Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week: Top Ten Books/Series of 2013

1. Clockwork Princess
2. Unravel Me / Destroy Me
3. Indigo Spell / Fiery Heart
4. Crown of Midnight
5. Under the Never Sky series
6. Pivot Point
7. The Darkest Minds / Never Fade
8. Antigoddess
9. Girl of Fire and Thorns series
10. Heroes of Olympus series

There were many other books I liked in 2013, like Siege and Storm and The Evolution of Mara Dyer, but these 10 were my favourites!

PS: I reached my goal to read 115 books in 2013!

HAPPY 2014 everyone! 

Uninvited - Sophie Jordan [Review]

Title: Uninvited
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Uninvited #1
Release Date: January 28th 2014
Pages: 384
Rating: ★★★★
Add on Goodreads

The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature.

Pawn - Aimee Carter [Review]

Title: Pawn
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1
Release Date: November 26th 2013
Pages: 346
Rating: ★★★★

YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING. 

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country. 

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter. 

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

Short Reviews: Not a Drop to Drink, Perfect Ruin & My Soul to Take

Today I'm going to give you some short reviews of books I've read in the last couple of weeks, but never reviewed in full. This could have been because I couldn't really think of what to say about it or lack of time.

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

I know many other reviewers absolutely loved this book, but I wasn't really blown away by it. 
The romance was unnecessary in my eyes, the backstory of why the world suddenly had no water wasn't explained and I found the end a bit rushed. I did like how Lynn's character developed during the story, she became more trusting and friendlier.


Stars: ★★★

My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers #1) by Rachel Vincent

This was quite a short book. I liked the paranormal concept of this book, the soul screamers, it was original. I did not really like the romance, it seemed like the boy only liked the girl once he figured out she was like him. Except for the boy, Nash, I liked the characters and they have a lot of potential. The book introduces a mystery and I'm curious to see how it unfolds in the rest of the series. 

Stars: ★★★

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1)
by Lauren DeStefano 

The book starts off pretty slow and the story gradually builds up. I did not really get the backstory of Internment and the whole thing with the edge. I did like the romance (for once), Basil and Morgan were sweet together. The book ends in quite a cliffhanger, unfortunately. I think the story has a lot of potential and I will definitely read the next book.

Stars: ★★★1/2

Cover Reveal: Fracture Me - Tahereh Mafi

Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

(Shatter Me #2.5)

Summary:

In this electrifying sixty-page companion novella to the New York Timesbestselling Shatter Me series, discover the fate of the Omega Point rebels as they go up against The Reestablishment. Set during and soon after the final moments of Unravel Me, Fracture Me is told from Adam's perspective.

As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam's focus couldn't be further from the upcoming battle. He's reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend's life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James's safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It's time for war.

On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam's newly discovered half brother, won't be that easy. The Reestablishment can't tolerate a rebellion, and they'll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.

Release Date: 17th of December 2013

I love the cover! The feather lashes are so beautiful, although I can't figure out what they signify. This novella will be from Adam's POV. I never really liked Adam in Shatter Me and Unravel Me, but I'm still excited to read this novella.

What do you think of the cover?

Allegiant (Divergent #3) - Veronica Roth [Review]

SPOILERS!

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins 
Series: Divergent #3
Release Date: October 22nd 2013
Pages: 526
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ 

One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Series Review: Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson

This review contains spoilers for those who haven't read the whole series.

Girl of Fire and Thorns (#1)

The Crown of Embers (#2)

The Bitter Kingdom (#3)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (#1) ★★★★☆ Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. Elisa is the chosen one.  But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.  Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess. And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake. Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young. Most of the chosen do.

The Crown of Embers (#2) ★★★★☆ In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny. Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

The Bitter Kingdom (#3) ★★★★☆ The epic conclusion to Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy. The seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen will travel into the unknown realm of the enemy to win back her true love, save her country, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny. Elisa is a fugitive in her own country. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves in order to lure her to the gate of darkness. As she and her daring companions take one last quest into unknown enemy territory to save Hector, Elisa will face hardships she's never imagined. And she will discover secrets about herself and her world that could change the course of history. She must rise up as champion-a champion to those who have hated her most.

