Book Chat: Series vs. Stand-Alone Books

     I recently subscribed to Misty from the book rat on YT. There was an interesting topic that I wanted to voice my opinion on; series vs. stand-alone books. I don't think an author should be pressured into making more books because the publishers want to make more money off of them. I think if a book was meant to be a stand-alone, if that's how the author envisioned it; that's fine. There are plenty of good books that stand-alone and are still as interesting or more than a series.
     I like to read both kinds of books, when I need a break from all the series i read, I'll read a stand-alone book. Most of the books I've read have been series'. I like to read a series once it has all been published and I can buy it all together and read it. I don't like to read a book and have it be so good that I can't wait for the next one, I don't like to wait.
     I would like to thank Misty for coming up with this awesome topic. Here are some links where you can find her.
Blog: http://www.thebookrat.com/
YT: BookratMisty

To read this week

I just purchased the next two books in the Lunarmorte series by Samantha Young: River Cast and Blood Solstice. I will be reading these this week. I'm excited to read them and interested to see what happens in these books; how the story keeps unfolding. Before reading the first in the series, i wasn't looking to read a series, i wanted to read a stand alone novel, but i liked the cover for this one and i thought the other books in this series weren't out yet. I have read three series straight and i just didn't want to do that, but I'm so into this story that I'm going to read the rest of it. For sure the upcoming books I read after this series are probably going to be Sarah Dessen, one of her books I'm not sure which.

I got a new Kindle, and the transition is pretty hard for me. I have many books that i need to read in paperback and hardcover, but I wanted the experience of reading on my Kindle. It feels pretty weird I must admit, I'll get used to it, I think.
Enjoy reading!  

Review: Moon Spell by Samantha Young

Series: Lunarmorte 1
Age group: ages 16 and up
Book: bought, Kindle edition
Author's info: The World of Lunarmorte

Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance...

It’s bad enough feeling different among the human crowd, but feeling different among wolves?

No one said returning to her pack would be easy, especially after ten years without them, but seventeen year old Caia Ribeiro is unprepared for the realities of the transition. Raised in a world where kids aren’t scared by bedtime tales of the bogeyman but by the real life threat of enemy supernaturals who might come creeping into their community to kill them in their sleep, Caia is used to the darkness; she’s used to the mystery and the intrigue of the ancient underworld war she’s bound to by chance of birth. What she’s having trouble with are pack members treating her with wary suspicion, the Elders tucking secrets behind their backs out of her sightline, and her young Alpha, Lucien, distracting her, with a dangerous attraction, from her decision to uncover the truth.

But as the saying goes ‘the truth will out’ and when it does, Caia will only have so long to prepare herself before the war comes pounding on their door threatening to destroy the safe, secret lives of the wolves… and the girl they protect. (Synopsis)


                                                           Review


I didn't read the synopses of this book prior to reading it, so I didn't know what it was going to be about. It turns out, you basically have to look at the cover and it tells you everything you want to know. It's a world of supernaturals such as faeries, vampires, witches, and mainly about werewolves who descend from Greek Gods.


The characters: Caia, which I liked, she wasn't too emotional of a character for me.
The Pack Leader, Lucien, I liked his character, he way he was described was really hot. 
The Elders, basically older members of the Pack like Lucien's mother Ella. 
Caia's uncle Magnus, they were all good secondary characters.
Her friends at school, Jaeden and Sebastian. I liked them both but Sebastian better. 
There were several villains in the story, I think they were portrayed good. 


When i started this book i was so excited because it is a beautiful cover and i just wanted to know more about it. The book follows Caia, and without her knowledge; her future was planned for her. the author wrote how all her choices were taken away from her. She had to spend 10 years away from her pack because someone was trying to kill her, the twist is; who wants her to be completely erased so that there was no sigh of her even being born. Caia finds that all her questions were answered and that her Pack Leader was withholding a lot of information; about her past and her future. I think he made many mistakes with her.


In the beginning of this book, i was a little lost; i couldn't quite understand which character was which, except Caia. The middle of the book was when it started to get good for me. I felt that the author made mistakes in her writing, it just confused me sometimes and it really made it hard for me to go on reading this book, but I held on and finished it, hoping it would get better and it did. Throughout the book I found myself correcting some of her writing so it could make more sense, in the beginning I thought the writing was pretty bad. From the middle on, I loved the book. The author describes how mating works for werewolves; once you find your mate, you will be together forever. If you mate dies, you will feel like a part of you died and you won't love anyone else the same way. I thought that part was really beautiful. Another thing i didn't like was the romance and how that part left off in the book. 


I give this book 4/5 stars because I love the story and the history of how the werewolves came from Gods, I like Greek mythology; so that was awesome that there was some of that in the book. I love the book. In the end, I have no idea who the next villain is going to be, sometimes when you read a series; you can kind of know who will be the next villain, but in for the next book, I can't tell. I'm looking forward to the next book. I recommend this book to readers of The Mortal Instruments Series. I really love the cover I think it's beautiful.
  

Review: Betrayal by Gillian Shields

Series: Immortal #2
Book: bought, hardcover
Author's info: Harperteen.com
Published: Harper Collins
Pages: 359

There are many kinds of betrayals. There are the small ones: the unkind word, the laughter behind someone's back, the petty lies. And there are the betrayals that break hearts, destroy worlds, and turn the strong, sweet light of day into bitter dust.

