Review: The Uninvited by Cat Winters

Oh my gosh. I loved this book so much. I knew I would, as I have adored Cat Winters for ages. Her first two books, In the Shadow of Blackbirds and The Cure for Dreaming were all kinds of amazing. I knew I would love The Uninvited. And I'm so glad that I ended up doing so. This book is special to me.I loved it.

I cannot begin to thank Cat enough for sending me a print ARC of this precious book. <3 It means the world to me. And it will be so special for me, always. Because oh. I loved this book so much. More than I thought I would. The writing is, as always, gorgeous. And the characters. Sigh. They were all amazing.

I don't read adult books. But this was a book by Cat. And the main girl is just twenty five. And I knew had to read it. Because, yeah, new Cat Winters book. And I'm so glad that I read it. Because damn. So good. And yes, it is adult, which I loved to pieces, but it is just as amazing as her young adult books. I will read whatever genre she writes. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved The Uninvited. But I will try my best to do so. I won't be sharing any spoilers, but I will share some things about the book, about why I loved this book so much. Why it is so special to me. Why you all need to read it. I worried for a small moment that I wouldn't fully love this, but then I couldn't stop reading. And now it is a favorite of mine.

The Uninvited takes place in 1918. Which is a year I'm starting to love reading about. And I love so much that Cat is writing so many books from this time. It's amazing. In this book we see more of the spanish influenza, and gosh. It is still so creepy and kind of disgusting and it killed so many people. And yeah. So awful. Yet I really loved reading about it. And Cat writes it so well. I loved reading about all the gorgeous Jazz music too. It was so special and the songs were awesome. So different too. Loved it.

Some parts of this book is also talk about the war with Germany. And how people in America treated people from Germany. It was so depressing. And so exciting. The plot in this book is different. And exciting. And I loved reading every moment of it. Especially once the characters fit into this story. There is so much to love about this book. Like the ambulance driving. With Addie and Nela. Which were two girls I really liked reading about. They seemed like awesome friends for Ivy to have. Really liked them.

This book is told from the point of view of twenty five year old Ivy. Whom I grew to love so much. She is all kinds of amazing. At first she seemed a lot of shy, and sort of like she just went along with things, but then I saw her differently. And she is all kinds of strong and fierce. Such an amazing main character. I really enjoyed seeing her family life too. Because this book starts with a murder. That her father and brother committed. And Ivy is finally leaving her home. Her fathers sucks. But I loved her mom. Mostly.

I really loved reading about Ivy. About her finding her place in this town, after having left her family. About her meeting May, and becoming friends with her. I really liked reading about her too. I loved reading about Ivy listening to awesome Jazz music. I loved reading about her meeting Daniel, the German brother of the man killed. About her trying to make up for the murder. About them growing closer. And oh. It was all so beautiful and so heartbreaking. Such a stunning story. Loved it so much.

The romance. Sigh. How do I begin to talk about the romance in this book? It is so amazing. And different than all the others I have read. Yet even more amazing than all the romances I have read before. Ivy and Daniel in this book are so precious. They are so sweet together. Though they start in an unusual way. And they might not seem that good for each other. But they are. And the romance is perfection. And I loved every scene between them. Swoon. It is so awesome. Just. Damn. So much love.

The Uninvited is a special book. It is all kinds of perfect. This book has the most shocking twist and I loved it even more because of it. The romance is stunning. And different. And every part of it was beautiful. The ending is awesome. Yet I do wish this book never ended. I cannot wait to re-read it. This book will always be special to me. I know, I haven't shared much about it, but I can't :D It is too good. And you all need to read it. The Uninvited is a masterpiece. One that will never be forgotten. Loved it.

I must say something. When you read this book, you must not peek at the ending. I peeked, but I did not peek well enough, hah, like always. But now, when I got to the ending, I see that it can spoil something huge for you guys. And yeah. Do not peek at the ending. Because the twist in this book? It is huuuge. And I did not see it coming at all. And it was spectacular. And so different! I didn't see it coming. It broke my heart. Yet it was so perfect. But yes. You do not want to know before starting :)

The Uninvited doesn't come out until August 11th, but I suggest that you all pre-order it right away. Because you do not want to miss this book. It is perfection. And Cat Winters is amazing. She is so kind and awesome. If you still haven't read her first two YA books, then get going. They are so creepy and amazing and so good. I need you all to read these books. The Uninvited is her best book yet. And I can't wait for you all to read it too. Right now I'm just dying to read more books by Cat. <3 I'm so excited.

