March Wrap-Up

I knew I wouldn't repeat my February feat of reading 20 books, but two out of the four books I read this month, definitely made it to my favorites of the year list.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: ★★★★★ 5 stars

"No Mourners. No funerals."

Reading this book was a great way to start off the month. Though I will admit that I read this so soon to keep my mind off the approaching release date of Lady Midnight. Nevertheless I enjoyed this immensely. I previously read the Grisha trilogy last month and I was really enjoying it until the last book fell flat for me. But still I went into Six of Crows with high expectations and was delivered just that every time. This book was excellent. If you didn't enjoy the Grisha trilogy that much and still unsure of whether you should read this I implore you do so. This book is leagues ahead of the Grisha trilogy. Not only do we get a diverse cast of characters, that are extremely well written, the plot is really fast paced and grips you, and also has you internally screaming at your book most of the time. This felt like a combination of Ocean's Eleven movie plus Heist Society by Ally Carter times 100. I am honestly anxious and terrified to see how this duology concludes in The Crooked Kingdom.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Rating: ★★★★★ 5 stars

❝ Once I was the elder, but now you are elder than I. When I was in the faerie country, each night I would think of each of you—of you and Helen, of Livvy and Ty and Dru and Tavvy. I gave the stars your names, so that when I saw them wink to light in the sky I felt as if you were with me. It was all I could do to still the fear that you were hurt or dying and that I would never know. But I have come back to a family not just alive and healthy, but whose bonds have not been severed, and that is because of what you have done. There is love here, among you. Such love as takes my breath out of my body. There has even been enough love left for me. ❞

No surprise here that I managed to read this in the same month. If you know me, then you know how much I was anticipating this book. Feeling both excited and mildly terrified when I finally procured a copy on release day. This book. THIS BOOK. I don't even know what to say about this book to convince you how much I LOVED this it. Just go read my review where I exhibit all the feels.

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2 stars

“Love is giving the world away, and being loved is having the whole world to give.” 

I went into this book with pretty high expectations due to all the buzz around its release, but I was not a fan at all. I read this book for my book club's The Reader's Guild, book of the month. Honestly I don't even think I could explain the synopsis of this novel. A main component of where it fell flat for me is due to the fact that I felt the author was trying to do too much at once. Like there's time travel, parallel universes, Native American folklore, and some other scifi elements that just felt weird and confusing. I did enjoy a lot of points on feminism and the stories that were told, but that's about it. There is so much going on in this novel in a short amount of pages that it begins to feel rushed. Not to mention that I really didn't like any of the characters, nor cared for the insta-loved that inevitably ensued. The main reason that I disliked this besides the busyness was that it was confusing up to the point where I had to ask someone to explain the ending to me because I had no idea what was going on. But I guess some books just aren't for everyone.

When We Collided by Emery Lord

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 stars

"I feel like I know him a little, like if I collect fragments of the six of you and tape them together; there he is: a mosaic of your pieces."

Usually I'm not the hugest fan of contemporary, but this novel sat in the middle of my love-hate spectrum. There is a lot of great aspects of family and love ingrained in here that I believe Emery Lord delivers excellent, in a way that is not cheesy. I did love the Daniel family for the most part, but was kind of off and on with our main character Vivi. Though I really enjoyed the realness of this contemporary and more of my thoughts can be found here.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 stars

"He imagined the future I could have before I even wanted it for myself, and he was the one to push me toward it. That’s faith. Growing up, I thought faith was about believing Jesus died for us, and that if I held on to that, I’d get to meet him when I died too. But faith doesn’t mean that to me anymore. Now it means someone seeing something in you that you don’t, and not giving up until you see it too. I want that. I missed that."