When Evie Johnson started at Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, her life changed in ways she couldn't possibly have envisioned: the discovery of her link with Lady Agnes, her special bond with Helen and Sarah, and their sisterhood in the astonishing secrets of the Mystic Way. Above all, Evie's love for Sebastian has turned her world upside down.

Now Evie returns to Wyldcliffe for another term and more danger. Surrounded by enemies, she lives every day in fear that Sebastian will fall into the darkness of servitude to the Unconquered Lords. The Wyldcliffe coven is plotting to destroy Evie and use Sebastian to secure their own immortality. Evie and her sisters must master the power of the Talisman before it is too late. But could it be Sebastian himself who will ultimately betray Evie?

                                                                         Review

In this book, Evie is trying to find a cure for Sebastian. She drives herself crazy because she doesn't know what to do or how to help. The whole time I was reading this book i wondered two things: (1) will Evie find a way to save Sebastian so that they can be together, and (2) will Evie be betrayed before she can find a way to save him. Evie has to save her boyfriend and stay out of her enemies radar. In the first book, everything was new for Evie, the school, her powers, and Sebastian. This book, she can see what her powers can do. There is a new character, Josh. He is the stable boy, he takes care of the horses that the girls are allowed to bring from home. Josh has a connection to Evie, I didn't understand it until the third book.
This is a book that is both loved and hated.

I give this book 4/5 rating. Only because of the ending. If this book ended the series, I would understand. I would recommend this book. I cried in the end, a lot. Don't get me wrong, i like to have an emotional connection while reading, but this was intense. 

The ending was bittersweet for me, I was shocked. I didn't really like it, and i thought "what is the point of the upcoming book?" I thought the story was over, but there are two more books.
Have a good day & enjoy reading!

Review: Immortal By Gillian Shields

Series: Immortal 1
Age group: Young adult
Book: bought, hardcover
Author's info: Harperteen.com
Published: Harper Collins
Pages: 360

Welcome to Wyldcliffe, the place that haunts my present, my past, and my future.

Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn from her home near the sea to become the newest scholarship student, strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave her drowning in loneliness.

Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a mysterious and attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian blaze with each secret meeting, she begins to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. As the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.

                                                               Review

This is such a wonderful story, so captivating. I bought and read this book about 3 years ago, the year it came out. I had no idea that it was going to be part of a series, but this yaer i got back into reading and ordered the second and thrid book online. So i re-read this book and i loved it again. I feel like i want to be Evie's friend and help her. I describe this book as a haunting tale, a paranormal romance, it's mysterious, and suspenseful.This book also has magic. There are also the mean girls, especially on, the queen bee, who is nothing but mean to everyone. I love how the book goes back and forth from the present to the past, that is how some characters are described.
The characters: Evie, the new girl in school. Had no choice but to come to boarding school due to circumstances at home. Helen, who some people call crazy, is Evie's good friend. Sarah, always there for her friends, Helen and Evie. Frankie, Evie's grandmother, who took care of her before she had to go to the Abbey. The teachers of the school weren't friendly or pleasant. They seem pretty heartless, like if they ever smile, it will freak you out, cause they never smile. Evie's father, who is away because he is in the military. I really like how the story unfolds, it literally starts off with a bang. I like stories like this, they don't make you wonder when the action is going to start, or when the main character is going to stop telling us about their feelings, lol. The twist in the end was unexpected, I didn't see it coming.
I give this book 5/5 because i loved it. It is a good story that I can't wait to finish reading, all I need is the last book to come out.
I recommend this book if you like "The Hollow" Series.
Have a good day & enjoy reading!

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 

Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments Series
Age group: Young Adult
Book: Bought, paperback
Author's info: http://mortalinstruments.com/links.php

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

                                                                    Review

Clarissa Fray is an ordinary girl living in New York. Her mother Joselyn who is an artist, her father died before she could meet him, her sort of geeky best friend Simon, and her mother's best friend Luke, who was like a father to her. In this book there is something for everyone, romance, suspense, mystery, and fantasy. Also there are vampires, monsters, warlocks, werewolves, faeries. By half of the book, so much had happened.  

Jace one of the teenager she saw at the club later explains that he is a Shadowhunter; a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to killing demons. That pretty much opened a can of worms in Clary's life. Her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. What did she get herself into?

I loved this book! I "accidently" (but not really) read the synopsis of Book Two, so i found out some secret that hadn't yet been revealed to me. It didn't really spoil anything for me, I just didn't think that the synopsis was going to be so revealing. I was sitting at the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading this book. There was always something happening, it was so exciting. I was just thinking "I wonder what the other books are going to be like, if this one has so much going on."

I thought that Cassandra took her time creating these characters. My favorite character was Jace, he's described as a badass. I also liked his wittiness, he expresses his feelings for Clary but from a distance, he mostly just wants to protect her. 
I really liked Isabell as well, she can hold her own being the only girl among the two guys. And who can forget Simon the trusty human-ish side kick. I also can't forget Magnus Bane, his epic parties, and his glitter! He's one of the most unique characters and I loved reading about him.

I like how Cassandra explained how the world looks, I just wish it was written in Clary's point of view. It's basically just being narrated. The villain is awesome, I loved him. The twist, I did not see it coming.

Overall i give this book 5/5 stars. What's not to like about this book? Can't wait for book 2!

For future reference: Do not read the synopsises of book 2 and the others after that, it will ruin it for you if you're the kind of person that likes to find out on your own, by reading the book. 

Have a good week & enjoy reading!