A Discovery of Witches (Non-Spoiler) Review

Title: A Discovery of Witches
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #1
My rating: 1/5 stars
Date Read: 10/21/17





I finished this book quite fast but it is only because I was reading it during a 24 hour readathon. I absolutely hate DNFing books and I almost DNFed this book many times. I kept telling myself it would get better but honestly it didn't. Also I rarely give books 1 star so this shows how much I had to push myself to finish it.

A Discovery of Witches takes place in world where there Witches, Daemons, Humans, and Vampires living together. We follow the main character Diana who is a witch, and she requests a manuscript called Ashmole 782 for her research. The manuscript has been lost for a long time and it starts to stir the other creatures including Matthew Clairmont, a vampire.

Now I went into this book expecting it to be different than it actually is. I thought this book would be more focused on the mysterious element of the manuscript but it, at least to me, felt more focused on the romance. Now I hated it. I felt like the entire book was describing the romance and I honestly didn't love the romance. I felt like Matthew was overprotective as well.

I thought the author over described many things. Some of these things she described contributed nothing to the plot, and it didn't make me like the character more.

About halfway through I started to skim the book as I just wanted it to end. I was bored and I wanted to DNF it and I should have. I just didn't want to since I kept thinking the book would get better.

Overall I will not be continuing on with this series. I also heard it is becoming a TV show. Maybe I'll give that a chance.

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Warcross (Spoiler Free) Review

Title: Warcross
 Author: Marie Lu
Series: Warcross #1
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 10/17/17




Some people compare Warcross to Ready Player One and I honestly didn't like Ready Player One. I did however love Warcross.

Warcross is told in first person and we follow a girl named Emika Chen. She loves the game Warcross and is a bounty hunter, a person who looks for people who do things illegally in the game. Emika is in debt and she makes a risky move and hacks into the Warcross International Championship opening but she accidentally glitches herself in the game. Emika thinks she is going to be arrested but instead she get a call from the creator of the game and is offered a job to spy on the tournament from the inside to uncover a security problem. She then flies to Tokyo and the book is amazing.

I as soon as I started this book I was hooked. I didn't want to put it down. In other words I had to force myself to put the book down.

The characters were great. Emika is a strong character and extremely smart. Asher is probably my favourite character though and I think it is because his last name is Wing and I have a feeling he is a long lost relative of Day from Legend. Do not ask questions I have a long theory and I won't go into details. I also didn't like Hideo. I really thought I would like him as a character but I really didn't like him at all. Hammie though was amazing and she is my second favourite character in this book so far.

The gaming aspect of the book was really good and I really liked it. I am still a bit confused on how the games work though but other than that is was really developed.

This may be a spoiler to some people but I personally do not think this is a spoiler. If you are very sensitive you may want to skip this paragraph and jump to the next one. The romance in this story honestly is the thing that prevented this book from getting 5 stars and from it being on my top 4 favourite books of the year. I didn't like it and I wished it never existed.

If you avoided the last paragraph it is safe to read now. I predicted something that happened in the book and I kind of feel proud of myself.

Overall I highly recommend this book to everyone. It is also a duology for those of you who are curious.

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The Dazzling Heights (Spoiler Free Review)

Title: The Dazzling Heights
Author: Katharine McGee
Series: The Thousandth Floor #2
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read:10/15/17

The Dazzling Heights is the 2nd book in the Thousandth Floor trilogy.

First off I really enjoyed the first book and I think I may like the this one more but I am not sure. Both books are very enjoyable and addicting reads. I read most of The Dazzling Heights during Zoe Herdt's 24 hour readathon which is also why I finished this book quite fast.

This trilogy takes place in a building in New York. We follow the point of view of most people from the last book that had a POV and a new person.

The Thousandth Floor trilogy takes place in the future and it is so interesting being able to see what could possibly happen. I love the way the story is told but I will warn you that this trilogy is not or everyone. It does have a lot of drama in it.

My favorite character is still Cord Anderton and my favorite prospective is still Rylin. I honestly liked most of their point of views except Calliope. I hated Calliope. I can't go into much detail why due to spoilers but I hated her. Speaking of which I still am not a fan of Atlas.

Reading this book felt like a TV show in some sort of way. We see most of the main character's point of view and what they are thinking. We know what is going on and things other character's don't. I don't know how to explain it well. It could also just be me.

Can't say too much due to spoilers but I really enjoyed this book and I hope to read the next book soon. I will say again that this is not or everyone. Not everyone will enjoy it especially if you hate multiple POV since we follow 5 characters POV.

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Series I Need to Catch Up on / Unfinished Series

Today's post I will be sharing some of the series I need to finish or catch up on. I tend to be very good at staying up to date on series and I usually finish series pretty quickly but there are some that I still need to catch up on. I won't be inserting images of the books in this post because the format keeps getting messed up.

