Cress by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #3)

Okay, I read this book in literally a day... Come to find out... I HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME OUT! What is this nonsense??? Cress lived up to every one of my expectations and even exceeded them. I flew through the book and was in love with all of the characters at the end. I found this meme online and thought it was entirely appropriate: 

I'm just stunned. Ms. Meyer does a wonderful job of giving each of the characters their own personality and really taking the time to develop the characters and have you grow to love all of them. When reading the different chapters, narrated by the different characters, it is very easy to tell the "narration styles" apart and I think this is what makes the book so great. All of the characters have their chance to narrate the story and share what they are thinking. I am in love with Cress and Captain Thorne. I love that Cress seems like a damsel in distress at times, but then can totally take care of herself. I was really nervous at the *SPOILER ALERT!* card table part, where Cress saw Thorne with the other girl, but in all reality, he was just betting for a new body for Iko! Swoooon. *END SPOILER* I want Kai and Cinder to be together so bad it hurts. Queen Levana is more evil than ever and it's amazing. I can't wait to read more about her and her stepdaughter, who I'm assuming will be Winter in the fourth book. I've read some things that are suggesting that Winter will be a take on Snow White. I'm excited to see where this will go, since the stepdaughter is locked away in a tower and is going a little "crazy" talking about the bleeding walls? Ahh, I just can't wait for the next one. Marissa Meyer, why are you doing this to us! Can it just be 2015 already???

Here it is at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. 

(You may want to wait to buy them all and read them when Winter comes out in 2015, because you will be in agony waiting for Winter if you read them all now! ;) Consider yourself warned!)

Copyright, Marissa Meyer, 2014

Quick review: 
Title: Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 550 (hardcover) again, long but absolutely, uncontrollably worth every minute of reading!
Recommended for: Any and everyone!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #2)

Let me just start out by saying, Marissa Meyer, we have a love/hate relationship now. (Okay, you're right, a love/hate relationship that she doesn't even know about..) I don't understand how you can wrap one story up, yet still leave me wanting more and begging for the next book. I finished Scarlet and this is exactly how I felt.

Things I loved about the book:
Ms. Meyer was able to introduce new characters, yet keep up with Cinder and Iko, then find a way to bring Scarlet and Wolf together with Cinder and Iko towards a common cause. I think this was fantastic, and I never found myself confused or not understanding what was going on with what characters. Ms. Meyer was also able to add in another badass female character without her really overshadowing Cinder and had them work together flawlessly. While Cinder and Scarlet did not always get along, I think that they still worked as a duo, trying to achieve a common goal, but each for different reasons.

I also really enjoyed that Cinder was getting used to her Lunar capabilities and was starting to learn how to use and control them. I wish that Prince Kai was seen more in this book, and I really want him and Cinder to work things out and be together already! We alllll know it's bound to happen.  I did enjoy seeing more of Queen Levana and her evil ways and dealing with Prince Kai. Even though we didn't see much of Kai, Ms. Meyer gave us a new male character to swoon over, Wolf. He is just so handsome and mysterious and so into Scarlet, I can't even. I think this is me right now:



No, but seriously. I love him. And I can't wait to see what Ms. Meyer does with him and Scarlet. They are just too cute. As my boyfriend would say, "Wolf is the strong, handsome character who is really sensitive and sweet on the inside, but he only shows that side to the girl that he falls for." I know, I know. I found myself quite the romantic. ;) He's still a keeper. 

Anyway, back to Scarlet.. I can't wait to read the next one and see how their journey continues together and incorporates the next person "Cress." Even though, as soon as the girl on the spaceship was introduced, I figured she was going to be Cress with her long, flowing, Rapunzel-like locks. 

Go out and buy these books and read them! If you want to see what I have to say about Cinder first, click here. Or, to save yourself some agony, wait until all 4 books are out and then get them. Save yourself some pain. 

Here's the book at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.

Copyright, Marissa Meyer, 2014

Quick Review: 
Title: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 452 (hardcover) long, but SO WORTH IT!
Recommended for: Anyone! It's so good!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Look at me, I am on a roll with 3 posts in one month? More posts than I have done all year! Maybe because it's the summer and I have less to do so that means MORE READING! This is what I've felt like so far this summer:

Okay, maybe I can't quit! But it's a better hobby than some other things! Okay now onto Cinder:

Cinder is about a girl living in a futuristic world, where Cinder is a cyborg living with her stepmother and two step sisters as their maid. Sound familiar? Yep, a futuristic Cinderella. The cool thing about this series is that Ms. Meyer took different fairy tales and rewrote them and incorporated more futuristic things as well as real life problems that fairy tale characters don't often face. Cinder is being used as a maid and fixer-upper around the house by her stepmother and stepsisters, during a time where the "plague" is taking over New Beijing. Cinder meets Prince Kai one day when he comes to get his android fixed. Soon after, she starts her adventure trying to find the cure and this mysterious "princess selene" who can stop the Lunar Queen Levana from taking over Earth. 

