Tiger's Voyage and Tiger's Destiny (books 26 and 27)

This is just going to be a brief rant about the books that I read over spring break. They were the last two books in the tiger's curse series. Of the whole series the first one was definitely my favorite but the fourth book comes in close second. When I was reading the third book there were a few hateful thoughts that kept creeping into my head. I mean seriously there has never been a more rocky love story ever. After Ren and Kelesy are finally reunited in the second book I wanted their relationship to stay the way it was and for Kishan to take on the brotherly/best friend til when it came to Kelesy. I am totally team Ren all the way. So then of course Ren has to sacrifice himself to be tortured. Kishan then decides he needs to steal his brothers girl. That's what really made me dislike Kishan in this book. Don't get me wrong I love Kishan because he is just so sweet but he needs to just be a friend to Kelesy. While Ren is busy being tortured by a madman Kishan is trying to put the moves on Kelsey and part of the time she lets him, did I mention that Ren was being tortured then. So they finally free Ren and I'm like okay, time for Kelesy to push Kishan aside and get back with Ren  because let's face it he's perfect... But he isn't perfect at the moment. To cause another bump in their relationship Ren erased his memory of Kelesy. Despite this he falls in love with her again (applause please) but as a result of some mental block any time he try's to get near her it causes him physical pain. Minor problem right. Until he decides that in order to keep Kelsey safe, he not only has to brake up with her but he has to try and make he hate him. This whole time Kishan still hasn't backed down and Kelsey has now pretty much given up on Ren and decided if she can't have Ren she might as well settle for his brother. Which is what she does, settle I mean. Even when Kishan proposes she doesnt feel for him what she still feels for his brother. But instead of putting herself out there since Ren remembers now she makes the safe choice and stay with Kishan. When they finally meet up with Animika/Durga Kelsey had finally come to terms with her feelings and is ready to confess to both brothers that she actually wants to be with Ren. But of course Durga decides she wants Ren. Then Kelesy saves the day (with no help from Durga, thank you very much) and Ren is even raised from the dead to come back to her. It all ends well when Kishan finally sees that Kelesy will only ever truly love Ren and volunteers to stay behind to become Durgas tiger, Damon. Finally, Ren and Kelsey can be together and to make the story end perfectly the scroll thingy is actually a letter from Kishan. That is what really made the book. Not only did Kelesy end up with Ren but Kishan was still happy with Durga and he was able to tell Ren and Kelesy that. Overall great great great. The only thing was that I wish there had been a bit more time to actually show the relationship that Ren and Kelesy ended up having. I also got halfway through two other books so I should be posting about them soon!

Tiger's Curse (book 24)

This book is so freaking good! If you haven't read the book proceed with caution because there will probably be spoilers. I really like how the book started out with a friendship between Ren and Kelesy when he was a tiger. When Kelesy got to India I kept waiting for Ren to turn into a man and was really confused at first by their little walk through the jungle. When they started going on the quest to reverse the curse is when the story really gets interesting. I really love the riddle/hunt for a cure of sorts. This book did a great job of including Indian culture and explaining some of the myths. The myth part made the story that much more interesting. Next up is the whole love triangle thing. Normally love triangles are tolerable as long as the girl makes up her mind soon. The whole thing with Kishan kind of pisses me off. I mean he already stole his brothers fiancé, which is what got them in this situation in the first place. You'd think he'd learn! I mean jeez! Lay off already. I think there is a reason that Ren is the white tiger and Kishan is the black tiger. Maybe because Kishan is evil?! When Kelesy starts to show he true feelings towards Ren I kind of jumped for joy... and then she ruined it. Why did she have to leave India and Ren. Although I was upset at the heartbreak at the end of the book I really liked Kelesy's explaination for leaving Ren. She didn't want I become his cage, she wanted him to make his own decisions. If she had to leave him for any reason I can accept that even though part of her reasoning was selfish because she didn't want him to hurt her, so she did it for him. For the next book all I hope is that Kelesy learns her lesson, gets back with Ren quickly, and has no confusing feelings for Kishan that would result in a terrible love triangle.  I just really like Ren.

The Jade Series (books 20, 21, 22, and 23)

So for the last week I didn't have anything new to read so I re-read the Jade Series. I'm counting them towards my 100 book challenge because I took the time to read them, so in my mind they count. I'm not really going to write a review for them because if I did it wouldn't have my original reactions to the books. Instead I'm just going to give a brief overview of the books. So pretty much it's a contempory series but with a bit of a twist. The first book is pretty straightforward but towards the end the secrets start to reveal themselves. The second book is when the series really picks up. You begin to learn all kinds of secrets and the plot thickens even more. The whole series has a lot to do with politics and the consequences that come with money. The third and fourth books have a lot to do with the struggles Jade and Garret have to go through to stay together because of these consequences. I really liked the series because it is a contemporary series but it has a bit of flare that others lack.

