Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I don't know yet how to feel about Code Name Verity. It is an amazing book. Full of heartbreak and a few sweet moments. But it also wasn't as perfect as I thought it would be. I wanted it to be more awful, in a way. But it isn't. We don't get to see any of the torture, which probably was a good thing, but I still wanted it, at least a tiny bit of it. This book focus for the most part on a friendship between two girls. And I loved that. Truly. But I did have a few issues with the writing. Didn't love it.

The writing in this book is a bit weird. Because it is told from two different point of views, but in a different way. It is told in writing. Past-tense. I'm not entirely pleased with it; wished it had been first-person, but it did make sense, and I did enjoy it. Just didn't like the writing that much. But I still managed to fall in love with this book, with the characters and the story :)

I don't know how to describe this book. I really don't. And I know my review won't be very long, because I don't really want to spoil anything ;) First, I thought this would be a short book, just over 300 pages. But oh. Code Name Verity took ages to read. Which I loved :) I won't recap the summary. But yeah. This book is about two girls at war. They are best friends. And some really bad things happen. This is the story of their friendship, and everything they go through. I did love it.

I don't know how to start. But I suppose I should start with the main character, the girl we get to know through most of the book, the point of view we read for most of the book. We shall call her Verity. She has quite many names, to be honest. A bit confusing, but I did understand them all. Anyway. I kind of adored her. The stories she told of herself and Maddie. It was amazing. Verity seemed like such an amazing person. Sweet and kind. But also fierce and amazing. She was awesome. I loved her a lot.

So of course it's her that is in the French prison. I hated it. Really, truly hated it. But. I also wanted more from it. I wanted more about the torture. I felt like we didn't get to see it at all, and that made it seem to me that there wasn't such awful things happening at all. Which I kind of disliked. Yeah. I wish it had been a bit more details, which is why I wanted a first-person point of view, and not letters in past-tense. But I did enjoy it. I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part, and it's an amazing novel.

We get to know so many characters in this book. Too many for me to remember all their names, cause they were pretty complicated. But I do remember Anna Engel, who works in the prison where Verity is. She seemed awful at first. But I started to like her later on. Awesome character. Then there is the person who does the torturing, v.Linden. Him I hated. But I also didn't hate him all the time. It was a bit confusing. He was an amazing character, though. But I don't think he was the villain, to be honest.

The villain of this book is Adolf Hitler, and the war. I mean, it isn't about him at all, this book. But yeah. It is set in that time. I must admit to not knowing much about that time at all, except for a few important things, but after having read this book I want to read more from that time set. There is a lot of war in this book. But, yeah, not enough violence and action for me. It became boring at times. Sigh. But I loved it, still. I loved reading about the airplanes, it was interesting, just a bit much at times.

Then there is Maddie. Verity's best friend. I loved reading about her. She's a bit shy and scared a lot, but she's a pilot, and she's amazing. She and Verity are amazing friends. Sniffs. I loved them. Then there is Verity's brother, Jamie, who I also adored. Sad about his toes, though. This is not a romance book. But there is a tiny bit romance between Maddie and Jamie. Even kisses. And I adored that. Wanted more of it too, but I'm not too sad about it. Because yeah. I did love what little we got of them together :)

Code Name Verity is a book full of feels. Lots of heartbreak. Some awful things. But also some happy ones, when we get to read the story of Verity and Maddie. I did enjoy that. But yes, I also wanted a bit more from this book. I'm glad I read it, though, and I did love it. Not going to say more about it. Just that I already knew the ending before starting the book.. And yeah. It is a heartbreaking ending, and I wish it had never happened. Don't understand why it had to. Anyway. You need to read this book :)

Top Ten Tuesday #17

 Top Ten Series I'd Like To Start But Haven't Yet

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by I love the show. I need to read the books. They seem epic.
2. The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater. These books seems amazing. Still dying to read them :)
3. All Souls by Deborah Harkness. A Discovery of Witches seems so good. I cannot wait to start this series.
4. Maze Runner by James Dashner. So, so excited to start this series. The books seems so damn amazing.
5.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I need the courage to start this series. It seems amazing.
6. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I seriously have to read these books soon. Wants to. 
7. Lila by Sarah Alderson. Been wanting to read these for quite some time now :) Can't wait to start them. 
8. Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Everyone is reading and loving these. I really need to do that too soon :)
9. Fever by Karen Marie Moning. I want to read these books. They sound amazing. But heartbreaking too.
10. Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent. I really need to read this series soon. It does seem so amazing.


