The Kiss of Deception Book Talk

The Kiss of Deception 
by Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: July 8th, 2014

Spoilers

Synopsis:

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. I have been having a very good reading month. Lots and lots of 5 star reads. This one is the cherry on top of the metaphorical cake.

So in the story, you get there points of views. The Princess, the Prince, and the Assassin. Now you don't know which one is which. So the two men are named Rafe and Kaden. Now I thought I knew which one was the assassin and which one was the Price. I thought it was totally and completely obvious. But Mary E. Pearson, played a trick on me and I was just so wrong. Now usually I would just say which was which because I personally love spoilers, but I think this one is better left unsaid. You can comment down bellow which one you thought was the prince and which one was the assassin if you want. I wanna see how many people got it right.

After reading this book, I can conclude that I like Rafe better. He's really moody and not what I expected him to be like. Him and Lia had such fantastic chemistry throughout the novel and I'm rooting for them to make it in the end.

Now Kaden, I didn't have an instantaneous connection with him, I don't know, he just seemed so full of ulterior motive and he just wasn't as dynamic as Rafe was. I mean, I do still like him, I just don't want him and Lia to get together.

I liked the fact that Lia actually had reasons for running away. She genuinely wanted to be a normal person with a normal life. She did her very best to fit in and held her own when working. She wasn't just a spoiled brat who thought commoner life would be easier than being a princess just because she didn't want to marry someone not of her choosing. Lia had depth. I'm excited to see which direction her character goes in in the next two books.

It was strongly hinted at, or more precisely, stated, that she would have some huge quest to come. It was in the book, there was that one poem about her being a saviour.

I also want to know more about her mother. it seems like something has been happening with her mother that hasn't really been discussed. It's just been eluded to.

I shed a tear or two when Lia's brother Walther died. It broke my heart when Greta and the baby died. It was just so sad, Greta was only 19 years old. That's way too young. When Walther died, though, it was just tragic. Lia knew it was going to happen, she could see the army defending upon their camp, and yet she could do nothing to stop the massacre from happening and was held back by Kaden. Then she spent hours making sure that every one of those soldiers got a proper burial. Even preformed the special ceremony for each of them. 

What makes me nervous, is whenever the main character lies to another character about something significant. It just makes me so nervous because I know that it's going to come out eventually in an awful way. This is how I felt when Lia lied to Pauline, saying that Mikael was dead. You should not lie to a pregnant lady like that, it's cruel, most certainly if she finds out the truth. Personally, I want what Walther said about Mikael having tons of lady friends to be false and misguided. I want Pauline and Michael to be together, I want him to love her and their child and have a happy ending, because I think Pauline deserves that. From this first book I have decided that I really do like her, she is an amazing friend.

I was so relieved when Rafe caught up in the end and I just feel so much better about the whole situation now that he is there with her. I want them to be together forever. They are so cute.

Quotes:

“It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered.” 

“I will find you.In the farthest corner, I will find you.” 

“Maybe there were a hundred different ways to fall in love.”

“Sometimes the enemy is just one person who will bring down a kingdom.” 

“This world, it breathes you in, sniffs, it knows you, and then it breathes you out again, shares you. You’re not contained here in this single place alone. The wind, time, it circles, repeats, teaches, reveals, some swaths cutting deeper than others. The universe knows. The universe has a long memory.” 

The School for Good and Evil Book Talk

The School for Good and Evil
by Soman Chainani

Release Date: May 14th, 2013

Spoilers

Synopsis:

The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. I thought it was wonderfully creative and different and I loved every page I read. I read it in one day, I became so obsessed with it. I plan to get my hands on the rest of the series as soon as I possibly can.

I have to start off with, I thought the author was a lady at first, I don't know why, but that's what I thought at first, but for some reason I was flipping through the back of the book and discovered that the author was not a woman. I was very surprised to say the least. I also have to congratulate the author on writing a book about girls so well. I thought it was fantastic.

What I never seemed to find was how old the characters are in this book. I know that they have to be at least 12 years old, but I really don't know specifically how old they are. I feel like they have to be older than 12 because they feel like they need to have their princess and fall in love right now and if they're 12 then I think that's a bit weird, but at the same time they still seem pretty immature so I don't think they are in their late teens. I'm putting them between 14 and 16. That is my guestimate. 

I loved the story in general. Flipping stereotypes on their heads. The girl who everyone thinks is vile and terrible ends up as a princess and the girl who is lovely and beautiful ends up being a villain. Now there were some things that bothered me, little things such as the way villains had to be, they had to be ugly and I just don't think that's quite accurate. I mean evil queen from Snow White was gorgeous. Anyway, that was the only thing that really bothered me about the book.

