Jen
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2017.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. You’ll come to find that this book features in quite a few of these questions.
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2017.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. You’ll come to find that this book features in quite a few of these questions.
2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2017.
I haven’t actually read too many sequels that I’ve really liked so far this year, so there wasn’t a whole lot of choice. But this one would probably have to go to Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. She is one of my favourite authors, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is probably one of my favourite contemporary series and the third book was such a great conclusion to the series.
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.
How do I even answer this question when there are so many new releases that I want to read but haven’t gotten to yet? My pick would probably have to go to Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare though. I love The Mortal Instruments series so much and I love The Infernal Devices series even more.
I hate the exceptionally long wait for the final book in The Dark Artifices series, which is why I haven’t even read Lady Midnight yet. But enough is enough and I can’t wait any longer! I’m currently almost finished with my re-read of the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy novellas that will let me get back into the world and give me a refresher of the events that took place after City of Heavenly Fire. Then I plan on getting into The Dark Artifices. I know I’m going to regret doing that though as soon as I finish Lord of Shadows and don’t have The Queen of Air and Darkness to read immediately afterwards.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes! Falling Kingdoms is a series in which I’ve read the first two books a couple of years ago and absolutely loved but unfortunately never continued on with. It is a six book series which meant a painfully long wait for the rest of the books, but thankfully the last book in the series is finally coming out this year. Not until December, but at least that gives me time to read the first five books and get caught up before this one comes out.
5. Biggest disappointment.
I have two answers for this question and both were disappointing to me because they were way too overhyped and neither of them lived up to my expectations. Both are series and it pains me greatly to name them because I thought I would love them and I really wanted to.
The first is The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken. This series as a whole just wasn’t all that great to me. The characters weren’t very relatable and I ended up with more characters that I hated rather than liked. I found it difficult to get into the story because it just failed to keep my interest. I would miss things because I would zone out and then I would be confused and have no idea what was happening. All of which made it even harder to keep focused on the story.
The second disappointment is the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. And I say this without even having read the third book in this trilogy yet! This series was crazy hyped and the fact that I absolutely love the Throne of Glass series by this same author added even more expectation to ACOTAR. The pacing was slow and it took a long time to get into the story. And my biggest pet peeve, the dreaded love triangle. I knew that going into the series, but OF COURSE I had to end up shipping Feyre with the person that she doesn’t end up with. To make matters worse, in ACOMAF, the author completely destroyed the character I liked and twisted everything around from how things were in the first book. Hated that so much. All these things add up and I’m just not enjoying the series even though I want to so badly. I’m feeling kind of meh about ACOWAR, especially after hearing kind of average reviews about it, which is why I’ve put off reading it.
6. Biggest surprise.
Without a doubt this book is Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I’ve always said that historical fiction just isn’t really my genre but I had the sudden urge to read this book so I went for it and it was the best thing I could’ve done. I loved it so much! The writing was phenomenal and the story had me captivated right from the beginning. I could not put the book down and I read it so quickly. I now believe thatI just hadn’t read the right book to get me into the genre of historical fiction yet and this was the book that completely changed everything for me.
7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)
Ruta Sepetys. See answer to previous question.
8. Newest fictional crush.
I actually don’t have an answer for this one. No one has really stood out to me.
9. Newest favourite character.
This one’s a tough one but I think I’ll have to go with Cinder and Cress, both from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.
10. Book that made you cry.
It takes a hell of a lot for a book to make me cry and I actually don’t think there’s been a book that’s done that so far this year.
11. Book that made you happy.
Another tough one but I’m going to say Between Shades of Gray. Purely because of how I felt after finishing it (as I’ve already covered in question 6).
12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year.
I haven’t seen many adaptations at all this year. In fact, I think the only one I’ve seen wasn’t even a film adaptation but was actually a book to TV series adaptation and that would be Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It was actually a pretty decent adaptation. Some things were changed but for the most part it remained faithful to the book. I don’t how the second season is going to go though.
13. Favourite review you've written this year.
I don’t actually have a favourite review, but there are actually a couple of new favourite books of mine that I’ve been meaning to review and haven’t gotten to it yet. Oops.