It's been so long since I did a Top Ten Tuesday post. But this week I really wanted to, and I think I will do next week as well :) Haven't done it in a while, since the topics have just been the same, sort of, as in I would just add the same books over and over again. But yeah. I like the topic of this week; hope I did an okay job with my post :D And hoping I will start these series soon, lol ;p What is on your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme held by The Broke and the Bookish :)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

In My Mailbox #70

This has been a good week. For the most part. I only read one book, though, which I finished today, and didn't really enjoy :\ But hoping to read more now :D My abscess hole has gotten smaller, but it still isn't healed right, so this monday it's been four weeks :\ Getting so tired of it. But it will be finished soon :) Also! I have started packing up my room :) Everything is put into boxes, except my clothes. They start re-building the loft for me in a little over a week. <3 I cannot wait! Anyway. I did get lots of awesome books this week. At least I think so :) Okay, not that many books, but still :D I love it all very much.
What did you get this week?


The Croods. You have no idea how much I want to watch this movie. Seen so many amazing trailers and clips from it. Seems like it will be the best movie ever. Cannot wait :D And omg. These books are the most gorgeous things ever. Sigh. I love them all so much. They are all perfect! I love love love.
Disney / Wreck-It Ralph magazine. Sniffs. A bit damaged. Do not approve. But it is so amazing.
Howl's Moving Castle t-shirt :D Omg. This one is peeeerfect. I love love love it. So pretty and awesome.
Castle in the Sky cards. Sigh. These are so pretty. I love them. Studio Ghibli is so amazing. Love.
Spirited Away CD. Well. My second copy. I really needed another copy of this amazing CD. Love it.
Prophecy. I still don't know if I will like this book at all. But I wanted it. And I will try it sometime :)
Dualed. I tried 20 pages of this, then gave up :p But I think I will like it at a later time ;) So pretty.
Fever. Sigh. Gorgeous UK (?) paperback. I love it. Different than the others, and it is just so pretty ;p
Thumbelina. Gorgeous movie. Never seen it in English, but I hope I will like it in English too :)
Arthur Christmas. I loved this movie when I watched it ages ago. Finally own it ;) I love it so much.


Cave bed for my kitty :D So cute. Sigh. I cannot wait for April 22nd, when I'm going to go get her :D
The Croods. My god. I need this movie. Gorgeous, gorgeous books. I adore them all so much. Love.
Bridge to Terabithia. Won this via Me And Reading. <3 I love it! Seems so good, and it is so pretty.





I got accepted to read Legacy of the Clockwork Key via Edeweiss, and I'm hoping I will like it :) It do sound pretty great, but have seen that others haven't liked it much.. But I will hope that it's good ;p






In My Mailbox is an weekly meme made by The Story Siren.

Review: Taken by Erin Bowman

I wanted this book ever since I first saw the cover. Then I got accepted via Edelweiss, but it have taken me a lot of time to finally read it. And now that I have, I'm not sure what to say about it. I'm sure lots of people will love Taken, but I didn't. I didn't like it much at all, really. Have decided to give it a two star. Maybe a two point five. But it is not a three star for me.

I didn't enjoy this book. I might have liked the beginning a bit, but that was it. And many times I just wanted to stop reading it. But I did finish it, and I am glad I read it, mostly. Will try my best to tell why I didn't like it. And the few things I did like. My review won't be mean, but it will be a bit negative and honest.

When I first heard about Taken I thought the plot sounded pretty amazing. And yes, the summary is good. But it isn't like I thought it would be at all. I loved the beginning on this book. Well, okay, I loved the world in the beginning of the book. It starts in Claysoot, which seemed like a pretty awesome place to live in, despite all the men being gone, they are all being taken at age eighteen. But I loved the way they lived there. And I wish it had been more like that. But it isn't.