Never Fade (book 19)

So Never Fade. I know I somewhat bashed Darkest Minds because I was expecting more, but looking back to it the book was really good my brain was just expecting amazing because of the hype I had been hearing. But when it came to Never Fade I loved it. You get to learn about some of the characters a little better and the action just gets stepped up. 

Spoilers follow! Don't continue if you haven't read the book I am about to ruin the ending for you if you ignore this warning. 

First off we meet Liam's brother who was kind exactly what I was expecting; show offish, somewhat jerky, but can be a friend if he chooses. Second, why Jude!! He was definitely my new favorite character ( besides Ruby and Liam of course). When I was reading that Jude was missing I was just hoping that like maybe he gave his shoes to some other kid and dropped his compass and that the body wasn't really his. I was making up all kind of theories as long as he wasn't dead. Why?! Why did he have to die! I understand there had to be a climax and that some character would have to die but why Jude. Why not Cate or Vida, or even (gulp) Chubs. I had already accepted Chub's death from the first book and I probably would have been able to handle it again but I can't handle Jude dying. He was the sweetest and most like able character ever. I understand the death but I don't accept it. The only real complaint I had about the book was Zu, Zu, and you guessed it Zu. Chubs and Liam talked nonstop in the book about looking for Zu and reuniting with her, yet we literally learn nothing new concerning her. We don't even know if she is alive for sure! She could he dead for all we know. I just wish we could have had an update on her. Not even finding her character, jousting knowing that she was alive and in Calafornia would have been enough for me. The next book is scheduled to come out in like September of this year so it better come out on time because I am not a patient person when it comes to book releases.

Top Ten Most Influential Books

This post is pretty much just going to be a list of the top influential books in my life so far, followed by a brief explanation of why. This list is not in the order of most influential to least influential because it was hard for me to pick. Instead I decided to make the list in order of when I read them ( more or less because I read so e of them a long time ago).

1. The Take of Despereaux by Katie DiCamillo: I picked this book because it was one of the first books that I can remember owning and reading multiple times. I probably read this when I was ten, so don't judge me because it isn't the greatest book, I just really like to read it.

2. Harry Potter (really any of them and if you don't know who the author is I'm pretty sure you haven't been alive for the past 12 years): This series was one of the first series I read, probably stating in about the second grade. They really taught me what it was like to truly love a character.

3. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen: I really used to enjoy anything written by Sarah Dessen and this what probably got me interested in the young adult contemporary genre.

4. Lethe Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: This book was one of the first non young adult books I read. It is narrated from the point of view of a dog and I read it because my uncle recommended it to me. It was the only book he ever recommended for me and I really enjoyed it.

5. Twilight (also an author you should already know): This the first series I read all the way through with no lapses between books. I sat on my bedroom floor and marathoned the series in about a week.

6. City of Bones (my favorite author, Cassandra Clare): This was the first book I actually bought for myself. After I finished it I ent out and bought the next two books to begin my collection of books.

7. The Host ( another by Stephanie Meyer): This book really taught me to love long books. I never wanted the story to end and the longer the book, the longer the story could last. Also I liked this one even more than Twilight. Don't judge this book by its movie!

8. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: I honestly don't remember why I liked this book so much but it was really the first book I read that my mom recommended to me that wasn't a kids book.

9. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: this book really drew me in and I just loved the world and the magic that was in it. It was another book recommended by my mom, another that I really enjoyed. 

And finally...

10. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: This book will forever be one of my favorites. I read it for an English class and everyone in the class absolutely loved it. It really taught me the power and freedom that women have in America and taught me not to take that for granted. 

Those were my most influential books. Please comment with any books that had an impact on you.

Ready Player One (book 18)

This is one of the first books u have read this year that wasn't a romancy novel aimed at girls. Anybody can read this book and like it.

I kind of have mixed feelings about this book on one hand I loved the story line and the characters but on the other hand it took awhile to really pick up and I didn't really understand many of the videogame references. In the beginning of the book there were a lot of 80's references that had little to do with the actual clues that made up the story. It was basically just a lot of random 80's trivia thrown into the beginning of the book. Around page 60 the book really picked up speed and got good. Parzival begins to figure out the riddles and the book becomes a fast paced scavenger hunt. I really enjoyed the riddles but I was a bit disappointed because the riddles were based off the 80's and I was unable to try and solve any of them myself. I had to wait tide Parzival to solve the riddle in order to make sense of what it meant. 

Spoilers follow. Only continue on if you have read the book.

My favorite part of the book was when all of the characters met up in person. I was bouncing I my chair when Parzival met Aech and he actually turned out to be a large, black girl. I also really enjoyed Parzival's spy skills he used when he was  in IOI. I liked the suspense of not knowing what his plan was and why he had himself captured. As a whole I really enjoyed the book but I wished it was based on more modern trivia that I would have been able to relate to.