I technically finished this in April, but it was near the beginning so I'll just count it towards March. This book is sold as a thriller, but I feel like that it doesn't read like a thriller at all which is why a lot of people are disappointed when they don't get something like Gone Girl from it. This is told in the present day and flashback rotations our main character, Ani, reflects at her freshman year of high-school and the events that occurred then. There is a lot of important themes of feminism and forgiveness in this novel, and even more so gut-wrenching when you realize that the author wrote this book based on events that happened in her own life. My full review can be found here.

March Book Haul

It's becoming a recurring habit to post my book hauls half way into the next month, but what can I say, I'm easily distracted and swift to procrastinate. I was expecting this to be an extremely small bookhaul, like one or two books, but somehow I ended up acquiring 9 books in the month of March.

Part I: Books I Bought/Gifts/Won

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

The first book to make its way into my possession is none other than my most anticipated book of the year Lady Midnight. I am still in awe of the beauty of this, both inside and out. This book already stands as my favorite book of 2016, if you want to know more of my thoughts I have a full non-spoiler and spoiler review here. I also created some Dark Artifices playlists that I listened to as I read, which you can check out here.

 

A History of Notable Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare and Cassandra Jean

The next book is one of the most beautiful to have graced my life that my lovely friend gifted me for my birthday. A History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of the Downworld by Cassandra Clare and Cassandra Jean, is a book that contains beautiful illustrations of various important shadowhunters and downworlders told in the language of flowers, and beside each photo contains a short bio about each of them. I have already started flipping through it and the illustrations are so gorgeous and there are so many little facts about characters that I did not know about. This is a must have for any fellow TMI/TID/TDA trash like me. ☺☺☺

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

This book I'm pretty sure I won this in a giveaway I entered awhile back. The main reason I entered was because it has the word library in the title like c'mon how can that not interest me. All I know is that it takes place in underground London and the characters have to retrieve a dangerous book, and its full of libraries and secret societies and honestly it was making me think of The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, which you know I love. More like hopelessly obsessed enough to name my twitter after a fictional character. I'm hoping that it does have some magic involved and the synopsis also slightly reminds me of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Part II: Review Books

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood

This is a book that I'm really excited to get to. A Tyranny of Petticoats is a 15 story anthology all about belles, bank-robbers, and other badass girls. Some contributing authors include, Marissa Meyer, Marie Lu, Beth Revis, Jessica Spotswood, Robin Talley, Kekla Magoon and many more. There's so much diversity in this anthology and was perfect to receive during Women's History Month. I'll definitely have to get to this soon.

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Gutsy Girl by Carolina Paul

Gutsy Girl is a more unconventional type of book to come my way. In this book, Carolina Paul speaks about her adventurous escapades, and also those of other girls throughout history and offers insight on confidence and self-positivity. Throughout there are cute illustrations and even places to journal your own thoughts. Another excellent book to be received during Women's History Month. I can't wait to set out on my own adventures and catalog them as I go.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

When We Collided by Emery Lord

A rare contemporary finds it's way into my possession. When We Collided is actually a book I managed to finish in the same month that I received it. It was actually refreshing to read a contemporary after bombarding myself in fantasy novels. I wrote a full review on my thoughts here. And this book has already released so you should definitely check it out if you're a contemporary fan or enjoy any of Emery's previous books.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Another book I managed to complete in the same month I received it. Yes, I am quite proud of myself ☺ I also wrote full review on this here. I was quite surprised to have really enjoyed this novel, it definitely did not feel like a thriller at all, but I think that's what I liked about it. I'm really interested to see how they adapt this to film.

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Desert Dark by Sonja Stone

I had requested an arc from the lovely people at Holiday House publishing, but had not known that the arcs weren't out yet. So in turn they sent me one of their finished books while I waited. From what I can gather from this novel, is that our main character is sent off to a government funded boarding school in the desert only to discover it’s a covert CIA program training high-achieving students for the Black Ops. Anything about spies or heists always intrigue me. This slightly reminds me of the Gallagher series by Ally Carter, which I have yet to finish, but also Heist Society trilogy by her, which I also loved.

