B-DAY BOOK HAUL

B-DAY BOOK HAUL;

Hi there, this is my first ever book haul. 4 days ago I turned eighteen and I got a lot of wonderful books from my parents and my friends. Thanks y'all, I'm so grateful to be your friend ;)
I got the boxed set Trylle Trilogy by Amanda hocking, the Immortal Instruments and Infernal Divices series by Cassandra Clare, the Soul Screamers and The Shifter series by Rachel Vincent and a Dutch Jill Mansell book "vlinders voor altijd" (translated; "Butterflies for ever"") .

SHIVER

THE WOLVES OF MERCY FALLS TRILOGY #1 : SHIVER

When a local boy is killed by wolves, Grace's small town becomes a place of fear and suspicion. But Grace can't help being fascinated by the pack, and by one yellow-eyed wolf in particular. There's something about him - something almost human. Then she meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away...

A chilling love story that will have you hooked from the very first page.

REVIEW :

Oh goddess. This was just such an amazing love story. I seriously got tears in my eyes at the end. 

This book is great for when you really want a good lovestory. Grace is a very likeable character, so is Sam by the way.

You start with a bit of background story, which becomes a very important bit of infrmation through out the trilogy.

The love between Sam and Grace just feels so right, it's beautiful, like they've been made for each other. (and no, I don't mean it in the way of soul mates we are used to, although it comes very very close).

The idea of werewolves changing because of the cold is also a very refreshing view of the werewolf genre, but it's sad that at some point they can't turn human any more, it makes it very difficult to have a normal life while they are human.

I really liked this book, it's not addictive but it's certainly entertaining and reccomendable.

This is why I give this book 4,5 roses.

BLUE MOON

THE IMMORTALS SERIES #2 : BLUE MOON

Alyson Noël's bestselling Immortals series has been hailed as "addictive," "beautiful," "haunting," and "mesmerizing." In Blue Moon, Ever has a chance to bring her family back from the dead - but only if she's willing to sacrifice the guy she loves more than life itself.

Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever's powers are increasing, Damen's begin to fade after he is stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.

Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, where she uncovers not only the secrets of Damen's past - the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden - but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them - or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day....

REVIEW :

NO NO NO NO NOOO, I officially hate this series. I've never not finished a book, but this one was just just.... horrible.

The writing is good but the story is just so similar to new moon (the second installment from the twilight saga, for the people who didn't already know that). I've started reading it a while ago but I can't get myself to finish it. Ever is not the worst protoganist but certainly not the best either, I officially hate her (it's not just one thing in particular, it's the whole package that anoys me)

I was warned when I read the reviews before buying this series, but ofcourse, stubborn idiot  as I am I wanted them. Well, that was the worst decision I've made in my book-history.

DO NOT PICK THIS BOOK UP, JUST DON'T. (I'm just being honest, so sorry for the people who did like it. People have different tastes and I don't mind if you do like these books)

So I'm sad to say that this book wasn't worth more than one rose

EVERMORE

THE IMMORTALS SERIES #1 : EVERMORE

The first book in Alyson Noël's extraordinary new Immortals seris. Enter an enchanting new world, where true love never dies...

After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact to suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school — but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Damen is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He's the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head - wieling a magis so intense, it's as though he can peer straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she's left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea just who he really is - or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she's falling deeply and helplessly in love with him.

REVIEW:

I didn't really like this book. Let me begin by saying that the main character was just NOT likeable, and her name, what was Ms Noël thinking when she named her "Ever". It's such a weird name, for an even weirder girl.

Ever only thinks about herself, everything in her life before the accident was perfect, she was popular, beautiful and had a gorgeous boyfriend. Now she is totally gone crazy because she  has these powers to read peoples minds and know everything about them with a single touch. I say, "deal with it girl" but what does she do, she goes solitary. Her friends aren't helping with making this book more likeable, Haven is just an EMO and a b*tch. Damien was nice, but the whole "obsessed with Ever, and her reïncarnating" seemed a lot like the FALLEN series by Lauren Kate. And that weird red drink that immortals drink seems disgusting.

This first book was OK, but certainly not very enjoyable but OK. 

If you think this might be a good book, read it but don't continue the series (except if you think after reading this that it was A-MA-ZING, which it wasn't for me )

I'll give this book 3 roses, just because it wasn't all bad, but bad enough that I didn't like it.

FALLEN IN LOVE

THE FALLEN SERIES #3.5 : FALLEN IN LOVE

 

Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story.

And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine's Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they 
least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce 
will spend a night together like none other.

Lauren Kate's FALLEN IN LOVE is filled with love stories . . . the ones everyone has been waiting for.

True love never says goodbye. . .

REVIEW:

I read the entire fallen series before this book, and I think I should have read this one in between  Passion and Rapture because Rapture's ending spoiled Shelby and Miles's story for me. I still liked the story but it wasn't a surprise. And Daniel andd Luce's story really seemed redundant.

Arriane's story  and Roland's story on the other hand were great story's though and I liked that these stories all took place at te same time in the same place.