The first two series are by the same author which are the ACOTAR and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. For the ACOTAR series I still need to read ACOWAR and I was planning on reading it right after finishing ACOMAF but Lord of Shadows came out right after I finished it and I knew if I read ACOWAR and had Lord of Shadows staring at me I would probably not enjoy it as much so I decided to wait. However many months later I still haven't read it. I have no excuses to why I haven't caught up on the Throne of Glass series. I love all the books I have read in the series so far and Tower of Dawn just came out which means I am falling even farther behind. (I read up to QoS so far.)

Another two series I have to catch up on is also by the same author and that is the Magnus Chase trilogy and the Trials of Apollo series or trilogy. I have read the first book in both of them but I never continued with them. I actually did not plan on finishing the Magnus Chase trilogy since I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book and was very disappointed but I heard the series gets better and I want to give it another chance. I also did read this book while on vacation and wasn't exactly focused while reading it which could contribute to the fact that I was disappointed. When I do continue with the series I will probably reread the first book because I don't really remember what happens and perhaps I will enjoy it more. I did really enjoy the Trials of Apollo the Hidden Oracle but just never continued the series and the second book is now out. I don't really have an excuse to why I haven't read it yet.

The next one is the Shades of Magic trilogy by V.E. Schwab. I read A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows this year and they easily both became one of my all time favorite books. I have no idea why I haven't read A Conjuring of Light yet. The only reason I can think of is that I do not want it to end.

Another series or duology to be ashamed of not finishing is the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. To be honest I read Six of Crows when I was in a reading slump and wasn't a huge an of it. I feel like because I forced myself to read it when I wasn't in the mood to read it probably affected how much I enjoyed it. I don't remember anything that happened in SoC so I plan on rereading it soon to be able to finish the duology soon. Hopefully I will enjoy it more the second time around. (technically the first because again, I remember nothing)

A older release series I need to catch up on is the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. I thought the first book was okay but I am actually interested to see where the story goes. I heard the series gets better and it continues as well so I do want to pick up the second book in the future. I feel like the series has a lot of potential and I do hope to catch up on it or at least read the second book soon.

Another super popular trilogy that I only read the first book is the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy by Stephanie Perkins. I really enjoyed the first one and this time I actually have a reason why I haven't picked up the sequel yet and that is because I am saving these books for when I have a busier schedule since they are cute and fluffy reads.

And the final series/trilogy is the Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken. I read the Darkest Minds in 2015 or 2016 and liked it, however it didn't blow me away. Now that it is becoming a movie I do want to read the sequel soon in case that one also becomes a movie.

That is it for now. There are other series that I do need to catch up on but these are the ones that I felt like sharing. Let me know if there is a series that should read soon and let me know if you haven't read any of these too because I would love to know that I am not alone. That is it. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in my next post.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Spoiler Review

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #7
My rating: 5/5 stars
Reread10/14/17

I have finished my 2017 Harry Potter reread!
This review contains unmarked spoilers



As the other 6 reviews I have done for this series this review will also be all over the place. Because so much happens in this book I think I will shorten the review by only talking about the things I really want to talk about and keeping it kind of short.

First off the Dursley's are going into hiding. I sometimes wonder if Mr. Dursley has any sense because he says we are leaving then nope we aren't. Dudley was like screw it dad I want to leave. Petunia just wants Dudley to be safe and at the end they did leave Private Drive. Dudley's last words to Harry was I didn't think you were a waste of space or something along those lines. I keep forgetting that.

Harry leaves Private Drive with the Order and of course they had a master plan that they would turn 6 people into Harry as they escaped into safe houses. Each one different. Harry rode with Hagrid which is very emotional because Hagrid is the one to bring Harry there and he is the one taking him away. The twins, Ron, Hermione, Fluer, and Mundungus turn into Harry and they are off into the night to the different safe houses. Apparently the Death Eaters knew that they were traveling that night which we later learned how and why they knew. Hedwig dies which is extremely sad and Hagrid fell from the sky trying to protect Harry. The first time I read it I though Hagrid was dead but he is alive and well and I am glad Hagrid is okay. They arrive at Tonk's house and then take a porkey to the Burrow.

Bill and Fluer's wedding take place in the Burrow and during the wedding the Death Eaters took over the ministry. Hermione disapperates with Ron and Harry into the city where they are met by Death Eaters. I don't think it was ever com firmed whether or not Harry still had the trace on him.

