Character Love #2: Ruby from The Darkest Minds

Character Love is a meme that we came up with.
It's a way to talk about your favorite fictional characters, big and small.
If you want to join us in showing the love feel free. Just say who the character
is, what book they're from, and a little about why you love them.
You can even include fan art or casting of them or some of your favorite
quotes from them. Have fun!

My pick this week is Ruby from The Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken

Found this pretty on the authors Tumblr.
 @gale-katniss

It's been a while since I had a character I wanted to love on, but I read The Darkest Minds and Never Fade a couple weeks ago and Ruby immediately came to mind. Cute love interests and funny side characters are normally my favorites and while this series had both of those Ruby really stood out to me. She goes through so much and every time it seems like it's looking better for her something ruins it. Despite that she manages to stay kind and care for other people-so much so that she puts their safety above her happiness (ugh still not over that) at times. I was surprised that not only was I afraid for the characters lives and relationships over the course of the series, but Ruby's character arc. I didn't want the things that happened to her or what she had to do to affect her outlook. That makes In The Afterlight scare me even more, but I'm sure she'll make it through, especially if Liam is at her side. Oh, Liam, I could go on and on about him, too, but I'll stick to Ruby for right now.


                                            Favorite quotes:

“Sometimes you're the one speeding along in a panic, doing too much, not paying attention, wrecking things you don't mean to. And sometimes life just happens to you, and you can't dodge it. It crashes into you because it wants to see what you're made of.”  


"I think maybe the most frustrating feeling in the world is to have something to say buy not know how to put it into words. To have lived through something but not be able to get it out of you before it festers.”  


“Life isn’t fair." I said. "It’s taken me a while to get that. It’s always going to disappoint you in some way or another. You’ll make plans, and it’ll push you in another direction. You will love people, and they’ll be taken away no matter how hard you fight to keep them. You’ll try for something and won’t get it. You don’t have to find meaning in it; you don’t have to try to change things. You just have to accept the things that are out of your hands and try to take care of yourself. That’s your job.”  

(I think all of those are from Ruby, but I'm not positive *fingers crossed*)

That my pick for the week. Any other nice things to say about Ruby? Or more quotes? Put them in the comments!

July Monthly Wrap Up

Happy August! We hope you guys have had an amazing year so far! Let us know in the comments what you guys plan on reading this month :)

Jasmine's wrap up

Marissa's wrap up

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Source: Conference
Stand Alone
Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.
Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.
Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?
Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?
Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.


Review
Its been forever since I've read a book by this author. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I didn't love this story but I did enjoy it.




This tells the story of Emaline. Her life is pretty average. As summer comes around, she wonders about her future. She questions the choices she's made as she figures out how to get the moon and more.




Emaline didn't wow me but I did enjoy her. I loved her humor. She was very strong and determined. I loved how true to herself she was. I also loved how she stood up for herself and those around her. I think I liked Theo because he was different. As a love interest I didn't enjoy him but as a individual I did. I wished for more Luke scenes. I really liked him. Benji was by far my favorite character. He made such an amazing addition to the story.




This had an interesting concept. I wasn't sure what to think of it. I didn't love the storyline but I didn't dislike it either. It was kinda just okay. I did love the setting. I loved the family aspects. I loved all the life lessons that could be taken from the story. I think this story needed more cute. Overall this was a pretty good read. It was a nice easy contemporary.

Waiting on Wednesday: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

****"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill at the Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.****

My pick this week is:




An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Expected release date: April 28th, 2015
from Razorbill

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier— and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

Vow your blood and body to the empire.

Keep your heart for yourself.

I didn't even know what book I was going to do when this caught my eye on Goodreads, but as soon as I read the synopsis I knew it had to be my WoW. To me it sounds like Legend in a historic setting. Why wouldn't I want to read it?

That's my surprise pick this week. Any other books coming out that you think I should know about? Let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday (67)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists

This weeks topic is Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read X. My pick is Contemporary, but I'm going to do it a little differently. The first few recs are if you really haven't read any contemporary, and the last few are if you've already those and want to know what to read next. That should give you enough options, right?

