"A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas

This book is extremely popular and lots of readers really like it. It is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but the world is completely different. The Beast in Maas' version is a fairy with shape-shifting abilities. All the main elements of the original fairy tale are present: our main heroine - Feyre (yes, it is a variation of "Belle") winds up staying at the beast's manor, and only her love will be able to shatter the curse an evil queen bound the beast with.

I enjoyed reading this book. The writing is beautiful and the author added enough of an original backstory and side themes to make the narrative interesting. However, overall, this book exhausted me. There is simply no other way to describe it. The violence is described in every brutal details, so is the sex, and emotional tribulations. It is almost like Maas tried to create a cross between Beauty and the Beast and the Game of Thrones. I definitely think the book might not be appropriate for younger readers (definitely not anyone in middle school). I also was not happy with the second part of the book when Feyre faces the evil queen and goes through a series of trials. First of all, the moment I saw the word "arena" I started having flashbacks to The Hunger Games. Anyone writing YA, should forget this word for the next few years at least. Second of all, I did not like the twist with Rhysand. I am not going to give away any details, but if she is trying to set up a love triangle for the sequel, I'd be really disappointed. YA books really need more friendships and fewer romantic interests for their heroines. Feyre already has what's supposed to be her epic love. I think it should be left at that. In fact, I'd be happy if this was a stand alone. I am worried where Maas will go in the sequel. So overall, I enjoyed the book, but had a few issues with it and think it is definitely over-hyped. I am glad I didn't rush out and bought it the day it came out. I will however, check out the sequel even though I still think a stand alone would have been better.

Rainbow Readathon Wrap Up

Yesterday was the last day of the Rainbow Readathon that was created by the Carpe Librum book club (see their Goodreads page). I modified the dates of the readathon to fit my schedule and instead of 7 days, I gave myself 9 days to read the 4 books of my choice, the link to my announcement is here.

I am happy to report that I have read all 4 books (1,222 pages!). Below are my reviews of these books listed in the order that I read them.

1. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Out of the four books I read for this readathon, this one is by far my favorite. The novel is advertised as an ultimate book for all book lovers. I completely agree. The novel is filled with references to various books, authors and genres. Every chapter begin with a note about a book that AJ writes to his daughter. The main character is a bookseller named A.J. Fikry. Come to think of it, now that I finished the book, I actually think the main character is the bookstore itself as all the main events occur in or around the bookstore. In fact, we continue to follow the bookstore even after A.J. exists the scene. The book is also about connections and how someone's tragedy can unexpectedly lead to someone else's happiness and joy. AJ is a lonely widower who has pretty much resolved to drink himself to death when a series of unexpected events occur that make him reconsider his decision and propel him to experience the most fulfilling days of his life. This was a very satisfying read. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it to everyone who is searching for a good book to read.

2. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

This is a companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss which I read last year and really enjoyed. Similar to Perkins' other books, Lola is about growing up and falling in love for the first time. If your favorite movies to watch are romantic comedies, you will really like this book. One thing I enjoy about the books in this series are the descriptions of the places where the stories are set. Lola's story takes place in San Francisco, and Perkins does an excellent job describing the neighborhood and the "feel" of living in this city.

3.  Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

As you can see from the title, this is the third companion novel by Stephanie Perkins. Just like in Lola, Perkins' descriptions create a very realistic atmosphere of actually visiting Paris, New York and Barcelona. I love the way she describes the settings in her books. Isla is probably my favorite of the three companion novels. It is also about falling in love but it is portrayed very realistically. When I read Anna and Lola I couldn't help but think that some things were just too perfect and clean. In Isla our characters actually do make mistakes and inflict unnecessary pain on each other, but this makes their story more real and relatable in my mind. I also liked how she brings the characters from all the three books together at the end of this novel.

4. Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

This graphic novel was the most surprising book out of the four I read. I was curious about it for some time, but it wasn't what I expected it to be. The main character Anya is a teenage Russian-American girl who really struggles with her identity and fitting in at school. The usual teenage insecurities about weight, appearance and acceptance by her peers, are exacerbated for her by the fact that she is embarrassed by her mother who speaks with a weird accent and cooks strange food; and by the fact that the only other Russian kid in her school is a nerdy acquaintance from church whom she desperately tries to avoid. However, her perception of "what is cool" begins to change once she unexpectedly meet a ghost....  A great read. This is now my favorite graphic novel, and even if you don't read graphic novels, you should definitely pick this one up.

