Books And Other Fetishes

...and my Reading Challenge for 2014 will be COMPLETE!!! Reading 50 (minus one) books in about 4 months has made a considerable dent in my to-read pile of books :-)

The fifth book in the Lux series is out and before reading it, I decided to reread the first four books so I can enjoy falling for Daemon Black all over again! Now, I‘m done with the second book but a part of me is just so damn impatient to devour the latest one anyway but I also need to re-acquaint myself with the events...still, nothing like reading about aliens with hot life-forms to pass the time!

It’s been a while since I re-read this one and of course, now I am in a dreamy and drooling mess over Finn...I will try to tone down my gushing though :p Finn is kind and sweet and thoughtful and caring and witty in addition to being hot ( unlike Evan ) and he is always there for Megan! Oh and he is an artist and that just makes him even more attractive...his painting Megan’s portrait is SO adorable not to mention how he barricaded himself in the shed when he found out Megan left. Yes, I love the story and there are other characters but I just wanted to mention Finn and his awesomeness here. : D

First of all, I would like to express how utterly and extremely GLAD I am that Alex and Willow overcome all the obstacles and differences to get together again by the end of the book! : D In fact, I have given this book 4 stars instead of 3.5 just because of that :p Okay, so this book was also enjoyable plus it did not drag at the end like the first one. I like Seb and I am so happy that he will stick around even though he is still in love with Willow. As for Kara (ugh), nobody knows what happened to her but I am thankful she is out of the picture and NOT with Alex ( Ha!). Things were quite rushed and confusing in the end and I think the way everything just fell into place between Alex, Willow and Seb was, though exactly what I wanted, unsatisfactory and just way too conveniant after so much tension and misunderstandings being there. I wish that had been better constructed especially the way Willow realised she was NOT in love with Seb and the way they sort of confirmed that Willow was not causing Angel Burn to Alex...anyway, time to read Angel Fever now. : ) Oh and I really feel that the author should have come up with better and more imaginative names for angel killers instead of -yep- ‘Angel Killers’...it‘s an insult to Alex’s badass-ness. :p

I am still in the middle of this book and though the story as a whole is getting better and better, I still wanted to mention that I do NOT like where Alex and Willow’s relationship is headed. Seb, the only other half-angel aside from Willow, is interesting and super-hot especially with that Spanish accent (reminded me of Jesse from the Mediator series plus they use the same endearments too :p) BUT there is no way I am going to accept Seb and Willow getting together just because they are the only two of their kind (no matter how much I find it cute when Seb calls Willow ‘querida’) or Alex and KARA (hate her) getting together just because they have a history and are both human!! The thing is I am still firmly on Team Alex until something happens to change my mind though that‘s something I am dreading because I just love Alex even more in this book...the scenes where he gets jealous are just so cute! Ah well. Let’s see what happens.

 I am just going to keep this review simple and straight-forward. The whole twist that angels are actually the opposite of benign and heavenly was different but not THAT interesting. I liked the heroine especially the fact that she was not annoying and knew how to give a guy his space but she was not much different from most I’ve read about. I loved Alex because aside from being hot and badass, he was smart and sensitive and sweet and I liked his POV better. I really enjoyed the build-up and tension leading to their relationship but when they finally got together, things got too cheesy and monotonous after a while...even for me :p There was a moment in the plot which shocked me but the rest of it was pretty much predictable. Overall, I had fun reading the book and I will read the next two books too although I am mostly interested in Alex and Willow’s relationship and whether it will develop any further because it has fallen flat by the end of this book.

This was my reaction near the end of the book...‘’What the HELL!!??" because of a massive bombshell that was dropped which blew my mind away! I was left REELING as I didn’t see it coming...not even considered the possibility. Rick Yancey has proved that he is the personification of GENIUS. Though the fact that the next and last book is not available yet makes me want to bang my head against a wall in despair, I know I will manage the waiting because the ending was shocking as hell BUT left me feeling hopeful for two obvious reasons. One is that Evan is back (yippeeeeee!) And second is that Ringer (who has become one of my favourite characters) is free! Please, Rick Yancey, don’t let anything happen to Ben, Evan, Ringer, Cassie and Sam! 

