Once (Eve #2) by Anna Carey

Once by Anna Carey

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Four/ five stars
I bought Once ages ago but only got around to reading it recently. As some other reviewers have said, this year there has been some issues with sequels. Because of this, I was nervous about reading Once. Fortunately, I was extremely pleased with Once. It was a worthy sequel to the brilliant novel that was Eve.

After discovering the women's only establishment called Califia, Eve is finally safe. Unfortunately, the cost of safety was being forced to leave Caleb. When they split, Eve was well aware of Caleb's health and wellbeing. He was seriously wounded and could potentially die. When Eve hears news of Caleb's whereabouts, she sets out to attempt a runaway from Califia, only to be trapped and captured by the all the King’s horses and all the Kings men King's army and brought to the City of Sand. In the city, horrible family secrets are revealed. But when she discovers Caleb is alive, could Eve use her family's position to help Caleb and assist in a runaway? Will Eve be able to flee? What is the cost of their love?

As I said before, I thought Once was a worthy sequel to Eve. It was fast paced and action packed, not lacking in anything at all. Saying that, I couldn't bring myself to give Once 5 stars because, although I loved it, I didn't think it was quite as perfect and beautiful as Eve. 

Eve went down a bit in badassness in Once. She didn't need to fight and defend her life as much in this one, so I guess the bad ass scale was different. But when the need to be bad ass arose, Eve was definitely up to the challenge. I loved Eve's determination, devotion and passion. She was focused on helping Caleb, no matter what the cost. I admired Eve's character in both the first and second novels. 

I loved Caleb in this one! In Eve, Caleb and Eve were hesitant and in unfamiliar territory with each other, but in Once they were used to each other and comfortable. I loved how Caleb was not afraid to admit he was in love with Eve and how much she meant to him. I also really liked how he didn’t play her off as weak and dependent. He was well aware that Eve could hold her own in a fight and didn’t rely entirely him. Most of all, I enjoyed Caleb’s attitude.

I absolutely loved Once! It was action packed, romantic, heart pounding, and a perfect sequel to Eve. Once was full of secrets and questions that left me on the edge of my seat! After that ending, I am anxiously awaiting the release of Rise, the third and final book in the Eve trilogy!

Dizzy by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry

Dizzy by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Four/ five stars

I decided to buy Dizzy after reading some very good reviews praising the authors for such an awesome book! I love contemporary books and I thought this one was going to be a heart breaking, beautiful, breath taking story. I enjoyed Dizzy, although not as much as I thought I would. There was something about Dizzy that was lacking. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the characters or the plot, but whatever it was, affected my rating and thoughts on the book.

The Gibson boys made a pact after they were betrayed and left by their mother and wife: no girls. Girls were bad news. They got into your life, under your skin, and then left you high and dry. That explains why Dylan is so shocked (and pissed) when he finds out his brother, Derrick is getting married. MARRIED! The pact has been broken, but could it be for the better?

Ziah's sister, Lora has lectured Ziah about her motto: school first, career second and boys third. This is why Ziah is completely and utterly in shock when her mum informs her that Lora is, in fact, getting married. She hasn't even finished college for crying out loud! Maybe it's time for Ziah to lecture Lora the her motto. But when Ziah is roped into wedding planning with Lora's fiancées brother, she realises, after a while, that maybe Lora getting married isn't so bad after all.

Dizzy was such a cute contemporary romance novel! It was short and adorable and made me feel all gooey and smiley. I’ve never read a Jolene Perry book before, so I didn’t really know her style, but I enjoyed her chapters. I have read two Nyrae Dawn books before and they were so cute, so I was definitely looking forward to her chapters. Together, Dawn and Perry managed to write a very cute YA romance.

I’m not really sure how I felt about Ziah. She was strong sometimes, yet weak other times. She was honest with herself, and yet she denied her feelings, even to herself. I didn’t understand her! She wanted to be friends, then it was more than friends, then it was nothing at all. Ziah gave up and got embarrassed easily. She was a likable character, I suppose. I can see why people like her, sure, but I can definitely see where people didn’t like her. My opinions on her are kinda in the middle. Another “meh” character, I guess.

Dylan was a douche for the first part of the book, but he got better. He had a lot to deal with, and he didn’t necessarily deal with it well, but he tried. And I admired him for that. He also wasn’t too proud to admit that he liked Ziah, and I liked that. I’m not really sure if I liked Dylan that much, but I still liked him a bit.

