"Books I've Read Recently" is a series where I, Penelope Gomez, will do a monthly wrap up of the books I've read throughout the past month. In this series I will give a brief synopsis of the story and then give the book a rating out of 5 stars. 5 stars being the best and 1 star being the worst!
I will then give a brief description of why I chose to rate a book a certain way.
So without further delay lets get into the "Books I've Read Recently," and as always leave a comment down below and tell me which of these books you've also read, or plan on reading next.
Books I've Read Recently
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
the longing.
Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.
the loss.
Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of being a human.
the linger.
For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human--with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
This was book 2 in the series, "The Wolves of Mercy Falls" by Maggie Stiefvater. I immediately had to pick up this book after reading book 1, Shiver. I absolutely love this series so far. I recently read that Maggie Steifvater puts herself and people she knows into each and every character, I think this is the reason I'm so drawn to the characters in this novel. Each character feels so REAL. Sam one of the main characters is a musician, so he is often playing his guitar, singing and writing new song lyrics. Steifvater confessed to being like this in real life and she claims to have put a lot of her personality directly into the character Sam. Each character in this novel is just so endearing and well thought out. Unlike before where book one is written solely from the perspective of Grace, this novel is written from 4 different perspectives, including Grace, Sam, Isabel and brand new wolf named Cole. This novel takes place just a few weeks after the first novel ends. Sam and Grace continue to be crazy in love and I just loved reading about their relationship. They seem to have such a deep and genuine connection. There is obviously a lot of things going on this novel but in my mind this is just categorized as a Romance novel.
Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen
For the bright young things of 1929, the beautiful days seem endless, filled with romance and heartbreak, adventure and intrigue, friendship and rivalry.
After a month in New York, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are small-town girls no longer. They spend their afternoons with Astrid Donal at the Greys’ lush Long Island estate and their nights in Manhattan’s bustling metropolis. But Letty’s not content to be a mere socialite. She is ready at last to chase her Broadway dreams—no matter the cost.
Cordelia is still reeling from the death of her father at the hands of Thom Hale, the man she thought she loved. Now she is set to honor Darius Grey’s legacy . . . and take her revenge.
Promised to Cordelia’s half brother, Astrid is caught up in a world of dazzling jewels and glittering nights—and the sparkle is blinding. Charlie Grey is a gangster playing a dangerous game; and for Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, the stakes could be deadly.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes the second book in an epic series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.
My Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
I hate giving this book a 4 stars rating, like it hurts my soul to give anything written by Anna Godbersen anything lower than 5 stars. Everything about this series is perfect, it's written in the 1920's, it follows these rich and glamorous women through manhattans speak easy scenes, but this series for me is just falling short. I feel like nothing scandalous is really happening. Anna Godbersen wrote these gorgeous settings, and wrote about these three beautiful, enchanting, talented women but they aren't really doing anything "worthy" of these settings. If I had to describe these characters I would describe them as being pieces of furniture, sure they look nice, and they tie the whole room together, but at the end of the day they just sit there and look nice, they don't move, they don't do anything! I think that I am going to finish this series, just because it's by Anna Godbersen and I really want to see if she will just pull something out of a hat in book 3, but I'm not that hopeful.
If you liked this 1920's setting I'm going to recommend a different series called 'The Flapper's" by Jillian Larkin, the first book in that series is called "Vixen." Its a similar premise where it follows three girls through the 1920's speak easy scenes of Chicago. Except her 3 main characters aren't pieces of furniture, they are glamorous and human and make some serious mistakes along the way. It just made for a better read. I felt like that series actually had a plot compared to this series.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
My Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
Oh my God! This book was absolutely phenomenal, like can I give this book 10 stars! I think I found my new favorite book! That's really saying something, because I love all books so for me to categorize something as maybe being my favorite is unheard of! First off this book was really out of my comfort zone, I hardly ever read "fantasy" novels so I thought there is no way I can get through this book. In fact I started it once while I was in Japan and gave up miserably. It wasn't until my fellow book blogger Marian Nguyen urged me to finish this novel that I did, and I am so glad that she pushed me. It started out really dark to be honest. A group of girl's parents get brutally murdered in the very first chapter and are kidnapped to live in this magical land full of faerie's. This is where I stopped reading, but just push through it because I swear this book is worth it! These three girls are raised after their kidnapping in the land of Faerie's among royalty. They go to school with a few other royal kids but nobody "excepts" the mortals in this world and they are badly bullied. Long story short this is like the best romance novel that I've ever read! A lot happens in this novel, and there was NEVER a dull moment. It was just back to back action and romance and scheming, etc. It was just really good, I don't know how to describe this novel without completely giving everything away! Holly Black just did a truly magnificent job of bring this magical land to life.
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
'It came from the woods. Most strange things do.'
Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of?) the eerie abyss.
These chilling tales spring from the macabre imagination of acclaimed and award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll.
Come take a walk in the woods and see what awaits you there...
My Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
This book was TRIPPY! I absolutely adored this book, even though it made ZERO sense. Each chapter in this book is a different scary story. If you remember liking Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, as a child then you are going to love this. Its basically the same concept, except in a Graphic Novel form. This is also good for fans of the graphic novel, Anya's Ghost. It has similar moody themes. The artwork in this Graphic Novel was stunning. Each short story was set in a different time period and it was beautiful to see the different wardrobes come to life in these paintings. These short stories were eerily spooky and I could seriously keep rereading this book and never get bored. My favorite short stories in this book were, "A Lady's Hands Are Cold," and "His Face All Red." Each story ends in a way that lets the readers come to their own conclusions. If you are the type of person that can't stand for their questions not to be answered at the end of a story, then don't read this book, because this book literally kept me up at night trying to make sense of some of these endings! I loved this book, I need to buy this book. It was spooky good time. I recommend saving this graphic novel for around Halloween.
Tilt by Ellen Hopkins
Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….
Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?
Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?
Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.
Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.
My Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
This book is really hard to describe. I feel like a lot happened in this novel, but at the same time I feel like not a lot happened in this novel. This book is a series, so I feel like book one was just the tip of the iceberg. I felt like Ellen Hopkins only skimmed the surface with this novel. These three teenagers have encountered so many hardships throughout this novel, but I finished the book feeling like things were barley just beginning. I think book 2 is probably going to be jam packed with more heartache. I look forward to seeing how Ellen Hopkins develops their stories from where this book left off. Mikayla's story begins with teen pregnancy and a brutal break up. Shane's story begins with a dying sister and a boyfriend he can never be intimate with for fear of getting infected with HIV. Then there is Harley who goes on a quest of extreme dieting, thinking that being skinny is the only way to get a boy to pay attention to her. I felt like this novel just skimmed the surface of Harley beginning her struggle with anorexia. I think book two will definitely delve in deeper to these characters developing problems. As always Ellen Hopkins writes books with just really raw and real scenarios. Her books are incredibly good but not always the easiest to read, but I just love her unique perspective and writing style. 5 out 5 stars read for sure.
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