New blog?

Hey guys!

I haven't uploaded anything in almost a year...

Panhellenic exams have been looming over my shoulder this past year. Fortunately, in a little over a month, I'll be done.

Although I have been reading and reviewing, I haven't had any time to fine-tune & upload these reviews.

I was always planning to upload everything as soon as I had some spare time, but I've been putting it off so long that, coming back now, I feel like I migh've outgrown this blog. I didn't think there was such a thing as too much pink and yet...

I still am going to upload a year's worth of reviews come July.

But I may just set up a new blog when I get to university in a few months.

Until whenever,

XOXO

Aggie Pearson

Ruin and Rising

The Grisha Trilogy By Leigh Bardugo

Rating

5 perfect stars

Date Read

16/7/16 - 23/7/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

The perfect ending to the Grisha Trilogy, delivered in a flaming red hardcover. There's not much left to say except endless praise to the author because I hadn't expected to join all the raving fans who adored the Grisha Trilogy and yet here I am. I opted for the page by page review again, so here it goes:

Page 65: Dialogues

Siege and Storm

The Grisha Trilogy By Leigh Bardugo

Rating

4.5 stars

Date Read

14/7/16 - 15/7/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

So.

Most readers seem to have enjoyed siege and storm even more than shadow and bone but i can't get over my fascination for first books. Did it suffer from FBB? No. But there was something vital missing from it and the heroine kind of made a mess of things. Also, the last two or three chapters went by in a haze where i couldn't really shallow what was happenning.

So what vital thing could possibly have been missing from a book brimming with trips on the True Sea, flying ships, mythical golden dragons, pilgrims sanctifying Alina, volcra nests and royal princes?

Him.

Shadow and Bone

The Grisha Trilogy By Leigh Bardugo

Rating

4.5 stars

Date Read

11/7/16 - 13/7/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Impeccably imagined, imaginatively painted, complex characters and a dark, magical world. From the plot to the world-building, to the dialogues and the characters, this is a trilogy that will leave its readers breathless and thirsty for more.

Letter to my one Russian friend (Whose name happens to be Alina!):

The Book Of Ivy

Amy Engel

Rating

4.5 stars

Date Read

8/7/16 - 8/7/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

A mix of Divergent, Matched and Cruel Beauty, and still a gorgeous book all on its own this dytopian is a must read for fans of post apocalyptic YA. 

I didn't expect to like this so much that I couldn't put it down but like it I did. It's the kind of book you read in one sitting and marvel about afterwards. I don't know what made it so good. It is dystopian but can't really be called dystopian at it's best (although i wouldn't mind calling it so). The premise is good but not reallly original and the heroine is, at times, too opinionated.

Coming to think of it, it was probably Bishop and his relationship with Ivy that I fell hopelessly in love with. Like, best book boyfriend ever. Scratch that, book husband ever.

Let me explain.

The Vincent Boys

By Abbi Glines

Rating

3.5 stars

Date Read

6/7/16 - 7/7/16

Age Group

16+

General Thoughts

This is the story of three childhood friends, Ash, Sawyer and Beau's. Sawyer and Beau are cousins, the Vincent boys. Ashton Grey is the preacher's daughter and she started dating the polished and perfect Vincent boy (meaning Sawyer) at fifteen, and so Beau was  diminished to an idea, a lovely childhood memory.

Until now.

Angels and Demons

By Dan Brown

Rating

3.5 stars

Date Read

18/6/16 - 4/7/16

Age Group

16+

General Thoughts

Before Robert Langdon got around to solving the Da Vinci Code he got sweeped up into another, different mystery. His first adventure, while still tightly connected to religion, church and ancient brotherhoods is a lot less grounded than the second instalment of the series.

Futuristic technology, scientific breakthroughs and weapons of mass destruction. CERN, the Vatican, conclave and ambigrams. And, in the end, the most devastating twist of all.

Wild Reckless

By Ginger Scott

Rating

3.5 stars

Date Read

13/6/16 - 17/6/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

Such a cute cute book! Everything about it screams YA to NA and it fits into its genre neatly, with the nice girl meets bad boy theme. And yet it's not exactly a peaceful read. It scratches the surface of serious problem like family issues addiction and mental illness (without being too heavy since the genre itself wouldn't permit that).

Me before you

Jojo Moyes

Rating

4(?) stars

Date Read

10/6/16 - 11/6/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

I didn't cry. At least, not until the epilogue. I could no longer hold back the silent tears then.

I read this in two days.

I am currently in shock and incapable of forming any more coherent sentences, let alone turning my thoughts to words.

A Thousand Pieces Of You

Rating

4+ stars

Date Read

3/6/16 -9/6/16

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

Mystery, murder, fate, interdimentional traveling, Russian royalty, and a whole new level of spying.

