2015 Wrap Up/2016 Reading Plans

A belated Happy New Year!!

 

And a big thank you to everyone who followed/read/liked posts and reviews from last year. Much appreciated. 

 

I read a whopping 265 books last year, 235 of those complete books, the rest DNFs. I didn't actually set any goals on how many books, and that seems to have worked quite well, so I'm not setting any goals this year, and plan on pretty much doing the same thing.

 

Last year one of my reading goals was to finish a series, any series - I reread all 7 Harry Potter books. And still think they're some of the best books ever. Also wanted to finish some trilogies which I actually did do. I finished 3 trilogies The Lotus War by J Kristoff, Everneath by Brodi Ashton and His Fair Assassin by Robin LeFevers. 

 

Best Books of 2015

Something Real by Heather Demetros

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Anne Aguirre- Review   

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir - Review  

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas

The Dead House by Dawn Kirtagich

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson - Review

 

Honorable Mentions

Some other books I really enjoyed

Between the Notes - by Sharon Huss Roat - Review, Darkmere by Helen Maslina, Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas - Review, A Madness so Discreet - BY Mindy McGinnis, Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson,  Kissing in America by Margo Rabb - Review, Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman - Review, The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas, A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab - Review, The White Rose by Amy Ewing - Review, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 

 

Worst Books of 2015

The Heir by Keira Cass- Review

 

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - Review

 

Bleeding Earth by Kaitlyn Ward - Review  

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey - Review 

 

 

Challenges - I did two rounds of Bookish Bingo and two rounds of Story Sprites last year and in between had a few months of free reading where I read whatever I was in the mood for. I think that's exactly what I'm going to do this year. Mix and match any challenges and make time for free reading. I only start a challenge if it looks like I can complete every square (most recent Bookish Bingo cards have had squares with things that just don't appeal to me and I'm not starting a challenge card I can't complete). Maybe will do Bookish Bingo again in March when the new card comes out. A new round of Story Sprites came out yesterday which I have already signed up. (Will have a post on that shortly). 

 

Plans for 2016 are pretty much the same as they were for last year. Finish more series (aim to start is finish Vampire Acadamy - started book 4 and plan to go on to each following book as soon as I'm done, after finding the first book a bit rubbish the second was brilliant the third was an absolute heart-breaker and now I am hooked!) finish more trilogies - there's quite a few trilogies I started and have the last book to read (Starbound and Blood of Eden come to mind immediately) so I need to finish those. And read some more trilogies. Finish outstanding Netgalley stuff. (I say this every year)

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1316507/2015-wrap-up-2016-reading-plans

Review: Wendy Darling

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

I’ve not read a Peter Pan retelling before and my knowledge of the original is limited to the Disney movie version. So I figured I would give this one a chance. It started off fairly boring to be honest. Beautifully written, but very dull. Wendy was kind of bland and uninteresting, Michael the five year old was cute, and John the other brother was a complete ass. Wendy is a 16 year old girl who’s supposed to be getting ready for a profitable match for her family, but she’s secretly in love with the bookseller’s son, Booth. Who adores her. Wendy is torn because her society status will not accept a lady of her standing to be with the bookseller’s son. Even though he’s sweet, charming and really does truly seem to care for her.

 

Wendy is crushed when her father confirms her fears, and hints if she doesn’t cut off her feelings for Booth, then she may be shipped off to boarding school. Her brothers don’t help much, and John is dick when he finds a love note Booth has written Wendy. But next thing you know, the enigmatic Peter Pan has appeared and charmed them all with tales of Neverland, flying and the promise of thrills and adventure and that he can have them all escape for the night and be home before their parents even realise that the children are gone.

 

So off they go on an exciting adventure. Wendy is kind of nervous, but goes along with the flow. It’s all meandering along nicely, there’s a great sense of wonder as Wendy and her brothers experience the thrills and nerves of flying and arriving in Neverland. There’s a captivating sense of beauty in actually arriving in the magic of Neverland, the beautiful seas, the beautiful but disturbingly deadly mermaids. The sense of adventure and no rules and grownups around to tell anyone what do.