Overall I thought Dizzy was a good book, it was just lacking in some unknown department! 

Kiss Me (The Keatyn Chronicles, #2) by Jillian Dodd

Kiss My by Jillian Dodd

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Five/ five stars!

*Stalk Me Spoilers*

While I wasn't completely blown away by Stalk Me, I was very excited for the release of Kiss Me! I was not disappointed. Kiss Me was everything and more. Dodd delivered a story full of the perfect amount of romance, boys and mystery. I've already fallen in love with Dodd's That Boy series and am so glad I was able to enjoy Kiss Me.

Keatyn has left her beach lifestyle, friends and family for boarding school… unfortunately, not by choice. She was forced to leave after she was almost kidnapped by her mum's stalker, Vincent. None of Keatyn's old friends know about her whereabouts and probably never will. So what’s the only good side of leaving everything behind? She gets to start fresh. She has a new lifestyle at an elite boarding school, new friends and most importantly new boys! But when keeping the secrets of her former life starts to get harder and harder, how will Keatyn cope? And when there are plenty of boys fighting over her and she doesn't know what to do, will it all become too much? Most importantly, which boy will Keatyn choose!?

I absolutely loved Kiss Me! I thought it was great. Jillian Dodd sure knows how to write hot, swoon-worthy boys! That's write plural, boys. Keatyn sure has a rather large line up of boys to choose from! No shortage for her! Share some, hey?

I liked Keatyn a lot more in Kiss Me. She was somehow more mature and I liked that about her. She wasn't acting like a child and she wasn’t worried about small, silly things. She had experienced a lot of difficult things for a girl her age and she was handling it surprisingly well.

One thing Jillian Dodd is very good at, is writing love triangles. In Kiss Me there are too many boys to count! But it works because Keatyn is working through them one at a time (god that sounds awful). The main boy in Kiss Me was Dawson. Sweet, sexy Dawson! I liked Dawson, I honestly did, but I’m still blinded by my love for Cush and Aiden. Sorry, Dawson, but you just don’t do it for me. I thought Dawson was actually really sweet and nice and sexy, but he wasn’t right for Keatyn. Even Keatyn wasn’t completely sure, and Dawson was aware of that. So, yeah, overall, Dawson was good, just not good enough!

The next important boy in Kiss Me was Aiden. I’m sorry every other boy in the world in Kiss Me, but Aiden is perfect. I am so team Aiden. Sure, he is temperamental but that is Keatyn’s fault! Keatyn was kind of leading him on, then she was all over other boys (that makes her sound like a slut but she’s really not). It was so clear how Aiden feels about Keatyn but she kept turning him down. In Kiss Me, she was purely focused on Dawson. It made me so sad, because it’s obvious how much Aiden and Keatyn both liked each other. I want Aiden to win Keatyn’s heart.

In Stalk Me, I was definitely team Brooklyn. Then, along came Cush and I was team Cush. Then both Brooklyn and Cush were assholes and I was confused. Then I was team Cush again and I totally hated Brooklyn. I would just like to put it out there that Brooklyn is indeed the biggest asshole. The scum of the earth. Dick head. Poo bum. Whatever you want to call him! I did not like Brooklyn at all and he was definitely not right for Keatyn. I understood that they both still wanted to be friends after their… issues, and that was ok. But when Brooklyn got Keatyn all excited in Kiss Me, when he says he wants to meet up, and then did the stupidest thing in the world of stupidest things, I hated him so much. Honestly. Brooklyn, I hope you die a horrible death, you are awful.

Thankfully, after all the dramatics and heartache in this book, there were no real scary Vincent scenes. Thank gosh! I don’t think my heart would have enjoyed that (I might’ve died). There is one scene, though, that had my heart racing and I was on the edge of my seat! It wasn’t that I was scared, it was the anticipation as to what was about to happen. It’s definitely safe to say that I do not miss Vincent one bit.

There was one thing I missed in this book, though, and it was the regular appearances of Keatyn’s family. I loved her cute little sisters and her cool mum and stepdad. It reminded me a little bit of my family, except for the little sisters. Keatyn’s mum, Abby, and stepdad, Tommy, still featured in the book occasionally, which was nice. Also the little sisters featured once and it was so cute! I also really loved Garrett. He should be counted as a part of the family because he really is awesome.