Pretty epic, if you ask me. And what a cover...

Legacy of Kings

 By Eleanor Herman

Rating

3- stars

Date Read

23/5/16 - 1/6/16

Age Group

13+

General Thoughts

Fantasy indeed.

A new take on the story of Macedon's pivotal king, Alexander the Great, who conquered all of the known world back when the date was followed by BC. Follow a sixteen year old prince, Alex, as he begins to uncover his destiny, his half sister as she tries to make his best friend betray him, a couple of newcomers to his palace trying to navigate life in court and succeed in their respective goals and his unmet betrothed overseas as she fights to change her destiny.

The Power (Titans, Book 2)

By J L Armentrout

Rating

3 stars

Date Read

14/5/16 - 22/5/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

DAD, GET OUT OF MY BLOG

Moving on:

Predictable.

And so cheesy.

There wasn't anything wrong with the book. But it didn't offer anything either. Then again, I'm currently in a bad mood so I can't promise to be objective.

The Power annoyed me.

The Return (Titans, Book 1)

By J L Armentrout

Rating

3 stars+

Date Read

9/5/16 - 12/5/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

The Fates are cackling their bony asses off…

Another book on Gods, Sentinels, Hematoi, Daimons and Titans, this time around starring Seth and taking place a year after the the showdown with Ares. A year after he lost Alex for good. A year after he bargained his life and soul to ensure her happy ever after.

I've put off reading this way unexplainably long.

The Anatomical Shape Of The Heart

or Night Owls (UK Edition)

Rating

4 stars+

Date Read

5/5/16 - 9/5/16

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

A petite, artistic misfit and a dark and gorgeous rebel. A witty wallflower of a girl and a rich, prep-schooled, rockabilly guy. A gruesome, cadaver-painting teenager falling in love with a charming, if troubled, minor criminal. A reimagined Wednesday Addams and a buddist -

I'm out of ideas. You get my point.

Any way you put it, this book shouts of YA in its best form.

Wuthering Heights

By Emily Bronte

Date Read

21/4/16 - 4/5/16

Age Group

16+

General Thoughts

It seems silly and, frankly, rather self indulgent, to consider rating a novel that has already proved itself by transending time and become a classic, a symbol for the passionate, intense grief of separation, be it a product of cruelties, mortal nature or, if you please, fate.

Wuthering Heights is a masterpiece of English literature from prose to writing to narrating.

And love it or hate it, that much is broadly accepted.

The Girl From Everywhere

Rating

4 stars+

Date Read

14/4/16 - 20/4/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

The kind of girl that can time travel, on a daily basis, with a magic ship, is the kind of of girl I'd like to be friends with.

The Girl From Everywhere got to a four and a half star rating working up from three, without my even realising it.

Turns out I like myths about ancient magical creatures and faraway places almost as much as I love confusing my brain with notions of time I cannot begin to shallow; fate and destiny are passé, instead giving way to "history already written" or time not existing at all and to coexisting timelines and parallel universes, where sheer belief can make a place and time come to life.

Rebel Of The Sands

Rating

4 stars

Date Read

11/4/16 - 13/4/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Awesome awesome book!!!

A rebel prince. Djinn and their daughters. Galan armies and Mirajin soldiers. A secret weapon, a silent war brewing...

Travel to the ends of the world, to the middle of the desert. To faraway kingdoms that speak of Arabian nights and scathing sun, and sands, sands that get stuck onto your skin and deep into your soul.

Meet a fierce, fiery Mirajin, more gunpowder than girl, and follow her as she escapes her Dusty town and crosses the desert on a magic horse with a convicted traitor.

Follow the rebellion, the fight for freedom, for a better life, for a new desert. 

And fall in love with a strong, stoic warrior and his countless secrets.

The Love That Split The World

by Emily Henry

Rating

5 stars!!!

Date Read

4/4/16 - 10/4/16

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

I came into The Love That Split The World expecting a chicky love story, an easy, quick fun read. Instead I was treated with a masterpiece on time and love, and a love that transcends all time, and brain freezing notions on relativity, alternate realities and the wormholes.

Numero Zero

Umberto Eco

Rating

3 stars

Date Read

19/3/16 - 2/4/16

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

"Suspicions never go too far. Suspect, always, suspect, that's the only way you get to the truth. Isn't that what science says?"

Unhooked

By Lisa Maxwell

Rating

4 stars

Date Read

14/3/16 - 3/4/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

''Welcome to Neverland'...'

...a world magnificent and dangerous, with a sea full of monstrous mermaids, a jungle that comes alive, a villain who calls himself a hero and an unapproachable but honest pirate taking up the role of the bad guy.