Publisher: Holiday House

Have you acquired any exciting books this month?

2016 Anticipated Reads

New Year...equates to anxiously waiting on new book releases. I know this is coming extremely late in, we're literally in February now, but I didn't have any anticipated reads in the month of January so I thought it'd be fine to just post this this month instead.

Please note that all these dates are only accurate for now, because we all know how things sometimes get pushed back and some might not even be released this year, so please be aware of that.

1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 8, 2016

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Can we just take a moment to admire this cover? I have never been so excited to physically own a book than I am for the hardcover of Lady Midnight. And yes, I already planned where I am placing it on my shelf. Does anyone remember that this was suppose to release in fall 2015, but it then got pushed back? Anyways this release date is pretty much set for March 8th. Lady Midnight is at the top of my anticipated reads of this year. This is the first book in Cassandra Clare's new Shadowhunter series The Dark Artifices. Set five years after City of Heavenly Fire, Lady Midnight focuses on parabatai, Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn, characters we were previously introduced in City of Heavenly Fire. I'm excited to see how Clare sets the Los Angeles institute and these new characters. It's just so exciting to finally be getting back into the Shadow World and I hope for the same humor that were in her previous books.

2. The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

Release Date: November 2016

Publisher: Bloomsbury

This is just a placeholder for the real cover, but I'm already getting the feeling that the actual cover will be a similar color to this one. This is another read I'm dying to get my hands on. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that The Bone Season is one of my favorite books. The Song Rising is book #3 of the Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon, in which she plans to be a seven book series. If you haven't read it yet then I definitely recommend you read The Bone Season, set in a futuristic London in which our clairvoyant protagonist Paige Mahoney is a dreamwalker. In a society were clairvoyancy is illegal Paige works in the Underworld of London until one night she gets kidnap. I don't want to say too much about it because I think you should go and read it without knowing much prior. Still slightly sad that The Song Rising doesn't release until fall of this year so the wait will be long and tortuous, but well worth it in the end.

3. Diviners book #3  by Libba Bray

Release Date: Hopefully sometime in 2016

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Okay this is a book I'm being incredibly optimistic about. There's no title, no release date, no cover, not even a cover placement holder (which is why I've graced you with my own photos of the first two books) If you follow my Instagram you know that The Diviners is pretty much my favorite book ever. Set in the 1920s it follows our protagonist Evie O'Neill who has the abilities to read objects, meaning that whenever she holds and object of someones and concentrates on it, she can see past memories of where that object has been and also that person's life. This essentially lands her in trouble and her parents send her to live with her uncle in New York City, just around the time a string of occult murders begin happening, and Evie believes that her power can help catch the killer. This story is both equal parts creepy and humorous at times. 

There's so much diverse characters in this story and you get to meet more diviners along the way and Libba Bray has a great way of balancing the eeriness of the murders with humor that can be found throughout the book. Book #2, Lair of Dreams, finally released in August 2015 after constantly being pushed back relentlessly. But it was all worth the wait. I honestly don't know any information on the release date of this third book, literally all I know comes from stalking Libba's twitter and from what I can gather is that she is currently in the middle of writing it, so I'll keep my fingers cross.

4. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: April 26th 2016

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Sighhh, I can't believe this series is almost over, but all good things must come to an end. The Raven King is the fourth book in The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. I finally got around to reading the first book, The Raven Boys in 2015, and then The Dream Thieves, and Blue Lily, Lily Blue consecutively. I immediately fell in love with all these characters. I put this series off for so long because back in 2011 I read the entire Shiver trilogy by her and I honestly didn't like it at all. There was something lackluster and bland about the characters in that trilogy, so much so that I DNF'd the last book halfway through. This was the complete opposite with The Raven Boys. The driving force behind these books are it's characters, you can't help but fall for them and their quest. I'm equal parts anxious and terrified to see how it all ends, and hopefully it doesn't break my heart.