Goodreads - The Book Depository - Amazon

In My Mailbox #177

I'm unsure about this week. I got some aaaaamazing mail, and it means the world to me. <3 But my health has been so crappy. I just want to feel better. But it doesn't seem to be happening. Sigh. But enough about that. I watched Cinderella last night, and it was pretty amazing :) I loved it. AND THEN! Frozen Fever! Yeah. It was pretty adorable. I loved it. So excited that there will be another long movie, hih. <3 Soon seeing Insurgent, though I am not excited about it :p Only read two books this week, but I'm happy with that. One of them took me three days, so it felt like much more, hah :p This week I read The Novice. Which I did not like. Sigh. Then I shared another Cress Tuesday. <3 I'm waiting on The Last Good Day of the Year. Then I read Black Dove, White Raven. <3 It was a bit meh. And then I shared the gorgeous cover for Winter :D Perfection! So so gorgeous. Sigh. I love it. I'm happy about this week, but yeah, health sucks and I just hate it so much. Sniffs. Well. I'm reading The Uninvited next :D Then I'm looking at all my ARCs. So much to read, so little time. But perfect :) What did you get this week? <3

A Darker Shade of Magic. Huuuge thank you to Leah at Tor Books for sending this gorgeous book to me. <3 I cannot wait to read it :D Soon! And first edition! Swoon. I love this cover so much. So happy :)
This is Not a Test. My precious! Thank you so much Courtney. <3 I won this gorgeous from her :) Love.
The Orphan Queen. Signed pre-order from Books of Wonder. <3 PERFECT. All the swag! So much love :)
The Uninvited. Thank you so so much Cat. <3 Lots of love and hugs. Dying to read this book :D Excited!
Big Hero 6. Yay! These pretties finally arrived today. They are both gorgeous. This movie is awesome.

Orange is the New Black. This was on sale, and I wanted it, because many love this series :) Curious.
Heroes. I remember watching and liking season one. Soon trying to watch all four seasons of this ;p
Transformers. I wanted to watch these. Soon! Cheap. But.. had forgotten that I had won nr 4 :( Have 2.
Annabelle. I really liked The Conjuring. And I'm curious about this movie. Just really hoping it is good.
Percy Jackson. I only got this because it was cheap. And I love the books. Shall not watch these, hah.
Under the Dome. This was on sale too, and I am so curious about this show. So I'm hoping to love it :D
Fantasia 2000. Eeek. The last Disney Classic that I missed having in Blu-ray. <3 Well, a few of the first classics doesn't exist in blu-ray yet. Hmph. How mean. But I own those on DVD. This one is pretty :)
The Monuments Men. I bought this because it was really cheap. And it do look pretty good. I hope so :)
Taylor Swift 1989 DLX. Precious Canada Target version. <3 More cards :D Now missing 3 packs of them.
Big Hero 6. Another awesome figure from this perfect movie. Fred is awesome :) Getting the rest too.
Toys. Well. These were cheap, and I had hoped to get different figures, but happy with them too :) Cute.
Panserbjørn. This is my very own Iorek from His Dark Materials. <3 I had to buy him. So gorgeous. 

Signed books. <3 Oh my gosh. MY PRECIOUS. Seriously. Such an awesome part of my life. <3 Signed and personalized books means the world to me. And these are so perfect! And I love these three authors to pieces. Sigh. So happy about these signed books. <3 They are so special to me. Sniffs. So so perfect.

Hidden Huntress. I got accepted to read this via Netgalley. <3 So happy about that. Now I shall be reading Stolen Songbird soon, I think :) I'm excited. Yet a bit sad, as I did some peeking at this sequel, and one thing is bothering me. Hmph. Still, curious about these books :) Have you read them? I'm excited.