A refreshing retelling of the classic fairy tale, a wonderful, terrible description of what Neverland means, of the devastating poignancy of losing one's memories, of having them distorted until you start to lose your grip on your sense of self, until the reader realises how truly fitting it is to call those boys trapped there lost.

A girl who's spent her whole life violently uprooted from each and every place she's learnt to call home, who doubts her mother's sanity and leans on the support of her only friend, suddenly finds herself inside a fairy tale.

Only it feels more like a nightmare.
(TEASERS BELOW!)

Crimson Bound

By Rosamund Hodge

Rating

5 stars

Date Read

8/3/16 - 13/3/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Aunt Leonie told her to stay on the path.

If only she'd listened...

Enchanting dark poetry, a retelling of both the classic Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Grettel's morbid story.

The Da Vinci Code

By Dan Brown 

Rating

4+ stars

Date Read

20/2/16 - 4/3/16

Age Group

16+

General Thoughts

"An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last."

Thrilling, fascinating, riveting. The more you read the more impossible to it is to put it down. A murder. A legend. A secret. With conspiracy theories, secret societies, vatican prelatures, chalices and blades, codes and riddles, artists and paintings and an endless chase that will leave you breathless, Dan Brown's clever suspenseful thriller is a must-read.

Fall Away (Book 1)

Bully by Penelope Douglas

Rating

3.6 stars

Date Read

16/1/16 - 19/2/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

For fans of Perfect Chemistry and Beautiful Disaster.

Yesterday lasts forever. Tomorrow comes never. Until you.

Isn't there a saying about how we hurt the ones we love the most the worst? What happens when you can’t hurt the ones who hurt you? Do you lash out at others to take back some semblance of control? Punish the girl you love for someone else’s mistakes?

I'd like to say I didn't like it but that would look like a lie considering it took me just three school days to finish.

Wait For You (Book 1)

By Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rating

4+ stars

Date Read

9/1/16 - 15/2/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

A touching, wonderful read with a cast of characters that will make you laugh, swoon and cry. This time around Jennifer L. Armentrout, writing as J. Lynn, leaves the paranormal genre behind to deal with realistic problems and relationships.

Some things are worth waiting for…
Some things should never be kept quiet…
And some things are worth fighting for…

The Sin Eater's Daughter

Rating

2 stars, DNF

Date Read

20/1/16 - 8/2/16

Age Group

13+

General Thoughts

Before Reading
Pretty cover right? And with direct reference to the book, considering the protagonist is trapped herself, by the palace, by the poison, by the evil queen.

After Reading
So, I really feel like a bad/lazy person when I DNF a book because if I start it, and except if it's really bad, it deserves a couple of days of attention, right? On the other hand, if it can't hold your interest maybe you shouldn't try to finish it. I would go days without reading a single chapter because the idea of the Sin Eater's Daughter waiting on me in my kindle didn't really sound appealing.

Red Queen

Victoria Aveyard

Rating

4 stars

Date Read

15/1/16 - 18/1/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Look at that gorgeous cover! I give you the winner of Goodreads Choice Awards of 2015 for debut author of the year! And since I promised myself to look a bit more into bestsellers in 2016, I thought Ms Aveyard's book was a lovely place to start. And with so many glowing reviews no less...

Covenant Series (Book 5)

Sentinel

Rating

5 stars

Rating 4 the series

4+ stars!

Date Read

7/1/16 - 11/1/16

Age Group

16+

General Thoughts

Going into my goodreads account I was surprised to find my "average rating" above four out of five stars. I shouldn't have been: when I've chosen a book to read, the rating is hardly ever below 3 because I already know going in the general idea I have checked reviews to make sure that the writing isn't too bad. If I do start reading something and I don't like it, either because it's slit-your-wrists boring or plain old not interesting, I simply don't finish it.

Still, I don't usually do book series. Except if they are really good. And that is the case for the Covenant series. FBB syndrome? Not in an J.L Armentrout series!

Covenant Series (Book 4)

Apollyon

Rating

 4+

Date Read

1/1/16 - 6/1/16

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

Awesome book once again, I don't know how she does it! It's like each book is even better that the last! The storytelling, the characters, the relationships, Aiden & Alexandria...

Happy New Year!

So now the holidays are kinda over, which is always depressing, especially considering I didn't read as much as I wanted to... In fact I haven't finished one book! When I was thirteen I finished seven during christmas holidays. Then again, when I was thirteen I didn't have to study...

Copyright (All rights reserved)

Covenant Series (Book 3.5)

Elixir

Rating

 5 stars

Date Read

18/12/15

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

"Aiden St. Delphi will do anything to save Alex. 

Even if it means doing the one thing he will never forgive himself for. Even if it means making war against the gods."