Top 5 Wednesday: Books You Read in One Sitting (or close to)

 

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey who can be found on YouTube as GingerReadsLainey. There is a Top 5 Wednesday Goodreads group (see here) that is open to all booktubers and bloggers. I have really enjoyed watching and reading what others have come up with for top 5 books in various categories so decided to give this a try too.

This week's topic (top 5 books that I read in one sitting (or close to it)) is a bit of a challenge for me. I am a pretty slow reader. I also like to savor the books I like and thus rarely fly through them in one sitting. However, I was able to come up with a list of 5 books that I read close to one sitting. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J,K. Rowling (Harry Potter #7)

This is the last book in the Harry Potter series and I remember running over to the nearest Barnes and Noble the day it came out and reading it into the wee hours of the morning. I definitely did not read this in one sitting since it is a pretty chunky book (759 pages in the original hardcover edition). However, I did read it pretty fast and pretty much put everything else in my life on hold until I finished it.

2. Price and Prejudice by Jane Austin

I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time when I was a junior in college. I remember reading it between classes, during lunch and late into the evening. I was completely engrossed in this novel and absolutely in love with the characters. I later also became hooked on the BBC mini-series (that I still re-watch sometimes). I have also re-read this book multiple times and it is one of my absolute favorites.

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

My love for Jane Eyre began with the BBC mini-series (starring Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester), when I was in middle school. I read the book right after watching the mini-series, but can't say that I read it in one sitting. I did love it and finished it pretty quickly. I subsequently re-read the book several times. One of those re-reads was definitely in one sitting. I basically started reading one afternoon and did not stop until early morning. It is still one of my all time favorites.

4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

If you are not familiar with Richelle Mead's books, all I need to tell you is that she has a very addictive writing style. Vampire Academy was the first book I read by her and I flew through it. I ended up getting the rest of the series (there are 6 books total) and finished all of those equally fast. This is young adult paranormal adventure series filled with suspense,, action, intrigue, and romance. A perfect summer read if you ask me.

5. Inquest by DelSheree Gladden (Book 1 of the Destroyer Trilogy)

I talk about this series a lot on my blog. I downloaded this book for free on my Kindle and got immediately sucked into the story. I absolutely loved it. It is a dystopian/urban fantasy YA trilogy that follows a young girl who has a very unique superpower. She is the long awaited "destroyer" - a one of a kind individual destined to destroy the world. The book is fast-paced with tons of twists and turns. I read it very quickly and immediately picked up the rest of the series. I highly recommend it. It is definitely one of those under-hyped books that deserve so much more.

"Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer (Book 2 of the Lunar Chronicles)

Scarlet is book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles and continues the story of Cinder, a cyborg runaway we met in Book 1 (see my review). Since this is a sequel, there is not much I can say about the plot without spoiling the first book. So I will just say I liked it even more than Cinder. Scarlet is a re-telling of Red Riding Hood, so we are introduced to a cast of new characters. However, book 2 introduces multiple perspectives and we do still follow Cinder as hers and Scarlet's paths are destined to cross. As a character, Scarlet is quite different from Cinder. She is quite independent-minded, courageous to the point of being reckless and certainly does not hesitate to stand up for herself. If Cinder did not appeal to you or you thought it was simply OK, I would still give Scarlet a shot. It has much more action and multiple points of view add complexity and depth to the overall story. I will definitely continue on with the series once I finish the books I am reading for the Rainbow Readathon.

Reading Plans for June and the Rainbow Read-a-thon

Looking over the list of books I have read so far in 2015, I noticed that I've been reading a lot of library books (both e-books and physical copies). So in June, I decided to only read physical books I own (as opposed to e-books). This way, I will finally get to some books I've been meaning to read for a while and also will hopefully free up some shelf space. 

In addition, this month, I am participating in the Rainbow Readathon created by a group of wonderful ladies over at Carpe Librum (@carpethislibrum on Twitter). As the name suggests, the idea is to pick 4 to 6 books with spines that correspond to rainbow colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, and read them for a week starting June 15. Two of the colors can be combined, but that can be done no more than twice. I think this is a really fun idea and an interesting way to pick something to read off the shelf, so I am going to try and do this. Since, I have limited time to read during the week because of work and family commitments, I am going to give myself a bit more than a week. I am going to start on Saturday June 13 and finish on Sunday June 21, thus, giving myself two weekends to do most of the reading. And here are the books I chose:

1. RED and BLUE: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

2. ORANGE and YELLOW: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

3. GREEN: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

4. PURPLE: Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

So if I read the three books and one graphic novel featured above, I will have in nine days read 1,222 pages! Since I normally read about 2 - 2.5 books of about the same size a week, I think this should be doable especially since I am giving myself an extra weekend. Stay tuned for results!

