Top Ten Tuesday: Top Book To Movie Adaptations I’m Looking Forward To and Top Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch.

For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday I decided to combine the two topics (five of each topic) that you could choose from Top Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I’m Looking Forward To and Top Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch.

Top Five Book To Movie Adaptations I’m Looking Forward To

1. Mockingjay Part 2 (November 2015)

2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November 2016)

3. Allegiant (March 2016)

4. Ascendant (March 2017)

5. The Death Cure (September 2016)

Top Five Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch

1. Papertowns

2. The Fault in Our Stars

3. The Scorch Trials

4. Insurgent

5. City of Bones

Book Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

Let’s just say I was very hesitant to pick up this novel after hearing the dislike and negative reviews, but I was not going to let that stop me from reading this novel. I had to know what was going to happen in the end! I have to say this was way better than I expected it to be. The Death Cure was a thousand times better than The Scorch Trials, but I must say The Maze Runner is still my favorite out of this trilogy.

Going into this novel I had very low expectations due to all the dislike towards this installment, but I was proven wrong. This final installment was packed full of action and adventure that made it very hard to put down. When I had only 100 pages left I was a tad bit nervous though. I didn’t know how things were going to be wrapped up, but Dashner pulled it off. Yes the ending was a bit to open for my liking, but I felt that it was a nice conclusion to the story seeing everyone safe and sound. I could really go for another installment, whether it be a short novella or a whole novel, talking about life after the ending.

Overall very impressed with this final installment. It deserves a 5/5 star rating from me. The entire book felt like one huge adrenaline rush for me and I love how it kept my attention, just like The Maze Runner. I highly recommend not only this book, but this series.

Book Review: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

At first I was hesitant to pick up this novel. I’ve tried reading The Summer I Turned Pretty series a few years back, but had no luck with it. But I’m glad to pick up this fine, fluffy, elegant piece of literature. I found this novel so charming and enjoyable. I loved every aspect of this novel. From beginning to end this was a fast paced read with having short chapters. If I had enough time I could have probably finished this book in one day. Overall a fast paced contemporary romance novel that I couldn’t get enough of. 5/5 stars highly recommend. Now if it was only May so I could have the sequel…

Book Review: Vicious by Sara Shepard

After finishing the last and final book in the Pretty Little Liars series I’ve decided I need an award. I’ve put up with all fifteen books to finally reach this last novel. Let’s just say I had very high hopes going into this installment, but I became quickly disappointed. I’ve broken down my review into two parts; pros and cons. Here are my thoughts about Vicious by Sara Shepard.  Also if you haven’t read this book, this book review is full of spoilers just to warn you!

Pros

• I call sticking around for the final installment a pro. Seriously who puts up with all this crap and drama this series gave out and still reads it?
• I also loved how all the girls came together once more and all became friends. Much deserved happy ending.

Cons

• My first con has to be the pacing of this novel. While Toxic dragged on, I felt as if this novel lacked the speed and action it deserved. The beginning of the novel felt like it took forever to read, but once I moved past that, things were still quite slow. The only really plot twist we had was a huge predictable flop. I thought this novel would have tons of mystery, suspense, and a few big plot twists. Maybe my expectations got in the way, but I was very disappointed with this aspect.
• Prediction. I had many theories set up after Emily went “missing”. From that point on in the novel I made many predictions, and almost all of them came true. I was upset with this point hoping that this novel would have a more wow factor.
• How Ali got caught was another huge con of mine. This really let me down. I was hoping all the girls would catch her and not only serve her a taste of her own medicine, but get caught in an awesome way. It really upset me  that the only one to find her was Emily. Not only that, but it took two seconds to take down Ali. I wished Ali and Emily had a bigger and greater fight against themselves rather than just a small fight in the lawn.
• And last but not least the ending. The last sentence to be exact. “Soon enough, I’m coming to get you all” WHAT THE HECK. WHY. JUST WHY. I was so mad it ended with this sentence. Like what the hell Sara Shepard. You can’t keep doing that and dragging out the series even longer than it needs to be. I get you want Ali to come back and get the girls. Whatever. I got that part. But this series could have ended at book eight and just been fine, but with stalling it out to be twice as long with nothing really happens between books seven and fifteen is just infuriating. Whatever. I’m just glad I’m done with this series now. Sorry about this short rant as well.