The thing that I liked the most about this book is how ferocious Cinder is.  She is a great leading lady and really fights for her family and those that she loves, including her android Iko.  Queen Levana is also one of the best villians that Ms. Meyer could have made for this novel.  She is vain, obsessed with power (and herself) and willing to risk it all to make sure that Princess Selene is never seen or heard from again. This is witnessed in the stories of her burning down Princess Selene's nursery when she was just a small child. While as soon as Princess Selene was mentioned, I knew how that part was going to turn out, the story was not as predictable as I thought it would be.  The plot moves along nicely, and doesn't get slow at any points.  One thing about all of the Lunar Chronicles is that Ms. Meyer does a wonderful job leaving you wanting more and more for the next book. It was excruciating to have to wait a whole year for Scarlet to come out after reading Cinder. 

Great book! Go out and buy it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. 

(Copyright Marissa Meyer, 2014)

Quick Review:

Title: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Pages: 390 (hardcover)

Recommended for: Young adults, both boys and girls because it has some action in it as well!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Like many of the books I read, I got sucked into this book hard core. I could not put it down. I was also WEEPING at the end. Full on, ugly cry. So attractive, right?  After reading it, I went to talk to my mom about it, because my mom and I read the same books and then discuss them together. As I was talking to her, I almost started crying again because it was just so good and sad at the same time! What is wrong with me?!

Anyways, I would highly recommend this book. And as a plus... the movie is coming out on Friday (June 6th). I am very excited, and I am pretty sure that my mom and I are going to see it on Thursday! We are such nerds. I am ecstatic to see how the movie turns out, however, I never like the movies as much as the books. But hey, that's how life goes, right?

The Fault in Our Stars is about a girl named Hazel who has cancer. Her mother forces her to go to a cancer support group, where she has a friend named Augustus. Side note-- how cool of a name is Augustus?! Okay, so they meet and Augustus is pretending to be this bad boy and of course Hazel is interested (aren't we all!) and so they hang out, after "Gus" practically forces her to come out with him. The story takes us on the ride that is Gus and Hazel's epic romance. While the way that Hazel and Gus talk to each other is not the way that "normal" teenagers talk to each other or discuss things with each other, these teenagers are not "normal" teenagers. Although, at some points I did feel that John Green was trying to slide in a few of those "one-liners" that teenagers will be tattooing on their bodies in a moment of epic, passionate, romance, it was still a good book. And some of those one-liners really got me.  I found this meme online and think that it accurately describes this book:

So accurate, am I right?

Another thing about this book that I really enjoyed was the cast of characters chosen for the movie.  Although at first, I was not a big Shailene Woodley fan, she is really growing on me as she develops her acting skills and career more. I realize that I am no expert on anything really, but I really think she has developed so much to become good at her job! I also really like the fact that she seems down to earth and humble, much like Jennifer Lawrence (who I read she hates to be compared to..Sorry Shailene!)  One weird thing about the casting is that in Divergent, Shailene's character's brother (Ansel Elgort) is now Augustus for The Fault in Our Stars movie.  Minor details, but it's a little weird.. 

Back to the book.. SO GOOD! Go out and read it now! 

(Copyright John Green, 2014)

Buy it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

Quick Review: 

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Pages: 313 (hardcover)
Recommended for: EVERYONE!

The One (Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

Okay, so let me start this off by saying that I read this book in about a day. One. Single. Day.  I have been waiting so long for this book to come out and I was so excited when it did! I had pre-ordered it months in advance (much to the dismay of my boyfriend who thought I was crazy.. sorry not sorry), and was so excited when I got the email from Barnes & Noble that it had shipped.  Not only did I pre-order the book, but I pre-ordered a copy that Kiera Cass had signed herself.  How awesome is that? I was so excited!

Anyways, onto what I actually thought of the book itself.. If you have not read the first two books, I would highly recommend you do that first! You can read what I have to say on the first two here.

Of course, I'm going to start off with, I was SOOOO happy that they did finally end up together.  I really liked that Kiera Cass took her time getting them fully together and then threw in a little rift between Maxon and America at the very end to get you to think, dang maybe they won't end up together? I really enjoyed how she even made me like Celeste and feel bad when (SPOILER) she gets killed in the end. Another thing that I liked about the book was that America stayed true to her roots until the very end.  She fought for Aspen as a friend, and she stayed humble throughout the whole experience, not letting it change her for the worse.

Even though, overall I was happy with the ending, I feel that Ms. Cass could have done a little more with the rebel piece. The Southern rebels are mentioned, and attack the palace a few times, but they never really come into play after two appearances.  The Northern Rebels are the only ones that we grow to know and it's only their explanation of the Southern rebels that we get.  I really enjoyed that Maxon and American were sneaking around trying to help the Northern Rebels and change the way that the country is run.  I also liked that we got to know more about Maxon and the way he worked, but the book wrapped up a little too quickly.   Overall, it's a great, quick read and I really enjoyed it! It's not your typical fairy tale story about a girl coming into the royal family and falling in love with a prince, it runs deeper than that.

In case you get confused on who all of the Selected girls are, Kiera Cass has included a list on her website! Find it here. She has also announced a new novella called "The Queen" which will take us back to Queen Amberley's selection time. Read about it on Ms. Cass's website here.

Want to own it? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

(Copyright, Kiera Cass 2014)

Quick Review:
Title: The One (Selection Book 3)
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 217 (ebook)
Recommended for: Young adult girls