Honor Bound – Wonderfilled Reads

2019 End of Year Survey

2019 was a solid reading year for myself, if not as great as I was hoping it would be. However, I did get to read some amazing books and find new favorite authors so I can’t complain too much. I can’t wait to look back on everything that I’ve read over the past year!

If you wish to participate in the survey, please link back to the original creator – Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner.

2019 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 64
Number of Re-Reads: 2
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy

Best in Book

Best Book You Read In 2019?

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Best series you started in 2019? Best sequel of 2019? Best series finale of 2019?

Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?

Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Book You Read In 2019 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?

Most memorable character of 2019?

Jude is a total badass and no one can say otherwise.

Most beautifully written book read in 2019?

Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book of 2019?

Book you can’t believe you waited until 2019 to finally read?

Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?

“By you, I am forever undone.” – The Queen of Nothing

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?

Book That Shocked You The Most

OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Jude and Cardan… I think it’s pretty easy to see how I feel about this book.

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Morrigan and Hawthorne crack me up with their friendship. She’s cynical and he is Mr. Get-Into-All-of-the-Trouble.

Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019?

I will always go for the moody and brooding guys, especially ones with a bit of darkness in them like Nathaniel.

Best 2019 debut you read?

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2019?

Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Most Unique Book You Read In 2019?

Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Your Blogging/Bookish Life

New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2019?

I have done a terrible job keeping up with the bookish community this past year. Maybe that’s why I was affected by so many reading slumps – I wasn’t keeping myself hyped up.

Favorite post you wrote in 2019?

If You Liked That…Read This: Historical Fiction Edition

Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2019?

Ummm, I did not take one. Oops!

Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)?

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to BookCon this past year but I was able to participate in the blog tour for Songs from the Deep!

Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2019?

Probably when I finally reach over 1000 followers on my blog. I don’t really promote it a whole lot so it’s been nice to see it grow so much this year.

Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

My reading life took a bit of a hit this year from going into so many random reading slumps, which has really affected my will to actually post regularly. It’s something I’m really hoping to not have an issue with this coming year.

Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

The 5 Most Disappointing Books of 2019

Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Top 5 Audiobook Recommendations

Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I don’t think I really have one this year.

Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

Hahahahahaha… Nope, didn’t finish either of one. Epic 2019 fail.

Looking Ahead

One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2019 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2020?

Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2020 (non-debut)?

2020 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2020?

One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2020?

Keep away from the dreaded reading slumps and try to consistently blog post.

How did you reading year go in 2019? What was a book that surprised you the most? Did you read a hidden gem of a novel? Did any books disappoint you? Please leave a link to your reading survey in the comments below!

2019 Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag

Another half year has gone by super fast. I think it really is true what they say, “The years go fast, but the days go slow.” I think that’s especially true as you get older. I mean I will turn 30 in 18 months and that doesn’t even compute with me sometimes. However, that also means that we’ve had 6 months of reading time so far in 2019 and that is awesome. It also means that I’m THIS much closer to my favorite time of year – fall. Cold weather is calling me and I cannot wait!

Best Book You’ve Read So Far In 2019

I couldn’t pick just one book because all four of these books just rocked my freaking world this year for different reasons. I cannot recommend them enough to people.

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far In 2019

I’m honestly just trash for this series. The first one was so unique but maybe suffered from a bit of slow pacing, but holy moly this sequel was insanely amazing. There was an outlaw style space port, cage-style fighting, etc. I don’t even know how Caine and Aguirre are going to be able to top this sequel, but I have really high hopes!

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To

Basically I’m kicking my ass over having not read these books because I am obsessed with Jeff Zentner and Emily Henry’s novels. But I will say that I own Kingsbane but I’ve been putting it aside until I do a reread of Furyborn. It’s happening soon though, for sure.

Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year

Okay, just give me all of the books at this point. I promise I won’t complain.