The most mind boggling part of the book, for me, was when Sofie and the Headmaster have the meeting and it's revealed that he's actually really young and most importantly evil. I thought he was the good one, which I guess was what the author was going for. So good for him. I was also really surprised when he said that they were soul mates or whatever. I had to put the book down for a moment, because she is like what, 14? and he is over 200 years old. Now that's what I call robbing the cradle.

I had a love hate relationship with Sofie. At times she really seemed to care about what happened to Agatha, but others, she was just so terrible. I honestly, never knew what to expect from her. She was just so unpredictable, it was always an uncertainty of whether she would double cross Agatha or do right by her.

I really liked Agatha, she went through some major character development. She started out living in a cemetery, scaring everyone away, then she went to this school where she didn't really fit in and she was just as equally terrible there, but then she slowly learned that she was meant to be there. She learned to love herself the way she was and the people around her started liking her because she liked herself. 

Now the book has ended on a huge cliffhanger and I'm left with a billion questions, like, Are they stuck in the real world now? did the people form the School of Good become attractive again? Are the former members of the School of Evil permanently good now? Is it just going to be the School of Good now? I need to know.

Quotes:

“She had always found villains more exciting than heroes. They had ambition, passion. They made the stories happen. Villains didn't fear death. No, they wrapped themselves in death like suits of armor! As she inhaled the school's graveyard smell, Agatha felt her blood rush. For like all villains, death didn't scare her. It made her feel alive.” 

“What's the one thing Evil can never have...and the one thing Good can never do without?” 

“Only once you destroy who you think you are can you embrace who you truly are” 

“You’re not evil Sophie," Agatha whispered, touching her decayed cheek. "You’re human." Sophie smiled weakly. “Only if I have you.” 

“- You gave me a dead frog for my birthday!- To remind you we all die and end up rotting underground eaten by maggots so we should enjoy our birthdays while we have them. I found it thoughtful.” 

Crooked Kingdom Book Talk

Crooked Kingdom
by Leigh Bardugo

Release Date: September 27th 2016

Spoilers

Synopsis:

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. This was completely devastating near the end of the book. I was not expecting what happened. It was completely blind sided me.

So I spent two whole books rooting for my ships, and what do you know, Mattias has to just go and die and stay dead. I cried like a baby. I wanted him and Nina to get together so badly, maybe the most out of all the couples in this book. I really thought they were going to make it.

Other than this devastating blow, the book came to a beautiful ending. I really enjoyed it. The characters seemed to face their fears and works through them, or are on a  steady course to resolve their personal conflicts. 

It made me feel a bit better to know that after all this bad stuff had gone down, that at least Kaz and Inej were going to still be doing things together. Hopefully. Maybe they will even get together, have some children, maybe even get married. It would be so incredibly cute. my imagination can't handle it.

It brought me great joy to see Kaz run Pekka Rollins right out of town. He scared him so badly, even beat him at his own game. The the whole gang also got a win against Van Eck. I'm glad to see that happening to him after all the misery he has caused those around him, like his son and his wife. Also, the fact that he took a wife about the same age as his son. Ridiculous.

There were some new characters that were introduced in this book, most notably the White Blade, ro whatever her name is. She appeared during a vital part of the gangs plot against Van Eck. At first she seemed to beat Inej in a fight, but that wasn't exactly fair because Inej was just rescued from the clutches of Van Eck a few days before this. So my personal favourite part of the book was when Inej and the White Blade met again, they had a final showdown and Inej being the badass that she is, totally wiped the floor with her. 

Inej was the real map of this novel. She survived the torture that Van Eck put her through, she beat the shit out of the White blade, and then at the very end she threatened Pekka Rollins and finally drove him to get as far away as possible and stay away. Bonus, she got her family back. She earned that. 

I loved Nina even more in this book than I did in the first book. She was just so sassy and flirty. She teased Mattias so much and it sometimes got heated. I also just loved the fact that she was willing to do anything for her friends. She would say some hilarious shit sometimes and make plans to kill people. In a way she reminded me of Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy, and if you didn't know, Rose happens to be one of my favourite characters of all time. I love her. And by default i love Nina, and I just feel so bad for her because of Mattias.

Now, Wylan and Jesper, their relationship felt a bit, less than the other two. The book didn't really have much focus on their relationship. The most focus it had was when Jesper kissed Kuwei because he thought he was Wylan. And Wylan walked in on this and got super upset. I feel like maybe after the book ends they get together, but I'm honestly not all that sure about them.

Quotes:

“Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return.” 

“Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?""Guns?" asked Jesper."Ships?" queried Inej."Bombs?" suggested Wylan. "Political bribes?" offered Nina. They all looked at Matthias. "This is where you tell us how awful we are," she whispered.” 

“She smiled then, her cheeks red, her cheeks scattered with some kind of dust. It was a smile he thought he might die to earn again.” 

