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Nightlizard

NightLizard's Cave

Introvert playing extrovert. An Artist. An Accountant. And a very happy person :)

SPOILER ALERT!

SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER

Crown of Midnight - Sarah J. Maas

As it seems, I am the only person who doesn't like Celaena!
Surprised, but It is alright, I do not really care cuz she is selfish and annoying b**** .


She blames Chaol for Nehemia's death because he didn't consulted her before making a decision? Seriously?! There was actual need in that. HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HER DEATH. But this b**** just need someone to blame I guess.


SHE was the one keeping secrets from Chaol AND Nehemia about the REAL thread from the King, their lives depended on HER actions - she DIDN'T say a word about it and she acted as she doesn't really give a F***! And she dares to tell him about secrecy?!


I like Chaol as a character and I really hope everything works out for him, cuz I really do not care what happens with "the greatest assassin" (2 books and still haven't seen her even be an average one).


I like the story itself, I really do, but it is very hard to read a book when I just want to erase the main character.

Hollow City - Ransom Riggs

I think it was a great continuation of the story and I did enjoyed it a lot.

It has some moments and stuff that seems annoying a bit, but those are some minor things, so I can just close my eyes on those.

I really enjoyed Jacob character development part. This book for me was his way to except himself as a peculiar and he did it really "natural", I really like the way author describes Jacob's thinking, you can actually feel all the changes and struggles inside of him.
Jacob finally became "The Main Character " of this book. ;)

I am ready for the third book, because it is a peculiar story indeed. ;)

The Naturals - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

OMG! Just finished reading, I marathon-ed it through the night and I still have like 3 hours to sleep before work.

This book was everything I wanted, It was exactly how I love it!
With all the fantasy books I have read the last year, I forgot how much I loveeee detectives/thrillers and everything connected to the topic.

Dean - you are now have a special place in my heart. :)))))
ALL the characters are, really, I am in love with this guys.

Ordering the second book as soon as I wake up. ))))

Interesting :)

The Murder Complex - Lindsay Cummings

It was very slow at the beginning, but after around 80 pages it was already rushing.
Overall it was an interesting story and I would say that the book is quite easy to read... well, maybe if there were not so much description... I think author went a bit too far with "bright" disgusting images.
As I said - the story is interesting, but not very exciting. I want to check out a second book tho, cuz I think it wont take me a lot of time to read and as I heard - story gets much better in it.

One thing that sets me off - instalove. I am not a big fan of the scenario where "we know each other for 30 minutes, I would take a bullet for you" thing. It seemed too unreal and sugary-sweet for me. But it is just a matter of taste and it doesn't really effect the story.

I would recommend it - it is a good, solid dystopian ya book.
I will continue to read this story.

American Vampire Vol. 7 - Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque

It was great, well, as always.

I had a feeling we are getting prepared to some closure here!
It was very plot oriented, all connected, very dynamic and I am very excited for the Book 8!

I would go to war for him.

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

I fell in love. Again.

I came by this book via The Witcher video games series (love them) and it took me 3 games to finally read it.

 

I am so glad I finally did!

Seriously, I have been waiting forever for a character like Geralt of Rivia - "White Wolf", the Butcher of Blaviken, the Witcher - a monster hunter who possesses superhuman abilities, and is a master swordsman.
He is a lone mutant who destroys evil and continuously leads the war with the bloodthirsty monsters that threaten peace of people.

 

Smart, loyal, strong.

I am completely charmed by his character.

For the sake of this man, I would have raised a sword and would have fought by his side. I would share his fate. 

The Last Wish is an exceptional series of 7 main fantasy short stories reminding of a brutal and real fairy-tales interpretation.
It starts with Geralt, after having been injured in battle, rests in a temple of Melitele in Ellander. During that time he has flashbacks to recent events in his life — each of which forms a story of its own.

The whole book was nothing I have ever read before and I am planing to continue with the series as soon as I get my hands to the second book.

It was a very heavy 118 pages.

I'll Meet You In Heaven - Jill Thrussell

I got a copy from an author by winning a Goodreads Giveaway.
It looks more like a journal than a book and has only 118 pages, but it was a very hard 118 pages and completely not what I have expecting based on description.

This book is about grief and acceptance. I am not sure how should I describe how I felt. It was very hard to go through and the story seemed very heavy to me. And even the end was good and we get a very suited to the story closure, I felt no relief.

I gave it 3 stars , because I can not say that I didn't like it, but this like was very bitter.
I think author did a good job writing about feelings and describing what the characters are going through. I think that's the hardest part.
My only problem was a wish of a "break" in some parts from the overflowing feelings, like for example in a form of description of a nature or smth.

I do recommend people to read this book, I strongly believe it can help people in similar situations and it can bring some peace in their hearts.

Thumbs up for smart female characters!

The Shadow Society - Marie Rutkoski

Marie Rutkoski became one of my favorite authors and her The Winner's Trilogy one of my favorite series and she seems to never disappoint me.
 