 

Wendy though, appears to be struggling greatly with the sense of keeping to the manners she has been brought up with. However, arriving on Pan Island with Peter and meeting the Lost Boys – it’s clear being a well-mannered girl is something of a problem. These boys haven’t seen a girl in years and Wendy is something of an anomaly. She’s treated with suspicion and the boys are constantly poking and prodding her.  Until Peter tells them to leave her alone and show her some respect.

 

As dull as she is, though you have to give it to Wendy Darling – she must have the patience of a saint to put up with the appalling manners of the Lost Boys. They are just not used to having a girl around. And the only other female form – is Tink, the last fairy. Who hates Wendy. I almost find myself sympathising with Tink a lot – what is it about Wendy that’s so special, there’s nothing particularly remarkable about her at all (other than her manners and endless patience) it’s really hard to fathom out what it is that Peter sees in her.

 

Wendy shows remarkable tolerance and tries to befriend Tink in spite of Tink’s nastiness and threats and acts of violence against her. The boys come to enjoy her company and Wendy tries to get into the swing of things – eating with them and sitting with them, climbing around the trees and walking the dangerous rope bridges. Peter Pan himself is sassy and eloquent, just has a presence that commands attention and holds your intrigue and respect. He’s full of great stories and all the Lost Boys want his special attention and favour. He makes everyone feel welcome and part of the fun.

 

As soon as the Darling siblings arrive and have been welcomed, Peter tells a story of daring deeds with the notorious Captain Hook and decides they need a raid to steal booze from the pirates to have a proper welcome feast for Wendy and her brothers. John’s smarts get him made a General in the Lost Boys and have a big part in the raid. Wendy is terribly worried for him. John dismisses her and is very cruel to her.

 

For the most part, the novel up to this point has been fairly bland, as I mentioned very well written, though I failed to see why it was marketed for a YA audience, and thought I could easily see reading this to group of younger children – it’s fun, kids would get a kick out of the excitement of the Lost Boys and the thrill of adventure and those looking for romance would enjoy the budding thrill between Peter and Wendy.

 

Once the pirate raid happens, things quickly took a much darker turn than I anticipated.  It goes very wrong very quickly and ends in terrible violence. It’s not all fun and games anymore and there are some serious issues with Peter’s greed when everything starts falling apart. Wendy is naturally very worried and shocked about what happens. Though Peter’s so charming he can talk his way round pretty much anything. And starts heating up the romance angle again. Which pretty much makes Wendy swoony.

 

Though thanks to Wendy’s latest encounter with Tink, she starts to realise there are very important things she’s forgetting. This is when things get darker still. Neverland is looking so fun anymore. At least not to Wendy as she starts to remember their parents and their lives in London. And also begins to be concerned about whether or not they will ever get home.

 

[spoiler]

Peter’s pushing the romance angle in a way that started off as quite – well – romantic, but when Wendy can’t go through with taking things to another level he gets very jealous and very very angry.  He acts like a spoiled brat – he’s pushy, cruel and actually threatening. It’s shocking and disturbing by this point. Wendy wants to home. John won’t listen – he’s crueller than ever. Michael’s quite agreeable to go with Wendy. Wendy wants her family together. She’s torn.

[/spoiler]

 

By the end of the novel, Wendy shows incredible strength as she fights to get herself and Michael to safety, away from Peter who’s shown a much more frightening side than she ever realised. It’s life or death to escape and Wendy realises she will do whatever it takes to get home. John for now seems like a lost cause, but her priority becomes getting Michael away from the Lost Boys and safe. The last twenty percent or so is absolutely gripping and quite scary.

