Tag «#boutofbooks»

DNF Series Review: Falling by Jasinda Wilder

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Falling Into You (from Goodreads):
I wasn’t always in love with Colton Calloway; I was in love with his younger brother, Kyle, first. Kyle was my first one true love, my first in every way.

Then, one stormy August night, he died, and the person I was died with him.

Colton didn’t teach me how to live. He didn’t heal the pain. He didn’t make it okay. He taught me how to hurt, how to not be okay, and, eventually, how to let go.

SERIESous’ Top Picks: Disappointment 2016
Series: Falling
Author: Jasinda Wilder
# of Books: 5 (Falling Into You, Falling Into Us, Falling Under, Falling Away, Falling for Colton)
Book Order: Connected
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Drama
Heat Rating: N/A
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Dates: March 2013 – January 2016
Source & Format: Own–eBook

Disclaimer: I stopped reading Falling Into You (Book 1) at 39%. Find out why below…

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I picked up Falling Into You years ago for my Kobo when I first got into the New Adult genre. I was looking forward to reading it but the topic of death was one I was rarely in the mood for. So I put it off for years but continued to buy the sequels for the day I finally got around to the series.

I actually read Wilder’s Stripped Series before I read this one. I had really mixed feelings of it as a whole and I was a little skeptical starting Falling Into You when I pulled it for my Rock My TBR challenge. But, I tried my best to go in with an open mind and give Falling Into You a far chance.

What I Didn’t Like:

–The Immaturity = Dramatics–

Falling Into You starts with Kyle and Nell’s story–something I wasn’t entirely expecting but understand. However, because they are in high school, the petty drama was just a little too much for me to handle. Even worse was that Nell knew she was being melodramatic about certain things but continued on anyways.

So while I could cut them some slack because of their ages and I understand the more rushed nature of those “prequel-esque” chapters in order to set the tone of the story–I just got off on the wrong foot with those characters, resulting in me getting slightly annoyed by their behaviour and simply not caring what happened to them.

–The Romance–

It wasn’t the circumstances of the relationship that were off-putting, rather it was the almost “insta-love” vibe I got from Colton that really nailed the coffin closed on this series. I believe that connections between people can happen in a moment but this was just too much for me to swallow when I wasn’t loving everything that I had seen previously. I just didn’t enjoy the more implied, innate nature of the romance.

Will I Finish It?

Sigh…I bought the next two books in the series shortly after I bought the first one just because I got a really good deal. I hate having books unfinished that I’ve purchased but even the idea of skimming Falling Into You while trapped on a train for an hour wasn’t even appealing to me. Maybe later this year I’ll force myself to read a chapter a day or something while reading something else…

Series Rating: DNF

Falling Into You DNF | Falling Into Us N/A | Falling Under N/A | Falling Away N/A | Falling for Colton N/A

This series wasn’t my cup of tea and I think if I had read some more reviews before buying a majority of the series, I would have known that. Perhaps one day I’ll power through them all just to get them finished on my Kobo but not at this time.

Read if You Like: dramatics, insta-love
Avoid if You: if you want more mature characters

More than This by Jay McLean (More Series #1)
Find You in the Dark by A Meredith Walters (Find You in the Dark Series #1)
Hold on Tight by Abbi Glines (Sea Breeze Series #8)

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Readathon: Bout of Books 16

Bout of Books 16: The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure.

I decided to join Bout of Books on a whim this year. In the last 3 years, I’ve seen many blogger participate but for some reason or another, I never get the chance to sign-up.

While this year, the week isn’t super ideal, I do have some free time and my classes end earlier than in the previous term so I should be able to get in some solid reading time over the next few days.

My Goals:

I do have a few goals I want to accomplish over the next 7 days:

Read The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows
Read The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutoski
Start the Incarnate Series by Jodi Meadows
- Bonus if I finish it!
Read one TBR item from my Rock My TBR Challenge

Anything else would just be icing on the cake at this point 😉

This will be the only blog post about the readathon I make. I will be using Twitter for the rest of the week to update my progress so make sure you are following me @SERIESousbooks !

Are you joining Bout of Books 16? Let me know!

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Series Review: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Orphan Queen Series

Synopsis for The Orphan Queen (from Goodreads):
Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

SERIESous’ Top Picks: YA Favourite 2015
Series: The Orphan Queen
Author: Jodi Meadows
# of Books: 2 (The Orphan Queen, The Mirror King)

There are 4 short stories. Find them all here.

Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Magic, Supernatural
Heat Rating: cool
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Date: March 2015 – April 2016
Source & Format: Public Library–eBook

**This post was originally posted as a Fresh Friday review of the first book of the series. It has now been updated to include the newest publications in the series.**

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

Jodi Meadows has been on my radar for a long time with her Newsoul Series (though I wasn’t able to read them until I finished this series). Earlier this year, I really got into high fantasy YA and this was one of the many books floating around. It was getting great reviews and from the synopsis, it seemed like it was my kind of story:

Political intrigue ✔
Independent heroine ✔
Undercover premise ✔

Needless to say, I was super excited to start this one!

What I Liked:

–The Layers–

Compared to other novels in this genre, I didn’t find the action to be completely overwhelming. This book was a lot of learning about the world and the journey Wil takes to get to her throne. When there was action, it was great but I never found myself bored between those scenes. Instead, you had Wil working undercover at the castle or Wil doing her vigilante work or her learning more about the wraiths. The plot always kept moving and kept my attention. It never felt slow to me (well, besides the first chapter) when it easily could have been.

Facing my usual Saturday morning dilemma: do homework or stay in bed reading?
I think the Orphan Queen is going to win this one #bookaddict

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) September 26, 2015

–That is it going to be a duology!!!–

I’m loving this trend of having books that only have one sequel! While I think this series could definitely have a third book, I like that everything is going to be wrapped up in the sequel. It makes the story a lot stronger in my opinion–you don’t get filler fluff to pass the time away.

–Wilhelmina–

What I really liked about Wil’s character is that she isn’t invincible or egotistical. She’s passionate about helping her people but it doesn’t cause her to be impulsive or take stupid risks. She thinks about things, can admit when she is wrong and can take care of herself when she needs to. She can fight, but she isn’t some world-renowned fighter. I like that she is more subdued–it really adds to her character development as the story progresses.

What I Didn’t Like:

–Predictability–

For the most part, this book wasn’t overly predictable. There were some plot twists (mainly the ending) that I didn’t see coming so I liked that. It has me on edge to see what is going to happen next.

However, I knew Melanie’s secret behaviour within five seconds of its first appearance; and it was totally obvious to me who the Black Knife was. Perhaps my over indulgence in this genre has made me hyperaware of the various plot twists/elements authors use and so I knew right away.

My other hypothesis is that the reader is supposed to pick up on these things while Wil isn’t–thus adding to her character development/flaws. By having her oblivious to what is happening around her, it does make her more human rather than some untouchable heroine who can do no wrong. I liked that about her but it did make me frustrated at times because it just seemed so obvious to me what was happening.

The Novellas:

I read The Hidden Prince and The Glowing Knight after I read The Orphan Queen and I think that is the best way to go about these novellas. While they are prequel novellas, they kinda give away spoilers about a particular character and I liked that he was a bit of mystery when I was reading The Orphan Queen. I grew to love him in The Orphan Queen so reading these novellas is a bit of a treat for fans of his character and I like that aspect.

The novellas are chronological, meaning they follow the progression of a certain plotline so you do have to read them in order. They add depth to the world and its characters and I think they are very well done. Plus, they are a great way to pass the time while waiting for The Mirror King (and they have teaser chapters!)

My Expectations for the Rest of the Series:

When I read the last page, I really, really hoped it wasn’t going to be the last one! There are so many aspects still waiting to be solved and I am super excited to see how it all wraps up in the final story.

–May 13, 2016– Book #2: The Mirror King

I have The Winner’s Kiss AND the Mirror King in my hands: how’s a girl supposed to choose between her 2 most anticipated sequels of 2016?

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) May 8, 2016

The Mirror King was one of my most anticipated sequels of 2016 so I went in with high expectations, egged on by the teaser chapters in the novellas that were released prior to the publication.

The Mirror King was a little slower than I thought it was going to be given the ending of The Orphan Queen. It starts with a bang and then proceeds at a somewhat slower pace. It has a similar pace to the first novel but has a few “WHOA” moments along the way. I wanted more action but everything has to go through the motions.

Overall, I really enjoyed the ending. While parts were predictable–though there were some things I never saw coming–I still enjoyed reading everything and I never got bored. The characters are what drive this series for me and getting to spend that time with them in this book is great. I felt a whole range of emotions reading this novel–and that’s what I want in a grande finale. A great ending to a great duology.

My Rating: 4.5/5

The Orphan Queen 4.5/5 | The Mirror King 4/5

I really enjoyed this book and I feel like my review doesn’t reflect that! This one was really hard to write. While it isn’t my favourite book ever, it is one of my favourites in the genre for sure. I just loved the way it built and the various layers to it. I never got bored while reading it. Highly recommended for those who want to get into High Fantasy and have little exposure to it.

Read if You Like: world-building, lost princess stories, independent heroines
Avoid if You: easily predict stories, want more romance