They spent the night in Grimmauld place and later learned Kreacher's story. We figure out that R.A.B is Regulus Black and he allowed Voldemort to use Kreacher to drink the potion to hide his Horcrux. Regulas of course with the help of Kreacher goes to the cave and drinks the potion and tells Kreacher to destroy it before dying. It was honestly a heartbreaking moment. Regulus unlike Sirius treated Kreacher with more respect and Kreacher does love Regulus more. Harry gives Kreacher the fake Horcrux and Kreacher looses it and after that treats Harry, Ron, and Hermione more kindly. He also find Mundungus and they discover that he sold the locket to Umbridge. I am pretty sure when everyone read that part for the first time they are all, including me, this lady again? I thought she was gone.

With careful planning and with the help of polyjuice potion the three of them manage to get into the ministry and find the locket but like Kreacher, could not destroy it. Later on Ron will stab it with the word of Gryffindor. Speaking of the sword, Neville proves himself as a worthy Griffindor as he mamages to pull the sword out of the hat just like Harry. Neville I feel like thought he didn't belong in this hout but he proved he is brave and courageous.

Not being able to return to Sirius's house they start camping out in the woods, Ron leaves but comes back Harry ignore's Ron's warning and says Voldemort's name and they get captured. Hermione is tortured and honestly that scene was very scary because Bellatrix is cruel and I didn't know the first time I read it whether or not Hermione survived. She does and recovers in shell cottage where Bill and Fluer now live. Dobby rescues the trio plus a few others including Luna and Dobby dies in the process. It is a sad moment and even Harry is so devastated that he had trouble saying anything but Goodbye at Dobby's funeral.

Way before that when the met Bathilda and learned she was actually a snake Hermione breaks Harry's wand. Harry feels like a part of him is missing. Told by Ollivander his wand is repairable he later tries to fix it with the elder wand and it works.

At shell cottage they made an agreement with Griphook the goblin and pulled off an epic break in into Gringotts. I loved that part and it was my favourite moment in this book.

The battle of Hogwarts was more sad and more epic this time I read it. Grawp threw Hagrid through the window so he could join the fight. I really wished we could of seen that scene in the movie. Percy comes back and learns his lesson that family is very important and he witnessed his brother die. Honestly it was heartbreaking to see Percy, who finally wanted to see and hep his family again only to lose one of them. I mean I cried reading that part too.

Lets not forget at the end that the house elves lead by Kreacher also helped fight. And Mrs. Weasley fighting Bellatrix was insane. Bellatrix almost killed Ginny and Mrs. Weasley was mad. I don't think I ever saw her that mad ever. People tried to help her but she reused any help and they all stared to watch. I feel like everyone stopped fighting or were half fighting but watching them fight.

That's it for now and I probably add more later because I still have a lot to say.

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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Review

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #6
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reread: 10/9/17

This review contains unmarked spoilers


Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the 6th book in the Harry Potter series and I did really enjoy it.

Like my other 5 reviews this review will be all over the place.

My favourite scene or part of the book is when Harry, Hermione, and Ron enter Fred and George's new Joke shop. I just love it that the twins are doing what they love for a living and can help support the family. I am not surprised though that a lot of their products are banned from the school. I mean they are masters at sneaking it into the school so I honestly feel like banning the items does nothing.

In this book we are reintroduced to Fleur which the Ginny calls Phlegm. Mrs. Weasley and the Weasley's (except Bill) don't like Fleur. Fleur of course is engaged to Bill. I honestly don't think Mrs. Weasly is very happy about that. At least she didn't dump him at the end of the book when he was attacked my Fenrir Greyback and it shows that she does care about him.

Hogwarts hires a "new" potions master Slughorn. I honestly don't like Slughorn that much. Personally my least favourite teachers are always the teachers that have obvious favourites. Sughorn clearly does having the Slug Club. Hermione and Harry are in it and Ron sadly isn't. I feel like a lot of his favourites also has to do with the act that he knows their parents and the parents were one of his favourite students. Harry's mom was one of Slughorn's favourites as he keeps telling Harry that he is a natural at potions like his mother.

Speaking of potions Snape now teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry's favourite subject is now being taught by one of his least favourite teachers. There is one scene I love that takes place during Defense Against the Dark Arts. That is when Harry tells Snape there is no need to call him sir.

Back to potions. Harry is using a potions book that use to belong to the Half Blood Prince. This Prince has changed some of the instruction on potion making making Harry a prodigy in Potions. He has also written many useful and some dangerous spells. The dangerous being that one spell that Harry used on Draco. When trying to figure out who the Prince is we can tell that the Princeis wicked smart and is found of Potions and the Dark Arts. Snape who is the Half Blood Prince is both good at Potions and the Dark Arts and it makes perfect sense.

Harry in this book is obsessed with what Malfoy is doing. He even sends Kreacher and Dobby to follow Draco. Of course he manages to figure out what is going on and that Malfoy is using the room of requirements. I love that Crabbe and Goyle are the lookouts for Malfoy and take polyjuice potion. That is such a clever idea. One thing I always wonder is who Crabbe and Goyle are transforming into. I mean did they just pluck a hair of a muggle girl walking in the street and have a stash of them or did they take them from students?

