Land Stand (The Black Mage, #4)

ARC received via the author in return for an honest review.

First Year (book 1) is on sale for $0.99 if you are looking for a good YA high fantasy series! Also if you have read the previous books in this series, check out the newly released covers! They are 100 times more awesome than the previously crappy ones!

Now to my review of Last Stand!
I think I psyched myself out with this one. I left the last book on a high, then had to wait forever for this to release. Luckily, Rachel gave me an ARC so I could ease the pain a little sooner. That being said, I would definitely recommend reading Candidate before starting this because I must have forgot half of what happened! There is no short summary of the previous book (nothing wrong with that), you just really need to know your stuff to stay caught up. I wish I would've had time to reread it, and maybe I would have enjoyed the beginning a bit more. 

I felt like the first 25% was Ryiah feeling guilty and moping about her situation. Granted, it sucks. One moment she’s married to the love of her life, and the next she’s knowingly ripping his heart out of his chest. If you loved Ry in the previous books, get ready to feel some heart-wrenching pain! The first 30% also lacked action! Both romantically and fighting-wise. Now that Darren's the Black Mage, I feel like he should've been doing more than just his brother's dirty work (because that's what it felt like). I still cannot wrap my mind around how much Darren cares for his brother. I mean I get it, they're brothers. But he's a completely evil! Their relationship has always nerved me. Speaking of Darren, he just didn't feel the same to me, but I can't quite place what it was. I just didn't care for him as much this book. Darren and Ry has some beautiful and long awaited moments together. But they had so much crap to deal with, sometimes the romance had to be pushed aside. Honestly, I forgot they were married sometimes!

Compared to the other novels, this one was SO much darker and dreary due to the context. I actually didn't mind the darkness. Shit's getting serious! They aren't kids anymore, and it turns out being an adult sucks (who knew?). Ry learns that being a Princess and wife to the Black Mage puts her in a position to change the world. She's always wanted to be a hero, but no one ever tell you what the hero has to sacrifice. Losing her love might just be the consequence of saving the entire kingdom. What is one loss compared to the lives of thousands? To Ryiah its everything.

I rated this 4 stars because I really liked it, but I didn't freak out and love it. Its a great conclusion to an epic fantasy series.

The Anatomy of Jane

The Anatomy of Jane by Amelia LeFay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well this was...interesting.

What I love most about this author's writing style is that is not all about the sex. There is a plot to every story she writes. And for those of you who don't already know, Amelia LeFay is a penname for J.J. McAvoy, the genius behind the Ruthless People series.

"You can't like two people equally," she whispered as I leaned into her.
"Watch me."
And here in lies my greatest struggle with this book. Is it possible to love two people at the same time, equally? And possible for each person in the triangle to equally love each other? This book raised so many question, yet I was wholly intrigued how it would end. Especially with the way the cliffhanger ended things!

One thing this book lacked for me was an emotion connection to the characters. I didn't feel strongly for either of the men ):

I can't help but wonder how these three will be able to live as a threesome. Is it possible? Could they potentially live together and be a family in the future? I just can't see this playing out well for all three of our characters. In my opinion, a happy ending does not seem to be in the future. I guess its because I still don't understand how you can love two someones equally at the same time. Someone is going to get hurt, jealous, etc. For all these reasons I am reading the next book to find out.

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A Court of Mist and Fury

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THIS BOOK <3 and the feels!!

I cannot even put into words how much the book touched me. This is Maas' best work and I loved Queen of Shadows!! But this. This was something else entirely. The shear creativity of the world and character development, Oh the character development! All of it wrapped together in one, was complete perfection! And Rhysand is bae <33

First of all, let me just say that this book came at literally the worst time for me. It arrived on a Tuesday and I started finals on that same Wednesday: the very next day. It was pure torture for me to wait to read it. Goodreads was so tempting, I had to give the book to my roommate so she could hide it from me until I was done! But Nikki was right, it would have been worth failing my finals lol!

Okay lets get into the good stuff: (possibly mild spoilers)
Since reading the first book, I felt like I was missing something; something just didn't work for me. I still loved it and gave it 4 stars, but it felt like their was a hole in the story, and how right I was! The book takes place about 3 months after the events of book 1 and Feyre is still adjusting to being a fae, and a savior of her new people. But she feels lost, and quiet honestly empty and worthless. She seems to have a combination of PTSD and depression. And Tamlin? Well, he doesn't really seem to notice or know how to handle the situation, but he sure doesn't do anything to help her out. I lost all respect of Tamlin towards the end of book 1 and book 2 just solidified my feelings. He is controlling, domineering, and selfish. And it did not sit right with me the way he started to treat Feyre. Like she was a doll; something pretty that he could look at, fuck, and toss away. It was sickening. And she let him do it.

But Feyre evolves so much in this book, it almost seems like a different book (given that it was 624 pages it could have been--but we're glad its not). It was amazing! She starts out lost and weak and comes out one of the strongest female characters I've ever read who knows her place and her path.