They have this thing called the Heist. It's what happens when the boys get taken at age 18. And I loved that. Found it to be mysterious. But then the book changes, and I didn't like anything that happened after that. Sigh. Problem might be that I failed to connect to the main character, Gray. I'm sure he's a great guy. I just didn't see it. I didn't like him much. One of the first scenes we see him in is he punching a girl who was mean to him. I didn't get that at all. I don't blame him much, but I didn't like it.

One of the things I disliked much about this book was something that happened in this town. They call it slatings. Where the boys are with a different girl each month, that the council chooses, which none of them seem to mind at all. I hated it. Fine, I get that they have sex. But being forced to, to help populate the town or whatever? I didn't like it one bit. Especially not when seventeen year old Gray admitted to having slept with about 10 different girls, while he is so in love with Emma. I didn't get it.

He also has a brother. Blaine. And they are so different, which they all keep saying all the time. Blaine is kind of gentle, Gray is an asshole. I just didn't like any of them. Then there is Emma. I didn't really like her either. Then Gray is slated to her, and they spend some weeks together as friends, even though she doesn't even like him. But then suddenly she does, and I didn't get that either. Sigh. I'm sorry. I just didn't like this book much at all. I didn't enjoy it. I didn't feel anything at all for the characters. Sigh.

Then something happens, and Gray and Emma is beyond the Wall of this town. I won't say more about that things. You can read it yourself if you want to. I liked the beginning of this book, if Gray had been better. I liked the world of Claysoot. But then we aren't there anymore. And I kind of hated everything that happened next. This wasn't the amazing world I had expected it to be. This book wasn't the amazing book I had wanted it to be. I found it to be boring. Some good moments, but I didn't enjoy it.

I didn't like the outside world at all. I see people calling this book a Dystopia book. It isn't. At all. And yeah, I feel a bit tricked about this book. But I'm still glad I read it. I think. Anyway. I won't say more about the plot. Just that I did not like this book. I didn't feel anything for the characters; I couldn't connect with any of them. At first I thought I liked the writing, but then I read more and I couldn't get into it at all :\ Characters like Frank and Harvey and Owen were boring and not written well enough.

Then there is the romance. I already knew it would be bad, since I peeked at the ending. But seriously? I hated the romance in this book. I really, truly did. I could have liked Emma and Gray together. Except for the fact that they aren't together. And then suddenly two months pass, and Gray starts feeling things for this other girl, Bree, even though he doesn't do anything about it. But yeah. I hated it. Then we see that Emma has done something truly stupid, and I ended up just hating them both. Which sucked, tbh.

I didn't get it at all. Sure, I'm okay with sex in books. I would love for there to be more sex in YA books. But I DO NOT want it with other people! Seriously. If there is sex in a book, please let it be with the main couple or not at all. At least, that is my opinion. I do not want them to have sex with other people. I don't care about the little details. I just do not approve and I didn't like it at all. I'm sorry. But yeah. I'm being honest, and I needed to say why I didn't like this book. I wanted it to be good, but it wasn't.

Anyway. That's all I have to say about this book. I'm sure others will like it. Maybe. I just didn't. At all. So yeah. It is a two star for me. I'm sorry. I might read the sequel, but I'm not sure yet. I know I won't re-read this book. Sorry for being so negative in my review, but yeah, that is just how I felt about this book :) Thank you so much to the publisher, HaperTeen, and Edelweiss for the chance to read and review this book early. <3 I'm glad I read it, and I'll still be getting my pre-ordered hardcopy of the book.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Cover Reveal: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

This cover is beyond stunning. It is truly amazing. I LOVE IT! It fits really well with the cover for Shadow and Bone too, which I love :D And oh. It is just gorgeous. I adore it. And holy crap. Still can't really believe I got an ARC of this book that I have already read and loved and reviewed. <3 Siege and Storm is PERFECT. You will not regret reading it. Promise. Okay, yes, something heartbreaking happens.. but oh, the book is just so good. Anyway. Leigh is adorable. Go follow her. I love her. And this cover is just perfect. I love it. Don't you? Also! You have heard about the movie news, yes? :) It is amazing, and I cannot wait. It will be perfect. Also, a teaser that Leigh posted from Siege and Storm below :)


Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can't outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling's game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.


My S&B swag and books. My review of Shadow and Bone. My review of Siege and Storm.