14. Most beautiful book you've bought (or received) so far this year?
Passenger and Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken. Those books have two of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen and they look so good together!
15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
So. Many. Too many to name! But I definitely want to finish all the series that I’ve started reading. At present, I count ten series that I’m in the middle of reading and I hate that. That number feels overwhelming and it’s stressing me out. Long gone are the days when I would read only one series at a time and marathon that series to its completion.
I haven’t actually read too many sequels that I’ve really liked so far this year, so there wasn’t a whole lot of choice. But this one would probably have to go to Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. She is one of my favourite authors, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is probably one of my favourite contemporary series and the third book was such a great conclusion to the series.3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.
How do I even answer this question when there are so many new releases that I want to read but haven’t gotten to yet? My pick would probably have to go to Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare though. I love The Mortal Instruments series so much and I love The Infernal Devices series even more.I hate the exceptionally long wait for the final book in The Dark Artifices series, which is why I haven’t even read Lady Midnight yet. But enough is enough and I can’t wait any longer! I’m currently almost finished with my re-read of the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy novellas that will let me get back into the world and give me a refresher of the events that took place after City of Heavenly Fire. Then I plan on getting into The Dark Artifices. I know I’m going to regret doing that though as soon as I finish Lord of Shadows and don’t have The Queen of Air and Darkness to read immediately afterwards.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes! Falling Kingdoms is a series in which I’ve read the first two books a couple of years ago and absolutely loved but unfortunately never continued on with. It is a six book series which meant a painfully long wait for the rest of the books, but thankfully the last book in the series is finally coming out this year. Not until December, but at least that gives me time to read the first five books and get caught up before this one comes out.5. Biggest disappointment.
I have two answers for this question and both were disappointing to me because they were way too overhyped and neither of them lived up to my expectations. Both are series and it pains me greatly to name them because I thought I would love them and I really wanted to.
The first is The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken. This series as a whole just wasn’t all that great to me. The characters weren’t very relatable and I ended up with more characters that I hated rather than liked. I found it difficult to get into the story because it just failed to keep my interest. I would miss things because I would zone out and then I would be confused and have no idea what was happening. All of which made it even harder to keep focused on the story.
The second disappointment is the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. And I say this without even having read the third book in this trilogy yet! This series was crazy hyped and the fact that I absolutely love the Throne of Glass series by this same author added even more expectation to ACOTAR. The pacing was slow and it took a long time to get into the story. And my biggest pet peeve, the dreaded love triangle. I knew that going into the series, but OF COURSE I had to end up shipping Feyre with the person that she doesn’t end up with. To make matters worse, in ACOMAF, the author completely destroyed the character I liked and twisted everything around from how things were in the first book. Hated that so much. All these things add up and I’m just not enjoying the series even though I want to so badly. I’m feeling kind of meh about ACOWAR, especially after hearing kind of average reviews about it, which is why I’ve put off reading it.
6. Biggest surprise.
Without a doubt this book is Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I’ve always said that historical fiction just isn’t really my genre but I had the sudden urge to read this book so I went for it and it was the best thing I could’ve done. I loved it so much! The writing was phenomenal and the story had me captivated right from the beginning. I could not put the book down and I read it so quickly. I now believe thatI just hadn’t read the right book to get me into the genre of historical fiction yet and this was the book that completely changed everything for me.7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)
Ruta Sepetys. See answer to previous question.
8. Newest fictional crush.
I actually don’t have an answer for this one. No one has really stood out to me.
9. Newest favourite character.
This one’s a tough one but I think I’ll have to go with Cinder and Cress, both from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.
10. Book that made you cry.
It takes a hell of a lot for a book to make me cry and I actually don’t think there’s been a book that’s done that so far this year.
11. Book that made you happy.
Another tough one but I’m going to say Between Shades of Gray. Purely because of how I felt after finishing it (as I’ve already covered in question 6).
12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year.