“I am grateful you're alive", he said. "I am grateful that you're beside me. I am grateful that you're eating." She rested her head on his shoulder. "You're better that waffles, Matthias Helvar." A small smile curled the Fjerdan's lips. "Let's not say things we don't mean, my love.” 

“Has anyone noticed this whole city is looking for us, mad at us, or wants to kill us?""So?" said Kaz."Well, usually it's just half the city.”

“Meeting you was a disaster.”She raised a brow. “Thank you.”Djel, he was terrible at this. He stumbled on, trying to make her understand. “But I am grateful for that disaster. I needed a catastrophe to shake me from the life I knew. You were an earthquake, a landslide.”“I,” she said, planting a hand on her hip, “am a delicate flower.”“You aren’t a flower, you’re every blossom in the wood blooming at once. You are a tidal wave. You’re a stampede. You are overwhelming.” 

“Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too. They don’t forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.” 

The Captive Prince Trilogy Book Talk

The Captive Prince Trilogy 
by C. S. Pacat

Spoilers

Synopsis:

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative, and deadly, his new master, Prince Laurent, epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else…

My Thoughts:

I gave this series 5 stars. A lot of the time when reading a trilogy or series, the first book is best and the second or last book just sucks and it just goes downhill from the first book. That was not the case in this trilogy, it just kept getting better and better.

I ship them so hard. They are so cute together. I read the entire series within a week. I had to see where their relationship was heading. Where the plot was heading.

Both characters had to deal with the fact that others coveted their thrones. Damen's own brother sent him off to their enemy as a slave just so he could have his throne. Then Laurent's uncle, the regent, did his best to turn his country against him. They both had their own struggles, their own conflicts. At times, with each other.

I really enjoyed the contrast of their personalities. Laurent was a bit cruel and he was cold. He was clever and liked messing with people. He had this whole endgame that he was working for. 

Damen, seems to be a completely different person. he is someone you do not mess with under any circumstances, he's honourable and brave. To put this is terms you may understand better, depending on if you've read or watched Harry Potter, I see Laurent as a Slytherin and Damen as a Gryffindor.

I had been putting off reading this series for so long, I never really knew what it was about, but i kept seeing it everywhere. I'm so glad i finally decided to give it a try because this series is one of my new favourites. Not only because of the romance, but because of this incredible fantasy world, with it's politics and struggles and fights. They kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

I loved when it was revealed who Damen was, but Laurent didn't seem to care, he had strong feelings for him anyway. It seems a bit messed up that Laurent would sleep with his brothers killer, but I guess love is love and he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. I love "forbidden" loves like that. 

Now since I don't want to get to much into spoilers, I'm gonna stop there and let you experience it for yourself.

Quotes:

“I lack," said Laurent, "the easy mannerisms that are usually shared with," you could see him pushing the words out, "a lover.""You lack the easy mannerisms that are usually shared with anyone," said Damen.” 

“That’s right, I’m still captured,’ said Damen. ‘Your eyes say, “For now,”’ Laurent said. ‘Your eyes have always said, “For now.” 

“Damen felt Laurent start shaking against him, and realised that, silently, helplessly, he was laughing.There came the sound of at least two more sets of footsteps striding into the room, greeted with: 'Here he is. We found him fucking this derelict, disguised as the tavern prostitute.''This is the tavern prostitute. You idiot, the Prince of Vere is so celibate I doubt he even touches himself once every ten years. You. We're looking for two men. One was a barbarian soldier, a giant animal. The other was blond. Not like this boy. Attractive.' 'There was a blond lord's pet downstairs,' said Volo. 'Brained like a pea and easy to hoodwink. I don't think he was the Prince.' 'I wouldn't call him blond. More like mousy. And he wasn't that attractive,' said the boy, sulkily. The shaking, progressively, had worsened. 'Stop enjoying yourself,' Damen murmured. 'We're going to be killed, any minute.''Giant animal,' said Laurent. 'Stop it.” 

“When laced into his clothing, Laurent's dangerous grace lent him an almost androgynous quality. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was rare to associate Laurent with a physical body at all: you were always dealing with a mind.” 

Top 5 Non-Canon Ships

I was originally going to do a top 10, but then I saw that this was one of the topics for T5W so I just went down to five.

Some of these may seem kind of weird and out of left field, it's just my mind being weird.

5. Crow and Abra

I honestly don't even know where this one came from, I just thought that they had really good chemistry and obviously they never got together, so I think my thoughts are not harmful.

4. Shawnee and Kalona

So I was not the only one who shipped this. I was not the only one who totally thought they were going to end up together. I have talked to other people about this and it was totally plausible to think they would get together. It just never happened. Le sigh.

