The Moth in the Mirror by A.G. Howard (Splintered #1.5)

Title: The Moth in the Mirror

Author: A.G. Howard

Page Count: 40 (kindle/ebook)

Publishing: Amulet Books

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Synopsis: "An original ebook-only novella in the Splintered series, told from the points of view of both Jeb and Morpheus. Morpheus wants to know more about his rival for Alyssa's affections, so he digs into Jeb's memories of his time in Wonderland. But he may be surprised by what he finds. 

This brand-new story and perspective from A.G. Howard's dark, magical world stands alone, but also provides a tantalizing glimpse of what's to come in Unhinged, the sequel to Splintered." -Goodreads

Writing this review made me want to re-read the Splintered trilogy so I could have copies of my reviews since I didn't write them the first time I read them, but I don't think that will happen in the next year. For now, this will do.

I enjoyed seeing the things that happened while not with Alyssa, but honestly Jeb is a combination of annoying & a bore. I wish there would have been more Morpheus, but I'm not sure how that could have happened since we had to relive the memories Jeb had. I wish he wasn't even a part of this love triangle. I feel like it is only thrown in to add some drama to the story line. I love A.G. Howard's writing, but I feel like it's always a little hard to get into. I felt like this novella wasn't really essential in reading this series, but it was fun and it made me excited to read the final installment in the Splintered Trilogy.

For the novella itself, there wasn't much of a plot other than Morpheus attempting to reveal hidden information to use against Jeb. Like I said, enjoyable and fun, but not near as good as the actual series.

Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu (The Young Elites #1)

Title: The Young Elites

Author: Marie Lu

Page Count: 355 (hardcover)

Publishing: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Synopsis: "Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. 

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. 

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt." -Goodreads


I had such high expectations for this book. All I wanted was to love this story and immediately crave the next book. I wanted to find myself lost in the words the author wrote and find meaning between each line, but unfortunately that did not happen. This book wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great

I enjoyed the first 150 pages so much that I read them within an hour and half, and I was expecting that I would devour the rest of the book in the same way. The beginning of the book was gripping, and pulled you into the story. There is shit going down, however after the beginning the story got slow. I didn't like the writing from the beginning. The simple and short sentences were underwhelming and didn't drive a punch for the type of story it is. It made the book seem slow and dumbed down.

The main character, Adelina, is dark and possess this evil inside her that she embraces and doesn't shy away from. She shows her true darkness, and it was refreshing to read from a character who doesn't always want to push her darkness away.

But the other characters were blain and didn't stand out to me in any particular way. The love interest was not anything special. I could see it coming, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a YA book. The main plot twist didn't surprise me, and even though I didn't see it coming I still did not care about the result. I truly could have cared less.

I won't be continuing this series nor will I be reading anything else from Marie Lu.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #2)

Title: Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer

Page Count: 452 (paperback)

Publishing: Square Fish

My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Synopsis: "Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison—even though she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive if she does—in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother, or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana."

*there will be no spoilers for this book, but since it is the second in the series it will contain spoilers for the first book.

I think that I appreciated this book so much more than cinder for a few reasons. Reason one was because simply I wasn't use to or aware of how much I was comparing it to contemporary. (Sound stupid I know) I read so much of it and it is my favorite genre, but I noticed that I was reading this and thinking, "I'm not blown away. People like this more than John green?" Again this is something completely stupid, but it was my thought process. Now I've acknowledged that I did that and now I don't do it as often. I find myself reaching more towards other genres and enjoying them because I'm not comparing a science fiction retelling to a contemporary novel about cancer.

I also was not use to the world building. I did not start any series in 2014, so jumping into series in 2015 was hard to get use to. The world building was hard for me to adjust to because I preferred to read contemporary. There is no world building. You read it and then you get through the story. So with that being said, scarlet was better because not only was I more open to reading it but because I felt like it pushed more towards the characters and the main plot line than just the world that was being set up. There was more action.