 

And left at one brilliant cliff-hanger. I really can not wait for the next book.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and SparksPress for approving my request to view this title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1314160/review-wendy-darling

Review: Compulsion

Review:

I love a good southern gothic mystery complete with magic and romance, and the premise of this book got my attention right away when I was browsing on Amazon. I bought it immediately, (though must admit it’s been on my shelf for over a year) and finally got around to reading it when I needed something set in Southern USA for a reading challenge.

 

As it turned out, I absolutely loved this book. Captured my attention right from the start, with its characters and unique plot. Though I did get a bit confused every now and then as to what the connections where between the three families and how everyone tied together. Steeped in history, magic and intrigue the plot was fantastic.

 

MC, Barrie has a unique ability of being able to find things and not being able to rest until things are found, which leads her to being dragged into a plot by her cousin to help find the cousin’s lost family fortune. There’s all kinds of reasons why this is a very very bad idea, according to handsome neighbour and new boyfriend Eight (who has his own unique ability and twisty turny history with the cousin’s family) but Barrie’s compulsion to find things always seems to win. There’s a ton of drama, swoony swoony romance. And some brilliant family history going back to Civil War days.

 

An absolutely beautifully written paranormal angle as well, involving some breath taking description, though some tough and uncomfortable history to swallow.

 

Completely captivating and brilliant book.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1314139/review-compulsion

Review: Dream a Little Dream

Review:

I must have bought this one before I read the first Ruby Red book by the same author, which was probably a good thing. I didn’t like Ruby Red at all, I most likely wouldn’t have picked something up by the same author. But the UK cover of this book is shiny and silver and very pretty and has been on my shelf for a while so I figured what the hell. I’d give it a shot and if I hated it, I hated it and would then know that this author is really not to my taste.

 

As it turned out I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really enjoyed this book. I read the first 50 pages or so, I liked the premise. The characters were okay, though the tone of the novel seemed to be pretty young, not quite towards the older end of YA, the main character is only 15, though some of the themes hinted at seemed to be a little mature for middle grade. It tell the story of Liv and her younger sister Mia who are moving to London with their mother, who’s job requires her to move around a lot, except now she’s taken a prestigious new job which means a little more stability. Dad has been out of the picture for several years now.  So Liv, Mia and their au pair, Lottie, are off to London. Only when they arrive things are not as they seem, they’re moving somewhere different, and Mom has been seeing someone, a wealthy man Earnest, who has two teenage children a little older than Liv.

 

Liv and Mia are not thrilled about this. On top of that they are now starting a new school, a very posh one. Complete with its own Gossip Girl type blog of school scandals, romances and secrets by someone anonymous who calls themselves Secret. Liv and Mia love mysteries, so they’re intrigued to find out who’s behind the blog. Which is only really a side plot. The main plot involves Liv discovering she can walk through dreams. She meets four handsome boys in her dream doing some weird sort of ritual thing. Dismissing it as a weird dream, Liv is stunned when she finds all these boys go to her new school and one of them is Earnest’s son and going to become her step brother.

 

I was a little worried that this was going to be very Raven Boy like, one girl becomes involved with four handsome boys who each have something different and remarkable about them. Thankfully, it was nothing like that. It was fun, as Liv continues to find herself going through different dreams and getting to know these boys. There’s very little world building explaining how Liv can walk through different dreams, but I found that it was one of those rare cases where the book is so well written, the characters and the plot itself is so much fun and so enjoyable, that lack of world building doesn’t really matter.

 

The dialogue was witty and bantery and delightful. It’s not all smooth sailing fun as Liv finds out there is a fairly serious side when she gets to know the boys a little more and finds out there’s a ritual involving releasing some sort of demon that makes wishes come true – for a price. One of the boy’s previous girlfriend has been involved and something really bad has happened. They need Liv to help complete the ritual.