Covenant Series (Book 3)

Deity

Rating

 5 stars

Date Read

14/12/15-17/12/15

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

A worthy sequel to a breathtaking series, Deity takes action and suspense to a whole new level!

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well last time"

After letting Seth get the spotlight in book two, Aiden ups his game and fights his way back to Alex's heart. Not that he ever left to begin with.

Covenant Series (Book 2)

Pure

 Rating

 4+ stars

Date Read

30/11/15-13/12/15

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Even better than the first book, Jen really knows how to twist and and turn the plot, mix steamy romance, heart achingly forbidden love and action packed pages, make a kickass yet relatable, humane heroine out of a half blood Apollyon and create a novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until you turn the last page, and still stay with you long after that.

Covenant Series (Book 1)

Half blood 

Rating

4+ stars

Date Read

26/11/15-29/11/15

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Luxen has already proved how good Jennifer L Armentrout' s writing is and Half blood, her debut novel, is unique in it's own way and just as memorable. While still along the lines of chemical elements that have powers over the supernatural, this time around it's titanium and not obsidian. And the supernatural is not alien but something else entirely. Something divine.

The Premonition (Book 1)

Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol 

Rating

3 stars

Date Read

22/11/15-25/11/15

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

Pretty. If you like the Existence (only less unique), Fallen (only not for 12 year olds), Angelfall (only less gruesome) this is the book for you.

An Ember In The Ashes Vs The Winner's Curse

Stare down

Similarities

Both:

*feature Roman empire inspired, vividly painted worlds
*have defiant, smart heroins
*slaves bought that are actually spies
*the overturning of authority in some way

That's where the similarities end...

The Kindrily Series

Grasping At Eterntity (Book One)

Rating

4 stars

Date Read

26/9/15

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. So perfect I just can't-

Breathe.

Ok. Let's start from the beginning. ..

The first time I glanced at this book I knew I had to read it. Soul mates ripped apart by a tragic mystery, secrets that torment souls and end lives, centuries of memories and supernatural abilities, protected by a green eyed daredevil that has loved her for ages.

I mean it was so perfectly exactly what I wanted to read that it was startling.

Yes, I am a sucker for tragic star crossed lovers and gorgeous green eyed soul mates suffering because the heroine. Just. Doesn't. remember.

Paper Towns

Rating

4 stars

Date Read

17/9/15

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

"It's beautiful

It's a paper town

Paper houses and paper people

Everything is uglier up close

Not you"

If I had to describe Mr. John Green in a word I would say he's very well-versed (does that count for two?). His words and jokes and innuendos are all very refined and sophisticated. For example the whole point of the book is paper towns. But what does paper town mean? It can mean several things, metaphorically always. And researching it after reading the book was very interesting and helped me understand a couple of inside jokes as well. For example do you know how Margo's dog was called? Marna Mountweasel. Very strange yes. Imagine my surprise upon finding out that it's a synonyme for paper towns...

Sweet Evil Trilogy

by Wendy Higgins

Rating

5 stars

Date Read

19/04/13 (First read) and 02/9/15 (Re-read)

Age Group

15+ 

Sweet and terrible and beautiful and intense.

The Winner's Trilogy (Book 2)

The Winner's Crime

Rating

5 stars+ 

Date Read

31/8/15

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

After reading the first book in a haze, falling in love with it and finishing it in under a day you'd think I would have done the same with the second. I almost did. But then I found out that last book isn't released until next year. And I didn't want it to be over.

In the long free hours of the last summer days, what little was left of the holidays, I filled the gaps with school work, revision and exercises. I fumbled with everythimg and anything, was more productive than normal, straining to keep my hands off the book and at the same time dying to see how the story ends.

And at last, long aftet midnight a few days before my birthday, mind restless and going through all my favourite books and chapters and music lyrics that reminded me of them, I got up, went to my desk and finished the last few terribly intense and painful chapters. And now I can sleep. But not before writing this:

Chasing Mermaids

Rating

3 stars+ 

Date Read

29/8/15

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

A touching read about the importance of letting your voice be heard and standing up for yourself. An interesting, melancholic protagonist with a story to tell, poetic words, but no voice. Not in the literal sense, anyway. Much like the well known fairy tale of the little mermaid, this mermaid does not have a voice. No fins either, just a great love for the sea and strong feelings of betrayal directed at the ocean, since it became the reason she lost her melodic voice.

Singing ripped out of her future, deams shredded and voice silenced, Elyse leaves her many sisters behind to come to the States, hoping for a new story, a plan B. There, with the support of her aunt Lemon, her cousin Kirby and Kirby's best friend Vanessa, and another summer occupant of the Cove, Christian, she learns to call the small coastal town she settled on home.