Ashley's Favorite Books of 2015!!!

Here are my favorite reads of the year!!  

Well, 2015 has come and gone, and now 2016 is right around the corner! I've read so many good books this year! I've past my Goodreads goal this year! I've read so many different books; some good, some bad but I'm glad I read them regardless. I hope to read just as many good books next year!

Click on any of the titles below to read their reviews. There might be a few spoilers so watch out!

  1.  The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. I cannot praise this series enough! I really can't! There are no words to describe these books. They are just breathtaking.
 This series has everything you could possibly want in it! Romance, action, and wonderful characters. Cassandra Clare's books always seem to knock me breathless. I can never put down her books once I pick one up! I am always excited to read her books! I'm so glad I read this series and I always recommend these books to everyone I know!

TEAM JEM CARSTAIRS!! <3

  2.  If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin. This book was heartbreaking, and I loved it! This book actually made me cry, and if you know me, that doesn't happen often. The characters are wonderfully unique and special, but the two main characters are so frustrating! It bothered me whenever Finn and Autumn weren't together or talking. It made me so happy to see them finally get together...Then the ending crushed me.
 You know immediately from reading the Prologue, that Finn is going to die, so you set yourself up for the bad ending. But then there are 336 pages of you falling in love with Finn and Autumn. And then, the ending hits you like a brick wall and it's so sad.

  3.  Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken. Jude...I was sad for days after finishing this book. I was emotionally scarred. One second, Jude was there and everything was fine. They all got out, it's all good. But then! But then Ruby realizes that it isn't Jude. It's a guy that looks like him but it's not him and it was just so crushing to find out that one of my favorite characters was crushed...
 It was really, really good and exciting regardless of this tragedy! I couldn't put this book down! I hope they turn this series into a movie series. I would really like to see it on the big screen.

  4.  Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. This story was very original! This is the first Colleen Hoover book I really loved. I genuinely enjoyed this book! The characters are unique and the story is very original to me. I took American Sign Language as my foreign language in high school and I've been searching for a YA contemporary with a deafy since I started learning ASL. It was amazing to find one and I was totally excited! I was not disappointed! I loved this book and finished it in no time!

  5.  In The After Light by Alexandra Bracken. I loved the characters in this series and I was sad to see it end. It was so frustrating to watch Liam and Ruby be so mean to each other, and it was hilarious to see Chubs and Vida get together! I saw a few deaths I didn't see coming, and there was a death I wish had happened. Regardless, I was pretty okay with the ending to this series, aside from it ending.
 I did feel like we didn't get a enough time to process Liam's brother's death. It made me sad. I wanted to grieve even though I was happy it wasn't Liam who was murdered! 

 6. Sacrificed by Emily Wibberley. This book was so exciting! I really enjoyed reading Clio's story. This story was very unique and gripping, despite its rather slow beginning. I found myself rooting for Clio throughout the whole book. And I am obsessed with Riece! If the mixture of Clio's innocence and Riece's steamy/hotness doesn't get you fired up then nothing will!

  7. Forsworn by Emily Wibberley. I love this series setting, the characters and almost everything about it! I especially like Riece and Clio and I'm just dying for them to get together in the third installment of The Last Oracle series! I think the first two books were about equally good. I can't decide which is my favorite.

  8.  Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Lux series doesn't have the best writing but the characters are lovable! The story is quirky and different, and the book also reminds me of Twilight a lot. The characters keep me hooked throughout this series! Daemon is so snarky, cute, funny, and tough! Totally drool-worthy!

  9.  Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Lux series doesn't have the best writing but the characters are lovable! The story is quirky and different, and the book also reminds me of Twilight a lot. The characters keep me hooked throughout this series! Daemon is so snarky, cute, funny, and tough! Totally drool-worthy!

  10.  Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer. I had quite a few problems with this book but I enjoyed visiting the world of Twilight again. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone. If you're a true Twiheart, you will pick up this book but you will most likely be disappointed. Stephenie Meyer should have done the smart thing and released Midnight Sun.

What was your favorite book of the year? Comment below!

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Nadia's Favorite Books of 2015!!!

     Yet another year has come to a close, and I have read over 150 books this year- my Goodreads goal. (Yes, I'm on Goodreads, go check it out). Anyway, as I already mentioned, I've read over 150 books this year. Some of them were fantastic, others...not so much. But this list is dedicated to my favorite books that I read in 2015. The list is in no real order because I loved a lot of this books in different ways, and this list isn't a Top Ten or Top Five because who knows how many books will end up here.

1: Stolen by Lucy Christopher: This book kind of came out of nowhere. I've been wanting to read it for awhile, but I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of it because the plot really freaked me out. All of that being said, I LOVED this book. I fell in love with the characters, the plot, and the writing. My only complaint is that the story felt unfinished, and left me wanting a bigger sense of closure.

                                                         



2: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers: This book was earning SO much hype earlier this year, that I had to read it to find out what the big deal was, and I totally got it. This book was not over-hyped, and although the rest of the series left something to be desired, this book can exist entirely by itself, and I love this installment.

                                                               



3: Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli: Stargirl is one of my favorite books, and when I saw that there was a sequel, it was a very happy day for me. This book made me cry, but it also made feel happy in some twisted way. This isn't really a feel-good book, but I walked away feeling satisfied with how things turned out.

