The Assassins Curse

 

The Assassins Curse
By Cassandra Rose Clark
Pages: 298
Publisher: Strange Chemistry, 2012. (sadly they are shutting down so go by their books!)

Synopsis

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together. To break the spell, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks--all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic...and the growing romantic tension between them.

Review

I loved this book it was a great quick entertaining read. I loved the characters, Ananna is an awesome tom boy like pirate who doesn't take peoples sh#* and Naji is a bad ass yet sensitive assassin who has a large scar on his face. I found the story really memorable and enjoyable, its a week later and I find my sef thinking about it all the time still. It was hard to put down as I just wanted to see what was going to happen next.
It talks about blood magic which I really liked as I haven't read many books about the slightly gory type of magic. The curse the the Naji gets is really interesting how it binds him to Ananna, the curse was probably my favorite aspect of the book because it was the back bone to the book and it helped build the relationship of the two main characters. The assassins Curse didn't really have a climax as such, but it had two smaller events at the end unlike most books that will have something big happen at the end and then taper it off at the end. It had the beginnings of a romance that left you hanging at the end and I think that will develop further in the next book, A pirates Wish. I really wish this was a longer serises because its so could and I wish I had more than one book of Ananna and Naji's adventures.
I can't wait to read the next book, currently just waiting to get my Kobo so it can be one of the first books I read on there. I would recommend this to any young adult fiction fans who like romance, adventure, assassins and pirates. I feel its a YA that caters to both female and male genders.

4 out of 5 Stars

Bout of Books Wrap Up

Pages Read
Day one: 364
Day two: 512
Day three: 448
Day four: 209
Day Five: 16
Day six: 55
Day seven: 213
Total: 1817

Books Read
     

Like This, Try This - Bout of Books Challange

If you liked  Then you should read   

If you enjoyed the anime Sword Art Online and you don't mind a slow read I would recommend Ready Player One written by Ernest Cline. They are similar in the game/s they are set in. In both the anime and the book there is a MMOG that takes you into the game with a visor and advanced technology rather than you playing with a mouse and keyboard, like we do now. There is also the idea of someone who would normaly work alone starts working with other people in both anime and book.

Linked Imogen Howson

Linked
Written by Imogen Howson
Pages: 362
Published by Quercus, 2013

Synopsis

For years, Elissa has suffered nightmarish visions and unexplained bruises. Finally, she's promised a cure, and an operation is scheduled. But on the eve of the procedure, Elissa discovers the truth: she's seeing the world through another girl's eyes. A world filled with wires, machines and pain. Elissa follows her visions, only to find a battered, broken girl. A girl who looks exactly like her. A twin she never knew existed. Elissa and her twin Lin go on the run, but even after changing their looks and clothes, they're barely a step ahead of the government agents who are ruthlessly tracking them down. For Lin and Elissa are too valuable to let go, and the dark truth at the heart of it all is too           shocking to risk exposing.

Review

Linked is a great Sci-fi/Dystopian YA novel that I really enjoyed and flied though. I read this book in under a day for Bout of Books 11, It was a great book for a readathon as it was easy to read and really interesting. The book starts off a little bit weird close to a bad weird but not quite there. It quickly rights its self to an interesting weird once you start understanding the concepts A bit more. One thing I wish we got more of was world explaining. Linked seems to have a really interesting world with lots of different habitable planets and races. I wish it had of been explained a little bit more though as I didn't get a really good picture of what it looked like or how some of the more advanced dystopian technology worked. I really enjoyed the startling concept of the book but I would exactly say it was anything new. It seemed like it took its ideas from lots of different dystopian YA novels. I enjoyed how at the end of the book the good guys won and it ended all happy with promises for interesting things to come.

There is a little bit of romance between two of the main characters witch i really enjoyed it added just that little bit extra to this book. There is also a small super naturally part to this book were one of the main characters Lin who is the spare of the twins can control electrical currents and objects. she was also really good at learning how to work things that were powered by electricity.

Overall i really enjoyed this book, it was quick and excited and I struggled to put it down. I cant wait till the next book Unraveled comes out, as I have no clue whats going to happen in the next installment. I would recommend this to both female and male YA fans as it has offerings for both genders. Also if your looking for a quick awesome read I would recommend this book.

