First Year by Rachel E. Carter (REVIEW)

A Reader's Pandora

First of all, this book is the reason why I love reading. The mystery, the drama, the action, the magic, the romance, the bitchiness and betrayal and hatred for characters! Oh, man, this is what it feels like to read, to be on a journey of self-discovery, knowing that you can stand up and do something about what you got yourself into, and also knowing that you are special.

And nothing can change that.

Ryiah, our main character, lives in the world of Jerar, a historical fantasy world (that I damn wish was real!), which is full of nasty princes and kings, queens, and even mages! There are the Three mages, and within each is your faction which throughout your First Year, you will be chosen to do one. Ryiah wants to be in Combat, and so she must practice and practice.

Well, the School of Knighthood is going to help her out. But along the way she meets friends and allies—Ella, her dark-skinned friend who I LOVED, Darren (one of the two princes of Jerar along with his brother Blayne, the other prince), and the nasty female version of Draco Malfoy: Priscilla! Oh, how much I hate her.

First off, let me say that I loved this book. I really loved the characters and their roles, and especially how they turned up to be in the ending of the book. I'm waiting for a particular character to die, even though I know it might not happen. Other than that, all of the other characters—apart from Darren at the start and Priscilla—I loved! It's like in GOT when you become to attached to the characters. When I was reading the ending, I didn't even realise that I had only one chapter left! I was squealing for more Darren and Ryiah! :3

And, oh, the quotes in this book. May I tell you that I love a good quote that sticks strong to the plot and the main story of the book, and this definitely made it all the better. All of it was so amazing, and the writing was intricate and woven nicely into the plot, and AHHHH, it was just so good! I can't get over how much I was yelling and crying for some characters while wanting to hurt some others, hehe.

“The people that tell you what you want to hear are the most dangerous enemies you'll ever meet.”

Oh, Darren. Darren, Darren, Darren; you loveable bastard. I really hated him in the beginning. He was selfish, rude, immature, downright nasty and just a man-bitch to Ryiah! I mean, who would insult someone who's just trying to do their very best to achieve what they want to grow up as? Such a rude person. I mean, I wouldn't be that rude to her. I wouldn't even be rude to her!

“He was a prince. He was fickle. He was rude. He was arrogant. I knew better. I was lowborn. He was WRONG. I didn't even like him."

GOD, YOU GUYS, THE MAGIC SYSTEM. The magic was probably one of my favourite parts of the book apart from the characters, the drama and the plot, and the writing! Wow, I loved so much, but the action/magic scenes. Wow, they felt so real! Like it was happening in front of my very eyes...

The fire that rose up into the battle scenes like a mass of hands of destruction! It was amazing! The elements pushing off into the battles, and how Ryiah and Ella practiced their magic!

I just really loved this book! I'm going to end the review here and go into spoilery thoughts so if you have not read this book, please don't read on or you'll be spoiled (and really just pick up the book because it was so GOOD!)! Okay? Okay! Bye!

LET'S DO THIS.

I started this in January, and finished it a bit ago. It was amazing, and yeah, I already said all of that! XD But what I loved about this book, let's do this.

(view spoiler)

SO. In general? I loved this book. I loved this book and I think you will, too, even if you don't like fantasy! It's got lots of romance, drama, conflict, action and more! Seriously, pick up the book. It's amazing. Favourite YA Medieval/Historical Fantasy of this year so far!

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (REVIEW)

A Reader's Pandora

You are no match for us. We are your betters. We are your gods.

I love books. And I love loving books. Good books, at that. I wouldn’t like to love a book that I hate. I love fantasy books and not the “Save the princess and collect the gold!” type. No, I love the dark journeys of self-discovery, warring sides, battles and powers that you did not know that the main character—or any character, for that fact—has.

I love to read books that take me on journeys and that let me see the dark side of the people that I am reading about. I love to read about battles and swords and sorcery and magic and love. I love to read about fights and conflict, drama and political intrigue, and most of all: powers. I love powers, and the drama it can bring.

