Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

I can only say that I am really, truly sorry for the lack of posts lately. Worst thing about it? I don't know when I will be able to post regularly right now! Preparing for Uni is really stressful and I've been working two jobs and running a lot and...reading and blogging  couldn't be my first priority these days.
In order to make up for it (a bit, at least) I am doing something really exciting this weekend and you will read all about it come next week, so I hope you stay tuned for that and that it will make you a bit less furious over my Internet absence :D
Oh, and I've got a review for you, too!

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

A Long Story Short:

Epic.

Review for You:

I'm going to be honest and say that originally, my excitement for Siege and Storm was limited. For the first time ever, I had to look a book up on Wikipedia because for the life of me, I could not remember everything that happened in Shadow and Bone. I remembered liking the book  a lot and wanting to read the sequel WAY back then. But it's been a year. My tastes changed a lot. I wasn't sure - and surely not excited.

With Siege and Storm I felt like I grew into the book. Or the book grew on me. In the beginning, I fell in love again with Bardugo's amazing storytelling. The almost fairy-tale-ish approach she has is different from most authors. Especially since she manages to do it without over the top descriptions and detailing.

While Alina and Mal were never my favorite YA characters (and still aren't) there was soon a new one introduced that I cannot summon enough praise for.

I'm talking Sturmhound, of course. One of the funniest, most interesting and witty characters I have ever encountered in YA. Every page that he was on I was bound to love. I have yet to feel that way about any bookish character!

The plot surprised me a couple of times because it was so unpredictable. Sometimes I thought it was going to go in a certain direction - that I didn't like - and then BOOM something happened and we were (literally!) headed somewhere completely else.

When the book settles a bit eventually, I was wrong again. I expected things to continue at a slower pace and prepared myself for the boredom a rough spot like that usually comes with...thankfully, that wasn't the case, though.

Bardugo once again managed to keep me interested in her story from beginning to end. No pause, no rough spot, no slow period. Everything going really smoothly.

The only thing I found a bit annoying was the romance and how Mal and Alina's relationship developed. Then again, I don't like Mal to begin with (I don't know why, I just don't get him at all), so that's probably why.

The ending, then, was epic. Just fantastic! I want to say it's a pretty much perfect ending! Like...the action is coming around big time and you find that you're shivering all over and then, when all that action is over, the only thing you get is a small epilogue. Not a hundred more pages explaining and analysing everything that just happened - like in some other novels.

All in all, I was very impressed by Siege and Storm. It did not disappoint at all and I can't wait for the last book in the trilogy and everything else Leigh Bardugo might have in store!!! 

Ambitious Goals, a Headache and a Day in Cologne

Monday & Tuesday

Books Read: none

Pages read: 137

So, I might have overestimated myself (once again). And it might take me three, instead of one day, to finish The Catastrophic History of You and Me.

And I might not be as in love with the book as I thought I would be.

Anyway, I'm trying and I do have excuses (of course I do!)

a) I spent all of Monday in Cologne which is a 2,5 hour train ride away from home 

b) I totally planned on spending the train ride reading but 

c) I got a headache from here across the Universe and back and could not do anything but snuggle up on my seat and listen to "Safe and Sound" (Capital City, not Taylor Swift though that one's great, too)

Admittedly, you could have skipped the above section and just went with this:

I am failing. Heeeelp!

The bac-up plan is this:

I will try to read as much of TCHOYAM tonight. Then, I will cheat and read those two Judy Bloom books tomorrow (they're only about 150 pages) and then I will be back on track by Thursday.

Sounds like a plan, right?

But enough of me, how are you doing with your goals???

My First Half and My Fifth BoB

As an Introduction, I thought I'd inform you all that I ran my first Half Marathon today! My goal time was 1:45:00 but guess what??? I finished with 1:43:43 - and I'm SO stoked to go out there and run and run and run so that I can get even faster than that!!!

Moving on, Bout of Books 8.0 starts tomorrow!!! So if you haven't signed up yet (why would that be???) I strongly recommend that you do now, because you might forget if you don't and I tell ya, this is not something you want to miss.

