Book Review: Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Release Date: January 26th, 2016
Read:  November 25th-27th, 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Series: N/A
Format: ARC, 386 pages
Source: McNally Robinson/ Two Thumbs Up Program

Description from GoodReads:

   When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Review:

   There were stars. It was too lonely to be heaven, and there wouldn't be stars in hell.
   The minute I heard and saw the cover of Shallow Graves I was smitten, I absolutely needed it in my life. There was hype in the blogger community, and for a while it seemed like it would be one of my favourite debuts of 2016. Unfortunately when I read the ARC, I got something else than what I was expecting.
   The Shallow Graves started out great, with our dead character using her new powers for good. Getting rid of murderers so they don't do anymore harm. It was terrific, I couldn't put the book down. I was consumed by it. Although once we hit a quarter of the way through the book I hit a snag that I didn't enjoy. Wallace went in a way different direction than what the description described and the way I thought it would go.
   Going into the book I expected a girl who was confused about her powers but knew to use them for good. I even thought that maybe she would have to deal with it all on her own, or find someone like her. What I got instead was this whole different setting that left me with more questions about the book than I wanted. Wallace created this whole world for her debut, but took it nowhere. She created a villain and accomplices that had a backstory but didn't give us enough information about them to help us picture who they were as people. She also gave our main character a few friends to lean on, but in the end they really weren't necessary. They just weren't relevant enough to the story to have, the same went with the villain she gave us. She completely took us off course from what was intended with the plot, where she could have just written about a undead girl who could see murderers for who they really are, she gave us a unexpected story that readers picking up the book to read didn't want.
   Though Kali Wallace kept me engaged with her debut, Shallow Graves, it was not the novel I was excited for and so I was disappointed.
   Shallow Graves was my first 2016 read, where it didn't turn out the way I had wanted I still have high hopes for the 2016 books to come.

 You can find my review on McNally Robinson's Two Thumbs Up review page here.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

" The first rule of cannibal mermaid club is don't talk about cannibal mermaid fight club." 

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Paranormal, Murder, Thriller, Supernatural, Zombies

Book Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: November 10th, 2015
Read: January 5th-8th, 2016
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #4
Format: Hardcover, 824 pages
Source: Bought

Description from GoodReads:

   Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

   Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

   Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Review:

Contains Minor Spoilers:

   And the wolves all howl, aaooooooooooh...
   The Lunar Chronicles is one of my all time favourite books series, and I was sad to see it go.  Since first discovering Cinder in a magazine article in 2011, my heart has been hooked on this unforgettable series.
   The first thing I noticed when opening Winter was that Cinder and Kai were an item now, I had reread Cress before reading Winter so it was not that I had forgotten what had happened in the third book. It was that after three books of them not being together, it was an odd feeling to overcome. But oh boy, I loved the feeing so much. The same went with the other main characters, all their relationships were at a peak and perfect spot in Winter. It was joyous to see, and the heartbreak and pain that I endured for them to get a happy ending was perfect. Meyer couldn't have ended the relationships for us any better. Although I was not a huge fan of Scarlet and Wolf throughout the first books, I definitely felt a connection to them in this book, I even weeped a bit for them when they reconnected after Scarlets kidnapping. 

   Throughout Winter I had grown a connection like I said above to Scarlet and Wolf, but I also felt the same connection to Winter and Jacin. Already knowing a bit about them from reading Fairest, and from meeting Jacin again in Cress, I thought I was prepared when being introduced to them, I was waaaaaay wrong. Jacin's love for Winter knew no bounds, I was instantly in love with them. Although both their situations were terrible, they both endured everything they faced, and they did it together.
  Even if I didn't feel the same connection to both Cinder and Kai's, and Thorne and Cress' relationships in Winter, I still love where Meyer took them. The cute relationship that was Cress', and the serious relationship that was Cinders. In the end the secret moments were my favourite for Cress and Thorne, how they'd be in a dire circumstance but Throne always knew how to lighten the mood. For Cinder and Kai, when Kai found Cinder dying and the very last scene of the book were my favourite, both two totally different moods but both just as great. The tenseness and sadness from Cinders life threatening wound to Kai practically asking Cinder to be with him forever, my heart broke each time.
   With all the build up Meyer had set, I expected the final moments of the book to be intense, Meyer did not let us down, she did one better, she made every moment intense. From start of the book to the very end, it was non stop action on every page. There were moments where I'd get so involved in the story that when I looked up and inspected the book expecting to have read a huge amount of pages, but in reality I had barely made a dent. I don't even know how to explain it, it was like the book was bigger then it really was, like there were pages hidden in the book that just made it seem so much longer then it should have been.
   There were times where'd you'd forget that the story was a retelling of sorts, in moments you'd see things happen that would seem weird or a have a different turn of events but then suddenly everything would click and you'd think back to the original fairy tale and it would all make sense. Meyer had definitely planned her storyline out perfectly, incorporating so many little details that sometimes you wouldn't even notice unless you were looking for them.
   Marissa Meyer concludes the series in utter perfection, having rollercoasters of emotion on every corner, and having the story pan out exceptionally, you couldn't have asked for a better ending. Leaving my heart wanting more, Meyer made the right decision publishing Stars Above, her  bind up of all her novellas for the series, after Winter. With the never seen before novella called Something Old, Something New featuring a wedding with our beloved characters, it will be another perfect epilogue to an already perfect ending.
   Besides Stars Above releasing February 2016, Meyer's next series releases November 2016 which is certainly going to be as exceptional as The Lunar Chronicles if Winter was proof enough, hopefully I'll be able to survive that long until I get it.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

" We may be animals, but we will never again live in your cage."