Malfoy was fixing a vanishing cabinet and I will admit he is smarter than we thought. In this book we see an entirely different side of him. He is of course stressed out that Voldemort will kill his family if he doesn't kill Voldemort. He used a necklace which unfortunately fell into the hands o Katie Bell and a poison that has found its way to Ron Weasley.

Katie has been in the hospital for a long time and this is the first time I realize how long she has been in there.

Harry is Quidditch Captain in this book. I will admit I am glad Hermione used a charm to confund McLaggen. I hate that guy. He played Keeper in one game and it was a disaster. He kept telling people what to do and Harry of course being captain was very annoyed that McLaggen wasn't doing his job. I mean he hit a buldger at Harry's head and they lost the game. McLaggen shouldn't even be touching the Buldgers. He is a keeper he should be stopping Quaffles from getting into the hoops. Thank God Ron recovered and was able to play the next game.

Hermione starts to have feelings for Ron and it is very obvious when reading. Her always being upset when Lavender was around and sending those bird things at Ron. Both her and Ron have those little cure moments together that I really love. While Ron was with Lavender I honestly think Lavender slipped Ron a love potion because after he took the antidote he kind of stopped having feelings for her.

Harry is taking private lessons with Dumbledore in order to understand Voldemort's past. Harry of course learns about Horcruxes and that a person cannot truly die unless they are destroyed. Harry also manages to learn that Slughorn was the one to tell Riddle how to make a Horcrux. Well sort of as he didn't give a lot of detail and just said that a person had to kill another in order to create it which of course was enough information for Riddle.

At the end of the book Dumbledore dies and Snape is the one to kill him. The first time reading it I was like what!? I hated Snape so much at that moment but eventually I can to be neutral about him. I mean I hated the way he treated Harry but he did have a very difficult job.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and Highly recommend this series!

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There is Someone Inside Your House Review

Title: There's Someone Inside Your House
Author: Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 3./5 stars
Date Read: 10/21/17


There's Someone Inside Your House is the 2nd Stephanie Perkins book I read. The first being Anna and the French Kiss. As you all probably know already this book is completely different from the cutesy contemporary books she is known for. I am glad she wrote something different and experienced with a new genre as I did enjoy this book, however I didn't love it. I being the scaredy cat I am was not going to pick this up but since it was short and since it is close to Halloween I picked it up and I finished it. It isn't as scary as I thought it would be, and at times the serious moments were actually funny when it is actually not suppose to be funny.

This book is under 300 pages and it is a perfect book to read during a 24 hour readathon or in one sitting. Also I recommend going into this book with low expectations because that is what I did and I think that it helped me enjoy this books more.

I honestly didn't really care much for the characters but I didn't hate any of the main characters. Personally they were all okay. I did think that some characters lacked character development. We do have some diversity in this book but I cannot speak for the representation of it. Makani is half African American and half Native Hawaiian and Darby is a transboy.

There is a romance in this book and the book talks about it quite a lot. In fact it the book wan't focused on the murders it was probably focused on the romance.

S P O I L E R _ B E L O W

The killer is revealed halfway through the book which is honestly disappointing. I wanted the killer to be revealed at the end of the book to make me want to finish it more. After that point the book was basically find the killer.

Overall I did like this book but if you are a huge horror fan and want to be scared this book will probably not be for you. If you are like me a scaredy cat, you can probably read this book and be perfectly fine as some of the parts that are suppose to be scary are actually funny.

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October Wrap-Up & November TBR

Today I am posting my October Wrap-Up and November TBR. This post will be similar to my  last one. This month I reread 3 books and read 6 books which is a very good reading month for me. It has been awhile since I read so many books in a month. The placement of the pictures are a bit weird but I can't fix them which is why it is like that but I will hopefully figure out the problem before my next wrap up.


Rereads:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 5/5 stars
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: 5/5 stars
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 5/5 stars

Books Read:
The Dazzling Heights: 4.5/5 stars
Warcross: 4/5 stars
A Discovery of Witches: 1/5 stars
There's Someone Inside Your House: 3/5 stars
Meddling Kids: 3/5 stars
Hunting Prince Dracula: 5/5 stars (Not Pictured because I can't write below the picture when I insert it)


















































































































































































































































































































             

















Readathons:
I participated in 3 readathons this month and both were 24 hour readathons. The first being the Readbyzoeathon and the other two were 24hourathon and Dewy's 24 hour readathon (same day)
Duriing the readbyzoeathon I finished rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and read most of The Dazzling Heights. For the other two readathons I finished a Discovery of Witches which I hated, and There's Someone Inside Your House.

In the Month of November I plan on participating in the Sgallywagathon and the Minimojiathon. We shall see how that goes.


November TBR