Just because I've only mentioned it about 30000000.... times on this blog, BoB is the BEST Read-a-Thon you could participate in because it's packed with socializing stuff which I love!

I mean, you just cannot miss their amazing Twitter chats and challenges. You cannot.

Okay, all my enthusiasm aside, have you noticed something? If you know me well, you can probably guess.

Fun Fact no.1) I haven't signed up for BoB yet. (Okay, you can't know that, but as I said, those who know me...I'm such a procrastinator!)

Fun Fact no2) No goal post. Nope. Nada. And you could have known that one!

So, this is kind of my goal post. You know, where I tell you my super ambitious plans for the week only to realize, they are so unrealistic you guys are probably laughing off your guts at the moment (can you even do that? Laugh off your guts? Never mind)

Uhh, you know, it's completely normal to do two Read-a-Thons in a row and...post the exact same selection of books again. Only means, I might be a little bit moody when it comes to my reads,but I'm 18 years old and allowed to change my mind every two seconds!

Books that you see in the picture:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

The Summer of Firsts and Lasts

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Are You There God, It's Me, Margeret

and Forever by Judy Bloom

That's eight books. And I'm determined to finish all of them. I already talked about it with 

A book a day. No. Big. Deal.

Okay, maybe it is. But if you don't dream big, nothing will exciting will ever happen, right?

Wish me luck and GO sign up for that Read-a-Thon now! 

Happy Sunday!

Have you signed up for Bout of Books 8.0? 

Which books are you hoping to read before summer's over?

And is anyone a runner? 

Review: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may also change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should've happened?

A Long Story Short:

Hourglass had a really great beginning, in my opinion, but the novel went downhill from the middle. The side characters were too flat, the plot too slow and detailed, the plot twists either a bit unrealisic or too obvious. You should definitely give Hourglass a try,but I have a feeling I'll be highly disappointed with the rest of the trilogy...

RATING: 3/3 Smarties

Review:

Hourglass was a lot more than I expected and basically everything I want in  a good book.

It is about time travel (always a bonus) and it's done in the best way possible. Not too much fantasy or paranormal (which I suspected), but a lot of science and "facts" that make the story believable, so that you don't always have to close both eyes in order to enjoy the novel.

Big cheers to the heroine, Emerson! A character that not only has an extraordinary (but very sad) background, but one that has visibly grown through that and into a person not only many girls can probably relate to, but also one I'd want my younger cousins to look up to.

She's (mostly) confident, she's witty and although she seems to be a negative person (all that sarcasm!), she really just handles life with a healthy portion of humor.

If that's not enough, Emerson's family is so incredibly nice and supportive! I mean, especially towards the ending it grew a bit unbelievable and fairy-tale/Disney movie - ish, but still.

Let's talk about steamy then. Or, our love interest and the tension that went with it! I'm going to say this - it's not easy for the two of them, it was extremely frustrating for me and in the end, it even got nerve racking and brought me pretty close to tears! What exactly I'm talking about, you'll have to see for yourselves...but let me tell, Hourglass is worth a read, if only for Michael.

Despite my love for Emerson's family and Michael, I do have to say a thing or two about side characters. Her best friend (whose name I actually forgot)? Complete fail, in my opinion. She seemed to appear for three lines (of a page) and then be on the phone with Emerson for two seconds and then she was gone again for half the book, just to reveal a big secret of hers towards the ending. I really wasn't impressed by her, or most of the other side characters.

Or the antagonist/villain. Because he wasn't a  villain. Because yes, he has done terrible things, but...he had no reason to (in my opinion). His motives just weren't big enough for me to count.

In the end, all these things did make me close one eye in order to keep enjoying the story.

It's difficult for me to review this book, since Hourglass started on such a good note, but then somehow lost itself in the middle. I thought it was too long and packed with a few really unimportant details, it had some too obvious plot twists and the ending was a bit...blah.

Finally, I also heard that the second book will not be told by Emerson's point of view which is a huge letdown for me.

All in all I do recommend this book, it is quite amazing and has the potential for "favorite trilogy of the year". Anyway, I really think it depends on book two. If it's anything like the beginning of Hourglass, I'll love it.

