Best of the Bunch ~ February 2014

Best of the Bunch is a monthly meme hosted by Always Lost in Stories on the last day of every month. The aim of this meme is to share the best book that we have read in that month and give it our Best of the Bunch award.

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Books read in February:

Pawn by Aimee Carter ~ 2 stars ~ My Review

Girl in Love by Caisey Quinn ~ 5 stars ~ My Review

Thrall by Jennifer Quintenz ~ 3 stars ~ My Review

Charmed I'm Sure by Elliott James ~ 4 stars

Lover, Divine by A. Star ~ 5 stars ~ Review to come

Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost ~ 5 stars

Cress by Marissa Meyer ~ 5 stars ~ My Review

The Golden Apple by Michelle Diener ~ 4 stars ~ Review to come

And the Best of the Bunch winner of February 2014 is...


Girl in Love by Caisey Quinn

Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Lover, Divine by A. Star

Cress by Marissa Meyer


Sorry, couldn't choose just one! These four were all fantastic! =D

What was the best book you read this month?

Let me know!

Feature & Follow #54

Feature & Follow is a weekly meme hosted on friday by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read to gain new followers and make new friends!

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This week's question:

Change the Plot. If you could, what book would you change the ending or a plot thread? Go ahead and do it…change it.

There are probably a lot of endings I would like to change but the first one coming to mind is that ending in Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer.
 I wouldn't let them be changed back into wolves for all their lives. That just sucked, okay? I was so disappointed when Andrea did that. And it ruined the whole book for me. I would've wanted them to be human and have a happy ending that way. I loved this series... I really did but because of that ending I looked at the other books entirely different. SIGH!

How about you?

Leave me links to your FF post!

Re-readathon: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ~ Chapter 24

To keep up with our goal of re-reading more of our favorite books and re-discover them we created this challenge to help accomplish that goal. We will be reading one chapter each day and also doing a blog post about the chapter, going into detail about each chapter in the book. 

We decided to re-read Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead first.
Co-hosted by Christina @ Booksane and me!

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Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Paperback, 332 pages

Published August 16th 2007 by Razorbill

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Chapter twenty-four:

 

• page 320 - 332
• First sentence: 

In spite of all the training I'd received, all the lessons on Strigoi habits and how to defend against them, I'd never ever actually seen one. 

*spoiler alert*

Last chapter!

To say that Rose is pretty unprepared to actually face a Strigoi, is an understatement. It must be hard for her, because it's Natalie who was actually a friend, albeit a crazy one, but yeah it must be so hard. So after Natalie lets Victor out, Rose continues to fight her and failing until Dimitri shows up and kills Natalie. Dimitri sure is a badass! Then with Rose being all out of it from the fight (because Natalie smacked her around badly) they talk about what happened and Dimitri finally admits about how he feels but that they still can't be together because they both will be Lissa's guardian at some point. Aaw so sad.
The rest of the chapter is pretty much about rounding up and ending. Mia is back in the good graces of some of the royals, while Lissa isn't because she's dating Christian. But who cares, we love them together! Lissa and Rose also talk about how it's better now that Lissa is on some medication because she feels happier but she still misses her connection with spirit and the ability to heal. This actually reminds me so hard about Adrian. My babaaay! *clears throat*
Anyway, at the end Rose goes to talk to the priest to ask what happened to St. Vladimir in the end and he tells her that he died of old age which gives Rose hope that Lissa will be okay after all. 

And so does book #1 end... This was fun to but we probably won't be doing the daily posts thing again with other re-readathons we'll be doing because let's face it, one post a day was a bit much even I can admit that. So we'll be doing a one post a week thing do discuss the chapters we read in that week. Stay tuned, everyone! =D

Quote:

Frantically, I fought against her, trying to mount some kind of defense, but it was like fighting Dimitri on crack.

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So what are your thoughts on this chapter?
Let me know!

Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Publication: February 4th 2014 by Feiwel & FriendsGenre: Young Adult ~ Dystopia ~ Fantasy
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

It came not as a surprise that Cress was absolutely amazing - just like Cinder and Scarlet were. I'm so glad I started it as soon as I could instead of waiting months after I received the book like I did with the other ones. Oh and if you haven't started this series yet, I'm highly recommending you do it right now!

I loved Cress (I'm talking about the character). She was wonderful to read about. I love how being stuck in that satellite for so many years didn't stop her from hoping and dreaming (and crushing on Thorne). I also really liked how awkward and rather naive she was. All together she was simply adorable. Especially together with Thorne. 