                                                                 



4: If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin: I was not okay after reading this book. It was one of the saddest books that I have ever read, and I even found it sadder than if I Stay by sad book extraordinaire Gayle Forman. The characters in this book made me feel things I wasn't ready to feel, and I was very upset by the ending of this book. Yes, I know it had to end that way, but that doesn't mean that I'm happy with it.

                                                                  



5: Panic by Lauren Oliver: I have tried to make myself read her Delirium series to no avail, so I decided to give this little standalone a shot. It was everything that I had been expecting and so much more. I got to read the writing style that I so loved without any of the other things that I didn't  love so much. I could relate to some of the characters, and I grew very attached.

                                                                   



6: Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid: Take a super cute contemporary female, and mash her with some superhero and that is what this book's protagonist is like. She's super sweet and kind, but she also has some hidden depths that I wasn't expecting. This book deserves a lot more popularity than it has gotten in the past, in my opinion.

                                                                   



7: My Heart and Other Blackholes by Jasmine Warga: Again, I had been expecting the hype machine to take this one way out of its ballpark, but this book deserved every second of fame that it got and so much more. The way that it handled some of the heavy issues that it did was stellar, and I could relate to the characters in some painful ways.

                                                                  



8: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven: Another excellent product of the hype machine, and a real, raw look at mental health issues and all their ups and downs. Be prepared to sob grossly because this book stomps on your heart.

                                                                     



9: The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp: A real, painful look at alcoholism and the effects of when things spiral out of control. Include a lot of relatable characters, and some truly sad moments. Yes, I cried.

                                                                     



10: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: An amazing dystopian, creepy kind of book with gorgeous writing, painful moments, and truly major plot twists.

                                                                     

11: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas: This book needs no explanation. This is one of my favorite series, and it's getting kind of close to wrapping up. Basically, think kick butt assassin and truly amazing writing. There is no flaw with the entire series, but this is book four.

                                                          




     This year was a great year for books, and 2016 already has a stellar line-up. I can't wait to see what next year has in store for everyone.

     Happy New Year's everyone!!!

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

 Title: Eleanor and Park

 Author: Rainbow Rowell

 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

 Date Published: February 26, 2013

Genre: Contemporary

Pages: 336





                                                                       Summary:

     Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.

     So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
     I'm not kidding, he says.
     You should be, she says, we're 16.
     What about Romeo and Juliet?
     Shallow, confused, then dead.
     I love you, Park says.
     Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
     I'm not kidding, he says.
     You should be.

     Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under.

                                                                          Review:

     This is a book that I'm actually terrified to dislike. Everyone and their grandmother has read, and loved, this book. It has been wildly loved and acclaimed by everyone who has read it, and many people love Rainbow Rowell. Now, let me start by saying that I have read Fangirl and I LOVED it! My co-blogger, Ashley, didn't love it as much, but I truly loved it and look forward to reading Attachments and Landline. So I really do like Rainbow Rowell's writing style, and I like her- she seems like a really fun person! All of that being said, I feel like this is that one book of hers that I would like to forget exists. Ya know how we all love Star Wars, but just pretend Jar Jar Binks doesn't exist? Yeah, I'm Jar Jar Binks-ing this book.
     This is a character-driven book. To have a character-driven book be successful, you have to like the characters. And I didn't. I pitied Eleanor and her incredibly difficult situation. I am not going to sit here and claim that Eleanor came from a perfect life, and that her attitude is despicable. Just no. But  what I am going to say is that I feel like she could've used a major attitude adjustment. Hear me out! I feel like if we had walked through an attitude adjustment, I would've liked Eleanor more. I felt bad for her, sure, and I even pitied her. But that didn't make me like her. If she had changed, and if we could've seen that change, I feel like I would've connected more with her, and would've enjoyed her character more.
       That was Eleanor, but Park had his issues too. I actually kind of liked Park, but I feel like his character was set up for something that we never get to see fully developed. When Park starts, um, embracing the more feminine side of the world, his father gets angry, and Park claims that this is who he is and that his father just needs to accept it. Now, in this place, I feel like Rowell set us up for two things. 1: A perfect look at an identity crisis, and watching Park struggle with what gender really means. He doesn't necessarily have to struggle with what his gender is, but he could struggle with gender as a whole. 2: Is what ended up happening- push the whole set up aside for romance to further the cuteness of  this story. I understand that this story isn't supposed to be about gender, but I feel like Park's character could've perfectly segued us into some important discussions.
     Besides that, I got bored with the story pretty quickly. Sneaking around is fun and all, and the stakes are particularly high with Eleanor's situation, but it's cliched. Really cliched. Somehow, this book enveloped a lot of cliches without seeming like a cliche book, and for that, I have to give Rowell major props. Another problem, instalove. Seriously, the entire book was built on some chance encounter on a bus. How cliched is that? BUT the fact that Park helped Eleanor was kind of sweet, and relationship-building.
     Incredibly long review short, I feel like Rainbow Rowell could've taken this book great places, but she didn't. Instead, we're left with some book that, while cute, just falls way flat of its true potential. Pardon me while I Jar Jar Binks this book into oblivion.