"Cinder" by Marissa Meyer (Book 1 of the Lunar Chronicles)

When I first saw this book in a bookstore a couple of years ago, I thought it was some sort of spoof on Cinderella and decided not to pick it up. Since then, I have seen nothing but great reviews of this book and the rest of the series. So I finally decided to give it a go. It is indeed a Cinderella retelling but it is unlike any I have seen thus far. It is set in a distant future and our main character - Cinder - is a cyborg... I know I know, sounds exactly like some sort of spoof which is precisely what I had thought originally.  However, in essence it is really a sci-fi fairy tale.  The book loosely follows the plot line of Cinderella, but it is also completely different, so do not think you know exactly what is coming next. The main character is lovable and very easy to relate to. I liked her android friend Iko, and her unexpected ally Dr. Erland. I was not really impressed with the prince and the entire romantic side of the story. For one, it was never clear to me why he took an initial interest in Cinder and started sharing some pretty confidential things with her. It felt more like a superficial interest a lord might take in a pretty servant girl. However, since the story does not end in Book 1, I hope he will get to know the real Cinder, and Cinder will end up with someone who truly knows and values her (who I guess might even be someone else - I am pretty unimpressed with prince Kai at this point).  In terms of the plot, there are many twists and turns, some of them I saw coming and some were unexpected. The story is much more complex than a simple Cinderella retelling. There is intergalactic politics, a deadly plague ravaging the earth, a mind-controlling race of people inhabiting the Moon. a wonderful villain in the form of a Lunar queen who threatens world domination, and at the forefront of this all is a lowly cyborg mechanic completely smitten with the young heir to the throne. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like sci-fi and fairy tales, this is a great novel to pick up. I have already started reading the second book called "Scarlet".

"Girls of Riyadh" by Rajaa Alsanea

This book has been sitting on my shelf for probably a couple of years. It is not a recent release. I believe the book was published in 2004 or thereabouts when Sex and the City was at its peak of popularity. In fact, the book is advertised as Sex and the City but set in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I have seen mixed reviews of this book. I think some readers expected more depth in terms of looking at women's rights and female empowerment in the context of Saudi culture. To me, this book really is a Sex and the City type of story set in a different culture. In fact, similar to the TV show where the main narrator writes a relationship column, the book is structured as a series of e-mails that focus on the love life of the author's four friends. I thought the book was fun and I also enjoyed glimpsing the cultural peculiarities introduced by the author. It is a pretty short book and the engaging style and all the relationship drama make for a very fast read. Ultimately the young women in the story just want to be happy and loved. I think you will enjoy this more if you view the book for what it is: a fluffy chick lit story with a bit of a cultural twist to it. Enjoy!

"Polaris" by Mindee Arnett

"Polaris" is the sequel to the sci-fi novel "Avalon" (which I read earlier this year - see my review) and follows Jeth Seagrave and his crew as they continue to fight for survival and freedom. This is definitely one of those cases when the sequel is better than the first novel (at least in my humble opinion). I had a few issues when I read "Avalon" - specifically the world seemed populated only with evil people, most of whom were beyond any redemption, and I could not shake the feeling of despair that Jeth and his friends must feel being trapped in such a cruel world. In addition, Jeth seemed to be pursuing only his personal goals - the novel did not have any sort of bigger "changing the world" kind of theme. Well, the author overcame all of these issues in the second book brilliantly. I loved everything about "Polaris" - the character development was outstanding, the plot was engaging and had lots of unexpected twists and turns, and the ending was excellent. I really enjoyed this book.

In addition, (if you like Star Wars), you will enjoy one direct quote from a Star Wars movie and in another case there was an allusion to a Star Wars plot. Also, I kept thinking that Jeth in "Polaris" reminded me of Anakin Skywalker starting with his hand prosthesis to being tempted by the "dark side." Overall, a very enjoyable read. 5 out 5 stars.