Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi | *Spoiler Free Review*

Title: Shatter Me

Series: Shatter Me Trilogy

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publishing Date: 16 October 2012

Description:   

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

So many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war. Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Buy From: Amazon The Book Depository 

Review:

 Shatter Me is incredibly fast paced, and you could easily read this within a couple of days, if not a day. Mafi's writing style is beautiful, easy to get in to and quick to read. There are so many poetic quotes that you can pull from this book that are not only beautiful but relevant to the world we live  in today.

The book is driven more by characters than plot but there are some plot developments that move the book along. Also, the book seems to focus more on the romance (which was a little insta-love-y if you ask me) rather than the struggles of the dystopian world. 

Juliette could get a little annoying, but I did love the narrative style she had and I found her powers and personality intriguing. 

I really liked Adam from the start. He is just a likable character with seemingly good intentions. He didn't annoy me in the slightest, and I found myself #TeamAdam. 

Warner was an interesting character. I hated him at first, as you are supposed to but I did begin to find him intriguing as the book went on. I want to know more about him, which is one of the reasons I want to pick up the next books so quickly. 

Kenji, the last character I talk about today, is hilarious. I has heard that he was a brilliant side character from various reviews, and they were not lying. From the second he made his book debut I was sold. I think he adds necessary humor and lightness to the novel and he helps move everything along plot wise.

While I did love Shatter Me, I can see the next two books and accompanying novella's being even better. I've managed to avoid spoilers for them all but I think now we have a world to be invested in and characters that we know a little, the other books could be amazing! 

Let me know if you want a spoiler/discussion type post for this book, and if you've read it what did you think?

May Book Haul Take #1: New & Used

It is book haul time. I am finally free of uni for the summer and I want to focus more on my blogs and more on reading for fun. I'm putting down the textbooks and grabbing some fiction books to lose myself in. In celebration of being free, I treated myself to some books and here they are! 
 
The Vincent Brothers by Abbi Glines

Genre: New Adult Contemporary 

New | £2.99 | The Works

The Vincent Boys follows Ashton during the summer that her 'perfect' boyfriend, Sawyer,  is away. She rekindles her friendship with Sawyers cousin Beau, the town bad boy. 

The Vincent Brothers follows Sawyer, after he returns from his summer trip away, and after the ending of The Vincent Boys.  

The books are both short and sweet reads, and the New Adult genre means you do get a bit of sexy times so if you don't like that you won't want to pick these up.  I grabbed this, and the first book in this series at the Works as part of their 3 for £5 deal, but they both can be found online or £2.99 each or as part of their 6 for £10 book deal.  

A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin 

Genre: Adult High Fantasy 

Used | £2.99 | Ebay

I'm sure I don't need to say anything about this book. Even if you don't know what it is really about I'm sure you've heard of it. The TV show is a hit and with it's popularity rising more and more people are reading the books. 

They are scarily long and apparently quite confusing because there are so many characters and you are in a whole new world/setting but I thought I would give the first one a go to see if I can get into reading high fantasy novels. 

Half Bad by Sally Green 

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal 

New | £4.00 | Asda

Half bad follows a guy called Nathan, who comes from a family of witches. He is considered Half Black and Half White and is waiting for this 17th birthday when he can be given a power and land on the white or black side. The rest of his family, as I understand it, are pure white witches and treat him differently because his father is the most notourious black witch ever. 

I grabbed this because it has been crazy popular on BookTube. I've heard so many people talk about this, and it everything was positive. I have started this, but I can't get into it. I think I'll try and pick it up again in the summer when I don't have uni stress but so far I'm not in love.

In The Blink of an Eye by Hasso and Catherine Von Bredow

Genre: Adult Memoir 

New | £1.00 | Waterstones

In The Blink of an Eye is a memoir of a just before middle aged man who suffers a stroke unexpectedly and ends up suffering from Locked In Syndrome. It follows his thoughts of his condition and life, written through blinks, and also complementing chapters from his wife. 

I was really intrigued by the book, and the bargain price persuaded me to buy it. I haven't read anything like this before and am a little hesitant to pick it up at the moment because I don't handle sad to well but I will get to this and I'll report back when I do pick it up.

Love is Hell by Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, Gabrielle Zevin and Laurie Faria Stolarz 

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

New | £0.99 | Ebay

This book is a series of 5 short stories all based around paranormal romance. I read Prom Nights from Hell ages ago, and it was a nice light read. It was something that broke up longer books and I figured I would grab this and see if it is as good. 

I only really know of one author here, Scott Westerfeld, so maybe the book will help introduce me to other authors I would not have heard from before. I will do a review once I've read the book so check back semi-soon (maybe) for that. 

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niggenegger 

Genre: Adult Romance 

Used | £0.99 | Ebay 
The Time Travelers Wife was one of the first adult books I read. I grabbed it before the movie came out and I fell in love with it. I read it from the library, so decided it was time to purchase the book and re-read it.  The movie is alright, but no where near as good as the book so if you liked the movie you'll love the book and if you were okay with the movie then please give the book a chance because it is 100x better. 

