This is what I get for being on the internet.

Okay, so this is completely random (and a little inappropriate), but I was just scrolling my way through Pinterest, minding my own business, when I come upon this meme that said:

So I was like, “Huh. Okay, sure. Why not?” And the book closest to me was Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. And do you know what the first line on page 45 was?

It was:

“HANDS UP, FEET APART, MOUTHS SHUT. DON’T MOVE AND WE WON’T SHOOT YOU.”

And yes, it was in all caps.

Now, I want everyone to do the same thing, and tell me in the comments below. Because this is going to be hilarious.

Her Dark Curiosity

Rating: 5 Stars

I want to wrap this writing up and eat it.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father’s island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

Wow. Just wow.

Now, I loved the first in the series, The Madman’s Daughter, because, from the title alone, you know it’s going to be completely unique in the sea of YA books.

And this one shocked me. So many times. At first, I was expecting a series of things to happen that are usual in second books in series, especially coming from the ending of the first book, but I feel like this author has completely redefined my expectations of the second novel in a series.

First of all, the things that happen with Edward? Yeah, didn’t see that one coming.

And there’s a certain part (You know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve read it) that I had to re-read about a dozen times to make it actually compute in my brain that it just really happened. Because it’s not something you see often in YA books, AT ALL. And, I won’t lie, it was kind of refreshing.

Honestly, this whole novel was like a breath of fresh air for YA novels.

This is one of those rare books that you know you shouldn’t look ahead to see when your favorite character will pop up again (*coughEdwardcough*), you really do, but the temptation is too great and you skip ahead to read (and re-read) the lines of your favorite character. Not that any of the characters are boring, but geez, the lines.

I also really love Juliet. I mean, the girl is so different in the female-protagonist genre. She’s capable of skin curling violence, won’t think twice about doing it if necessary, and somewhat knows she’s walking a fine line between sanity and madness. But she still makes the tough decisions, because sometimes that’s all you can do. And I love that! Call me insane if you like, but I love a protagonist that isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty (possibly with blood) and doesn’t freak out about it!

I love, love, love it!!

And even though she knows some of her choices might not be seen as right by everyone else, and you as the reader aren’t even too sure yourself, Juliet still pushes forward! Because guess what??! She doesn’t go on and on about how horrible she has it! There are no pages about how sorry she is or how much she regrets what she has to do!! No self pity!! Wooott-woott!!

Oh, and the writing? Breathtaking.

I want to fangirl over it.

 

Mid-life-book-crisis

(I feel like this doesn’t even need explaining.)

I recently hit over 500 books in my “read” shelf on Goodreads, and I have entered the part in my life when I wonder if such a thing as a mid-life book crisis is possible. Because, man, I think I’ve hit it.

Now, your probably going, Hannah, 500 books isn’t that many, but oh, my friend, it is. Because I’m pretty darn young, and I also know I haven’t even selected “read” for every book I’ve actually ever read, soo . . . about that gif . . .

 

Evertrue

Rating: 4 Stars

Mawh.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Now that Nikki has rescued Jack, all she wants is to be with him and graduate high school. But Cole tricked Nikki into feeding off him, and she’s begun the process of turning into an Everliving herself… which means she must feed on a Forfeit soon — or die.

Terrified for her survival, Nikki and Jack begin a desperate attempt to reverse the process using any means possible. Even Cole, who they expected to fight them at every turn, has become an unlikely ally — but how long can it last? Nikki needs to feed on Cole to survive, Cole needs Nikki to gain the throne in the Everneath, Jack needs Nikki because she is everything to him — and together, they must travel back to the Underworld to undo Nikki’s fate and make her mortal once more. But Cole isn’t the only one with plans for Nikki: the Queen has not forgotten Nikki’s treachery, and she wants her destroyed for good. Will Nikki be forced to spend eternity in the Underworld, or does she have what it takes to bring down the Everneath once and for all?

So.

Mwwah.

(No, I don’t know what that sound is either, but gosh-darn-it, I’m upset.)

No, I’m not crying or screaming at the world or anything like that. This is more of a what-in-the-holy-heck-did-I-just-read-and-why-on-earth-did-it-end-like-that-because-no-just-no.

So, you want to know why I’m upset? It’s because of the stupid ending to the book. The stupid-stupid-stupid ending to this stupid book.

People tell you It’s a great book! You won’t be disappointed!

And I know what you’re asking: So, why, Hannah, did you give it four stars?

Well, me-talking-in-third-person, I’ll tell you why.

It’s because I really liked the story line. I really did. I had such high hopes for it, and yes, it was good, but I’m annoyed at the universe right now because I don’t think it should have ended in the way it did. I really, really don’t. And because I cannot say (aka, rant) about WHY it is exactly I’m so upset without giving away major spoilers, let’s just say that the first book in the series made me happy, yes, but the second book made me down-right exuberant in all my fangirling glory, but this one? This one broke me in half at the end.

I’m going back and forth right now between not caring and pretty annoyed because the one character in this book, the ONE character that I really, really loved, did such a stupid thing. And I don’t get why. Actually, I don’t get why it ended the way it did at all. And I don’t even think it was that one stupid decision that character made that has me so annoyed, no, I think it’s actually just how this book, to me, read like how so many YA ending books read now-in-days. It seems like the author just wants to end it and is trying to tie up all the knots in 300 pages or less. And a good 1/3 of those pages have nothing but nonsense about the-fictional-world-as-we-don’t-completely-understand-and-quite-frankly-don’t-really-care-about.

Maybe this is just me, but I’m more interested in the development of the characters and their pasts than the world they live in. I mean, yeah, the world around them is pretty darn important, and a book can be ruined if the world the characters are in just kind of falls apart (figuratively), but I don’t really like it when there’s 1/3 of the book about the characters talking about and trying to understand it, like the characters did in this book for understanding the Everneath. Particularly in the last book of the series, when I just really want to know the characters more.

So, me-in-third-person is still trying to understand, why rate it four stars?

Because it’s not a bad book. It’s actually kind of great. But the ending . . . (stupid, stupid decision *grumble grumble grumble*).

I think it’s the second book that really took the cake for me. It was just fantastic. I actually can’t remember everything about the first one, because it feels like I read it so long ago, but I remember I liked it a lot. I liked this one too, but I just really don’t think it should have ended the way it did.