Scarlet has become one of my favorite characters of all time because she was just so interesting. She is fighting for her grandmere, and she doesn't stop even when it looks like things will never turn around. I love her and her attitude.

Her relationship with wolf was instalovely, and I won't deny it. Her being his "alpha-female" made me roll my eyes a little bit, but I still love their dynamic. I think that even though it was insta-lovely it kind of had to be because of the original fairy tale.

I did not care for Kai's POV in this installment. He was boring and he always made me put the book down. He's character is just not what I want to read about. Alone he is kind of blain. I know he is important to the story, but I would just rather not have to read from this perspective.

Overall, Scarlet is a beautiful installment in the lunar chronicles. The second book is easily one of my favorites of the year so far.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #1)

Title: Throne of Glass

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Page Count: 404 (Hardcover)

Publishing: Bloomsbury

My Rating: 4.75/5 Stars (but basically 5 ok)

Synopsis: "An alternate cover edition can be found here.

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined." -Goodreads

I love this book. I love these characters. I love this world.

Celaena is a beautiful individual. There are so many people that hate on her character and her arrogance, but truthfully I love it about her because she packs a punch. She has this confidence. She knows she's worked hard for what she can do and she's proud of it. She knows she's beautiful and she doesn't care if anyone else thinks so or not. She shows that other people's opinions do not change her own.

I loved how there was the main story of the contest of who will become the Kings assassin, and then there was also this secondary story arc that was intertwining along with that. I love how Sarah J. Maas created this mystery that kept you guessing of who was behind this plan on the side. I had some obvious guesses, but it wasn't until it was about to reveled that I got close with my guesses.

My faults with this book were minor and were not relevant enough for me dislike the book. I didn't like the love triangle. I think Celaena is better off alone for right now. I want her character to grow before we have a love interest become a part of her and her story. I also didn't understand the point of Kaltain's character or her pov. I never understood her importance, but I ignored her for the most part.

Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl in Cold Town 

Author: Holly Black

Page Count: 419 (Hardcover)

Publishing: 

Synopsis: "Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself." -Goodreads

I was so impressed with this book, and I did not expect it I would consume it so quickly. I immediately fell in love with Holly Black's writing style. I loved how even though we had this one story line, she was still giving us background on multiple different characters. Every other chapter was background through flashbacks but none of them felt forced. They were told in a beautiful way that slowly reveled new pieces of the story.

Tana was so wonderful. It was so easy to connect with her because even though was she given a rough past and a bad home situation, she still fought to keep her family safe. I gained so much respect for her when she made the choice of going to the coldtown even though she was unsure if she was infected or not.

I was not a huge fan of Aiden. He was just kind of blain, and the only thing that really stood out in my mind about him was how weak willed he was. I also didn't like how Midnight and Winter were both such gender neutral names. I wouldn't have cared as much if they would have been the main characters because I would have been able to distinguish which was the brother and which was the sister. There was one scene in the book that I couldn't tell which twin it had affected because I couldn't tell which was which. I didn't really care for them.

I loved that this story was open ended. I usually hate that about a book, but with this one I loved it. I liked how you can make your own ending. I like how you have this option for the world that Tana and Graviel are in because in the world they live in they don't have it. I just like how many things could steam from it.



*past this point there are spoilers*

My favorite moment in this entire book is when Tana has locked herself in this basement, and is putting herself into quarantine. The moment the chains where coming undone I knew it Graviel coming back to her. I knew that the story couldn't end with her just walking away from him because in YA there always has to be this romantic love interest, but the way this one ended did things to me.

"Oh, my sweet Tana. Remember that I am still a monster. I can listen to you scream and cry and beg and I will still won't let you out." This was amazing because it did not make him seem romantic. It showed he was a monster, and I loved it.

I also loved how they both accepted there was a possibility that Tana couldn't go back, but if she couldn't they would hunt vampires together because she would rather stay cold than become a vampire.