lisajuliareads

[lisajuliareads]

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 5☆

I just finished this book and WOW. I absolutely loved it. I finished the last 70% in one day, that's how into this I was. I even forgot to write my thoughts and quotes down. I can't wait until I have enough money to buy the rest of the series so I can continue.

[lisajuliareads]

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

My rating: 4.5☆

You ever read a book and have nothing negative to say about it, but yet a 5 star rating doesn't feel right? I liked this book. I enjoyed reading it. But I didn't have the "I love this!!" feeling that I have with most 5 star books.

I also didn't write any thoughts down with reading. Honestly don't really know what to say except that I liked reading it. And that if you considered reading it, I would definitely recommend it.

"'Want', she told her, in a measured tone, 'is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill that lack with something else the original want disappears entirely. Maybe you have a lack problem rather than a want problem. Maybe there is a life that you really want to live.'"

I think this was too short for a 'tl;dr'...

[lisajuliareads]

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

My rating: 4

Pages: 499

I have to be honest, I’m currently a little too lazy and tired to write a new review, so I copied the review I wrote for Goodreads. I’m also using my laptop, normally I use my phone for Tumblr, so this review looks a bit different than my other reviews.

Wow. What a ride this book was. This August I'm using a 'jar tbr' to decide what I read this month. I was very excited when I grabbed a paper with this title written on it. I've wanted to read this ever since I first found it, but even after I finally bought it, I didn't pick it up because big books scare me. Once you start, it can feel like the book will never end. Even though I might say some negative things, overall I really did enjoy this book and will definitely be excited to read the sequel when it is released. This is definitely a book I would recommend... ... though, if you're fairly new to the whole 'faeries' thing with books, I would recommend reading some other books with these themes first. 'Cause wow this got confusing sometimes. I've only read a few books with faeries before, and none were as complicated and confusing as this one. From the beginning there are many different terms thrown around, some get explained, some don't. But even with explanation, at the end of the book they still kinda confused me. In this book we have: - immortal beings - mortal beings - faeries - fae - unseelie court for all seasons - seelie court for all seasons - lesidhe fae - sidhe fae - gods - furies - the wild hunt - titans - and all different kinds of other beings, that I don't know whether they're fae or faerie in this book. They made vampires a kind of faerie (or fae, I don't remember, I'm not used to these two terms being different terms). But fox spirits are also mentioned. And trolls and goblins and all kinds of faerie beings. So yeah, if this is your first go at faerie/fae stories, be aware. I kinda wished there was some kind of dictionary or whatever included to explain these terms to people who don't know what they mean. I was surprised - in a good way - when I saw a trigger/content warning in the beginning of the book. I hope more books will do this! I'm not one who usually needs this, the only things that freak me out are sexual scenes and even mention of an animal being hurt, which thankfully doesn't happen that much in Young Adult. But for people who do need it, this is very handy. This is a book where you have to pay 100% of your attention. Even a second of distraction, and chances are you'd have to reread a whole passage. I'm easily distracted, so many times I had to reread a few pages. But even when I gave this book my full attention, I had to reread some parts because I just couldn't understand what the hell was happening. But besides rereading sentences, I also skipped some. Cause wow everything had so much details. Every character got a handful of sentences, even characters who only appeared once. And every room got full details. The floors, the walls, the ceiling. For me, sometimes so much details that I didn't care and skipped the 4 sentences to go back to what was happening. Don't get me wrong, detail is important and good, but too much detail... well, for me it was too much anyways, but I've read some reviews who agree with me. Here and there I noticed some possible mistakes, like something being mentioned twice but with the opposite description or one person says something, but later someone says that someone else said that. But those are human mistakes that would definitely happen to me if I ever end up writing that book that's been in my head for years, so I'm not going to remove any points for this in my review, but I still felt like mentioning it. We have four main characters, however two of these actually don't appear that much. Most of these chapters are from Arlo's point of view, and don't get me wrong I don't mind that all because I really enjoy reading from her perspective. Nausicaä also had some chapters from her point of view, but the other two, Vehan and Aurelian, only had a few, and I kept forgetting they were in this book until they finally, after more than half of the book, met Arlo and Nausicaä. I kinda wished, even though I loved reading from Arlo's point of view, that there was more of an equal amount of chapters with the point of views. I felt like I barely got to know Vehan and Aurelian the way we got to know the other two main character. Hell, I feel like we got to know some side character better than those two. Again, I did really enjoy this book. Even if it sometimes felt really long and a bit exhausting to read, and I feel like it could've been a little shorter without all the extra details. It's a good book with a promising story, an interesting world building and characters with potential. It also has a lot of representation for the lgbtq+ community. "A sidhe prince, a lesidhe guard, an ironborn girl, and a former fury - they seemed less like a serious investigation team and more like the lead-in to some terrible joke." TL;DR + A lot of lgbtq+ rep + interesting worl building + I really liked Arlo + Also, not mentioned before, but I loved her scenes with her cousins + Characters with potential + interesting story + A content/trigger warning! Yes! + I definitely enjoyed reading this - if you get distracted reading, there's a possibility you have to read some sentences - sometimes I had to reread some things even if I didn't get distracted - so many terms are used, it got really confusing sometimes - even though they're main characters Vehan and Aurelian don't have a lot of point of view chapters - so many details that I skipped because I didn't care what this random character who never again appeared looked like and what he was doing and what the room he was standing in looked like even though the room would never again be mentioned

[lisajuliareads]

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

My rating: 3.5

Pages: 442

"Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives - or to find strength in a very long one."