 

Liv might not have been the brightest blub in the box, but I did find I really liked her as a main character. She had a strong, believable voice and a good personality. She gets a romance of her own (which turned out differently than I thought it would and was actually quite pleased about – there were some reading between the lines hints of something possibly happening between Liv and the stepbrother to be, but thankfully, it didn’t appear to go down that road.)

 

It had a few dark and dramatic moments towards the end, and most interestingly, the identity of Secret who writes the school gossip blog, was never revealed. Hints were dropped of possibilities (I have my suspicions) but I have a feeling this question won’t be answered until the end of the trilogy.

 

Different, and a lot of fun, I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next one.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1314134/review-dream-a-little-dream

Review: Sanctuary Bay

I received an invite to view this title from the Publisher through Netgalley.

 

I was quite excited when I got the initial email with an invite to view the title. It was one on my wish list so I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, as it turned out, I did not like this book one little bit. 

 

Started off with quite an intriguing premise. A little girl is hidden by her parents and its clear that something very bad is going to happen. She's told what to do when she escapes - find a lady with children or a kid tell them her name is Sarah Mercer and ask for help. They stress the point quite dramatically to tell that her name is Sarah Mercer. It’s never actually made clear (at least not to my recollection) whether that is actually the girl’s real name.

 

Hop to many years later and Sarah Mercer is a mixed race foster kid who has received a scholarship to some exclusive all immersion private school called Sanctuary Bay on its own private island. The novel starts with Sarah taking the ferry to the new school wondering where the scholarship has come from. She’s not a great student or anything. She’s a victim of an underfunded social care system and has been shipped from one foster home to another.

 

It’s clear right off she’s got an attitude problem. Understandable given her circumstances, we also learn right off she’s mixed race and never knows what box to check when she’s filling out forms – black or white. This becomes something of an issue for her. Every character that is introduced is described as race, hair colour, what they look like. I’m all for diversity in books, I really do think its very important to have different characters from all kinds of background and ethnicities. It’s a great way to learn about other cultures and people. I don’t need it thrown in my face every time a new person comes onto the scene. Nate – white, brown hair, really good looking, Mr Diaz, Hispanic, curly brown hair. Elaine – white, blonde, very thin. I’m paraphrasing but it’s more or less like that. A lot. It got very tiring very fast.

 

Sarah’s attitude and the fact that she’s on scholarship and some of the kids she’s now going to school with are extremely rich kids gets very grating as well. I get that she’s tough, but go with the flow already! She’s been given a wonderful opportunity, the kids she meets are annoying, but they appear to be friendly and don’t seem to look down on her because of her background (which I think is where a lot of the attitude problems comes from) At least at some point Sarah does seem to realise this and decides to make the most of the opportunity she has. She’s also got a perfect memory. She can recall absolutely everything she reads or studies. This has caused some problems with teachers in the past who think she has been cheating. She also has problems zoning out when something sparks a memory. Usually something bad. When she remembers that memory down to very last little detail, she’s lost in the moment completely. All adding to the tough girl attitude. She’s snarky and defensive.

 

The first thing she learns about Sanctuary Bay is it’s a total immersion school system, no contact with parents or the mainland. There’s also a crumbled ruin on the island that used to be a mental institution. There are rumours abound that the doctors performed extremely dangerous and illegal experiments and stuff on the patients. It was also a Nazi POW camp for a time during World War 2. There may be ghosts around. It’s almost like everything horrible that could have happened in terms of POW and badly managed institutions has happened at some point in this island’s history. Now it has turned into an uber posh boarding school.

 

Sarah learns the school has its own internet, its own wifi system and each student gets their own cell phone which has all their schedules and is voice controlled. When she’s meeting the other kids and her roommates, one of them offers Sarah her notes for a class they share and pretty much tells the phone - send Sarah these notes. Or it can locate any student or teacher anywhere. It’s got some pretty nifty technology. One of the best schools in the country the kids who attend and graduate can pretty much write their ticket to any future they want.