I tend to stay away from the science fiction department but I have to say...this one completely sucked me in and the best part was that the plot wasn’t predictable and I was often left guessing as to what would happen next. As for the characters, I am so attached to them especially Ben Parish/Zombie (I was so shocked when I found out he is one of the key characters) and Sam/Nugget while I admire Cassie for being tough and badass (telling the enemy to f***k off instead of pleading or crying when he is about to kill you and your little brother takes some serious guts :p) and Ringer...well, she is still a mystery. Speaking of mysteries, Evan Walker is one character that had me totally confused. At first, I thought he was Ben but then he turns out to be one of the Others after all. My initial feelings were suspician mixed with the usual ones when a hot guy pops up in a story but by the end, the way he takes care of Cassie, tolerates her freak-out episodes and risks his own life to help her save her brother...I fell for the guy. Of course, the whole thing where he is turning against his own species because he is in love with her is so romantic :p. Anyway, I loved this book and the aliens in it give me the creeps! I just hope that nothing happens to Ben, Evan, Cassie and Sam because I would not be able to handle it.

Either I am a hopeless ninny when it comes to ANY mushy love story or this book really is yet another beautiful piece of work by Kasie West! Seriously, I was hoping but NOT expecting it to be as good as the previous one. This time, the girl is completely opposite but so much more interesting to read about because she is a total tomboy, has THREE brothers and her awkward transition into girly stuff including makeup and dresses is both enjoyable and frustrating. The guy, Braden, is their neighbour, her brother’s best friend and her fourth ‘brother’ as they’ve known each other their whole lives and the whole complication where he couldn’t admit his feelings for her even though it was so so obvious...I loved it! BUT, surprisingly, this time the guy isn’t who I thought was the highlight of the story...Charlie and her relationship with her brothers (especially Gage) and Braden as a family was the most memorable part for me! I‘ve always wondered what it would have been like to have an older brother(s) so reading about a girl who has three of them and how they are both fiercely annoying AND protective of her is fascinating for me...all of their moments together were adorable and HILARIOUS! I also really admire Charlie for being so sporty and confident...another kickass heroine! I loved this book and now, ‘Pivot Point’ is next in my to-read list. : )

I loved this book SO much that it could possibly join my favourites list...in fact, it definitely HAS joined it! This was one of those PERFECT love stories with a likable heroine, a totally relatable complication, witty dialogues AND a guy that makes you melt, of course! :p Okay, that makes it sound pretty flimsy and average. My point is that there was not a single part in the story that ruined my initial impression and every moment was better than I anticipated. I really liked Caymen Meyers especially her sarcasm and dry wit because it gave her an edgy touch and took her from ‘ordinary’ to ‘kickass’ whereas Xander Spence was (insert lovestruck sigh) TOO good to be true! He came off as an arrogant rich-boy with his expensive clothes and i-own-the-world attitude but pretty soon, you get to see how much he cares about Caymen. Underneath all that sophistication and stiffness, he is so darn sweet! : ) The story was not only cute but also REAL as far as Xander and Caymen’s lifestyle and background differences are concerned and how they eventually overcome them. Oh and the scene in which they finally give in to each other’s feelings was worth all the tension and waiting...this factor is highly significant for me because in several books, the anticipation builds and builds and when the moment happens, it falls short of my expectation or is too cheesy/lame. Now, I am going to read ‘On The Fence’ by the same author because this book left me no other choice but to try out everything else written by Kasie West! 

Now I just HAVE to watch ‘Gilmore Girls’ because I think I’ve just found perfection in the form of Rory Gilmore! =p

...even though I love the real things (hardback or paperback) way more than e-books, the fact is that books are BOOKS - no matter how you read them! :p

L.J Smith’s books occupy a significant portion of my bookshelf and even though the Vampire Diaries books are very disappointing compared to the show, I like the rest of them especially the Night World series. So, after hearing about the Secret Circle series and the show based on them, I was itching to try them out. I am happy to state that the books, with their witches and magic theme, are quite interesting and I am in the middle of the second book...and enjoying it. The heroine, Cassie Blake, is not that likable due to her weak and mousy nature but I still like her and Adam’s side-romance or the potential for it anyway because Adam is already taken and his girlfriend is Cassie’s best friend! As for the rest of the characters, they’re all pretty mysterious and intriguing especially Deborah and Nick. Faye, the girl you love to hate, is the entertaining factor. All in all, I think the Secret Circle series is way better than the Vampire Diaries books and as soon as I finish with them, I will check out the show...I just hope Adam and Cassie end up together in the end! :D