There were only a few things I didn’t like about Kiss Me, but they don’t matter that much because the good definitely out did the bad! I didn’t like the fact that there were so many characters, especially boys. It was sometimes rather confusing, but I guess I got over it after a while. The plot was quite jumpy. In fact, it was a bit of a strange plot. There wasn’t really any basic plot, but I can understand where the books are going, so its lack of actual plot was overlooked. Two other things that really annoyed me: the fact that Keatyn was spoilt rotten and how indecisive Keatyn was! In a fit of rage, Keatyn threw her iPad, and straight away Garrett just tells her he’s sending a new one. Like… she just threw her goddamn IPAD and he didn’t care. I guess money makes people do silly things. Indecisive Keatyn really pissed me off. I mean, I understand things are hard, but just pick a freaking boy for god’s sake!! Keatyn was really confused and her confusion confused me (see? How confusing was that!?)

Anyway, I thought Kiss Me was a lot better than Stalk Me and I absolutely cannot wait for the rest of the series to be released. 

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Four/five stars
This was not my favourite Sarah Dessen book, but it was one of the most memorable. Instead of ending the book with a happily ever after, with the couple is reuniting after some disagreement, Dessen included a major plot twist. I was so pleased with the book. It was deeper than her other summer love type stories. Dreamland dealt with real issues. It was meaningful, unforgettable and beautifully executed in true Sarah Dessen style. I fell in love, once again. 

When Caitlin's life completely changes on her birthday, she feels totally alone. So when Rogerson enters her life with his preppy school ways, drugs and partying just when she needs him things are looking up. But when their relationship starts to go from perfect to complete and utter crap, Caitlin can't find it in her to let him go and leave. So when Rogerson continues to abuse, Caitlin lets it go from bad to worse. 

As I mentioned before, this was not my favourite Sarah Dessen book. Dreamland was very deep, dark and meaningful. It was a far cry from her usual beach, summer fling novels I usually enjoy. But regardless I enjoyed Dreamland. Although Dessen dealt with such a difficult issue, she managed to execute it perfectly. It was done with such poise and knowledge of a wonderful, awarding winning author. Even though it wasn't her usual style, Dessen still managed to captive me right up until the very last page.

Caitlin was a meh character, unfortunately. She couldn't survive well on her own. She stuck around with other people and just let life go on around her. Caitlin made no move to affect her life in anyway, she didn't change it, just lived it. I got mad at her for not standing up for herself against Rogerson. But then I realized it would be very hard. I started to like her a lot more at the end. She grew as a person and I enjoyed reading the change in demeanour. 

I hated Rogerson, right from the beginning. He was arrogant, cocky and a bastard. I did not like him at all.

Not my favourite, but definitely one that will stick with me forever, I loved this Sarah Dessen book. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It really did have some good messages that many teenagers could learn from. 

My #5

My Top 5 BEST Books of 2012

Hello everyone! I’m on Christmas holidays (6 weeks for summer, here in Australia)! I’ve been away so I haven’t been able to post reviews. I thought, before I start posting to reviews, I’d post my 5 Best Books of 2012 (Released in 2012). Here they are:

#1 The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars was an absolutely brilliant novel. It was my first John Green novel and certainly not my last! TFiOS was a punch right in the feels. It had realistic characters and it was blunt almost to the point of being rude, but John Green managed to pull it off (of course). I think everyone should read this book at least once in their life time. 

#2 Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Wow. Slammed was definitely a surprise. My best friend found it whilst scrolling through Goodreads and managed to convince me to buy it. It was my first Kindle book purchase. Slammed captured my heart right from the first page. It was amazing, heartfelt and beautiful. Read this with the second book, Point of Retreat ready and a box of tissues! 

#3 My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

I was so looking forward to this book. It seemed like the perfect summer YA contemporary romance, and it was. I finished this book in… about a day. It got me right in the beginning, and kept me right to the end! I think Huntley Fitzpatrick wrote a brilliant debut novel of first love and new experiences.

#4 The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

This book… this book was incredible. The writing was perfect, the characters were different and wonderful and the plot was epic. Everything about this book screamed perfect. I am so glad I read this book and urge everybody to give it a go, as well.

#5 The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

I started the Vampire Academy this year, around September. It took me a month to read all 6 of them and 2 of the Bloodlines series. I absolutely fell in love with both series’ and was devastated when I finished The Golden Lily. The Golden Lily was amazing! I completely and totally loved it. I was so sad when I finished it though, because uh…cliff hanger (!) and I had finished all the released Vampire Academy/Bloodlines books. That had been my life for a month and it was over and I have to wait until Indigo Spell. Anyway, The Golden Lily was so good, definitely one of the best books I have read in 2012.