Red Queen brought that. Red Queen is now my favourite YA High Fantasy book of all time. I am not kidding. THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Man, you have to read it to believe it. It was one of the most amazing books I have ever read, and it blew my mind because my mind is still reeling from that ending, that conclusion! I loved it so much. I just loved all of it. Gosh, it was so good and I can’t… just… ugh…

In the stories, the old fairy tales, a hero comes. But all my heroes are gone or dead. No one is coming for me.

Imagine this: X-Men mixed with Red Rising in a kings-and-queens YA Historical High Fantasy world. Am I the only person whose mind is still thinking of how amazing that sounds? Well, let me just give you the plot and then you’ll go out and buy it. Trust me, you’ll love it. It was my jam on toast!

Mare Barrow is a Red, one of the lower class in the world of Red Queen, who steals what she can in order to get her family to survive another day living in the poor Stilts, a village of the lows, of the Reds. And then there are the Silvers, the ones who rule at their kingdom and who have magic at their fingertips whether it means being a shadow, a nymph, or even to use lightning, and when Mare finds out she has one of these powers (which is impossible), all hell breaks loose.

I absolutely loved this book. Rachel E. Carter (author of The Black Mage series) has been completely raving about this book and saying how good it was, how it was her favourite book in a long time AND, GIRL, BELIEVE ME, VICTORIA ROCKED THE YA STAGE TO THE TOP. God, it was so good. The characters, the plot, the writing, the drama, the action, the writing, the writing, the writing!

First off: Mare. MOTHEREFFING BAD-ASS CHARACTER. Starting from the start, she was completely amazing how she stole from people to get her family the things that they not want but need. They need to live, they need to strive, they need to survive in this world and it’s all up to her.

I am a shadow, and no one remembers shadows.

I couldn’t believe so many of the plot twists that happened in this book that it was completely unreal. I had an idea of one of them, but other than that, none at all! I just loved it so much that there was something that was mostly getting me going about this book and how much I loved it: the writing, and how much it impacted me. God, I was crying so much about some of the scenes in this book because I don’t know, it was just… amazing.

I loved the action scenes and how the writing used emotions into the writing, by saying how much the characters believed and sometimes didn’t believe that they could do what they were trying to do. They were accomplishing something, but some of them didn’t know it. Some of them didn’t want to believe it, but they knew it! It was true. It was happening… right in front of them, and I loved that.

I loved Cal. I loved his dedication. Cal was my favourite male character of the entire book apart from Kilorn. I really didn’t like Maven.

Before I get into spoilers, may I just say something to Victoria Aveyard: Thank you for writing what was probably my favourite book of this year, and favourite high fantasy young adult book of all time. The characters that you wrote were completely amazing and I loved every second of the book. There was absolutely no point where I was bored and it was pure. It was pure. Amazing. Perfection. Do you know how much I loved it? To the point where I screamed for deaths, cried for characters and jumped in the air when I got this book on my Kindle and also when the plot completely twisted so that I had no idea what was going to happen. I loved it so much! Thank you. <3 <3 <<<<<<<3 THANK YOU.

I’m a Red girl in a sea of Silvers...

I’m serious, this was everything that I need in a book. My reactions:

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR SO LONG = a high fantasy with romance, action, conflict, political intrigue and discussions, darkness in characters, and a whole lot of bitchy queens and kings! Seriously, the queen was a major bitch. A Cersei, if you will. A Levana.

Elara:



Wow. My heart is pumping from that ending. GO, MARE BARROW OF THE STILTS!

So. Yep. Favourite book of the year. So far, I mean, of course. c: But yeah. Yep. LOVE.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (REVIEW)

A Reader's Pandora

The anger is a shield, and if I relinquish it, I'll shatter.

There was a time when I used to read only sci-fi, and then high fantasy took over. These Broken Stars has made me rediscover my love for spaceships, satellites, people orbiting the earth in space with only limited supply of food and water.

And survival.

THANK YOU, BOOK. This was one of the best science fiction books I have ever read, and the majority of the ones I read I love! 