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Steelheart (Reckoners #1)
Written by Brandon Sanderson
pages: 386
Publisher: Orion Books, 2013

Synopsis

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning - and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Review

Steelheart was a fun yet not exactly light hearted read. There were parts that made me giggle and parts than made you think. I liked this Combination, it was a nice twist to most YA novels which never really delve into anything to deep. Steelheart was based on a very neat concept of bad super heroes, least that's how I saw them as. I liked this because it didn't just make it your average Super Hero book. There were the super hero like bad guys running the city and the rebels called the Reckoners going round killing off lower level bad superheros. As per normal Brandon has written some awesome fight scenes in this book, often containing motor vehicles, guns and technology that no body else has access to apart from the rebel group its self. The new technology makes for some cool wonder worthy missions were they leave a wake of confused people.

Brandon Sanderson has created the character David who is pretty much on a revenge mission he spends his whole life working on. In all honesty I didn't like his character very much, he was okay but not my favorite by a long shot. He was quite annoying and did allot of things that could of put the team in a lot of risk because he did things with out talking to the others, although his quick thinking did save him and the team a few times. One thing I did like about him was along side revenge his other obsession was metaphors which he really wasn't very good at making up so this made for some very comical lines both the metaphors them self's and him getting mocked for how bad they are. The other main source of entertainment was Cody a crazy Scotsman who told made up story's and talks about ear demons telling him to eat other peoples food.

At the end of the book there are some of the best plot twists I have read in a while. I love plot twists there good because most of the time I don't expect them to happen. its nice not guessing whats gonna happen next all the time, particularly since this was a young adult novel. Overall I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone but real girly girls. I think young boys would get a kick out of it in particular.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

A Series of Unfortunate Events

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events
Written by Lemony Snicket
The Bad Beginnings
Pages: 176
The Reptile Room
Pages: 192
Published by Scholastic, 1999

Synopsis

In this first book, readers are introduced to the unfortunate Baudelaire children -- 14-year-old Violet, 12-year-old Klaus, and their infant sister, Sunny -- when they learn they've just been orphaned by a terrible house fire. The executor of the Baudelaire estate -- a phlegm-plagued banker named Mr. Poe - sends the children to live with a distant relative: a conniving and dastardly villain named Count Olaf, who has designs on the Baudelaire fortune. Count Olaf uses the children as slave labor, provides horrid accommodations for them, and makes them cook huge meals for him and his acting troupe, a bunch of odd-looking, renegade good-for-nothings. When the children are commandeered to appear in Count Olaf's new play, they grow suspicious and soon learn that the play is not the innocent performance it seems but rather a scheme cooked up by Olaf to help him gain control of the children's millions. All this bad luck does provide for both great fun and great learning opportunities, however. Violet is a budding McGyver whose inventions help the children in their quest, Klaus possesses a great deal of book smarts, and Sunny -- whose only real ability is an incredibly strong bite -- provides moral support and frequent comedy relief. Then there are the many amusing word definitions, colloquialisms, clichés, hackneyed phrases, and other snippets of language provided by the narrator (a character in his own right) that can't help but expand readers' vocabularies. Though the Baudelaire children suffer myriad hardships and setbacks, in the end they do manage to outsmart and expose Olaf's devious ways. But of course, with luck like theirs, it's a given that Olaf will escape and return to torment them again some day. If only misery was always this much fun.

Review

Overall I was disappointed by these books. I found them kind of boring and the writing style didn't tickle my fancy. I didn't enjoy the conversational writing style at all, there is one point where the author plain talks about nothing relating the book which I find silly because i'm not gaining anything about the books from it. I found the beginnings and the ends of the books enjoyable but the middle really let them down not sure what it was but i just found the middle hard to get though. I enjoyed the story and the ideas in the books. I thought they were quite unique and interesting. They aren't you bob standard happy joy joy Middle Grade book which I will admit I liked.
One thing I did love about these books was the illustrations and the cover.The front covers are a lovely mix of creepy and vintage looking and i feel they have great colours and the suit the book. The between chapter drawings were  beautiful and gave you a nice idea when paired with the chapter title of what was gona happen in that next chapter. So my opinions of these books aren't all bad but im sad to say i wont be continuing on with this series  

Although my impression of these books wasn't great I can see how people would enjoy them. I can also see how they would be great for younger people to expand there vocabulary's as allot of the longer, stranger words used in the text have there meanings explained.

2 out of 5 Stars

Bout of Books - Reading List, Goals and updates.