This book is her early work and being a standalone it made me thrilled and terrified.I didn't know what to expect so, without much knowing I got right into it.

I wasn't very happy at the beginning. First 80 pages seemed too slow for me and I didn't like the romance, I didn't know where are we heading with this story, the only thing I liked were the side characters and the humor, so I kept reading and... and suddenly all of it changed! The story went straight being super captive and interesting and twisted, so I just flew through the rest of the book.

I liked Darcy, I liked the way she thinks and I liked the way she copes with the situation she was pulled in and considering her life, I like how she looks at the World and how it changes through the story.

I really love the way Marie Rutkoski writes her female characters. I am the biggest fan of Kestrel from The Winner's Trilogy and she is probably my ultimate favorite female character of all times.
It is so rare for a female characters to be smart. Logical. Her characters make decisions based on situation, they are using what they have and try to make the best of it, they do not "go with the flow" or rely simply on luck, they work on their fates and it makes them very alive to me, very real.

 

It was a good book.

My first paranormal ya thriller novel!

The Screaming Staircase - Jonathan Stroud

I am so happy it was this book!


So, a bit of synopsis:
Lucy Carlyle, a young psychic investigator, joins London's smallest agency, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood and his ever-hungry assistant  George Cubbins. Together the trio must investigate some of the spookiest and deadliest spectral hauntings in the city, armed only with the tools of the ghost-hunting trade (magnesium flares, iron filings, chains and salt bombs), their courage and a thermos of tea. (from jonathanstroud.com)
 
Thoughts and impressions:

Atmosphere:
I was surprised how believable and real the world was. It was scary and creepy sometimes and some parts gave me a goosebumps.

Story:
I was totally into the story and tho it was kind of obvious for me what was going on, most of the things came as a total surprise. It was an engaging read and I definitely wanna read of of it! Plus, it was very hard to remember that the main characters were kids, it doesn't felt this way. I am not sure about others, but it was a plus for me.  

Characters:


Lucy Carlyle: She was a bit misleading, I mean, though she was sensible and smart most of the times, somehow there were some moments when she did smth very hard to explain and it seemed so "out off the blue", it is like her logic was gone in a sec and she was a totally different person. It was a bit annoying at first. But just a bit.


Anthony Lockwood: Smart. Charming. Distracted and focused at the same time. I really enjoyed his character. He gave the feeling that everything gonna be alright and sometimes I needed that))


George Cubbins: Probably this adorable bookworm is my favorite character of this book. He reminds me of Grumpy, one of the seven dwarfs and I just love their relationships with Lucy.

Overall:
Definitely buying the second book. 

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles) - Marissa Meyer

First, a bit of my fanart.





------- NOW -------



It is hard to put all the feelings in words and be short, but I will try my best.

First of all, I just wanted to say that I loved the whole series.
Cress and Thorne are my favorite couple followed by Winter and Jacin and I loved every bit of romance in this book, tho it was bouncing on the topic "who loves who" it was surprisingly not annoying and I enjoyed every bit of it! :D
I was glad to see Kai in action, I wasn't the biggest fan of him, but this book opened up his character and made him act and I like him much more now.

Through it was fantastic and magical and we got our happy ending there was still some parts I was not very satisfied with:

1) I just wanted a bit more of the World building and more details of how Luna works and how are things there.
2) I just came from the cinema (Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2) just before I start to read Winter and I swear, sometimes I felt like it was a retelling of what I watched on the screen. It was so similar for me, the rebellion, the Capital, Levana and Snow - it has absolutely the same vibe. Strangely - it did not ruin the whole picture, I just hoped it wasn't so much similar.
3) The Ending itself was a bit rushed to my taste, I mean the way Cinder blacked-out and then after some time she woke up and everything was fine. It is not that I wanted someone to die or anything, I understood from the beginning that this book has to end with a happily ever after and sweet, I just wanted it to be a bit bittersweet.

I still gave this book a 5 star rating, because no matter of it's flaws I still loved it, it is an amazing fairy-tale and it was a great journey from the book one till the very end.




Thank you Marissa Meyer for my one of all time favorite series!

I am waiting for your new books now!

I have to stop looking at the book covers.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

I know how I have to read books now. I have to stop looking at covers.

This book was around for a while now and all the hype around it was hard not to notice, but I didn't care about this book simply because I never ever was going to pick it up. Reason -  it's cover. I thought is was a horror story and I do not read horror.
Thrillers - yes. Mystic - yes. True crime - yes. Horror -NEVER.

So... a few weeks ago I came across it at the book store and flipped through the pages, some photos were strange but not terrifying, so I read the back of it, there was not a word of this book being a horror story. It got me thinking and when my birthday came and my friend gave me a Gift Card to the bookstore (best present!) I decided to give it a try - I am soooo glad I did.

This story is nothing like others. It is written differently. It feels differently - it is smth totally new to my usual read.
It was consuming, it was fascinating and I will NEVER, EVER judge the book by it's cover again!

Thank you Mr Ransom Riggs for this unforgettable experience which I intend to continue soon!
 

