50/50 Friday Best/Worst Book Read in February

This meme is hosted at The Butterfly Reader and Blue Eye Books

This week's topic is best / worst book read in February

Best

 

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong! It was a quick, exciting read, and I enjoyed every page of it.

Worst

 

I didn't read any horrid books in February, but I liked this one the least, I think. It wasn't bad, I've just preferred other books.  

The Dying of the Light by Derek Landy

 

 Series: Skulduggery Pleasant
Author: Derek Landy
Page Count: 605
Published: August 28th, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
  5 Stars ★★★★★ 

Darquesse is on the loose and is planning to end the world. Skulduggery is working to find her and stop her before it's too late. With his friends and colleagues, he searches for Darquesse with hopes to save Valkyrie as well, and to separate her from the evil that has taken over her. 

Will they find Darquesse in time? Will Skulduggery be able to save Valkyrie along with the world? Or will the world end, everybody dying with it?

I can't really talk about my feelings about this book, the ninth book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, without talking about what I think about the series itself as a whole, and all of the other books within it. Every book moves the greater story-line a bit further along, with unique and exciting situations arising within each one. I think this combination of having different issues within each book along with a progression towards the concluding events of the series itself really makes this book special. 

What else makes this book, and series, special? Everything. Literally everything. The characters are amazing! Everything from their names to their backgrounds to their powers makes for an extremely entertaining read. This is the only series where I've found characters with epic names such as Valkyrie Cain, Ghastly Bespoke, Anton Shudder, and of course, Skulduggery Pleasant. There are evil characters, good characters, and lots of characters who fall somewhere in between. Some are serious, some are silly, and some find the perfect balance between humorous and solemn. I have liked every single character within this series, including every villain, because they are all just so interesting and entertaining!

Of course there are the personal relationships that form between these characters as well. There are business or work relationships, such as Valkyrie and Skulduggery's arrangement with the Sanctuary. Then there are friendships, such as the one that forms between Valkyrie and Skulduggery, Tanith and Valkyrie, and existing friendships such as that between Ghastly and Skulduggery. This series focuses a lot more on friendship than on romance, and as a reader I got to care about the characters in the same way that they cared about each other. This made me shed tears at times, for example times when Valkyrie thought she lost Skulduggery forever, or when various other characters found themselves in unfortunate circumstances. 

Considering this book in specific, I had put off reading it because until recently, everybody thought that it was the last book in this series. As a serious, long-time fan of this series, I really didn't want it to end. Then, Derek Landy announced that he'd be writing another book, and possibly more after that, so I finally picked this one up and read it. 

As usual with the other novels in the series, I was completely blown away. I cannot wait for the tenth book, and I really hope the author writes even more novels featuring Skulduggery and Valkyrie when he is finished that one. 

I think that everyone who loves stories about magic should read this book! If you like books with elements of horror and humor, including some emotional elements and amazing characters, this series is definitely for you. 

Find The Dying of the Light on Goodreads

50/50 Friday - World Building

This meme is hosted at The Butterfly Reader and Blue Eye Books

This week's topic is most / least intricately built world.

Most Intricately Built World

 

As if there were any competition for me on this one. The world of Skulduggery Pleasant is so well built, that if I traveled to Ireland and ran into the skeleton detective himself, my surprise would be minimal. The author makes it seem perfectly plausible that there's some secret world of sorcerers, and that's just one of the many things that I adore about this book.

Least Intricately Built World

 

This was a tough one. Most of the worlds that I've read about in books have been built fairly well, from contemporary small towns to boarding schools for paranormal creatures. While Halo wasn't a bad book (I actually rated it 5 stars) the world-building in the first book wasn't the most amazing thing ever. In the second book it got a lot better, but as for book one, I remember preferring the characters themselves over the actual world.

What did you think about the worlds in these books?

Has my constant praise of Skulduggery Pleasant caused you to add it to your to-read list yet?

She Loves You, She Loves You Not... by Julie Anne Peters

Series: N/A
Author: Julie Anne Peters
Page Count: 288
Published: June 1st, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  3 Stars ★★★

Alyssa's father doesn't react well when she comes out to him as a lesbian. She ends up disowned, broken up with her girlfriend, and taken in by Carly, her birth mother, a woman she barely knows at all. Adjusting to her new life proves to be tough, as she must deal with the pain of rejection, the heartbreak from her failed relationship, and her mother's own secret past. Along the way she meets Finn, a new friend in this new town, a friend who might just turn into something more. 

I have a few things to say about this book. First, I really liked the portrayal of an LGBTQ person struggling with bigotry from within the family. I feel Alyssa's situation was incredibly well written, and that the author did a great job of expressing Alyssa's feelings on the matter and how it impacted her in her day to day life, both before and after coming out.

I also enjoyed reading about all of the different characters, from Carly (Alyssa's biological mother) to Arlo (the manager of a store who lives his life in a wheelchair). However, there was one issue with the characters: I didn't really like the main character! I was able to empathize with Alyssa considering her issues coming out and being rejected, but as a person, I didn't find her very likeable. She was a bit too judgemental for my taste, she wasn't the kind of person I'd like to be friends with in real life. 

I also feel like the pacing was a bit too slow for me. While I read this book fairly quickly, there wasn't truly much going on. I understand that contemporary fiction can sometimes be a bit slower than fantasy fiction, for example, but there has to be some excitement. While there certainly were exciting pieces, such as Carly's past and the mystery surrounding it, much of the excitement was jammed into the last thirty percent of the book, which made the rest of the book seem so slow, and the ending way too fast! 

There really isn't much else to say about this book. It was short, and while it portrayed a situation that unfortunately is all too common in the real world, the main character wasn't really likeable and the pacing was too slow for my taste. 

I recommend this book to those looking for YA contemporary featuring LGBTQ characters. If you want to read a book about someone dealing with rejection due to their sexuality, this novel provides a look into the thoughts, hopes, and worries of a teenager struggling with that situation exactly.

Find She Loves You, She Loves You Not on Goodreads

Beautiful Cover of the Day

I have not posted about the lovely covers I come across on Goodreads for a long time, and I recently came across one that I think is amazing and I'm super hyped for the book to be released, so I thought I'd post about it! I hope you don't mind my inconsistency on here for the last while, there's been so much schoolwork!

Anyways, today's beautiful cover belongs to Mask of Shadows

From Goodreads

Perfect for fantasy fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, the first book in this new duology features a compelling gender fluid main character, impressive worldbuilding, and fast-paced action.

Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class―and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand―the Queen's personal assassins, named after the rings she wears―Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.

Just look at that cover. It's freakin' awesome! It's gorgeous! 

And the main character is genderfluid! Finally more genderfluid people, I am so excited. This sounds so awesome, I can't wait. 

  

What do you think of the cover?