I Really, Really Love You Guys

I know, I know. It's totally Thursday and totally time for a review and there's no reason why there shouldn't be one.

Especially because I even have one. A review, I mean. I was crazy busy reading lately (duh! BTH, anyone?) and I reviewed most of what I read, so I can assure - the reviews will come! Starting tomorrow!

Why not today, you ask?

Oh, that's because I'm a sentimental mess right now and therefore need to tell all my readers something that's been on my mind a lot lately.

I really, really love you!

All of you! 

The ones who always comment and the ones who never comment and the ones who leave shorter statements and the ones that write novels in my comments section!

I am actually obsessed with all of you!

(Awesome right??? Heart-shaped SMARTIIIIEEES!!!)

Just in case you're not a blogger, I'll explain this obsession.

You know, there was a before when I had all these things (about books) in my head that I wanted to talk about and noone would listen! And on top of that, they often just turned around and walked away when I started talking about how I'm head over heels in love with Dimitri.

Now, I can write about all those things and have people come to actually read what I wrote.

Amazing!!!

And I love chatting with you guys on Twitter! I even think we should do that way more often. I'm just not on Twitter enough, ya know? Gotta change that!

So, to cut it short (or, as short as my never-ending rambling can be), I just wanted to let all of my readers know that I love you with all my heart and that I don't know what I would do without you and the blog and that I am soo happy for all the nice and sweet comments you always leave me!

Thank you so much for that!!!!

Top Ten Books That Take Place in my most Favorite Country in the Whole Wide World

...the USA, of course!

Most of my readers know I'm from Germany and LOVE everything American (except maybe...GM food...but is that really only American? Let's not get into political correctness here. Because I suck at it)

Naturally, I had to pick the Top Ten Novels set in the US that I read so far (something about my grammar is off today)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Such a classic. Also, did I mention I love everything about US history, too?

1) Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl

I love reading about the Southern mentality. It's like home. Seriously, people in my town are just as narrowminded and conservative as say...Link's mom. I love them anyways (shhh! not literally all of them!)

2) The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

I'm not even completely sure, but I believe it's set in San Francisco and that...made me add another city to the list of places I've got to visit before I die...

3) The Lying Game Series by Sara Shepard

LOVE the whote desert-like city Shepard describes in those books. I could never live there for long (I need rainy days and storms that I can run in), but it sure sounds cool!

4) The Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

Sorry, sorry. I had to. I love Rosewood even more than that deserty town. Might also be because of the way they portray it in the TV show. The houses are too pretty to be true!

5) 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

I would trade my hometown for L.A. at all times. Sorry. And yes, I really am that disloyal.

6) Belles by Jen Calonita

Although I'd actually prefer to live where Izzy lives. I wouldn't feel comfortable around rich people. I'm a klutz and I can't behave myself.

7) Airhead Trilogy by Meg Cabot

8) The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot

9) The Caster Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

...because they're all set and noone (don't lie!) can pretend not to be sooo curious about NYC. I'm dying to see it and someday I will.

10) The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

Set in California and gives a really great and different image of California. Also, it's plain hilarious!

#BTHReadathon - The End

Let's just say I tried really hard. And those efforts did pay off, too.

From last week's update on the Readathon, you might remember that I did finish four books!

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Heist Society by Ally Carter 

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues

This week, though, I've been working a lot more (I'm having two jobs - but only for ten days) and my focus has been, I'll admit it, on running a bit more than on reading (see this post).

Anyway, this week I have read the second book in Meg Cabot's The Mediator Series, Ninth Key and I'm almost done with the third book. In addition to that I have started (and almost finished) Kara Goucher's Running for Women and of course, I had to read at least a couple of pages of my books for school.

All in all that makes one book plus two almost finished ones....uh..just count them however you want to :D

The point is that I finished most of the books in one sitting and that I had a blast reading them!!!

Aaaand there's Bout of Books coming up next week and then there won't be marathon-reading for a while anymore 'cause it's Back To School/ Uni (first time!!!).

I'll leave you with this little update for today and hope you all are going to have an amazing week!

How did you do on BTH?

And do you plan on participating in Bout of Books next week?