It follows a bad-ass character-developing teenage girl named Lilac LaRoux (Rose) who is the wealthiest and richest girl in the galaxy, with her father's corporation running strong until a sudden crash occurs and she must get in an escape pod with the other main character—my love, my one and true love, Tarver Merendsen—until they crash land into a mysterious planet with strange happenings going on.

I'll tell you something about me: I couldn't survive in a mysterious planet with strange happenings going on for shit.

And, although there were some flaws in how they got along, TARVER AND LILAC WERE STRONG AND JUST THIS WHOLE BOOK WAS BAMF.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!

At first, I didn't like the beginning (which was pretty much just the first three pages). I felt like there was a lot of places that could have some dialogue, but then after the third page, I freaking enjoyed reading this book! I read up to halfway in one day, and damn was it fun! I need to do this more often with young adult books.

The introduction to the characters was fantastic!



The. Damn. Writing. I love a good book's writing style, and I loved this one. Amazing work. It kept me on the edge of my seat, I couldn't stop reading and it was just perfection. BOOM.

Before reading this, I read a lot of reviews. I knew that everyone's mind was blown from the ending, and while I had so many theories (I literally wrote down a page of thoughts that could happen), none of them were correct. When I read what happened, I couldn't function.

THIS GODDAMN BOOK, I SWEAR.

I had the most stupidest idea when I thought it would be the best idea. Mhm. The plot twist was unexpected, and I love that in a book. This was just... claps to you, book!



Titanic in space. Not really, since they bloody land on a goddamn planet where everything is not as it seems. I hear Titanic in space everywhere. Personally, I don't agree with that. But hot damn, it was emotional.

I could go on for years and years about how much I love the quotes in this book. I cried in this damn book. I cried not even at a death or a cry-worthy part. I CRIED AT A DAMN LINE THAT A CHARACTER SAID. This book, man.

It hit me.

The feels were real.

*swoons* Okay, I wanna talk about Tarver. He reminds me of a weaker Bellamy from The 100 (and damn if you haven't watched The 100, you won't know what I'm talkin' 'bout but, damn, he's neat). I loved him so much. I just wanted to be in Lilac's place sometimes, but then again, sometimes he makes stupid decisions like some YA characters.

I dunno, man. I just loved this book. It was entertaining, enjoyable, beautifully written, HAD A FREAKING CUTE ROMANCE.

We could swim up to the sky and leave this place with no need to wait for a rescue ship.

The characters were really strong, meaning that they developed so beautifully and so gradually that it led up to where they eventually clicked and I loved it. I loved it so freaking much. There isn't much to do when you're in a dark world, really. You just need to survive.

"Leave it," she decides, turning her back on what's left of her old life.

I went crazy at the end of this book. This book left me an emotional mess. I will definitely be reading the companion novels.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (Review)

A Reader's Pandora

Damn, Sanderson can write a novel. A novel about how different types of metal can make you a superhuman. A novel about how different characters can give you hell of an emotional ride. A novel about Avengers-like superheroes that are not so good after all.

At the start of the novel, David is a teenager getting along in a world of Epics, superhumans who have turned evil and turned onto Steelheart's side—Steelheart being one of the most deadly Epics of all time, being the one that had killed David's father, being the one that David must kill. Along the way, he discovers a group of people called Reckoners.

To be honest, he already knew about the Reckoners—a group of people dedicated to hunting down the superhumans; they kind of gave me a Shadowhunter and Avengers vibe—but only now does he want to join them in order to convince them to try and hunt down Steelheart. Now, David remembers almost every detail of his father's death and the day that he died on... But there's a catch:

"I've seen Steelheart bleed."

David has seen Steelheart bleed, and he will make sure that he bleeds again. In order to do this, he does join the Reckoners in order to kill him and get the revenge that he's be needing to get since the death of his father.

General Thoughts:

Story:

Of course, like always with Sanderson's books, this was just absolutely amazing and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I could not put this book down, and it was just purely fantastic! It was different than most superhero books seeing as all of the Epics were evil, apart from a few but most of them were, and I just loved it! The emotional roller coaster that I felt like was going up until it took me down with a plot twist, making me blush and squeal and want more!