This week I also got rid of my old couch. Which was huge. But comfortable. Though I wasn't able to sit in it much, because of cat hair, and the nintendo wii u, and the tv being in the way. Hmph. But. It was also too big to get down the stairs; I got it inside through the window, but couldn't do that now. So grandpa had to murder it. Ack. So it ended up pretty dead. Sad face. As it was so expensive. Sigh. But I have had it for two years.. so not fully a waste? Maybe. Either way, I got a new one, much smaller, as you see. And not that good to sit it, hmph, but it is most for my sister and nephew :) As I sit in my awesome chair, hah. But I like this new couch. My place now looks a whole lot bigger. And I like the way it looks. So I'm pleased with it :) Also, see the old couch here. Somewhere. Wait. See the old couch below. Sharing a photo of that one too, hih. It was so big o.O What do you think? :) New cat place too.

More Instagram photos here. <3

Giveaways happening:
Hardcover of Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose. US. Ends 04/01.

Two hardcovers of Shadow Scale. US/Canada. Ends 04/02.

Cover Reveal: Winter by Marissa Meyer

I am SO EXCITED about this book cover. <3 I have waited forever for it, lol. And it is gorgeous. Well, a bit different that what I had hoped for, but I still love it. I do think it will look all kinds of stunning in person. I cannot wait for November 10th to arrive. Though it feels like forever way, sigh, since it's been so long since the first time I read Cinder.. hmm. I shall re-read Cinder, Scarlet & Cress very shortly I think. I need to re-read these books. And re-read more of my Kai, hih. <3 These books are just all kinds of perfection. So exciting and interesting and different and perfect. I cannot wait to read Winter. I'm sure it will be just as amazing; hopefully even more so :D The cover was revealed at USA Today, with an amazing short excerpt from the book. And I love it to pieces. My Scarlet. Sobs. And more about Winter, whom I'm already loving. Oh, how I want this book. I want it right now. Also, Marissa is so very amazing. I cannot wait to read everything she writes :) I want Winter now. If you haven't read these books yet, GET GOING! They are perfect. And everyone should read them. Oh! I keep forgetting to mention. This book will be 800 pages long. SO LONG. And amazing. I can't wait. What do you think of this cover? <3

Here is the stunning conclusion to the national bestselling Lunar Chronicles, inspired by Snow White.

When Princess Winter was thirteen, the rumor around the Lunar court was that her glamour would soon be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. In a fit of jealousy, Levana disfigured Winter. Four years later, Winter has sworn off the use of her glamour altogether. Despite her scars, Winter’s natural beauty, her grace, and her gentleness are winning admiration from the Lunar people that no amount of mind-control could achieve.

Winter despises her stepmother, but has never dreamed of standing up to her. That is, until she realizes that she may be the only one with the power to confront the queen.

Can Cinder, Prince Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, Princess Winter, and the palace guard Jacin find their happily ever afters? Fans will LOVE this amazing conclusion to the series.

My review of Fairest. My review of Cress. My review of Scarlet. My review of Cinder.

Cress Tuesdays. Cyborg Monday. News: Fairest. Scarlet Paperback. Cinder Blog Tour.

My review of The Little Android. My review of Glitches. My review of The Queen's Army.
Cinder. Scarlet. Cress. Winter. Fairest. Glitches. The Queen's Army. The Little Android.

Marissa Meyer. Website. The Lunar Chronicles Facebook. The Book Depository. Amazon.

Review: Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

When I read Code Name Verity I really enjoyed it. Then I read Rose Under Fire and I really loved that one. So I was really excited about reading Black Dove, White Raven :) But oh. I wasn't in love with this book. And that breaks my heart. I had some issues with it. Though I did enjoy it a whole lot. Mostly.

It took me months to start this book, as I got accepted for it on Netgalley a long time ago. But I was nervous, as I had peeked at the writing, and wasn't sure I would like it. And. Well. It is written in a weird way, everything like a journal. But I grew to love it. It ended up being pretty awesome. It's good writing.

