Top Ten Tuesday- Auto-buy authors

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks topic is Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List (basically an auto-buy list is no questions asked..you love this author so much that no matter what they wrote next you'd buy regardless of genre or subject matter)


I have a lot of these type authors and some authors I feel are given. Like JK Rowling, ext. so I will not put those authors on the list. Besides that, these are in no order.

1. Jodi Meadows:
I absolutely adore Incarnate and Asunder, and will read anything this woman writes.

2. John Green:
I have the biggest fan girl crush on John. Oh man. And if he ever writes anything like TFIOS again, I don't think my heart can take it. haha.

3. Jennifer L. Armentrout:
So this one is new for me. I read the Lux series and adored it and since then I've bought all her other books. But I do have to admit, none of her other books come close to being as good as the Lux books.

4. Cassandra Clare:
So help me Cassie, if you kill Jem... *shakes fist*

5. Stephanie Perkins:
Who else is tired of waiting for Isla?

6. Veronica Roth:
Come on Divergent #3! When are we at least going to get a title and a cover???

7. Stacey Kade:
I really liked her Ghost and the Goth books and I'm definitely looking foward to The Rules when it comes out.

8. Isaac Marion:
So far he just has the one book out, but my love of Warm Bodies (both book and movie) knows no end. I also keep up with his blog and find it hilarious most of the time. Whatever this guy writes, I will try and get my hands on it.

9. Kiersten White:
Love love love Kiersten's books. Paranormalcy being the best by far. I'm really excited to meet her in two weeks :)

10. CC Hunter:
The Shadow Falls books are so funny and yet they keep me guessing. I'm never possitive about what is going to happen and I love that. When books can keep me guessing, they automatically get higher ratings.

Review: Asunder

Asunder by Jodie Meadows

Series: Incarnate #2

Published by Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: YA fantasy

$17.99 (US hardback)

416 pages

 

 

What it's about:



DARKSOULS
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.

SHADOWS
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

LOVE
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.

In this second book in the Incarnate trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. Once again, Jodi Meadows explores the extraordinary beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy.

My thoughts:
I HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR FOR THE NEXT BOOK????? WHY???????????

This waiting a whole year in between each book is killing me. I absolutely adore these books. By far some of the most interesting and thought provoking books I've ever read. Because everyone in this world has been reincarnated over and over for over 5,000 years, it leaves a lot of questions to be asked. If everyone has been born both male and female multiple times, do they really have gender roles? And if you have been the brother, sister, mother, father to multiple people, how do you act around everyone? And romantic relationships. So complicated in this place. How would you get used to being born into different bodies and sexes each time, and having your lover do the same thing? Would you still be attracted to them? How do you deal with that?

And now we have even more questions to ask. Will there be more Newsouls? How will everyone react to that? Will Newsouls be reincarnated? Why are the sylphs dancing and singing? (This I found hilarious because I picture sylphs looking like Dementors and picturing dementors dancing and singing is insanely funny) And then there is Ana. Is she going to be able to fit into Heart? Can she figure out what Janan is up to? Is she going to be able to tell Sam that she loves him? So many questions that I needed answers to.

Incarnate and Asunder are definitely some of my favorite books out there. I love the world that Meadows has created. It's beautiful and strange and unique and I adore it.

My rating: 10/10

Review: Amber House

Amber House by Kelly Moore, and Tucker and Larkin Reed

Published by Arthur A. Levine Books

Genre: YA

$17.99 (US hardback)

368 pages

 

 

What it's about:

"I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ."

Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls.

But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to threaten the person she holds most dear, Sarah must do everything she can to get to the bottom of the house's secrets, and stop the course of history before it is cemented forever.

My thoughts:
This was one of those books that when I finished it, I hopped on facebook and wrote this:

Just finished reading one of those books that leaves you going "wtf just happened??? What did I just read! I need the next book right now!" *goes onto Goodreads to see when next book comes out* "December?!?!? But I need it now! Hey look, the author lives in Oregon... maybe I should pay her a visit..." hahaha

 

This book. Man, this book. It was pretty cool. Amber House is this crazy big house with all these rooms being added on throughout hundreds of years, always owned by the same family. And all the women in this family have this gift to see what has happened in this house throughout history. Touch something and it's like you are back in time, watching it all happen.

 

That really was the best part of the book. Seeing all the different things that happened in Amber house. Sure the characters were pretty likable (oh man is Sam adorable!) but it was all about the plot. Very interesting and different. I can't wait to get my hands on the second book.

 

My rating: 8/10

Review: Obsidian

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published by Entangled Teen

Genre: YA sci-fi

$9.99 (US paperback)

361 pages

 

What it's about:



Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My thoughts:
I've seen these books around for a while, how could I not? They are always shoved in my face. But because they are about aliens, I was avoiding reading them. Then last week I noticed that my library has ordered copies of all of Jennifer L. Armentrout's books and decided to put a hold on Obsidian. I was also iffy about reading it cause I'm a little tired on the whole super-hott-but-complete-douche main guy. But when my copy came in from the library and I noticed that the average Goodreads rating is over 4.50, I decided to read it.

IT WAS SO GOOD!

For starters, I adored Katy. Maybe it's because she is an obsessive book blogger and completely normal, or maybe it was because she was hilarious. I just adored her. Katy knew that Daemon's looks is what fueled a lot of her attraction to him and wasn't fooled by it. Yet she was. How can you not do what Daemon asks? The only thing about Katy that I can't stand is how she is trying to prove that she is equal with Daemon all the time. Okay, I get it, you don't like feeling weak, but come on, he has super powers. You just aren't equal to him when it comes to fighting bad guys.