3. Ambrose and Kvothe

I just love how much they hate each other, imagine if they got together. They would be one of those really cute couples who are opposites and they bicker all the time and it would beautiful. I just don't think it's ever going to happen. Apparently I'm the only one who ships them together because there is no fan fiction of them to be found. None. If anyone finds some link it in the comments please!

2. Trevor and Raven

Another antagonistic love story. I mean, Trevor has a thing for Raven. I could totally see them getting together if Alexander wasn't there. They're cute.

1. Draco and Harry

What else would be number one? Honestly, they love to hate each other and that just takes things to a whole other level. People have been shipping them together for years and years. They have even gone as far as to ship their children in the Cursed Child. This is a ship for the ages.

The Raven King Book Talk

The Raven King
by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: April 26th, 2016

Spoilers

Synopsis:

Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. I couldn't quite put my finger on why the Mercy Falls Wolves series and this series felt so different. Now I feel like I've discovered the secrets to the universe because I realized that this series felt more like a dream. Go read the series and tell me it doesn't feel like it's a dream in a book. You're lying if you tell me this.

Okay in an earlier review of I think it was Dream Thieves, I had this theory that Glendower was Blue's father, I was wrong, but I was still pretty close to the mark. Blue's father is a man named Artemis and he was Glendower's advisor or something like that. He was also the one who put all the sleepers to sleep. He is also a tree shifter. Does this make him some sort of tree sprite? I have no clue. I just know that Blue is also a tree. I find this very amusing.

What I found ironic about this whole series, was all the characters have seem supernatural powers. Ronan is the Greywaren, Adam has some weird sort of sorcery, Blue is a tree, Noah's a ghost, and basically everyone else is a psychic, but then there is Gansey. At the beginning of the series you kind of assume, or at least I did, that he would have some sort of really cool powers of some sort. He never has magic, but I guess his personality is pretty magical.

I was actually very surprised when Glendower turned out to be dead. I just sort of assumed that since they were all working so hard to try and find him that he would be there and they would get their wish and it would be wicked cool and magical. I never even thought of the possibility that he could be dead.

I was so happy because both of my ships finally got together in this book. Ronan and Adam made out. Twice. I'm so excited for the series about Ronan because there is (hopefully) going to be many scenes with them together. I actually freaked out in the middle of class when they kissed for the first time. It was beautiful.

Then when Gansey and Blue were together. They were so head over heels for each other, no matter how hard they tried they were totally drawn to each other. It was absolutely adorable. It was this huge build up and when it finally came to the end where they had to sacrifice someone to kill the third sleeper aka the demon. I was so emotional because I wasn't sure of Maggie was going to bring him back to life. Authors have been known to do cruel things like kill off love interests and main characters. Thankfully, they saved Gansey and there is going to be a post graduation road trip in the Camaro without an engine.

I'm glad there is going to be another series about Ronan because I feel like there are still a few loose ends that were never tied up in the series. What exactly happened to Noah? What are the characters going to do with there future? What shenanigans are the characters going to get into now that they've found Glendower?

I love love love the friendship between Blue and Ronan. There interactions are so funny. They bring light into my life. Best thing about this series by far. That moment when Ronan makes the comment about how the stitches on her face are badass. Precious.

Quotes:

"Ronan slammed his locker. he had not put anything in it and had no reason to open or close it, but he liked the satisfying bang of metal down the hall, the way it drowned out the announcements. He did it again for good measure."

“Adam smiled cheerily. Ronan would start wars and burn cities for that true smile, elastic and amiable.” 

“It wasn't that Henry was less of himself in English. He was less of himself out loud. His native language was thought.” 

“To think you could have been dreaming the cure for cancer," Blue said. "Look, Sargent," Ronan retorted, "I was gonna dream you some eye cream last night since clearly modern medicine's doing jack shit for you, but I nearly had my ass handed to me by a death snake from the fourth circle of dream hell, so you're welcome."Blue was appropriately touched. "Ah, thanks, man.""No problem, bro.” 

“No homework. I got suspended,” Blue replied.“Get the fuck out,” Ronan said, but with admiration. “Sargent, you asshole.”Blue reluctantly allowed him to bump fists with her as Gansey eyed her meaningfully in the rearview mirror.Adam swivelled the other way in his seat – to the right, instead of to the left, so that he was peering around the far side of the headrest. It made him look as if he were hiding, but Blue knew it was just because it turned his hearing ear instead of his deaf ear towards them. “For what?”“Emptying another student’s backpack over his car. I don’t really want to talk about it.”“I do,” Ronan said.“Well, I don’t. I’m not proud of it.”Ronan patted her leg. “I’ll be proud for you.” 

“Making Ronan Lynch smile felt as charged as making a bargain with Cabeswater. These were not forces to play with.”

“Where the hell is Ronan?" Gansey asked, echoing the words that thousands of humans had uttered since mankind developed speech.”