Cover Reveal: Defector (Variants #2) by Susanne Winnacker

Some time ago I read Impostor, the first book in this series (see review here).
I wasn't a really big fan of the book, but I'm curious to see how the story continues. So here's the cover of book 2 in the Variants series! 

Title: Defector
Author: Susanne Winnacker 
Series: Variants #2 
Published by: Razorbill
Publication date: June 26, 2014
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

The synopsis for book 2 is currently unavailable.

Synopsis for book 1 – Impostor:

Can Tessa pose as Madison . . . and stop a killer before it’s too late? 
Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.
Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself

About the Author

Susanne Winnacker studied law before she became a full-time writer. She lives with her husband, a dog and three bunnies in Germany. She loves coffee (in every shape and form), traveling and animals. 
When she isn't writing, you can usually find her in the kitchen, experimenting with new vegan dishes. 
Her YA thriller IMPOSTOR will be published on May 28, 2013. It has been optioned for TV by Warner Brothers!

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter


Have you read Impostor? If yes, are you excited for Defector?

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Holly Black [Review]

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books 
Series: ?
Release Date: September 3rd 2013
Pages: 432
Rating: ★★★★

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

Antigoddess - Kendare Blake [Review]

Title: Antigoddess
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen
Series: Goddess War #1
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Pages: 333
Rating: ★★★★

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god. 

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning. 

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out. 

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

Short Reviews - Ruby Red, Transfer, Devil and Deep Blue Sea, Darkness shows the Stars

Today I'm going to give you some short reviews of books I've read in the last couple of months, but never reviewed in full. This could have been because I couldn't really think of what to say about it or lack of time. 

Ruby Red (Ruby Red Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

I liked this book! It was a fun, quick and light YA read. The focus wasn't on the science part of the time travel, but I didn't mind that in this book. I liked the characters, especially the narrator. It was clear this was the first book in the series, the end felt very abrupt and the mystery hadn't been solved.

Recommended to: fans of light YA reads with a hint of sci-fi.

Stars: ★★★1/2

The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth

I waited for this novella for so long! I really loved Four in the Divergent series and I always wanted to know more about him and his life before Dauntless. Although it was a pretty short story, we get to see Four in a whole other light than in Divergent and this story gave him more depth. I liked the similarities between him and Tris, both gathering up courage to transfer and feeling strong afterwards. 
I can't wait to read Four's next story!

Recommended to: everyone who loves Divergent.

Stars: ★★★★

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

This was a very mysterious book, though I did not find it super creepy or horror-like. It had a lot of twisted characters, so I couldn't really identify with them. Same went for the romance, since it wasn't sincere I could not root for it. But I still quite liked the book, the writer is very talented in describing creepy locations.

Recommended to: lovers of mysterious books.

Stars: ★★★

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

I read this book, since I absolutely loved Persuasion and I was curious to see how this writer would retell the story.
I can't say I thought it was very successful retelling. The pace was very slow and the story seemed to drag on and on. It did not help that the protagonist was constantly whining about how the boy she loved did not love her back anymore.

Recommended to: Well, not fans of Persuasion. Maybe fans of impossible romances?

Stars: ★★1/2



What did you think of these books?

Top Ten Tuesday #13 - Fall TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week: Top Ten Nine Books On My Fall 2013 TBR List

Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth 

October 2013

The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead

November 2013

World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

November 2013

Antigoddess (Goddess War #1) by Kendare Blake

September 2013

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

September 2013

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1) by Lauren DeStefano

October 2013

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman

December 2013

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis 

September 2013

The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan

September 2013

Leave your TTT in the comments!

The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon [Review]

This review contains small spoilers.

Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Series: Scion #1
Release Date: August 20th 2013
Pages: 480
Rating: ★★★★

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.