Speaking of Thorne... as much as I love Kai and Wolf, Thorne is just my soulmate. This book definitely sealed that deal for me. I love him so so much. He's hilarious, sexy as hell even when he's blind (don't ask. just read) and at times even vulnerable. What more can someone want? I really loved the scenes with him and Cress. And there were a bunch. They fit together perfectly (although you wouldn't think so from the first look of them) and I do hope we get to see more of them in the next book because honestly? I have found my new favorite bookish couple. 

Aside from them we also saw Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Iko... pretty much the whole gang. I'm not going to go into detail about them but naturally I love reading about any of them and I must say there are some pretty intense and amazing scenes for them too so it's not all about Cress (not that I would've minded that). 

The plot was also really good. I just want to bow down to Marissa Meyer at her cleverness with this book. It kept building and building... and yes, there were a few unexpected twists... Things I didn't even see coming but gods, did I ever love them. The ending was also pretty good and making me despair with how long I have to wait until the next book. 

Oh and we also got introduced to Winter (who will be featuring in the 4th book) and boy, I am so excited because the little bit we saw of her was definitely interesting. I can't wait to get into that and find out more.

Cress was totally and truly awesome. Was it better than Cinder and/or Scarlet? I couldn't say because all the books in the series pretty much go hand in hand for me. All I know is these 550 pages of fantastic writing, action, romance and overall amazingness was definitely worth it. Now all we can do is wait for the fourth book. 

Favorite Quotes:

It always came back to love. More than freedom, more than acceptance—love. True love, like they sang about in the second era. The kind that filled up a person's soul. The kind that lent itself to dramatic gestures and sacrifices. The kind that was irresistible and all-encompassing.

“Captain,” she murmured. “I think I’m in love with you.”
An eyebrow shot up. She counted six beats of his heart before, suddenly, he laughed.
“Don’t tell me it took you two whole days to realize that. I must be losing my touch.”

“An animal?" Thorne said, and she realized he'd been waiting for her to further explain what she was seeing.
"It has long legs and horns and...and it's beautiful."
"Oh, good, we're back to this, then.”

“Maybe there isn’t such a thing as fate. Maybe it’s just the opportunities we’re given, and what we do with them. I’m beginning to think that maybe great, epic romances don’t just happen. We have to make them ourselves.”

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Marissa Meyer lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and three cats. She’s a fan of most things geeky (Sailor Moon, Firefly, color-coordinating her bookshelf . . .), and has been in love with fairy tales since she was given a small book of them when she was a child. She may or may not be a cyborg. Cinder is her first novel.

Re-readathon: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ~ Chapter 23

To keep up with our goal of re-reading more of our favorite books and re-discover them we created this challenge to help accomplish that goal. We will be reading one chapter each day and also doing a blog post about the chapter, going into detail about each chapter in the book. 

We decided to re-read Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead first.
Co-hosted by Christina @ Booksane and me!

--

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Paperback, 332 pages

Published August 16th 2007 by Razorbill

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Chapter twenty-three:

 

• page 306 - 319
• First sentence: 

I'd never had so much trouble staying out of Lissa's head before, but then, we'd never been through anything like this together either. 

*spoiler alert*

So... the action is really starting now and Rose and Christian are running through the woods. Naturally, Rose is more trained for this (especially after Dimitri always made her run on the training sessions) so Christian just tells her to go because he's not as fast a runner as she is. Pretty good of him!
And then... the psi-hounds came in. I don't know why but they interest me so much. It's crazy. And we finally found out that Victor had arranged the psi-hounds thng when Rose and Lissa were on the run together. Anyway, Lissa is surrounded by them and Rose tries to draw them towards her and away from Lissa. Rose and the psi-hounds start fighting and eventually Christian is there and also attacks them, though one of the psi-hounds jumped his back. Poor Christian! But then Alberta comes in and freaking shoots the hounds. Now, that's badass! Meanwhile Christian isn't doing good and Lissa is too weak to heal them so Rose lets her feed from her so she can heal Christian, which she does. Phew! I know I have read the book before and know he doesn't die but I was still kinda worried about him. After that Rose passes out and wakes up at the clinic at the Academy. When she's all well, life pretty much picks up the way it left off. Sort of. Lissa breaks up with Aaron and gets together with Christian. Can we all shout: FINALLY! Her own love life however isn't as good. She hadn't been alone with Dimitri since what happened between them. When they're alone at last they talk about it and god, it's so intense. Dimitri tells her nothing can happen between them, that he's too old and blah blah and also that he doesn't feel that way for her. LIAR! After that Rose is pretty depressed because she thinks it's all because of the necklace that made Dimitri feel like that so she goes to confront Victor who's being held in the Academy's cells. Victor, though, tells her that there had to be feelings involved already for her and Dimitri to be able to be under the spell. So yay for that but then Natalie shows up as a Strigoi and all goes to hell. I remember when I read this the first time I was super surprised by this unexpected turn of events. Eeehhhh! 