This was one of those series that honestly, the plot isn't fantastic, and the writing could be better, yet the book is like literary crack. Once you start reading, you have to keep going. I read the first three books in the series in a matter of three or four days. I could not get enough. I would have to say that it felt like a mix of Twilight and Mortal Instruments. Has a relationship between a human girl and a super hott, paranormal boy. It's a bad romance, but you adore the boy because he is so hott and cocky and just can't help yourself.

My rating: 9/10

Review: Splintered

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Published by Amulet Books

Genre: YA fantasy

$17.99 (US hardback)

384 pages



What it's about:

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My thoughts:
I have finally found a redone Alice in Wonderland that I liked! I never thought that this day would come. It makes me happy that someone was actually able to mix the odd Caroll Wonderland with a bit of their own and actually have it work.

At first, Splintered was a little slow. I remember thinking "wow, how am I only on page 40??" and thinking it would never pick up. Then all of the sudden, it did. Alyssa started seeing things and hearing voices and the weirdness of Wonderland was finally there and didn't stop till the end.

I've been seeing a lot of "If you  love Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, you'll love this." and to that, I say "no." Just, no. I personally very much disliked Burton's version of AIW, I found it dull and none of the characters had any personalities, even Johnny. While Splintered had some of the darkness of Burton's AIW, it had a lot more too it. The characters had more depth to them and were even more odd. Howard's interpretation of the characters was very clever, I particularly liked the Mad Hatter and the Caterpillar.

I want to keep rambling on about how much I adored this book. This Wonderland was so bizarre and creative. While I was sad that some of my favorite characters didn't really play a part in this book (like Tweedle Dee and Dum and the Cheshire Cat), I loved the new characters and all the variations of the old ones. The twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing and was always one step ahead of me. Completely enjoyable.

My rating: 9/10
Just for the slow beginning.

Sam Claflin is Finnick!

I woke up this morning (okay, it was 11am, so not really morning...) and checked my facebook and lookie what I saw!!

OMG! Finnick!!!!!! I could not be more excited for Sam as Finnick. He says in the article that they did indeed do the sugar cube scene and that he was in a fishnet. *fans self* can't wait. Now to stalk my mailman until he brings me my copy of this so it can go on my wall. If you don't have a EW subscription, you really should get one. It's only like, $25 a year and you get a copy each week. It's awesome.

Here is the article: Look, it's Finnick!

*edit*

Here is another picture from Catching Fire that I found on Entertainment Weekly's fb page.

Now I'm off to go watch Sam Claflin movies.

Review: Sacrifice

Sacrifice by Cayla Kluver

Series: Legacy #3

Published by Harliquen Teen

Genre: YA

$9.99 (US paperback)

438 pages

 

What it's about:



This is not the time for the fight to end. Now is when the fight will begin. This is the time to regain what has been lost.Alera

Queen of a fallen kingdom, secretly in love with the enemy.

Shaselle

Daughter of a murdered father, rebel with a cause.

One lives behind the former Hytanican palace walls and walks the razor's edge to keep the fragile peace in her beloved homeland. The other slips through the war-torn streets, seeking retribution for her family's tragedy, following whispers of insurgency.

Both face choices that will separate them from those they cannot help but love. As their stories intertwine, a conspiracy ignites that may end in slavery or death—or lead to freedom anew, if only each can face what must be sacrificed.

My thoughts:
*sigh* Where to start?
Well I guess I'll start off with saying that because this is the third and final book in the series, there will be references to the first two books and therefore, there will be spoilers to those two.

This book was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I fell madly in love with Legacy and Allegiance and very much wanted to know how it was going to end. Yet when I started reading the book, I was having a hard time caring about any of it. I don't know if it was me being grouchy or if the two person perspective changed the mood of the book and I didn't like it, either way this whole thing didn't really work for me. I am completely bummed out by that.

I've always been team Narian. Matter of fact, I absolutely can't stand Steldor. Never could. I found him obnoxious, pig headed, and so full of himself that I always wanted to just shake him and vent. Not to mention he has a horrible temper he can't control at all. This still never really changed for me. And while I really do like Narian, I wish we could have seen more of him. I find him smart and caring and couldn't help but feel that if Alera's dad would have let her marry Narian instead of Steldor in the first place, everything that happened in book two could have been avoided. So I was just frustrated there.
Also, while I liked how independent the new girl whose head we are in every other chapter, Shaselle, was, I couldn't handle her stupidity. Every time she had a smart thought flit through her head, she'd go "well, I should do this and my instincts said I should, but instead I'm going to do the exact opposite!" While I thought her love story was cute and I was happy for her, just ugh. I dunno.

I feel like the feminist in me overruled most logic and emotions I had in the book as well. I remember thinking "oh the horrors of Cokyeri! What a terrible place!" in the first two books, while in this one I actually sort of liked them. Well, sorta... I like how they have women leaders and their kingdom is well educated and well run. Disliked how they were also sexiest. But like I said, I think the feminist in me liked them more than I liked the Hytanicans. So the whole book was frustrating for that reason as well.

Ugh. This book just didn't do it for me. I'm disappointed that Alera didn't do more, disappointed that there isn't an epilogue, and lastly disappointed in how the whole book just sort of dragged. It wasn't exciting like the others and the ending seemed forced. Disappointing end to what I thought was a fantastic trilogy.

My rating: 6/10