5. Throne of Glass book #5 by Sarah J. Maas

Release Date: September 2016

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

No title, no cover, no set release date, but at least we have a cover placeholder! Throne of Glass series needs no introduction as I'm sure many are aware/in love with this series. I finally bought this series back in March 2015 and binge read the first three books and the novella bind up that month. The fourth book Queen of Shadows released in September and by then I was anxiously awaiting the events after Heir of Fire. Though I did have a few problems with Queen of Shadows, it still ended up on my Top 5 Favorite Books of 2015. I'm pretty sure this cover is going to be a grayish tone like this placeholder because I remember last year's placeholder for Queen of Shadows was pink and then the cover ended up being so. Probably the cover release I'm most excited for this year, and hopefully amazes me. Also who else is excited to finally see Aelin ascend her throne and see her people again?

6. The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

Release Date: March 29th, 2016

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux

For some reason I did not expect this book to be on this list, but after reading The Winner's Crime, I knew I needed this book in my life badly. I read The Winner's Curse around the week it release, a time in which there was so much hype going around it. I didn't pay much mind to it and ended up loving it, but after a couple of months it fell out of my mind. It wasn't until I reread it and finally started The Winner's Curse over a year later that I realized that I was so in love with these characters. There's something about Arin and Kestrel's relationship that feels so real...I cannot even talk about it without the strong urge to reread this over again. Marie Rutkoski's writing is incredibly beautiful without being over flowery, and I promise you that these books will consume you and ruin your life (for the better). Incredibly sad that The Winner's Kiss is the last book in this trilogy, I'm wishing that this story wraps efficiently and do these characters justice.

7. Hamilton: A Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeffrey Seller

Release Date: April 12th, 2016

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

This comes as no surprise to anyone who follows me on twitter. You already know that I am a bit Hamilton obsessed. Okay a lot. Okay irrevocably die-hard stalkerish Hamilton obsessed. If you don't know what Hamilton is let me drop some knowledge (ha). Anyways, Hamilton is an American musical currently on Broadway about founding father Alexander Hamilton, written/created by the extremely talented Lin-Manuel Miranda, who not only wrote all 46 songs to the soundtrack, but also stars as Hamilton himself. Which he first got inspiration from reading the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. The soundtrack is a blend of hip-hop and rap, which sounds absolutely stellar in this revolutionary setting. The cast is incredibly diverse and filled with amazing vocals. I have always enjoyed learning about American history, but Hamilton really solidified my love, and now I keep spouting random facts about the American Revolution and annoying those around me. ☺ I'll most likely never get to see it in person since tickets are so hard to get and not to mention expensive, but for now I'll just keep playing the soundtrack religiously everyday.

Okay, but back to the book. I honestly don't know much about this book only that Lin does go more in depth on getting Hamilton from just an idea then to the Public theatre all the way to Broadway. I believe it not only talks about the American Revolution, but the diverse revolution we have today. Plus, I heard that there will be many footnotes by Lin in it, which I'm really looking forward to. Have you seen his twitter? He's hilarious! I will never be satisfied until April.☺

8. The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

Release Date: May 17th, 2016

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

I believe this is the first time I've had a debut author on my most anticipated reads list, but I had my eyes on this book for awhile. I can go on about how much I am looking forward to reading this, but I'm just going to leave you with a snippet from the goodreads synopsis:

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Honestly once I read the synopsis I immediately marked it to read. I really don't read enough debut fantasy books and that's something I'm trying to improve upon this and year and so excited to have this in my hands soon. I've also heard really stellar buzz around this book.

9. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Release Date: August 9th, 2016

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

I will admit that the trend in this list seems to be fantasy, so why not another? I acutally happened upon this book randomly when I was browsing through Macmillians upcoming releases. This was when there wasn't even a cover. From what I gather, Mia Covere is a daughter of an accused traitor, who has a gift of speaking with the shadows which leads her to the hearth of a retired killer. She ends up joining a school of assassins and apprentices to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. Seeking to soon get revenge on the people who destroyed her family. With that synopsis and badass cover has me anxiously awaiting summer so I can have this in my possession. I know Jay Kristoff is the co-author of Illuminae, which I haven't read, but heard pretty substantial reviews of the writing, so I'm hoping his newest solo novel does not disappoint.

