Tag: Young Adult

Review: February Uppercase Subscription Box

Who doesn’t love a good monthly subscription box? I know I do! I love the surprise. I love that feeling of anticipation and excitement that builds as the date of the delivery gets closer and closer. You just never know what that month’s box is going to bring you but you know that whatever it is, it’s going to be awesome. February’s Uppercase Box was exactly that.

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Y’all look at how awesome this box was! I’ve loved every box from them so far but I think this one just might be my favorite.

  • Book: Starflight (Starflight #1) by Melissa Landers – This book is a YA science fiction (love me some sci fi) that is being compared to the tv show, Firefly. That’s some seriously high praises right there. It’s currently holding a 4-star rating on Goodreads. So far so good, right?

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She’s so desperate to reach the realm that she’s willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he’s been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world—and each other—the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe…

  • Starflight Poster and Bookmark – Beautiful matching design to the book. I really like the quote that they used as well, it’s cute and cheesy and fills you up with those warm fuzzy feelings. Sold!
  • Starflight Nail Wraps – I’ll be honest, I’ve never actually used nail wraps as I thought that was something little girls used, like how we used to use those sticker earrings (don’t act like you never used them, I know you did!). However, I did see a picture on Instagram of someone who wore these and I have to say, they turned out to be really cool looking. Do you think my local nail salon would put them on for me? I can’t paint my own nails. And yes, I do know that I am a terrible girl. My mom loves to remind me that every day.
  • Anne of Green Gables Infinity Scarf – Now this here, this is AMAZING. So amazing in fact, that I’m currently wearing mine as I write this blog post. It’s beautiful, lightweight, and the softest scarf I now own. So soft, I can barely even tell that I’m wearing it. It might be my new favorite article of clothing. Also, it’s an ANNE OF GREEN GABLES QUOTE!

As you can see for your yourself, this subscription box is definitely worth it. All of the items are of really great quality, each book is a new hardback YA released that month (so don’t worry about getting the paperback edition of some book released in 1995), and every book is either signed by the author or includes a signed nameplate. For $23 a month, that’s quite a bargain. However, it currently only serves the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

What do you think? Are there any subscription boxes that you recommend?

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Let me start this off by saying that I found A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas to be FANTASTIC. This was my first book by Maas (I know, shocker!) and so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. There was so much hype surrounding this book that I was almost tempted to not buy it because I didn’t want to get my hopes up and then have them bashed into a rock a hundred thousand times. Yes, it’s happened before. Luckily for me and my hopes, that wasn’t the case this time!

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Okay, so who here doesn’t love a good fairy tale retelling? Nobody? Wonderful, because then I’d have to ask, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!! Also, I would be doubly disappointed because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. Seriously, I’ve got to get my hand on the Beast’s library… Anyways, moving on.

I loved the Maas was able to blend faerie folklore with this classic tale. I’m a sucker for anything fairy related so I found that aspect to be very intriguing. It really worked for the overall story and plot line but for me, it seemed to take away from the Beast-aspect of Tamlin. I just didn’t find him scary. At all. I mean he was hardly ever even in beast form, most of the time he was in super gorgeous faerie mode. Come on, who wouldn’t fall for that?

This tale was pretty action packed all the way through, moving along at a very steady pace. I never found myself getting bored with the story or wishing for it just finish already (sorry, The Selection, that was a dig at you). Things really start to pick up around page 150 but don’t worry, you won’t find yourself praying that you get there before you chunk the book across the room from boredom. That would be impossible, by the way. (Of course, if you were bored with this book, I am so sorry!)

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I think my only annoyance with this book would be some of the characters. Feyre was a pretty good protagonist for the most part. I appreciate that she was the strong one in her family and really independent. Yay for girl power! However, she did tend to spend quite a bit of time whining. But because character growth is so awesome, she does grow out of it some by the end of the book. Woohoo! As for Tamlin, well I can’t say if I liked him or not. He was just there. I loved that he was very protective, loyal, and just an overall good person. But he had no personality. It’s like Maas said, “No worries, he’s hot and nice. He doesn’t need a personality.” If I was Feyre, I would’ve preferred there to be something more to him before I fell for him. But that’s just me. I tend to go for the sassy ones. Which is why my favorite characters were Lucien and Rhysand, by far. They are both complex characters and with their personal histories full of some intense emotional depth. I’m especially looking forward to getting to know Rhysand better in the next book. Needless to say, I’ve got a fever and the only cure for it is… LOVE TRIANGLE!

This book is a wonderful start to a new trilogy from Sarah J. Maas. The world she created is so whimsical and amazing that I cannot wait to see her expand on it as the series goes on. The sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury, is due on May 3rd and I cannot wait. So don’t worry, guys have plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon. There’s room for everyone!

Final Verdict: 5/5 Stars

Review: The Siren by Keira Cass

The Siren is a new standalone novel from the YA author Keira Cass. You might recognize the name because she’s the writer of a small series that you’ve probably never heard of, The Selection. That was sarcasm by the way, just in case you didn’t realize it.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Selection when I first read it. I found Cass’s style of writing to be average at best and her characters were a little too cliché with no depth to them. Her story was interesting but brought nothing new to the YA genre. It was a fun read but that’s about the beginning and end of it. Just my opinion though, I know tons of people are major fans.

So I wasn’t too sure when I started seeing The Siren taking the bookstagram community by storm. The premise of the story intrigued me but I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend  the money to see for myself if it was living up to the hype. However, when I joined the Goodreads book club, The Court of Books and Readers (which was started by some amazing girls in the bookstagram community), they chose The Siren as the book for the month of February. Now I knew it was time to just break down and buy it.

From Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series, comes a sweeping stand-alone fantasy romance.

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

Okay, okay – I’m very glad that I ended up reading this book. This novel is definitely a step above The Selection in terms of writing, depth, character development, plot, the whole shebang really. It was immediately obvious to me that Cass has matured as a writer. I found myself shaking my head in disbelief at silly parts just a few times, which is a whole lot more than I can say happened during the other books. I actually finished this book in less than 24 hours, so you can see that it captured my attention.

For me, the only part I had a hard time believing was the romance. As a standalone novel, I know it’s hard to be able to set a plot development at a reasonable/believable pace. There’s only so many pages to fall in love, right? But even for that it seemed a bit too quick for me. I’m pretty sure I even snorted a few times from how unbelievable it was. But due to lack of real human interaction as a siren, I guess I can let the romance part slide.

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I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Kahlen was a bit hard for me to connect with, as I didn’t really understand the ways she chose to cope with her issues. I think my favorite thing about her is that she liked to read, so there’s that. However, I love Akinli (hate his name). He was funny, charming, and just a happy person in general which was a nice contrast to the antisocial Kahlen (seriously, what is up with these names?!). I think Elizabeth was my favorite because she was such a spitfire, reminds me of someone I know but I can’t think of who. Heh.

I found there to be a very mature aspect to The Siren in general. Padma and Miyaka’s stories were very poignant and I appreciated Cass adding them to the book. The rights of women all over the world is something very important in society today and this was a great way to highlight that. The relationship between The Ocean and the girls also showed a lot of depth. You could really see how convoluted the relationship was and how different they each felt about their overall situation. It was interesting to see it how it changed throughout the book.

Overall this book was a great, quick read. I’m looking forward to seeing how Keira Cass progresses as a writer in the future. I expect to see some very good stories from her in the future if this book is any indication. Well done.

Final Verdict: 4/5 Stars