It’s safe to say that I’m glad this series is finally complete and that I finally finished it. I don’t think I will be picking up any other books by Sara Shepard for a long while. I wished this novel had a bit  more action, mystery, suspense, or even a huge awesome plot twist. With being disappointed I decided to rate this book 2/5 stars. It would have been a one point five star rating, but since I’ve stuck along this far I’ve decided to bump it up to another star. My only advice about this novel and this series is either stop at book eight and save your time and money, or read till book eight and just skip to this book.

Book Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

  Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

Summary from Goodreads.com

Setting

Throughout this novel we experience a breathtaking setting. Whether it was in Paris or Manhattan you’re bound to fall in love with the setting. Stephanie Perkins’ writing style flows fluently with perfection creating the ultimate romantic setting. I’m also glad that we get to travel back to Paris for this final installment, and that we get to see Manhattan as well.

Characters

Isla: I loved her character and character development throughout this entire novel. I’m glad we got to see and enjoy the novel through her narration. I also loved the first few chapters as we get to see how big her crush on Josh actually is.

Josh: Ah one of my favorite swoon worthy characters! I quite enjoyed his rebel side he had along with his artistic side. Josh made me develop a crush for him and made me want to fall in love with him.

Kurt: Eh. Yes he was Isla best friend, but I really could have cared less for this character. At points in the story he would annoy me, but over all I tend to ignore him.

Anna, St. Clair, Lola, and Cricket: I was pleased to see these characters return to the final installment. I’m always glad whenever I get to read about Anna and St. Clair.

“The Feels”

•         Love

This is the type of swoon worthy love that you can’t help but fall in love with. The amount of fluffy loving feelings created in this novel is beyond words. I enjoyed how Isla had her awkward crush at the beginning of the novel and that it blossomed into something beautiful at the end. I’m glad that Perkins’ created another guy character that makes me want to fall in love with them. And thanks to this setting everything was ten times more romantic and beautiful.

 

Final Thought

With the novel being so loving and charming I had to give this a 5/5 star rating. I enjoyed every moment with all the characters, setting, and plot. Stephanie Perkins could not have concluded this novel/series any better. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to blush constantly and someone who enjoys young adult romance!

The highly anticipated conclusion to Kiera Cass’s #1 New York Timesbestselling Selection series, The One will captivate readers who love dystopian YA fiction and fairy tales. The One is the perfect finale for fans who have followed America’s whirlwind romance since it began–and a swoon-worthy read for teens who have devoured Veronica Roth’sDivergent, Ally Condie’s Matched, or Lauren Oliver’s Delirium.

The Selectio n changed America Singer’s life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen–and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she’s made her choice . . . and she’s prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series!

Summary from Goodreads.com

Characters

• America: Amen! I loved the way America acted in this final installment. It was like she finally got her shit together and stopped complaining. I don’t know if I was getting used to Cass’ writing style by this point and time, but I felt America wasn’t as whiny and I found her more enjoyable.
• Aspen: Aspen was weird towards the end of the book. Not so happy how his character turned out to be.
• Maxon: I once again loved Prince Maxon. His charm and style made me swoon. I must say he was my favorite character out of the entire series. But his little hiccup at the end was weird, but I forgave his actions.
• Celeste: Okay what the actually heck. Bad brutal girls like Celeste can’t come down to the level of wanting to take out all the girls in the competition, to being the friendliest. What Cass did to this character made me feel disappointed and frustrated. I wanted her to reign all the power yet she’s just this friendly girl now. No. Cass why did you do this?

Main Conflict

• During this final installment we see the so called “rebels” more of a threat as well as the competition is coming to an end. At the end of the book we discover what this whole ordeal ties up, but I didn’t feel a good dystopian setting with the rebels and I found them to be back ground noise. I really wanted to learn more about the rebel attack at the end, but I was let down. Also as the competition draws to a close we see the girls almost come together, which made me annoyed. This is suppose to be a cut throat competition not a friendly afternoon spent under a tree drinking tea with the queen.