" One of these days, I just want to open my eyes and see you."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Romance, Snow White

Get to Know the Blogger: A Interview with Ohana Reads

   Just recently I did a interview with my Local Library's Teen Blog, BOOKED, and I thought I'd share the link to the interview in case a few of you were interested in getting to know me a little more!

   If you'd be interested in beginner blogging tips, or want to know why I love blogging, or how many books I read in a year, then definitely check out the link here.

   It was great to have been featured on the BOOKED blog, so a big that you to Colette for thinking of me, and the Winnipeg Public Library for having me!

   

   I hope you all enjoy it! I know I sure did doing the interview!

Waiting on Wednesday: (52)

Firstlife

Gena Showalter

Everlife, #1

HarlequinTeen

Expected: February 23rd, 2016

Description from GoodReads:

   ONE CHOICE.

   TWO REALMS.

   NO SECOND CHANCE.

   Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

  There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

   In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision… 

Why I Want It:

   Gena Showalter is known for her fabulous writing, her sassy characters. After reading and loving The White Rabbit Chronicles, her first YA series I'd be excited for her new series. Firstlife releases the same weeks my birthday, so maybe I'll even get it as a birthday present!

 That's my Waiting on Wednesday for this week! Will you be picking up Firstlife? What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Top 10 Books I'm Looking Forward to in the First Half of 2016

   As always, I have huge list of books that I'm looking forward to this year. Unfortunately only half of there covers have been released, so in order to show off all their beauty I've decided to only show you my favourite books from the first half of 2016. So here they are! 

   

   Those are them! Are you excited for any of these? No? What books are your excited for in 2016? Let me know! I'd love to add them to my TBR pile! 

Ohana Talks: Books Read in 2015 but Didn't Get Review.

   Throughout most of the year you see and hear about the books that I've read and reviewed, but you never hear about the book I read and didn't review. So for today, I wanted to highlight some of the other fabulous books that just never got a review! And I must say, there are a lot of them.

The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore 4/5 

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill 4/5

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder 5/5

Shutter by Courtney Alameda 4/5

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead 5/5

Macbeth by William Shakespeare 3/5

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare 5/5

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 2/5

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 3/5

Alienated by Melissa Landers 4/5 

Captive by Aimee Carter 3/5

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake 2/5

Sister's Fate by Jessica Spotswood 3/5

Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre  3/5

Forbidden by Kimberley Griffiths Little  4/5

The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine 3/5

Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong 4/5

The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore 5/5

The Jewel by Amy Ewing 5/5

The White Rose by Amy Ewing 4/5

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin 2/5

   What about the rest of you bloggers or reviewers? Were there any books that you read but didn't review? How long is your list? I'd love to know!

Book Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: January 27th, 2015
Read: December 31st, 2015 - January 1st, 2016
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #3.5
Format: Hardcover, 220 pages
Source: Gift

Description from GoodReads:

   Mirror, mirror on the wall, 
   Who is the fairest of them all?

   Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

   Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series. 

Review:

   Here is what I think of love.
   After receiving Cress in February 2014, I thought for sure we'd get Winter the following year around the same time. Unfortunately news spread that Winter was not to be released until November, but we got Fairest as a surprise instead. At first I was a bit sceptical of Fairest, with my dislike of novellas. But after hearing that it'd be a full length book, and knowing that we'd get a good look into the life of Levana, I just knew Fairest would be a keeper.
   Villains always have a reason for being villains, Levana is no different. Tortured her whole life by her older sister, literally, she did not have any friends, and she didn't have any love from her parents. She grew up a misunderstood girl and grew to not know what love truly was.
    I think that ones view on Levana in Fairest could have gone one of two different ways, you either felt disgusted by her or pitted her. For me it was a little bit of both. To me, Levana is a broken human being. All she wanted in her life was to be love, or even acknowledged. Growing up without these things taught her to be in ways ruthless, and not learn the true meaning of everything. In the end she forced a man to love her, ruining him and his daughters lives, and attempting to murder a child for selfishness.
   Levana's life has helped me learn and understand her actions in the main books of the Lunar Chronicles, her story even helped me understand little actions that occurred in Cress. After reading Fairest, I know I'll be better off when going into Winter.
   Fairest was tense and pitiful read of the story of Levana's life, the book was definitely something I needed, even though I never knew I did. By reading Fairest you'll start to see both sides in a different light. Picking up a copy will probably be one of the best decisions you ever made.
 

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"I know you bear the weight more than anyone." 

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings,  Fairy Tales, Dystopian, Futuristic Worlds, Royalty, Magic