It felt like it took forever, but I finished it! I feel mixed about this book.

I liked the historical parts about this book, it was really fun to read in the time period 1700. I almost always enjoy it when a book has historical parts in it, especially before 1940, so I'm definitely going to find more historical fiction books.

I found the idea of this book really interesting. The 'making a deal with the devil, living forever but everyone forgets you' part. I also really liked reading about that part of the story. How Addie felt about it, how she got used to it and used it to her adventures, but it still hurt.

I also thought the characters were fun to read about.

But man, this book was so slow. And it felt so long. I couldn't read more thsn 50 to 60 pages a day without feeling exhausted. Not exhausted as in 'I'm tired and want to sleep', but exhausted of the story. Of feeling like you're making no progress even though you've passed the 50% mark. Like it takes forever to reach the ending.

And I wasn't even that curious about how this story would end. I could've put it down and never wondered about it again. But I didn't, because the historical parts kept ke going and it was just good enough for me not to stop reading.

This is my first Schwab book, though me not loving this doesn't mean I won't want to check out more of the author's books.

I thought the ending was ok. I didn't dislike it, but also didn't have any other feelings about it. It wasn't predictable. I don't think there was a different way I wanted the story to end.

I'd still recommend this book. It just wasn't a perfect fit for me, but that doesn't mean it won't be a good fit for you. If you don't mind slow-paced books, this could be your next favorite! It could've been a favorite for me if it was shorter and less slow-paced.

So, in short:

+ The historical parts were great

+ I also liked the characters

+ The idea of this story is really interesting

+ It's also really unique

- It was too slow and long for me

- I got tired of the story every time I read 50 to 60 pages

- I wasn't curious to see how the story would end

[lisajuliareads]

Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

My rating: 5

Pages: 387

"It's the most underrated sentence on earth. 'I know exactly what you mean'. Translation: no, you're not weird. Even your weird stuff isn't weird. You make sense."

I really enjoyed this book! There are so many things I loved about it. For example the fact that the main character had divorced parents - that's not something you see often in YA books, but happens to so many teens! My parents are divorced to, for almost 8 years now, and it was so relatable to read about Kate's experience with that. And back when my parents got divorced, I could've used a book like this.

I also liked that the focus was more on friendship than romance. Another thing I wish to see more in YA books. Books are always so focused on the romance part, and don't get me wrong I like a good romance, but romance isn't the only important thing about life. I want more contemporary books with other storylines besides romance.

The musical part of this book made me jealous. I wish my experience in high school was like that, but in my country we don't have after school clubs like theater or sports. Some might, but they're an exception. I would've LOVED working backstage at a musical or play at my school.

I enjoyed almost all the characters. The only character I didn't fully love was Anderson. I just didn't really like how he treated Kate at some points in the book, but that eventually gets explained. And while I still don't love him, I do like him more in the end.

The 'endgame' relationship (don't want to spoil it) made me really happy and is definitely a new favorite of mine. And that's rare because usually I don't really feel like that about ships or characters from stand alone books. Normally I need at least 2 books to start feeling attached to them.

So yeah, I'd definitely recommend this book. It's one of those books where you catch yourself smiling when reading.

In short:

+ Loved almost all characters

+ I'm jealous of this musical experience the characters have and wish it was the same in my country

+ I loved the fact that the main character hwd divorced parents

+ Also loved that romance wasn't the primary focus

+ Yet I also loved the romance part and can say that the couple is one of my favorites now

If you want to see my older reviews or just to follow me on Goodreads (friend requests are always welcome!), here is my Goodreads account:

[lisajuliareads]

Hello! My name is Lisa Julia!

I recently decided to also post my reviews on Tumblr. No idea if I'll go through with it or not, and I only will with new reviews, you can find all my older reviews on my Goodreads (I'll add a link underneath every review)

I also have a bookstagram if you're interested, it has the same username as this one (lisajuliareads)

[lisajuliareads]

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

My rating: 4.5

Pages: 325

"I think that when you care enough for someone, you reach a point where it's far more painful not to have him at all than to have him and risk losing him."

At first when I started reading this book, I wasn't really convinced. Many people told me it would be addictive, but the first 50% or so wasn't that for me. Not that I disliked it! Oh, I definitely enjoyed it, it was super fun. But I just couldn't get super into it, and I wasn't a big fan of the main character.

But then after reaching 50%? Oh I definitely started loving this. I still wouldn't call it addictive, but definitely still worth 4.5/5 stars.

I started loving everything. The characters. The relationship. The way the story way going. The plottwists (*chef's kiss*)

So yeah, in my opinion this is definitely a recommendation.

The only other thing I have to complain about is the world building. It was sometimes difficult to imagine what kind of world they were living in, since there were barely any details.

In short:

+ Loved the characters

+ Loved the plot

+ Loved the relationships

+ Loved the plottwists

- Took me some time to warm up to the main character

- The first half didn't immediately catch my attention

- Could've used a bit more world building

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