poster flashed on the JumboTrons scattered throughout downtown Los Angeles.”

First Thoughts

Straight away I’m intrigued and I want to know why it is better for people to think our main character is dead. Of course, it could be to do with the fact that they are a Wanted man, but that only leads to more questions. What did they do that was so bad? I really like the start of this book and it makes me want to read on.

And the book is…

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Fun fact, I actually have this book and the sequel sitting on my shelf…I just haven’t gotten around to reading them. But after featuring the first one, I feel that I might be starting it fairly soon!

Would these lines make you want to read the book?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’m Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This weeks topic is all do with the American holiday, Thanksgiving. While I don’t personally celebrate it as I live in the UK, I hope all my American followers will have a great day when it comes around. There is always something to be thankful for in life and I have a lot at the moment.

When it comes to choosing the books I am thankful for I had to think long and hard about it. I had to ask myself why am I thankful for them? Once I asked myself that question it became relatively easy to rattle them off. So here we go…

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I have chosen this as my first book because without them I never would have gotten into reading YA. They were so new and different to anything I had read before and it was a turning point for me, especially when it came to growing up. You can read more about it in my blog post The Book That Made Me A Reader.

2. The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

This series of books is by far my favourite and I am so thankful that I read them. They are all incredible in their own way and the characters are so easy to fall in love with. I am actually planning on re-reading this series in 2018 at some point because it has been a while, but I will never forget the way they made me feel (I even cried at some points).

3. The Magicians’ Guild by Trudi Canavan

I am thankful for this series in particular as it was the first that I read which was purely fantasy. While it is definitely not the best fantasy book I have read, it was the one that opened my eyes to a genre that has become my favourite. I may revisit these in the future and see it with some new perspective.

4. The House Of Night Series by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

There seems to be a lot of vampire books on this list, but I am thankful for these in particular as they introduced me to other P. C. Cast books. The Goddess Summoning series were some of the first Adult novels that I read and I remember loving them, especially because they were based on Mythology.

5. Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Speaking of mythology, I am thankful to this series because it made me fall more in love with Greek mythology and books to do with them. They were so different when they came out and that was what I loved about them. Although, I never did finish off the series so a re-read may be in order so I can buy the rest.

6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Ever since I picked this book up, it has been one of my favourites and I am so thankful for that because it made me aspire to be that amazing at writing. It was magical, with the most breathtaking descriptions and I just know I will be reading it again now I am older. It seems to be the perfect book to read around Christmas time.

7. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

This book deserves a place on my list because it introduced me to thrillers. I had never thought much of them before reading The Girl On The Train, but it hooked me from the beginning and didn’t let me go. Hawkins is an incredible writer and knows how to keep you guessing, definitely worth reading!

8. Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

I chose this book due to the fact that it showed me you can have a male POV and it can work, really well might I add. It was the first book I read where there wasn’t a female protagonist POV and it was a horror too, something I don’t normally read (but I do love horror movies). As well as this, it also made me love Kendare Blake’s writing and her latest series, Three Dark Crowns.

9. The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith

I read this series after I started Twilight (I was into vampires at the time, but, having been published in 1991 it was around long before Twilight) and it was way before it was turned into the TV show that everyone loves. My reason for being thankful for this is that it led me to watching the show (even though there are so many differences between the two) and it is easily my all-time favourite show. Reading these books were an introduction, although I only read this series in full and the first in the Return series (There are 5 different series in total).

10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I, like everyone else, loved this series when it came out and couldn’t get enough! My reason for being thankful is that it introduced me to the dystopian genre, something that had an influence over one of the novels I wrote when I was younger. It was so different and unique, as well as daring and original. While I may not have agreed with who they chose to play the characters in the movies (they weren’t like the ones in my head) I will always love these books.

I really hope you enjoyed reading my top 10 this Tuesday and if you have your own then leave a link below, I would love to check them out!