Well, there you have it! My top 5 best books of 2012. I hope you liked my list and I hope it inspires you to read some of these books.

Also, Merry Christmas! I hope you all get lots and lots of books! 

A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon

A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Three and a half/five stars

This was a very short but very cute book! It took me a mere couple of hours to finish it. I thought it was going to be a cute, very romantic love story, but it wasn't, not really. There was more to this book than meets the eye, and I was very pleased with it. Also this book was very Australian. The slang! So country town. I could hear the thick Aussie accent that I only hear in Maryborough and Logan. 

Tiff's finished school. Forever. Finally! It's what she's always wanted. But when her dream becomes a reality, what is she going to do with her life? Especially when her one true best friend drops a bombshell that will leave Tiff all alone. And her job is turning out to be a lot tougher than she thought. Then Davey enters her life and maybe, just maybe, he's the solution to her problems.

Tiff was a very average Australian country town girl; bored, with nothing to do except watch footy and job hunt. Tiff was passionate and kind. She cared about her "family" and her friends. I liked reading from her very Aussie point of view. It was new and refreshing and I definitely liked her as a character.

Two characters I really loved were Bull and Reggie. They were funny and had such a good dynamic together! I wasn't real sure about Tiff's best friend, Kayla, and still aren't. I didn't t really like her that much. I liked Bull's girlfriend, Zoe. She seemed really nice and she had good intentions towards Tiff, Bull and Reggie. I don't really know much about the love interest, Davey, but he seemed alright too.

The book was very short therefore making it hard to give a proper review about the characters. There was character development, but not enough to say whether or not I liked the character. I liked this book enough, but its length (or lack thereof) didn't allow the story to develop as I would have liked. Also, the book was very Australian and I think that many international people would have had a hard time reading this book. Even I had a hard time reading this and I am a native Australian!

Envy (The Fury Trilogy #2) by Elizabeth Miles

Envy by Elizabeth Miles

★★★★☆

Four and a half/five stars

I loved Envy! It was a very exciting story and there was never a dull moment. A close second to Fury, Envy was a perfect blend of mythology, romance, suspense and action. I loved every second! 

It's almost spring in Ascension, and the Furies are back. After promising to leave her alone, Em thinks she's safe from the Furies, but she's wrong. She can feel them haunting her. She can feel something bad is about to happen. Something big, but she's not sure what. Why won't they just leave her alone?

Skylar has moved to Ascension, Maine from Alabama. She left behind a drunken mother and a permanently ruined family. She's determined not to be a loser, but to be at the top. The most popular, most beautiful, and the one everyone will envy most of all. So when gorgeous Gabby takes Skylar under her wing on her first day, Skylar is thrilled. She is even more delighted when she gets attention from beautiful Meg and her two beautiful cousins. But is popularity all it's cracked up to be? 

I enjoyed Envy a lot, but there was one thing that bothered me... And that was the ending. I was satisfied with Em's part of the story, but not at all with Skylar's. I understand cliffhangers and all, but nothing actually happened with Skylar, not like with Em. I don't know, it just annoyed me. I guess we'll have more Skylar in the next novel, but still. Apart from the ending, I totally loved this book. 

I loved Em in this. She was determined and focused and didn’t let popularity get in her way, which I totally loved. I loved the fact she still managed to find new friends, but kept a relationship with Gabby and co. There's one thing though... JD or Crow?!?!?!

I didn't really like Skylar much. She was a bitch only concerned with herself. She was trying to be like Gabby, but she turned out to be manipulative and evil. Her intentions were all wrong and how she went about getting her way was just downright horrible. I hope Skylar fully gets what she deserves in the next book in the trilogy.

I was excited, yet hesitant about reading this book because it had such high expectations to live up to. Fury was one of the first books I read in 2012 and is still one of the best. I remember being totally captivated by it and completely devouring it in one day. So, thank goodness, Envy didn't disappoint me. I cannot 
wait to see what the Furies have in store for us next.

(Special thanks to my beautiful best friend since birth for buying me this for my birthday. I love you so much!)

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Opal by Jennifer L Armentrout

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Four and a half/five stars

*Do not read this if you haven’t read Obsidian or Onyx! Spoilers*

Oh wow! I absolutely loved Opal. When I found out it was released early, I was ecstatic! I was finally going to read the third book in the Lux series. Then I found out even though some people had the book, I couldn’t buy it. Heart = broken. Then, when I was sitting in science, I released that I did, indeed, haveOpal sitting on my Kindle Cloud Reader. Well, you can just imagine my reaction (think small scream, fangirling, rapid uncontrolled breathing and hysterical giggling). Opal was everything I expected and more. It completely blew me away, especially the end. The end tore me to pieces (unfortunately whilst I was in public).