The world was fantastic. I loved the way that it was built, and how the characters were put in beautiful situations that they had to figure out what was what and what was going on, until someone had an idea. And it could change the whole idea of the plot. I couldn't believe how much I loved it!

“Live, David," he said softly. "Live your life."

"I'm doing that," I grumbled. 

"No. You are letting Steelheart live your life for you. He controls it, each step of the way. Live your own life.”

Characters:

David: First of all, at the start, I thought he wasn't going to be much of a good main character and that he was just going to bitch the whole way through the journey of the book, which would defeat the whole purpose of trying to defeat the superhuman who had killed his father. But, yeah, no. He was completely amazing and changed the whole story, to me. He was a fresh and new character. I loved it. So much.

Megan: I'm sorry, but I have to say that I really didn't like Megan. She was very insulting and rude to David—even though some of the time, the nerd jokes were just there for laughs—but I just didn't like her. She didn't change for me to understand why she was being such a bitch to David, and I don't even understand why he could be emotionally invested in her thoughts and emotions when she is just so rude, and mean, and unhelpful.

Prof: Eh ... he was definitely a good character! But I just felt like he wasn't much in the whole story for me to understand the depths of his character. Perhaps in Firefight there'll be an explanation as to why he is so plain, and kind of just weird in the first place.

Cody: LOVE. LOVE. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. He was the joker of the book and I loved him for that reason! His accent and him trying to figure it out, fitting his accent in! I loved how his character grew along with the rest of them apart from Megan and Prof.

Tia: I loved her. She was really, really cool. She was not in the majority of the book, and I understand that because of the fact that most of the other characters were just in there for the plot and the world, but yeah she was pretty cool!

Abraham: Ah, I think I kind of forgot a bit of his character but then again I do remember some parts and yeah, I do remember parts of him, but most of all... I don't know? But he's still cool.

Steelheart: Sorry if I ramble a bit about this guy, but seriously? He was practically my favourite character of the book, because damn that character development and damn how much was he evil in every single scene! I loved it so much. He was dark, ethereal, corporeal, mysterious and unidentified based on the classification of his character! I loved him so much, and can I just say that his name completely shows how much I love his personality? Perfection in a character.

Writing:

His writing was absolutely splendid.

DAMN. The writing of the book in the Prologue and the Epilogue was probably my favourite parts of the book along with the ending. The epilogue, you know what? The Epilogue was definitely my favourite chapter of the entire book and it was just so cool! It was amazing! If you have not read a book by Mr. Sanderson, start with this one!

Conclusion:

All in all, this was one of my favourite superhero-fantasy reads and it felt comic-y but that was one of my favourite parts of the book along with the writing. I just can't express my thoughts into the fact that this book was perfection. I loved it so much! Please pick this up! So much fun.

Reading Progress:

★★★★★

A Reader's Pandora ~ Introduction

Hi! My name is Max and I am a reader of mainly the YA genre where I read mostly fantasy, science fiction, dystopian and sometimes some realistic fiction. I love to read and review books and have done so for a year or so, now. I review a lot of my books on Goodreads but have decided that it may be a good idea to start my own blog to go along with it! I will write the majority of the reviews on here, and then make shorter reviews on Goodreads.

Here, I will be doing some book reviews, book recommendations, and theories on upcoming sequels as well as some bookish news including cover reveals, release dates for upcoming YA books as well as some of my favourite Adult Fantasy books like Game of Thrones, and Red Rising.

I am a very friendly person and will definitely response to whatever you have to say in each comment of my posts. I am willing to do some posts based on your ideas, and will of course be hoping to make some new friends with book bloggers around the Interwebs. I am very excited to start this new journey as I tried another book blog but it did not work out so this is exciting.

My Goodreads is here, and my tumblr is divergent-targaryens. Some of my favourite series are A Song of Ice and Fire, The Shadowhunter Chronicles, Divergent, Throne of a Glass, and Mistborn, and plenty more! I will have a new post up soon where I will be reviewing a certain dystopian book!

Alright, I will see you guys later!

P.S. I am still trying to choose a design, so I will not be sticking with the one that I currently have.