Arriane's story was a big surprise to me (well not a really big one because a friend of mine already told me the biggest plot spoiler, not on purpase and you know it instantly when starting the story, but still) , I really wouldn't have guessed that. I think everyone agrees with me when I say that I thought that Arriane and Roland would have a story TOGETHER. But they each have their own tragic love stories seperately.

I liked the book and if you love the fallen series read this one to. Liked it but didn't love it

So I gave is 3,5 roses

RAPTURE

THE FALLEN SERIES #4 : RAPTURE

 

The sky is dark with wings . . . .

Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.

Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.

For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.

In the fight for Luce, who will win?

REVIEW : (SPOILER ALERT)

Rapture is the conclusion to the fallen series. And I have to tell you one thing, IT'S SO FRIGGIN AWESOME.  It really is worth getting through Torment to get to this.

I loved the way everything worked towards an apocalypse kind of ending.

Lucifer played a bigger role in this book, which I think was necessary. Until now the main characters were fighting an invisible force and the outcast's were only the enemy's for there own plan.

The way that the outcast's blossom (I think I can say Literally) is another factor that made this book so great. I got goosebumps when Luce made the Throne give them there wings and eyeside and beauty back.

And the Throne, the notorious Throne, I laughed out loud and said "Sooo god IS a woman" when SHE came . (a scene from gilmore girls sprang into my mind.

Emily to Richard: You were on the phone?

Richard: Long distance

Lorelai: God?

Richard: London

Lorelai: God lives in Lodon?

Richard: No my mother lives in London

Lorelai: Your mother is god? Sooo god IS a woman and a relative, that's so cool I'm gonna totally ask for favors.

Richard to Rory: Please make her stop

Rory: Oh I wish that I could)

I still don't understand why Luce and Daniel would not side with the Throne, they can still have their love when they are in heaven, right? But I still love the end.

The end reminded me a little of the ending from Goddess of Light (by P.C Cast) but in this book I liked the ending, especially when you get to the point where the older versions of Shelby and Miles and Roland and Arriane watch them.

So if you've stopped reading after torment or passion, go out and read Rapture because you don't want to miss the ending.

I gave this book 5 roses

PASSION

THE FALLEN SERIES #3 : PASSION

 

Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way…

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime… going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames… forever.

REVIEW :

Passion takes you on a journey through centuries. Untill this book, you knew that Luce had been reincarnated dozens of times. The first chapter in Fallen #1 is a scene from one of Luce's many previous lifes. In this book Luce goes into an anouncer and back to her previous lifes. On her way she meets Bill, a "gargoyle"  who is her guide. He helps her to find the answers she's so desperately looking for.

This book was a roller coaster through time and the world. Lauren Kate beautifully described these scenes and made them seem real to you. I felt like I was with Luce, searching for answers in different times. It was an exciting holiday, if you can describe it like that. I would have liked to have more scenes with Arriane, Gabbe and the other angels. But everything in these books is thoroughly thought of, so when I was reading Rapture I totally understood Lauren Kate's reasons why she wrote the book and events this way.

I give this book 4,5 roses because Rapture is my favorite and this book missed the suspense that fills that book.

MOON CALLED

MERCEDES (MERCY) THOMPSON SERIES #1 : MOON CALLED

Mercy (short for Mercedes) Thompson is a mechanic, who earns a good living fixing German make cars in her garage in the Tri-Cites.  She lives in a world where the lesser fae have been ‘outed’ and now live in government reservations, werewolves and vampires exist but have managed to keep their existence secret, along with a few other strange creatures that are still firmly in the closet.

Whilst she is working in her garage a young drifter turns up looking for casual work and feeling sorry for him, Mercy gives him a job.  She can tell he is in some sort of trouble and apart from everything else she can tell that he is also a werewolf.

Mercy knows a lot about werewolves, she was raised by a werewolf family, her first love was a werewolf and her current next door neighbour is a werewolf.  Yes, Mercy certainly knows werewolves!  She isn’t a werewolf herself, though she was born a ‘walker’, a Native American supernatural shape shifter who can change into a coyote at will.

Determined to help her new friend she introduces him to her next door neighbour Adam, who is also the alpha of the local werewolf pack.  From there events soon spiral out of control with Mercy caught in the middle.  She is soon forced to return to her childhood home and seek the assistance of the Marrok, leader of all the werewolf packs of America.  It is soon apparent that there is a plot against the Marrok but without much of an idea who is behind it Mercy turns to the vampires for help….

REVIEW:

What can I say about Moon Called, well it's a great start for the series and I like how you jump in on Mercy's life and not be confused. The book is beautifully written and I felt like I really was there. The way that Patricia Briggs discribes a wolf pack, and the way she let's you see everything from Mercy's point of view is just phenominal. Next to my love for P.C Cast's books this is absolutely my favorite series. It's fast paced, exciting and the romance is just on the side, the adventure in these books are the main focus.                                                                                                                                                                                                        If you're into urban fantasy books and you haven't read the mercy thompson series yet, you have some serious work to do, what are you waiting for, pick them up.                                                                                                        I've read all the books and I can't wait till "frost burned" comes out. It's refreshing and funny and has a very, very kick ass heroin, which I love.                                                                                                                                    Mercy is independent . strong willed and she just has a way of making you love her.

I gave this book 5 roses