Katy and Daemon are FINALLY together. Daemon has gone to great lengths to prove his feelings for Katy. And, lucky for him, Katy just can’t deny her own feelings. After the dramatic ending to Onyx, we are slowly introduced to the emotionally unstable yet thoughtful and passionate character that is Daemon’s brother, Dawson. He has finally been freed from “hell”, but at what cost? He’s not the normal Dawson. He is grieving and mourning his one true love, Beth, who is still in the… “hybrid asylum”. Dawson is determined to get Beth back, no matter what. So when Blake (Urgh…) arrives back in town with some rather helpful news, Katy and Daemon are wary, but they’d do anything to help Dawson get Beth back. But is Blake really trying to help them, or does he have ulterior motives. 

Everything about this book was well developed and thought out and, well executed. It was all absolutely amazing. There were a few things that bugged me though, like the undeveloped stories.(view spoiler) I didn’t necessarily understand the point of that. Well, I did, kinda, but it was undeveloped. Nothing happened after Katy’s big blow out. Other than that, the book was as enjoyable as the first two. 

I loved Katy in Opal; probably not as much as in Obsidian andOnyx, but still. Even though her and Daemon are together, she didn’t let him dominate her and boss her around, like douche Daemon would do. He tried, but she stood her ground, and I was really pleased with that. Her and Daemon were like a team, so she sometimes didn’t really get a say in some things, but it wasn’t too frequent. Another thing I absolutely loved about Kat was that she’s a massive book freak, like a lot of people who are reading her story. I think JLA was really clever including that into her character because a lot more people can relate to her easier. I loved her fangirling over books and blogging and laptops! I was really happy with Katy’s character, again, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

“I had no idea where those calories went. To his ego, maybe?” -Katy

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I really, really liked Daemon in Opal. Like, a lot. He was caring and kind and thoughtful towards Katy and an almost perfect boyfriend. There were times when, yes, of course I wanted to hit him, but generally he didn’t piss me off too much. Douche Daemon did occasionally come out to play, but Katy stood up to him and majorly hurt his ego. He was overprotective of Katy and very sensitive but sometimes that was good; he was just looking out for his girl. Apparently it will be both Katy and Daemon’s POV in the next book, Origin, and I’m definitely looking forward to that!

“God, I am so going to sneak into your bathroom like the Invisible Man.” -Daemon

I also really enjoyed reading about the Opal part of the book. Like, learning about the stone. Even though in real life, I'm sure opal and onyx don't counteract each other and make aliens stronger, but still. It was very interesting. And very well done. 

I found myself constantly thinking about this book! I actually woke up at 4:15am and read it (I’m reaaallllyyyy sick and my sleep patterns were crazy!). I’m so pleased Opal was released early, it kept me company while I was dying, feverish and between naps. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series!!!

“And when you’re dead,” Daemon threw back. “You’ll stop talking when you’re dead.” –Daemon to Blake

Also, the end totally threw me. I was a complete mess. I had to re-read the last couple of pages to understand WTF just happened. God, it wrecked me, honestly. JLA, how could you do this to me?!?!?!

Legend (Legend #1) by Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Five/five stars!

When I picked this book up at the library, I wasn’t sure what I was thinking. Legend didn’t sound like my type of book and I already had waaaay too many books to read. I am so glad I picked this book up, went “Ah what the hell”, and got it out. I started reading it while waiting for my aunty to finish work, and I was completely hooked. I fell head over heels in love with this masterpiece. The writing, the characters and the plot totally blew me away. No matter what, everyone should read this book. EVERYONE.

June is living in a world full of war, military and plagues resulting in death. She is plain and simply a prodigy being groomed for stardom and success. After unfortunate circumstances, June is led into the hunt for the country’s worst criminal, Day. When their paths cross, is June about to learn that Day isn’t at all like her country suspects him to be?

Legend had fabulous characters and a well written plot. I fell totally and completely in love with this book and cannot wait for the rest of the series to come out!

(Note: Sorry this is a crappy review! I’m not sure how to write a review for this book, it was so amazing and ahh! I’d gush way too much. Also, it’s waaaaaaaay too hot to think at the moment)