But then there is the story. I expected that this book would be full of exciting things like the first two war books by Elizabeth. But it wasn't. And that disappointed me so much. And oh, it took me three days to read this book. That is not normal for me. But it was just so slow to read. And I was so bored, because nothing ever happened. I kept waiting for the amazing and exciting to come, but it never did. And I'm still so sad about that. Sigh. But I'm still giving this book a three star, because I found the writing to be beautiful, and I did love the characters a whole lot. I did like the story. I just expected to much more. This book was too boring for me. Sad face. But at the same time, I did like the story too. But yes, wishing it had been more exciting.

I don't feel like saying too many things about this book. As I'm not the best at remembering all the names. Because damn. There is a whole lot of different names in this book, and so many of them I do not remember at all. Much less how to spell them. Ugh. Wishing names were easier, hah. But I did like that there were a lot of characters in this book. Though I only really cared for Em and Teo and their friend who was pregnant then got a child. I liked her a lot. But just.. I didn't feel much for this book.

Which reminds me. I'm disappointed in this book because it was so boring. Because nothing brutal really happened. There aren't many deaths. No personal deaths. No torture. No pain. No kissing, no feelings, no romance. It was all so.. tame. And I don't do tame books. Not my thing. Sigh. Wanted there to be more. But there wasn't. I didn't even like the ending, because it was pretty sudden, and there should have been a whole lot more included before it ended. Hmph. So yes. Not pleased about the ending.

I'm not sure what to say that this book is about. Because I don't really know what the meaning of it was. Sure, some things were kind of sad, not for me, but still. It is about Em and Teo. She is white, he is black. Their mothers are soulmates. Then his mom die. And god, how I hated Em's mom for how she shut down after that, and didn't take care of them. Which happened early, for a short moment, and I never grew to like their mom. Hmph. Might be because of how it was written. I'm not fully sure.

A lot of this book is about being a pilot. Their Momma flies a small plane. They get to learn once they are a bit older. And while I thought it was kind of good to read about, I also got bored so damn fast. Which was sad to me. Sigh. Then there is about the war in Ethiopia and how it affects them. I liked reading about them living there, and the things they did. But it was also so boring. Even the war was boring. Which I don't get how it could be boring. Just. I wanted more. More details. More everything.

I don't feel like talking more about the plot. It was disappointing and I wanted so much more. Hmph. But this book is about the characters. And how awesome Em and Teo are as siblings. I did love that. But also too little of it. And oh. I did like Teo a whole lot. But he was so boring too. Ugh. Then there is Em. And my god. I could have loved her so much. SO MUCH. But this book isn't focused on her. And I sort of hated that. I wanted so much more of her. Of her doing things. Of her meeting someone. Or anything. Sniffs.

Well. I feel like I have only said negative things about this book. Ack. Yet I'm rating it three stars. But yeah. It just. It annoyed me a bit, and I wanted so much more, but I also did enjoy it. I did think the story was interesting. And I did like the characters. Just. Yeah. This is a low three star, I think. Black Dove, White Raven could have been so much better. Yet I did like it. The story is kind of sweet and good. But not good enough for me. Yes, I'm saying this a lot, but seriously. I expected so much more.

Huge thank you to the publisher, Disney-Hyperion, for accepting my request to read this book on Netgalley. <3 I'm glad I got to read it a little bit early, and I am excited about getting my pre-ordered hardcover later this month. I'm sorry that I didn't enjoy this book more. But yeah. Not fully a book for me. Sigh. But I'm also happy that I did like it, because the characters were pretty awesome. Just wanted more. It makes me sad. But I do think you should all read this book. Curious to see what you think :)

Goodreads - The Book Depository - Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday #179

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

THE LAST GOOD DAY OF THE YEAR BY JESSICA WARMAN

Goodreads Description:

A new powerful thriller from the globally-embraced author of Between.

Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder.

Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner.

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: May 19th 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Pre-Order here and here.

It's been a long time since I read Between by this author. But I did love it a lot back then. When I heard about this book a few months back, I knew I had to have it. The cover is gorgeous. And the summary is so amazing. And a bit creepy. And I think this book is going to be all kinds of amazing. Just waiting for May to get here. <3 Will be crossing all my fingers that I will love this book. I really want to. I hope so. Ohh! I have the eARC. <3 READING IT VERY SOON. I'm excited. And nervous. But hoping I will love it :)
What are you waiting for on this shattered Wednesday?