 

Sounds like a pretty good deal. So why didn’t I like this book? I didn’t like the main character for one thing. As I’ve already mentioned, Sarah’s attitude got on my nerves, she’s almost too perfect, comes in out of the blue and within less than a day everyone, including the teachers, really seem to like her. Along with two of the most popular boys on campus, one being the student body president, who is really popular and handsome. The other is the richest kid in the school, (who happens to be really hot and her roommate’s boyfriend. He’s also an ass, but for some reason even though Sarah tries to say she doesn’t like him, she really does. Blah.)

 

There’s also hints of a secret society, and anyone in this secret society is going to do better than anyone else. Sarah’s two roommates disappear in the middle of the night frequently. So what does Sarah do – what any inquiring mind would do – she sneaks off to follow them. And gets caught up in this secret society nonsense. It’s all fun and games, and something to do with a daft ritual and some sort of drink that may or may not be drugged and alcoholic. It’s all fun and games and silly initiation rituals until things take a drastically dark turn.

 

A student goes missing. Sarah thinks she saw what happened but no one else believes her. At this point, I lost interest and pretty much skimmed to see what happened in the end. In spite of the fact that I didn’t really like any of the characters or the hints of a romance plot, the writing was interesting enough that I still wanted to know what was going on. But by the 60% mark or so, it was convoluted ridiculousness.

 

A big ass conspiracy was revealed that was so unbelievably ludicrous and the whole reveal scene with Sarah confronting the baddie, even finding out the truth about what happened to parents in the novel’s opening scene, was laughable. It seemed to have a somewhat open end as well. It’s left at what could be a cliff hanger or at least open to the point of not knowing what actually happened to the characters who survived the big confrontation scene.  Very disappointed in this novel. Not my taste at all.

 

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the invite to view the title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1314121/review-sanctuary-bay

Review: My Life Next Door

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

Actual rating 3.5 stars.

For the most part I really liked it, it started out as contemporary summer time fluff that seemed to meander along, and there was a sort of sense that something was going to happen eventually, but nothing seemed to for a long time, then all of a sudden BIG ASS PLOT TWIST. Only thing I didn't really like about the novel was the end and the conclusion of the plot twist. I didn't feel that the culprit suffered enough for what happened at all.

The novel tells the story of Samantha Reed who has a very privileged life, comes from money, has a trust fund and a perfect older sister off to college in the fall, and a mother running for state Senator. Her life is structured and regimented, she's the good smart girl with everything going for her. Unlike their neighbours, the Garrett family, a couple with many many children of all ages. Sam has been told by her very snooty mother since she was a kid and the Garretts moved in - not to associate with the likes of "those Garretts".

However, Sam has a great view of their yard from outside her window, where she finds herself drawn to watching them, particularly the good looking son Jase, who is her age. When Jase catches Sam watching them, they start a tentative friendship which quickly develops into something more. Its cute and fluffy fun as Samantha comes from from her high horse and starts to get to know Jase and his parents and all the different siblings ranging from a handful of very small children to high school aged to adolescent. Of course Sam doesn't tell anyone she knows, her best friend Nan and her twin Tim, about any of it.

Sam's mom is running a new political campaign which takes pretty much all of her time, and her rather creepy campaign manager Clay who tries to be charming but really it comes off as kind of weird and as I said, creepy. Mom is so focused on her political career pretty much everything else takes a back seat and everyone else in the family is pretty much expected to be available as and when required. Sam's older sister Tracy escapes with her boyfriend to rent a summer home and work before college starts. But Tracy seems to get away with so much more than Sam does.

Sam's time is taken up increasingly as she gets to know Jase and the Garrett family and the friendship slowly becomes a very swoony romance. Jase is sweet and decent and very charming. Though as fun as it is, it does get pretty boring very fast. Manic family with cute kids getting in the way all the time. There's a side story line with Sam discovering some unfortunate secrets her best friend has been keeping from her and this puts a major strain on the friendship which has some pretty dramatic explosions at some point.