The Ending

• Well that was rather annoying. The ending to me felt so abrupt and rushed I almost had a sense of whiplash. I really love the epilogue but from chapter 31 to the very end of the epilogue was beyond ridiculous. I felt as if I was driving in  car and had to come to a complete stop right away as the yellow stop light turns red. THAT IS NOT OKAY. Can I just please have more information on what is going on and we can go from there? You had 289 pages to get through and you couldn’t add a bit more? Such a shame.

Other Feelings

Predictions

• Ahhh… This is something I wish Cass could work on in her spare time; not making such cruddy predictable endings to characters, character’s family’s,events, and the list goes on and on. Please don’t make things so easy and predicable. Please give me an amazing feeling of suspense and cliffhangers.

Final Thoughts

• After caving in and seeing a signed copy on the shelf I bought the book. I must say I was much more impressed with Cass’ writing in this final book, which made America more bearable and made this my favorite book of the entire trilogy. I decided to give this book ⅗ stars. I really liked the book overall, but the ending was a huge disappointed… oh well. Glad I finished this trilogy and knocked it off my TBR list for 2014. In the future I don’t see myself picking up any more of Kiera Cass’ work.

Summer 2014 Reading Challenge

Summer 2014 Reading Challenge

My 6 Genre Challenge

The other day I came across a bookmark when I was cleaning my room. I looked it over and I thought this would be a perfect little challenge for my summer reading. I took six genres and thought of a book I would like to read at some point and time this summer. My list includes:

Choose a book from the following Genres:

-Mystery: Twisted by: Sara Shepard

-Sci-Fi: Shatter Me by: Tahereh Mafi

-Fantasy: Clockwork Princess by: Cassandra Clare

-Contemporary: My Life Next Door by: Huntley Fitzpatrick

-Adventure: The Maze Runner by: James Dashner

-Historical Fiction: Seeking Signs by: Staci Angelina Mercado
With those books in mind, hopefully I will get through all of them this summer. As of last night I decided to pick up Shatter Me. Now let the start of my genre challenge begin! You can also check out my video below of myself sharing some other reading challenges that I’m taking part of this summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZzJO4EAh8

Book Review: Legend by: Marie Lu

In Marie Lu’s 305-paged book titled, Legend, she brings together two POVs of June and Day both fifteen years of age. June is a strong girl who lives the wealthy lifestyle of the Republic. While Day on the other hand lives in the slums and is the most wanted criminal.  They’re backgrounds are so diverse, yet they end up crossing paths when Day is on the hunt for a cure to save his brother from the plague that is spreading around their community, and June is looking for revenge.

I rated this book a 4.5/5 stars. At the very beginning I thought it was going to be almost like The Testing by: Joelle Charbonneau and I wasn’t too excited for this read. But once I started getting more and more into the book, the more I felt amazed by it. Also it had plenty of FORESHADOWING, which is done to an excellent standard and always kept me on my feet. Another part that I loved was the last 15 pages. I got so much thrill and excitement it felt like I was watching an action movie. I loved Lu’s writing style of action and foreshadowing that made for an upbeat read. I overall enjoyed this novel and will be picking up Prodigy.

Currently Reading: July 23rd, 2013

HOLY COW. Over Booktube-A-Thon I decided it would be a good chance to pick up Divergent by: Veronica Roth. Boy I was not disappointed. I thought it was going to be yet another dystopian book, but when I read it I was proven WRONG. This book had me breathless, turning pages, and no sleep. It’s been a day since I’ve finished the book and I can’t get over it. I don’t have the second book, and I’m afraid once I buy it, I won’t be able to put it down and then have to wait till October when Allegiant comes out. Over all I rated this book 5/5 stars and I highly recommend it to everyone I know.

Currently Reading: July 8th, 2013

HOLY COW. That is all I can say and think right now. After finishing up Perfect by: Sara Shepard, my mind is completely blown. I did not see that ending coming, and boy does A’s mystery keep getting more and more intense! I really enjoyed this book and gave it a 5/5 stars on goodreads. I’m so glad I got this series and I’m also excited to continue it as well. Honestly don’t know what to say, because I’m so speechless. I highly recommend reading the Pretty Little Liars series.