I haven’t seen many adaptations at all this year. In fact, I think the only one I’ve seen wasn’t even a film adaptation but was actually a book to TV series adaptation and that would be Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It was actually a pretty decent adaptation. Some things were changed but for the most part it remained faithful to the book. I don’t how the second season is going to go though.
13. Favourite review you've written this year.
I don’t actually have a favourite review, but there are actually a couple of new favourite books of mine that I’ve been meaning to review and haven’t gotten to it yet. Oops.
14. Most beautiful book you've bought (or received) so far this year?
Passenger and Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken. Those books have two of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen and they look so good together!15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
So. Many. Too many to name! But I definitely want to finish all the series that I’ve started reading. At present, I count ten series that I’m in the middle of reading and I hate that. That number feels overwhelming and it’s stressing me out. Long gone are the days when I would read only one series at a time and marathon that series to its completion.
Mel
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2017.
Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition Volume 11 by Natsuki Takaya – This was the volume that the
story really peaked and I absolutely could not put the book down!
2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2017.
Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition Volume 11 by Natsuki Takaya – same reason as above! I’ve read
one sequel in novel format, but it was rather mediocre.
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want
to.
Wreck by Fleur Ferris –
This author is an insta-buy for me. She really knows suspense and I think
that’s rare for a YA author.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half
of the year.
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas – This book is a parallel story to Empire of Storms from
Chaol’s perspective. I’m itching to find out what turned this book from planned
novella to unexpected Empire of Storms sized novel! And I love me some Chaol!
5. Biggest disappointment.
I can’t choose
between two, so I’m listing them both.
Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes 3.75/5
The Last Beginning by Lauren James 3/5
Whilst each of these
books had their redeeming features, they had issues big enough to disappoint.
The Last Beginning is the sequel to The Next Together, which set up such a fast paced and enthralling story, but The Last Beginning set a completely different pace and the thrill factor had completely disappeared. I didn't really like the main character to begin with, and by the end of the book I was left with that "is that all?" feeling.
Whilst Queen of Hearts wasn't an overall bad story, it just lacked some creativity where it really needed it. That's not to say that there was no creativity, because there was some fantastic elements to this novel, I just think some areas needed more. Since it's an origin story for the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, just describing the palace as "hearts everywhere" wasn't enough to bring the environment to life. The author also reinvented some of the original characters, which didn't sit well with me. The Mad Hatter is her younger brother and the White Rabbit is an elderly man who is her advisor. If you're going to use beloved characters, keep them the way they were in the original story. It's a fantasy novel - the rabbit can remain a rabbit and still function in the way you need it to. To top it all off, the romantic interest for the main character just did not want to be anything more than friends and she was completely oblivious. The cringe factor was off the charts.
6. Biggest surprise.
Bleach 3-in-1 Edition Volume 7 by Tite Kubo – At the very end of this volume, a
piece of information came to light that just blew my mind and I did not see it
coming! It frustrates me that it’s a spoiler because I don’t want to give
anything away!
7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)
It’s a bit too soon
to really call them a favourite, but I really loved Jodi McAlister’s debut
novel Valentine and I’m currently loving Tanya Landman’s writing style in
Beyond the Wall.
8. Newest fictional crush.
No new crushes this
year (so far). Just old ones that refuse to let go!
9. Newest favourite character.
10. Book that made you cry.
Fruits Basket. Pick
one at random and I guarantee you, I cried over something. I’m such a sap!
11. Book that made you happy.
12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw
this year.
Also The Martian!
There were a few things that I nit-picked, but it was still a really good
adaptation!
13. Favourite review you've written this year.
I’ve been slacking on
the reviews outside of Goodreads, so that’s a really shallow pool to choose
from! I think I’ll go with my review of Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon,
which you can read here.
14. Most beautiful book you've bought (or
received) so far this year?
The Mirror King by
Jodi Meadows. Have you seen this freaking book??!! It’s probably the most
beautiful book I’ve ever owned!
15. What books do you need to read by the end
of the year?
I really need to
finish some completed series! There are a number of series that I started
before the series had finished that I never got to continuing, like the
Divergent series! I still haven’t read Allegiant!