The story follows Henry, a time traveler and his partner Clare. They meet when she was 6 and his was 36 because of his abilities. They married when she was 22 and he was 30. It's heartbreaking, heartwarming and a brilliant book, and the uncontrollability of Henry's ability keeps you guessing through the book.  

The Sound by Sarah Alderson 

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Thriller

New | £2.99 | The Works

The Sound follows 18 year old Ren Kingston on her summer in America. Originally from England, the young lady starts nannying for a wealthy family and befriends the local rich private school kids and the bad boy of the Island. The book is a mixture of romance with some of mystery thrown in because someone on the island has been murdering foreign nannies, and Ren might just be next. 

I picked this up because it sounded intriguing. I was in the mood for something contemporary, with a bit of fluff but something that wasn't just average romance. The mystery aspect of the book intrigued me so I grabbed it at the worked as part of their 3 for £5 deal.

The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian 

Used | £0.99 | Ebay
The Glimpse is the first in a dystopian series that follows Ana and Jasper. In the new world people are divided into Pures and Crazies according to DNA test. It turns out that Ana was wrongly categories, and trouble ensues after that. It seems intrigueding so I'll get to it at some point. If it's good, I'll look into the rest of the series. 
 
I picked this up on a whim. I did the unforgivable, and judged the book by its cover. It might have been a mistake because the cover is nothing like the book topic but we will see. 

The Happy Bookaholic Tag

1. What do you love about buying new books?

I love buying new books because it gives you a new world to dive into or a chance to dive into a world you loved. Books are my escape from the world, so I love buying a new book because they give you another place to get away.
2. How often do you buy new books?

I go through strange book buying spells. I can go months and months without buying anything but then I go a bit extreme every now and then and buy too many books. I've been trying to keep out of the more expensive shops recently because I'm going through the extreme spell. I've been sticking to charity shops and places like the Works to find new books.
3. Bookstore or online book shopping - which do you prefer?

I like both. Shopping online is great because you often get things cheaper and there is an endless selection. I love shopping in store because you get instant gratification and you can find books you might not be searching for online.
4. Do you have a favourite bookstore?

I don't have a particular favourite. I love The Works for bargain books. I got the Maze Runner trilogy for just £2.99 recently *BARGAIN*. I also love charity shops for grabbing books. I have an Oxfam book shop in my town and you can get some right bargains in there. I got two first edition Harry Potter hardback books and a Blue Bloods novel for just £6.
5. Do you preorder books?

I think I've only ever pre-ordered one book and that was "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner". I was in my Twilight phase and couldn't wait for the novella to come out in print even though you could have gotten it for free online. I am going to pre-order the last Mortal Instruments book. 
6. Do you have a monthly book buying limit?

Not really. I just buy what I want if I can and save if I can't afford it at the time. 
7. Book buying bans - are they something for you? Not really. I don't consistently buy huge amounts of books. I have tried to limit my spending on books until my TBR is down a bit but I'm not going to ban myself completely.
8. How big is your wishlist?

It's kind of endless. I don't have anything written down or on Goodreads but I have an large mental list of books I need to pick up at some point because I like the sound of them or because they have been raved about on book blogs or on booktube.
9. Which three books (from you wish list or pre-orders, or ... ) would you like to own NOW?

Walking Disaster. 

Divergent. 

Throne of Glass. 
10. Whom do you tag?

Anyone who wants to do it. I'm sure this is a pretty old tag so most people have probably seen it or done it. If you have done it or are going to do it then leave me a link in the comments. I'd love to see/hear/watch your version of this tag. 

Thanks for reading!   

Top 10 Influential Books

This tag has been hitting the youtubes a lot recently and after watching Megan Oliver's video I thought I would go ahead and do this on my little blog. 

The tag is essentially just a list of 10 books that have influenced your life after you have read them. There isn't meant to be any explanations given as to why you have chosen them but Christine from PolandBananaBooks explained why she chose them and I really liked hearing a reason why the books influenced her.  I think I'm going just give you the list but if you want to know the reasons leave me a comment and I'll let you know.

 

1. Twilight (and the rest of the series) by Stephenie Meyer
2. The Hunger Games (and the rest of the trilogy) by Suzanne  Collins
3. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
4. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
5. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
7. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
8.  Love Story by Erich Segal
9.  Vampire Academy (the series and the spin off) by Richelle Mead
10.  Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
    
    Have you do this tag? Let me know in the comments and link me up to your post/video. If you haven't, go ahead and let me know in the comments which books influenced you.

The Book Cake Tag

1) Flour - A book that was a little bit slow to start off but that really picked up as it went along. 

I thought Wither from Lauren Destofano was really slow to start and it took me so long to get though this book but the last few chapters really picked up and now I want to carry on with the series.
2) Margarine - A book that had a really rich and great plot. 

I think the host had a brilliant plot. It was original (at least to me) it didn't feel slow at any point and I felt that it was actually going somewhere. I loved the idea and the execution and would recommend people read it!
3) Eggs - A book that you thought was going to be bad but actually turned out quite enjoyable. 