Biggest Disappointment

I wish I understood what the hype was with this book but it did not work at all for me. The main character was so whiny and naïve, making it really hard for me to care about any of her thoughts. I get that maybe that’s a reason because she’s been so isolated but still, it just didn’t work for me.

Biggest Surprise

I know there was a lot of hype going around this book when it first came out, especially considering it was Reese Witherspoon’s book club pick. But even with that, I wasn’t sure it was going to work for me as I’m super picky when it comes to contemporary novels. However, I freaking loved it so much! I listened to the audiobook and it was amazing. I’ll definitely be picking up whatever else this author writes.

Favorite New Author (Debut/New To You)

I am so impressed by the world-building Fonda Lee created in Jade City. It was so impressive and interesting. This was my first read by her but I know I’m already obsessed. I can’t wait to continue with this series and also explore some of her other novels.

Newest Fictional Crush

Nathaniel Thorn is one sassy sexy sorcerer. I was living for his witty one-liners and the back and forth banter between him and Elizabeth.

Newest Favorite Character

Spensa is so feisty and strong-willed. I love that she doesn’t take no for an answer but continues to fight for what she wants and what she believes in. She’s just a little firecracker. I am slowly dying inside waiting for the sequel to come out because I cannot wait to see what she’s going to do next.

Book That Made You Cry

Yeah, I’ll admit that I shed a few tears at work while listening to this audiobook. They were happy tears though!

Book That Made You Happy

This book was just such a joy. It was engaging and fun, with a really great family story as well. It wasn’t what I was expecting at first but turned out to be just as great.

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought So Far This Year

What Books Do You Need To Read By The End Of The Year

Favorite Book To Movie Adaptation You’ve Seen This Year

I don’t know if it really counts since I haven’t read the books but I really enjoyed Dumplin’ and Mortal Engines.

Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year

What is your favorite book read of 2019 so far? Biggest disappointment? Have you discovered a new favorite author? What book are you most looking forward to reading in the second half of the year?

Book Review: Honor Bound (The Honors, #2)

While I enjoyed the first book in the series, I wasn’t completely enthralled with it. However, this sequel blew it out of the water completely. Honor Bound (The Honors, #2) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre is the perfect action-filled sequel in this science fiction series.

Zara Cole was a thief back on Earth, but she’s been recently upgraded to intergalactic fugitive. On the run after a bloody battle in a covert war that she never expected to be fighting, Zara, her co-pilot Beatriz, and their Leviathan ship Nadim barely escaped the carnage with their lives.

Now Zara and her crew of Honors need a safe haven, far from the creatures who want to annihilate them. But they’ll have to settle for the Sliver: a wild, dangerous warren of alien criminals. The secrets of the Sliver may have the power to turn the tide of the war they left behind—but in the wrong direction.

Soon Zara will have to make a choice: run from the ultimate evil—or stand and fight.

The world that Caine and Aguirre have created is expanded even more in this second book. I loved that we got to explore more of it, especially such an awesome location as the Sliver. It was also really nice to see a lot more action in this book. I found the pacing to be much better than the first book, as you didn’t have to spend any time building up the background information and instead are immediately tossed into the plot. I never found myself waiting for something to happen since the action felt constant from start to finish. It’s such a wonderful thing when you get a book that you can’t put down because you have to find out what’s going to happen next.

Zara is an interesting character. I’ve always appreciated her sassiness, but she can become a bit overbearing sometimes. It seems that continued some in this sequel and now, even with such talented side characters, she continues to be the only one who can solve the puzzles or get the group out of the situations. I would like to see her struggle more in the following book and actually make wrong decisions. In fact, her character really just needs to get nerfed some (kind of like Captain Marvel, but I digress…). I also really just want to explore the secondary characters more. It would be nice if the next book included multiple POVs to really round out the story. However, I do love seeing her relationship with Nadim (and Bea *wink wink*) develop more. Also, I have to mention how awesome the new side characters introduced in this book are. They are so interesting and diverse.. and bonus points for all of them being aliens!!!

