Opal By:Jennifer Armentrout

5 Stars: Perfect

Goodreads Summary:

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

No. No, no, no. Absolutely not. I'm missing pages. I have to be. There is no way I'm just left with that ending! How do you expect me to cope until July?

Besides that evil ending, Opal is great. It's better, even, than Onyx. 

Katy's still amazing, as always. Daemon has grown over the series. Dee and Katy's friendship is really weak. Blake's back, and Daemon still can't remember his name. And Dawson's back.

Daemon isn't that much of a jerk anymore. He's not as moody and can actually talk to people without shutting them out. He shows a vulnerable side to himself and is sweeter. 

Dee was pretty awesome in this book. I get why she didn't just forgive Katy when Adam died, and I admire her for that. 

Blake came back. And I cannot believe I didn't see what he did coming. I wanted to like him, and I sort of did for a while, but then, like always, he ruins it. 

Dawson came back, but he's not the same. He's a shell of the man-alien?-he used to be. When he *******spoiler******* saw Beth again, I was shocked that she recognized him.

The plot dragged a bit, but the characters and the ending made up for it.

Armentrout's writing, as always, is amazing.

I really hope that the release date will move up for Origin!

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Waiting on Wednesday # 7: Mind Games

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that showcases upcoming titles we're highly anticipating.

Waiting for:

Mind Games

By: Kiersten White

Expected publication: February 19th 2013

Published By: Harper Teen

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future. 

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost

This seems really cool. Spies and sisters should be a great combination

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Throne of Glass By: Sarah Maas

3 Stars: Mediocre

Goodreads Summary

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

I feel I should have liked this more than I should...  I waited and waited for this book to finally come out. And then I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

The synopsis makes it sound like a huge mystery. And it might have been, if the author didn't try to put as many clues in there. There was way to much foreshadowing. There was one point in time when Maas gave us a red herring, but I saw through it.

The writing wasn't the best I've read, but it wasn't the worst. There were some weird wordings, but overall, it was pretty good. The narration was alright. The action scenes and dialogue were very well written.

Celaena had some very good comebacks up her sleeves. And they just got better as the book went on. But, she was way to cocky. She was also too good, and I knew she would win at the end. 

The love triangle was one of the things that wasn't written well. Neither the prince nor Westfall were very interesting to read about. I like Westfall better than the prince, though

Will I read the next book. Yeah. Definitely.

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Waiting on Wednesday #6: School Spirits

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that showcases upcoming titles we're highly anticipating.

Waiting for:
School Spirits (Hex Hall Spin-Off #1)
By: Rachel Hawkins
Expected Publication: May 14, 2013
Published By: Disney-Hyperion

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt? 

I always was curious about Izzy.

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Waiting on Wednesday #5: Splintered

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that showcases upcoming titles we're highly anticipating.

Waiting for: 

Splintered

By: A.G. Howard

Expected Publication:  January 1st 2013

Published By: Amulet Books

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Ooh! I love Alice in Wonderland! And it's out soon!

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Deity By: Jennifer Armentrout

5 Stars: Perfect

Goodreads Summary:

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. "


Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden. 

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome. 

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed. 

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

I was stalking the author for when this book came out. Then, when I read it, I was hooked. I thought I wrote a review for it, but it turns out I didn't post it online. Oops.

Anyway, Deity was my favorite book of the series so far. I flew through it and reread it right afterwards. Jennifer Armentrout's series just get better and better. There are no words to describe the pure awesomeness of this book.

There are new developments that I didn't see coming, but now I can reread the first two books and see all the foreshadowing.

I like Aiden a lot better in this book than the last. He's changed. About Seth, I just want to punch him.

Alex is still a great main character. She's still strong and sarcastic.

The secondary characters became important. Sorta enemies become sorta friends.

The story really flows and Jennifer just keeps on delivering shockers. 

The ending was a cliffhanger that left me demanding Elixir, which came out the next day. But those hours waiting for the novella made me pretty much insane.

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