10. The Last Star by Rick Yancey

Release Date: May 24th, 2016

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

The wait is finally almost over. In the whole truth this trilogy is one that hasn't been consistently in my mind recently. The 5th Wave was one of my favorite books I read back in 2013, so much so that I had to reread it before I finally got around the second book, The Infinite Sea. Though I did not enjoy it as much as the first one, it was quite substantial in its own right. I'm not really that in love with this cover, but that is what I said with the previous book, only to physically hold it and marvel at in the middle of Barnes and Noble.There's always a wave of anxiety every reader gets when faced with a concluding novel of a series, and that is definitely apparent through me right now. The writing in the previous books are so elegant and well drawn out I'm confident that it will make itself evident through this book.

11. The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Release Date: May 3rd, 2016

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

An anticipated reads list is not complete without a Rick Riordan book. No one knows how beyond ecstatic I was when news came out that Rick Riordan was going to write more Greek mythology. After angering Zeus, the god Apollo is struck down and turned into a mortal until he can get back into Zeus' good graces. And now mortal, he is a much easier target for his enemies. Where else to turn but Camp Half-Blood? I know I am excited for all of these books, but I am so enthusiastic for this book to release. Rick confirmed that will be seeing the past demigods from the Heroes of Olympus (the main thing going on in my head was the fact that I would be getting more Percy) he also stated that stories of those characters will be wrapped up in this series, as it were not the case with Blood of Olympus, which was such a disappointing read for me. It was the first Rick Riordan book I gave 3 stars and was really not a good note to have fresh in my mind of my favorite characters. This was the redemption I was seeking for and the fact that we're going back to Camp Half-Blood is all the more to look forward to.

12. Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Release Date: September 27th, 2016

Publisher: Little Brown Books For Young Readers

Laini Taylor. New book.

That's all that needs to be said. I remember seeing this on goodreads one day and immediately added it to my tbr without having read the synopsis. If you haven't read Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, then I strongly suggest you read it now. It is without hesitation that I can say its one of the best young adult fantasy books out there. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is lyrical, mysterious, full of revolution and passion. There is so much weirdness and love, reading it becomes almost a safe haven for me. This cover placeholder for Strange the Dreamer is ominous and dream like, which is something I always associate with Laini's books. This is the current synopsis for goodreads for this book, though it might change:

the aftermath of a war between gods and men

a mysterious city stripped of its name

a mythic hero with blood on his hands

a young librarian with a singular dream

a girl every bit as perilous as she is imperiled

alchemy and blood candy, nightmares and godspawn, moths and monsters, friendship and treachery, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.

13. Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: November 8th, 2016

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

And my last anticipated read is Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I was going to put Stars Above in this spot instead, but since it literally released today I decided to just put Heartless instead. Marissa Meyer is continuing with her retelling trend, but this time it is no longer set in the Lunar Chronicles world. Heartless is a retelling of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, an unmarried Catherine is desired by many in Wonderland, even the King of Hearts, but during the ball where she is expected to accept the king's proposal, she then meets the mysterious court jester, Jest, and the two soon fall into a secret courtship. The more I read the synopsis, the more excited I am to read this. Why must November be so far away? Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series is one of my all time favorites, the third book Cress even making it onto my top 10 reads of 2015. Full of well-developed characters, thrilling plots, hilarious dialogue, and sprinkles of retellings it's definitely a perfect series to marathon while you wait out for Heartless.

There's an endless list of books that I'm excited for this year, but these 13 take the cake. I just hope none of the release dates get push back. What are some your anticipated reads of 2016?