Speaking of diversity, it was really interesting to see how gender and sexuality norms are challenged in this book. As it makes sense for aliens to not conform to human anatomy, it was so refreshing to see those differences play such a large role in how they are addressed and interact with one another. It was a very unique way to deliver social commentary without feeling preachy in any way. This was also explored through the development of Zara and Nadim’s relationship, as their bond seems to be expanding into something more intimate than what was shown in the first book. There’s also a new element added as well that examines it from a very different viewpoint that isn’t explored often, or at all, in YA novels. It kind of took me by surprise but the more it was hinted at, the more it grew on me.

All in all, I thought this sequel was a fantastic follow-up to the first book. I appreciated that the pacing was better and there was more action well-spaced throughout the entire story. The ending also set up the finale really well and I cannot wait to see what will happen next. The only criticism I would have, is that I wish there were multiple POVs and that they will make their appearance in the last book to really help round the story.

Final Verdict: 5/5 Stars

Have your read this series yet? What are your thoughts on Zara as the main character? Do you wish we would get POVs from the other characters as well?

WWW Wednesday – April 3rd, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress, #2) by Julie C. Dao – audibook
The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book
Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book

I finally decided to just go ahead and finish the Rise of the Empress duology, when I was making a few exchanges on my Audible account. I wasn’t a big fan of the first novel but with this sequel following Jade, I thought I’d give it a chance. It’s interesting so far but I find Jade to be kind of a dud. She’s too timid and lacks much of a personality, but maybe that’ll change as I get further into the story.

I’m not too far into The English Wife yet, but I’m already pulled into the intrigue of the story. I love how the murder mystery is being explored. I’m a sucker for historical fiction and the Gilded Age setting is wonderful. I can’t wait to see how the story plays out.

I haven’t gotten but a few pages into Jade City so I haven’t formed any sort of opinion on it yet. I’m just excited to finally be reading it!

What did you recently finish reading?

And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, RTC
Honor Bound (The Honors, #2) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre – physical book, RTC
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – audiobook, REVIEW
The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio – audiobook

I got through quite a few books this past week and that’s never a bad thing. I really enjoyed all of these for the most part. I was a little disappointed with The Beautiful Strangers and it only ended up being an average forgettable read for me. The rest were all great, especially Honor Bound and Daisy Jones & The Six.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
Navigating the Stars (Sentinels of the Galaxy, #1) by Maria V. Snyder – audiobook
Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black – physical book

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

March Wrap-Up: Reviews, Reading Challenges, etc.

I had another great reading month in March. I think was really helped by the fact that I went on an audiobook binge this month. I think I might be the only person who didn’t know you can return books on Audible after you listened to them and receive the credit for it. I made like 6 exchanges as soon as I found it, getting rid of books that I didn’t finish or didn’t like enough to want to listen to again. Y’all, this a game changer for me! I always hate waiting an entire month to receive a new credit. I’m an impatient person… Oops?

Books Read

The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio – audiobook
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – audiobook, REVIEW
Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms, #6) by Morgan Rhodes – physical book
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo – audiobook
The Fever King (Feverwake, #1) by Victoria Lee – eARC, REVIEW
Honor Bound (The Honors, #2) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre – physical book
Fawkes by Nadine Brandes – audiobook
Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) by Sylvain Neuvel – physical book, buddy read
Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison – audiobook

Total Books Read: 9

Overall in 2019: 25

Reading Challenge Updates

POPSUGAR

A book by two female authors – Honor Bound
A debut novel – The Fever King
A book author from Asia, Africa, or South America – The Night Tiger
A book with a two word title – Immortal Reign
Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR reading challenge: book with magic – Fawkes

Goodreads Challenge

Total: 25/75

Previous Total: 16/75

Blog Posts

Book Reviews

WWW Wednesday

Discussions/Misc.

Did you get a lot of reading done in March? Were you able to read all of the books on your TBR? Did you read any new favorites? What book did you like the least? What do you plan on reading in April?