Vampire Academy. This applies more to the series than the book itself.  The name isn't the best and the first book isn't AMAZING. I kept going and am so happy I did. It gets better and better and I didn't think it would.
4) Sugar - A sugary/sweet book. 

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella is a crazy sweet books. It's total chick lit and I LOVE it. It was the first "adult" book I read and I love it. I would highly recommend check it out.
5) Icing - A book that covered every single element that you enjoy about a book (funny moments, action moments, sad moments, etc.). 

The Fault in Our Stars. This books has everything I love in a book. It might not be jam packed by action or have some things I love in paranormal or fantasy books but THE FEELS! It is funny, moving, sad, happy and everything else in between. It's a book that will always stick with me.
6) Sprinkles - A book series that you can kind of turn to for a little pick me up when you're feeling down. 

Twilight, especially eclipse. That was the first series I ever really loved and I know it's not the best thing ever but I like it. It's cute and fluffy with just enough "drama" to be a nice read when I'm feeling down or sorry for myself.
7) The cherry on top - Your favorite book this year so far. 

My favourite book so far this year is Beautiful Disater by Jamie McGuire. It was a really nice contemporary book that I flew through. It was intense, different from the usual fluff and addicting. 

This or That Tag

  

1.audio or book in hand?

Book in Hand. I cannot concentrate enough to listen to the audio books.
2.soft cover or hardback?

I prefer softcover books because I read on the go more than I do at home and hard cover books are just to much trouble to lug around with me. They are bigger and heavier.
3.fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction. I've read a few non fiction books but it is just something I'm not all that interested in reading for fun.
4.fantasy world or real life issues

Fantasy world. I don't read contemporary all that much and because I like to use books to try and escape the real world and real life issues it's good to dive into a fantasy world. I don't mind the fantasy books containing some real life issues though.
5.harry potter or twilight?

Sorry but it's Twilight. I haven't read Harry Potter but I am working on it so don't freak out so much.
6.kindle, I-pad or other?

Kindle. I adore my kindle but I don't think anything will replace the feeling of finishing a physical book. 
7.borrow or buy?

Buy. I don't take the best care of things because books are kind of slung into my bag and I tend to throw crap all in my bag. I don't want to ruin any borrowed books so I just grab my own.
8.bookstore on online

Online for pre-orders and new books. Bookstores for deals and browsing and finding new books.
9.tell me onetime or total trilogy

I prefer stand alone books. I think some books work brilliantly as Trilogies but some just need to be one book. There are so many trilogies that are okay that would have been AMAZING as one stand alone book.
10.moster read or short and sweet

short and sweet.
11.stary eyed romance or full of action

Starry eyed romance with a little action. I like a romance in a book.
12.curl up in your snuggie or bathe in the sun

Curl up in you snuggie. I HATE the sun or any kind of heat so a nice snuggle day in the winter is my perfect reading day.
13.hot chocolate or latte

Hot chocolate.
14.read the review or decide for yourself

I like to decide for myself. 

If you have done this tag, video or blog post, please leave it as a link in the comments. I'd love to hear/read/see your response. 

Thanks for reading.

The Goodreads Tag

1. What was the last book you marked as 'read'?
Carrie by Stephen King. I didn't really enjoy this book to be honest. I thought I would love it but maybe I'm not ready to leave YA behind yet. The broken up style or writing swapping between articles and the actual characters perspective made it feel too choppy for me.
2. What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading The Tempest by Julie Cross. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and I like it. It's a nice, easy read and something I needed after getting through Carrie.
3. What was the last book you marked as 'TBR'?
Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire. I recently finished Beautiful Disaster and loved it so I can't wait to pick up the next one.
4. What book do you plan to read next?
Harry Potter. I haven't read it and I'm ashamed. I am going to remedy it, I promise. 
5. Do you use the star rating system?
I do but I wish you could do half stars.
6. Are you doing a 2014 Reading Challenge?
I am doing a reading challenge. I only set it at 30 books, but I'm already at 14 read and it's only February so I might change it to 50 and see if I can go it.
7. Do you have a wishlist?
I do have a mental wishlist.
8. What book do you plan to buy next?
I think I'm going to get the second book in the Tempest series by Julie Cross or Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire.
9. Do you have any favorite quotes, would you like to share a few?
I don't have any specific favourite quotes. I don't tend to mark down quotes I like from books and I haven't used that feature on Goodreads.
10. Who are your favorite authors?
I have a few favourite authors. I love Richelle Mead and Cassandra Clare. Jay Asher is also great and while Stephenie Meyer might not be the best author ever I like all her books and her Twilight series got me into reading.
11. Have you joined any groups?
I am but I don't really participate in them. I need to start doing that but for now I'm getting used to using it to review books.
12. Are there any questions you would like to add?  
I don't think so. If I had to I would love to know if people use more than the traditional three shelves. I only really use three shelves because if I started categorizing them it would probably be to extreme. 

Thanks for reading, and please link me to your Goodreads Tag, whether that be a blog post or a video.