Goals

• Participate in at least 1 Twitter Chat. ✔
• Take part in at least 1 Challenge. ✔
• Read at Least 5 books  ✔
• Make a good dint in the pile of books sitting beside my bed begging to be read ✔

Reading List 
     

Updates

Monday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians by Brandon Sanderson
Finished: Linked by Imogen Howson
Books Read: 1
Amount of Time Spent Reading: Maybe 5ish hours
Total Pages Read Today: 364
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 364
How I’m Feeling Today: GREAT!!!

Tuesday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians by Brandon Sanderson + Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Finished: Assassins Curse by Cassandra Rose Clark
Books Read: 2
Amount of Time Spent Reading: 7/8ish hours
Total Pages Read Today: 512
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 876
How I’m Feeling Today: sleepy but proud of what iv gotten read so far

Wednesday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians by Brandon Sanderson + Amulet Volume 5 + The Titans Curse
Finished: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins + Amulet Volume 4
Books Read: 4
Amount of Time Spent Reading: 3 hours
Total Pages Read Today: 448
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 1324
How I’m Feeling Today: unhappy I strayed from reading so much, but positive that iv read over 1000 pages

Thursday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians by Brandon Sanderson + The Titans Curse
Finished: Amulet Volume 5
Books Read: 5
Amount of Time Spent Reading: 3 hours
Total Pages Read Today: 209
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 1533
How I’m Feeling Today: like I shouldn't of started playing robocraft this week

Friday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians by Brandon Sanderson + The Titans Curse
Finished: Nothing
Books Read: 5
Amount of Time Spent Reading: 20 mins
Total Pages Read Today: 16
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 1549
How I’m Feeling Today: Tired and sore from a busy day

Saturday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians by Brandon Sanderson + The Titans Curse
Finished: Nothing
Books Read: 5
Amount of Time Spent Reading:1 hour
Total Pages Read Today: 55
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 1604
How I’m Feeling Today: like I should of read more

Sunday
Reading: Alcatraz versus the evil librarians + The Warrior Heir
Finished: The Titans Curse
Books Read: 6
Amount of Time Spent Reading: 4 hours
Total Pages Read Today: 213
Total Pages Read During Bout of Books: 1817
How I’m Feeling Today: sad that bout of books is over

Bout of Books 11

This month I will be participating in Bout of books! it will be my first one and i'm really looking forward to getting involved. I will post my TBR later on today.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be                                                                     sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.                                                                              

August #ayearathon

The August #ayearathon was the first time I participated. It was allot of fun, there is a great community on there goodreads page and I got allot of books read that I probably wouldn't of read without this months theme, which was Middle Grade.

Daily Pages

Day 1 Pages Read: 209

Day 2 Pages Read: 516

Day 3 Pages Read: 139

Day 4 Pages Read: 103

Day 5 Pages Read: 373

Day 6 Pages Read: 902

Day 7 Pages Read: 900 

Week's total pages: 3275

Books completed: 11

Books Finished

                      

Shelf Candy Saturday #1

I absolutely love the hardback cover of Doll Bones by Holly Black. I love the rounded spine and they way the colours go together. Its also quite a short small book which just adds to the cuteness of this cover for me. The illustration of the doll on the front is just gorgeous and i feel it gives the cover a good creepy vibe to go with the book. Its safe to say I couldn't stop staring at the cover. 

Hosted by a nights dream of books

Ready Player One

Ready Player one

by Ernest Cline

374 Pages

Published by  Random House, 2011

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune -- and remarkable power -- to whoever can unlock them.

I loved this book. It kept me entertained and I couldn’t put it down. It quickly became one of my favorite books.

Ready Player One is an awesome story of good guys beat bad in an epic game world called OASIS. If you’re a fan of Sword Art Online either the novels or the Anime you will draw a couple of parallels in the type of game. It was one of my first thoughts of the book, not a bad thing though because the rest of the book is completely different.

The characters where great and we even got a hint of romance in this geeky book, slightly unneeded but a nice little add on as personally I’m a sucker for a bit of romance. This book comments on tons of 80’s games, tv shows, movies, anime and all sorts of other pop culture, so if you an 80’s junky read this book.

It touches on issues of gamers often being hermits, how cheats never win in the end, friendship, love triangles, murder and there's even a hint of servitude. The only complaint I have about this book is it’s such a slow read compared to most, there is just a constant flow of information that you need to take time to take it in. If you’re looking for a quick read this is not the book for you, but if you’re looking for something to take your time on and savor this is the book for you.

5 out of 5 Stars