Quote:

"The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the shadows."

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So what are your thoughts on this chapter?
Let me know!

Re-readathon: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ~ Chapter 22

To keep up with our goal of re-reading more of our favorite books and re-discover them we created this challenge to help accomplish that goal. We will be reading one chapter each day and also doing a blog post about the chapter, going into detail about each chapter in the book. 

We decided to re-read Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead first.
Co-hosted by Christina @ Booksane and me!

--

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Paperback, 332 pages

Published August 16th 2007 by Razorbill

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Chapter twenty-two:

 

• page 295 - 305
• First sentence: 

"Heal you?"

*spoiler alert*

After Victor dropped the bomb of announcing that he wants Lissa to heal him both Rose (who is watching through Lissa's eyes) and Lissa herself are kind of shocked about it. Victor then explains, because Lissa doesn't believe he can do something about his disease, that when Lissa and Rose had the accident that killed Lissa's family that she actually brought Rose back from the dead, so she should be able to, although not cure completely, help Victor with his disease, though she has to keep doing it, and that's why he kidnapped her in the first place. So it did get explained after all! It also gets clear how Natalie helped her father with the animals. Not sure who that makes more crazy, Victor or Natalie... they're both pretty cuckoo. Also Victor actually reveals about knowing she specializes in spirit. I'm so glad this is finally out. I'm sure without Victor they wouldn't even know. At first Lissa doesn't want to believe it, of course but then she remembers all the research Rose did about Vladimir and also the way Sonya acted. So it all clicks together for her. Finally...

As crazy as Victor is, I do like how he actually wanted to make moroi fight alongside dhampirs even Lissa kind of admits this. And it's awesome to see how even these things are talked about in this first book and how eventually it will happen, too. But he's still a nutjob, that Victor. Lissa doesn't want to heal him so Victor gets this guy who specializes in air to torture her and Rose feels it also through the bond. I felt really sorry for both Lissa and Rose. Must've been awful. So it was really no surprise that eventually Lissa gave in and healed him. After that the guardian's (yes Dimitri is among them!) who are trying to rescue Lissa try to come up with a plan, though Dimitri tells Rose she has done everything she can and should let the others handle it. Boo!

And then bam! Christian shows up! *cheers* I just loved how they both went after Lissa. 

Quote:

Only one stood near Lissa, keeping watch. He'd be easy to take down when Dimitri and the Badass Team burst inside.

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So what are your thoughts on this chapter?
Let me know!

Re-readathon: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ~ Chapter 21

To keep up with our goal of re-reading more of our favorite books and re-discover them we created this challenge to help accomplish that goal. We will be reading one chapter each day and also doing a blog post about the chapter, going into detail about each chapter in the book. 

We decided to re-read Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead first.
Co-hosted by Christina @ Booksane and me!

--

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Paperback, 332 pages

Published August 16th 2007 by Razorbill

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Chapter twenty-one:

 

• page 284 - 293
• First sentence: 

I'd never been completely naked around a guy before. 

*spoiler alert*

I love this chapter. When reading it the first time I was like, yes, they're finally getting it on! Until the rose necklace was romoved. Damn. Of course this is good in some way because they need to find Lissa but I think I'm not the only one who's thinking this. And oh don't you just love how Dimitri calls Rose "Roza". It's one of my favorite nicknames in this series.
And I just loved when Dimitri threw the necklace out of the window. Rose was like, what are you doing and then they were pretty much back to normal. Awkward...
But then when they finally went to Kirova, and Christian confirmed that Lissa wasn't taken by Strigoi but by Victor's Guardian's they finally started getting in some action while Rose found out what exactly Victor wants; healing.
Now it's really starting to get exciting, I think. Victor really is pretty insane but I get that he doesn't want to die. Though I wonder why he wouldn't just ask Lissa to do this. I'm not sure if this question gets adressed or not in any of the next chapters...

Quote:

I liked the way he looked at me, like I was the sexiest, most wonderful thing in the world. I liked the way he would say my name in Russian, murmured like a prayer: Roza, Roza...

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Another Rose-Dimitri one but how could I not!

So what are your thoughts on this chapter?
Let me know!