Another side plot with Nan's twin brother Tim, who at the start of the novel was a waste of space. Tim was a stoner who was pretty much only concerned about having a good time, despite the help Nan and Sam give him trying to get him set with summer jobs and helping him out when he screws up. Tim winds up actually becoming one of the best characters in the book by the end. Through Sam he inevitably winds up becoming friends with Jase and finds out about Sam's relationship but Tim's help and friendship turn out to be pretty awesome when Sam needs someone and Nan isn't there.

Other than best friend dramatics the whole thing was pretty smooth sailing up until about 70% of the book, then there is an absolutely gut wrenching plot twist which dramatically changes the tone of the novel. Something really horrible happens and no one quite knows how to deal with it. The worst thing is Samantha knows what happened. She can't tell anyone because it would have totally dramatic consequences for other people. Its terrible how she's pressured and at one point blackmailed to keep the secret.

Samantha's Mom is one of the worst mothers in YA. Self obsessed and only focused on her career, can't admit when she's made a mistake. And Sam is the dramatic one when she points things out that are hard to hear. There's one incident of Sam sneaking in after curfew, its summer, she's 17, she's never been in trouble and Mom is having a freak out. And its skeevy Clay who makes her see different. More than a few times Clay manages to manipulate the mother into seeing things his way. He talks down to Samantha terribly. Pet names, supposedly charming southern drawl. Its not charming on this character at all. He's an ass.

At least by the end of the novel, everyone knows about Samantha and Jase, and there's just so much more now than their relationship. At least they are smart enough to realise this. Also, the truth regarding the terrible incident comes out. Though I still think something more should have been done. I can understand in a way, why it ended the way it did, but I wasn't impressed. It was too little too late for my taste and no real suffering on the part of the person responsible.

For the most part I did like the novel, it was well written, and entertaining, and did get quite emotional towards the end. The end kind of left this reader a little empty. After all that...it was....that's it?

Thank you to Netgalley and Egmont Publishing/Electric Monkey for approving my request to view the title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1310198/review-my-life-next-door

Review: Underwater

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

The premise of this novel was what caught my attention about it. It tells the story of Morgan Grant, a teen who survived a terrible incident which lead to a dramatic change in her life. As a result Morgan has become agoraphobic, completely unable to leave the apartment she lives in with her mom and younger brother. To make things worse, there's drama involving her absentee dad, a solider with really bad PTSD who has returned from Afghanistan and completely checked out from the family.

Morgan is struggling to move on and has pushed away everyone around her. Morgan knows she needs help and is actually getting help in the form of therapist Brenda who comes to the house and talks through Morgan's problems. Morgan accepts the help and even though she can get grouchy, she does listen to the advice she's given. New boy Evan moves in next door and starts talking to Morgan. At first she's kind of obnoxious, Evan has a normal life, he's nice, he's a surfer, he goes out doors. Morgan used to be on the swim team. and liked outdoors stuff too.

But due to her issues and as the novel progresses the problems with her dad, she just can't get her head around the idea of going outside again. Evan doesn't give up though, he become's Morgan's friend and helps her open her mind to the possibilities that not everyone will hate her because she shut herself off from a world that terrifies her. It's not all smooth sailing, they have their problems.

Morgan has a very supportive mom and an adorable little brother Ben, both of whom she is very close with. Morgan's mom is involved in Morgan's recovery and they both help Ben with school and activities. Even though Mom has her own problems with the Dad and his own falling apart. It's very moving how they all manage to come together.

It takes a lot of work for Morgan to realise that even though something bad happened to her, she's not the only one it happened to. Other people are suffering too. Her character growth is pretty damn incredible throughout the novel and she shows remarkable understanding by the end. Its beautifully written, and very deep and poignant.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for approving my request to view the title.

 

 

 

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1308210/review-underwater