I NEED THE 3RD BOOK!

Beastly Bones: A Jackaby Novel - William Ritter


I loved it! Really, William Ritter became one of my all time favorites.
It is really hard to describe how I feel, but it is like he took everything I love and put it in one book.


I love everything about it. The story. Characters. Atmosphere. Tone of the language. Everything.


Plus there is Charlie...



My only concern now is the third book.

Please. I need to know what was it..

To not spoil anything, I would say, I need to know how they resolved the thing they talk by the end of the second book.

I NEED IT IN MY LIFE!



                                                            PLEASE



I NEVER EVER had so much anger while reading a book.

An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

I NEVER EVER had so much anger while reading a book.




I had a hard time giving it a rating.. at first it was decision between 2 or 4 stars and I decided that it would be fair to give it a middle of it, so 3 stars.

Ok, I will try to explain and be (as always) short.

Why it was close to 4-star-book for me:

I LOVED the way it was written and it was a very engaging read and as I said before in my reading progress - unexpectedly cruel and I was enjoying it very much. The beautiful map inside the front cover helped my imagination to build this world inside my head.  

It is a very interesting story, but I would say thanks mostly to  Elias' chapters and Helen' and Izzi' characters which are probably my favorite.

Why it was so close to 2-star-book:

I won't even change some words from my reading-process comments...

I despised Laia!


 

She was whining nonstop, her striking cowardice make me sick, she is extremely arrogant and irritating with others, like everybody owes her, she point out things for people which she DON'T DO herself and seems to have all this annoying "self beating" inside her head.

I WAS PRAYING for her to change, because despite my liking of the story - I was devastating to read her parts, but the were NO CHANGE, this girl was becoming more and more dreadful and irritating with each page.
I was constantly dreaming of something bad happens to her and for a plot-twist we would get someone else as a main character - Izzi or Helene.

Why it is a 3-star-book:

Because I want to read a second book. Because I liked the story and this feeling was bigger than my disgust of Laia.
33 pages till the end of the book I even decided to stop hating her so much. It seemed that there was some sparks of common sense in her. But I won't like her, I still despite her as a person. She has to do smth "really big" for me starting to be sympathetic towards her. She still doesn't make any sense as a main character.

First of all I don't like butterflies)))

A Curious Beginning - Deanna Raybourn

This was my first chance to read anything by Deanna Raybourn.

 

First of all I don't like butterflies and had no idea what a lepidopterist is and I thought that all of the descriptions of taxidermy and specimen collection would set me off to enjoy the book. I still gave it a try.

 

I thought this was going to be one of those books that has a great start and then slowly lapses into dullness. But about a third of the way through, it suddenly became utterly gripping and after that I couldn't put it down. It was really EASY to read and maybe it is not exactly great literature, but it's fun and engaging book with a story full of twists.

 

I really liked the two main characters and through the characters were too forward minded for that particular era I was willing to ignore that completely because it gave a story a particular charm.

 

Veronica Speedwell was a bit annoying at some points and probably because I saw too much of myself in her. )) It was very easy for me to relate to her character.

Stoker was.. hmm. Well, he was decent and safe and very manly. He was a very pleasant character and though little was revealed about him I strongly believe he will make an interesting character to read about later in series.

I am also curious to see how things work out between him and Veronica because of the obvious chemistry between those two. I would love to see some love triangles as well, because it seems to me that Veronica doesn’t get that she has feelings for him but he sure does understand his feelings for her. Just a guess))

 

I like books that have mysteries. I am a big fan of C. S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries. It is much “lighter” read than I expected, but I say it’s worth a read and I will defiantly be continue with the series. .

"Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done." (Ang Lee)

Legend  - Marie Lu

SMART, FAST, WITH SHARP EDGES - "Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done." (Ang Lee)

Legend has been on my TBR list for ages, and I kinda feel bad of not reading this earlier than I should have because it was a great read and I enjoyed every minute of it!
And just a few words I found for describing this book:

JUNE:

"You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination."
Ralph Marston

DAY:

"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day, which must be done, whether you like it or not."
James Russell Lowell

CONCLUSION:

"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done."
Marie Curie

Thank you.
Gone to buy "Prodigy".

 

 

Little ray of sunshine

Inspirational Picture Quotes about Learning and Education  - Gabi Rupp

I was lucky to win on Goodreads a signed Paperback Copy of The Seventh Book in the Inspirational Picture Quotes Series " Learning Quotes: Inspirational Picture Quotes about Learning and Education"

I've read a few of self-help/motivation books and it is really not my thing, because there are usually a lot of useless information and too much unrelated text that repeat itself.
But this book is different.

It is simply and very beautifully presented, very colorful and straight to the point! It looks like a small magazine edition rather than a real book and that's was my only problem - it is small.))

Well, apart of it's size I am sure everyone can find some motivation quotes that he or she will personally relate to, I did it already.
I am very glad I was the lucky winner.

Thank you for this little ray of sunshine!