Contemporary newbies:

• Stephanie Perkins books-I doubt you'll see any list without Anna and Lola on it. The reason they're on mine is because they actually got me into contemporary. Before them I was honestly kind of terrified of the genre and had no idea where to start. I'm so, so glad I chose these because they remain my favorites to this day. 

• Rainbow Rowell books-I'm sure you have heard about this ladies books in the past year. You're probably tired of hearing about them by now, but if you haven't read them yet, you're really missing out. She has some of the most well written characters I've ever read.
• Huntley Fitzpatrick books-My Life Next Door and What I Thought Was True are the perfect read-in-a-day-during-the-summer reads. She knows how to write her couples.
• The Fault In Our Stars by John Green-I had to include this one. Duh. I'm sure you're excuses for not reading it are very valid, but I say drop them. It really will change your life. Or at least the way you look at things.

I've Read Those Now What?

• Jennifer E. Smith books-If you loved Anna and Lola and you want that travel-the-world-through-a-book feeling again, read these. I can't even list all the settings in these books. On top of that they read like movies and I never want to put them down.
• Katie McGarry books-If I didn't think her books were a little less popular, she would be on the first list. Katie McGarry is one of my all time favorite authors. I paired her with Rainbow Rowell because her books aren't just cutesy contemporary. They deal with things like abuse and anxiety and even homelessness in a way that makes the characters come out even better for it in the end. If you liked that about E&P and Fangirl, Katie is your girl.
• Kasie West books-I think Kasie and Huntley have pretty similar plots, but not in a bad way. In a can't put down because of the romance and the plot sort of way.
• Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy-I'm assuming you read and loved TFIOS (and all his other books) and you want another cancer book that's not really a cancer book. I feel you and I can't recommend this enough. Give it a shot.

Those are my picks this week. If you have at least have one more book to add to your TBR then I have done my job. Let me know in the comments if there's any contemporary's I should add to my TBR.

Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Spencer Hill
Source: Bought
Last book in the Covenant series
It's a beautiful day for a war.
As the mortal world slowly slips into chaos of the godly kind, Alexandria Andros must overcome a stunning defeat that has left her shaken and in doubt of their ability to end this war once and for all.
And with all the obstacles between Alex and her happily-ever-after with the swoonworthy Aiden St. Delphi, they must now trust a deadly foe as they travel deep into the Underworld to release one of the most dangerous gods of all time.
In the stunning, action-packed climax to the bestselling Covenant series, Alex must face a terrible choice: the destruction of everything and everyone she holds dear… or the end of herself


Review
I am so sad to see this series end. It will be dearly missed. But, it couldn't have had a better ending.




This concludes Alex's story. The world is on the brink of war. Alex is the only one who can stop it.
But it will come with a price. Everything is riding on her.




Alex, you have been the best main character. Your snark is perfection. One of the best things about Alex is her strength. She handles everything well. She puts the entire world above herself. Aiden, perfect doesn't even begin to describe you. You've had my whole heart from the beginning. What I loved most about Aiden was how strong and loving he was. I loved seeing him stand up to Alex. They've been through so much. They've never had an easy relationship. But, it was worth it. Their relationship has grown into something absolutely amazing. It just might have been my favorite part of the story. I was actually glad to see Seth. He's never been my favorite character but I actually liked him in this one. I cant wait to see more of him.




Can you say action packed? Goodness, this book was exciting. I couldn't stop reading for the life of me. I loved all the Greek Gods. I loved all the fighting and bad guys. I loved having no idea what was going to happen next. This story really couldn't have been better. I have been a fan of this series for a very long time. I'm really not ready to say goodbye. But, this series couldn't have gone out with a bigger bang!

Series Love #28: Sweet Series

Series Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many amazing book series out there. We love to share the love and help spread the word. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick a series. It doesn’t matter if it only has one book or a million, as long as you include the authors name and the covers of the books.

My pick this week is:

I haven't finished this series yet. But I've read the first two books and they were amazing! I love angel stories. This series is so fun! I'm a really big fan. I cannot wait to finally read Sweet Reckoning to see how it all wraps up. Plus I miss my babies Kia in particular. If you haven't read this series I highly recommend checking it out :)