Rhysand, oh my love. You are my favorite character of all time. He's brilliant, sweet, arrogant, strong, funny, sexy; I could go on forever, so let's summarize by saying he's basically perfect! He's my number one book boyfriend. The way he treats Feyre is admirable because he doesn't coddle her and he treats he as an equal. That's why I love him. So many guys from books are dominant and controlling; Rhys is dominant but he lets Feyre be independent. That is a healthy relationship, girls! He lets he be her own person, make her own decisions and supports her no matter what. We learn a different side of him and have a deeper understanding of his actions. And I'm glad because then we never would have met Cassian, Mor, Azriel, or Amren. Who are the most amazing side characters I've even met! I love them! And I love this story. I can't imagine the pain Rhys forced himself to endure when (view spoiler)[he retrained himself from telling Feyre even though he knew she was his mate. (hide spoiler)]

The ending took me by surprise because I thought I knew where it was going, but then Feyre and Rhys took me by surprise with the level of their brilliance. I am so excited for the next book so that they can kick some ass together and save the world. <333

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Bang

Bang by E.K. Blair
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well that was... something.

I was kind of hoping for a little bit more suspense, twists & turns, but I predicted like everything that happened. It was a decent read.

What killed my vibes was Nina/Elizabeth. My gosh, she is a horrible person! I get she has a horrible past that we slowly learn about through flashbacks, but that was almost 20 years ago! To carry that much hatred and soul-crushing vengeance inside her for that long of a time is sad. (view spoiler)[Poor Bennett was only an 11 year old kid who saw something scary and told his parents about it. It wasn't his fault! You can't blame an innocent kid for the mistakes of your father (hide spoiler)]. She has never come to terms with her past and frankly blames everyone but the one person truly responsible, (view spoiler)[her father (hide spoiler)]. She is still a child, immature, and completely selfish. I hate her for what she does to sweet Declan. That being said, Declan was probably the only saving grace for me (he alone earns 1 star out of my rated 3). Without him, I wouldn't have been able to read this.

Pike is a different story. I liked him in the flashbacks, but both he and Elizabeth are walking down the wrong path in life. Instead of overcoming their dark past, they join it (in a different way, mind you but still the same: illegal and morally wrong.) Their relationship is quite disturbing to me. I can't really talk about it much without giving the plot away, but I think this relationship that they continue to share is holding both of them to the past. It's probably a major reason why they both turn out the way they have.

I am still undecided on continuing the series. (view spoiler)[I have a hunch Declan is still alive (hide spoiler)]

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Written in Red

Written in Red by Anne Bishop
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is difficult to find a shifter book that I like, but when I do its always awesome! This one is so unique in its world building. The terra indigene are the world's oldest inhabitants. No one really knows how they came to be, but everyone knows to stay away. There are many theories on the terra indigene, but no outsider knows the truth. Some say that the terra indigene evolved so that they could have a human form, but their animal forms are always right beneath the surface ready to pounce.

The terra indigene aren't animals who turn into humans or humans who turn into animals. They really are something unknown that learned to change into a human shape because it studied them. They gained something from the human form, whether it was standing upright or having the convenience of fingers and thumbs, just like they gained something from the animal forms they absorbed.

Shifters, Vampires, Elementals, and the Unknown; all of which have no ounce of empathy for the humans. These are not you storybook shapeshifters. These shifters are more inclined to their animal side. They are nowhere near human. No, these creatures eat humans for breakfast. Literally. After all, Humans are just meat. That is until Meg Corbyn comes into their lives and even the terra indigene don't know what to make of this odd woman.

The POV changes, but not for very long periods of time that it is irksome. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the changing POC, which is something you will seldom hear me say. But I think the side characters are what really made this book. I just loved the characters so much! There's Meg, Simon, Sam, Jester, Tessa, Winter, Henry, Vlad, Nathan, Erebus, Jake, Blair, Jenni, Monty, the list goes on! I have formed emotional attachments to all, so I will be deeply crushed if any die within the next books :/

I will say that Tessa is probably my favorite character. You know she's a badass, but you never really know her level of badass... She's such a mystery, yet we slowly learn more about her and her rare, unknown abilities.

I also loved the side story with Sam. He's so flipping cute! I could just image him in his little Pup form prancing around the Liaison's office. Puppies are clearly my weakness.

This book has all of my ingredients for a great book. Its mature, funny, and gory! I just love this world and the characters in it. They learn to tolerate humans and love Meg. There are so many funny scenes but here's a preview of one of my favorites:

Simon walked into the front office of the Liaison's Office and stared at the Wolf curled up on...
"What is that?" he asked, stomping snow off his boots as he stepped toward Nathan.
Mine, Nathan relied.
"How did it get to be yours?"
I am guarding, so it is mine. Giving Simon a smug look, Nathan added, I got cookies too.

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2015 in Review

2015 on Goodreads by Various
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a bit late posting on my blog, but this has been on my Goodreads page since January.

Average rating: 3.52 stars

In 2014, I realized I had lost my reading-vibe. With college starting in fall, I thought reading would
have to be pushed aside in order to keep up with the demands of classes. Let’s just say that semester has been my worst since… i have come to realize reading is my stress reliever and relaxant. My 2015 New Year’s resolution was to read more, and I exceed my goal ten fold. I am currently reading my 200th book of the year, and hope to finish before the year is through. Since that dreaded first semester, I have gotten straight A’s and I don’t plan on changing a single thing. Thanks to Goodreads i have been able to connect with people like me, and I am grateful for all the friends I have acquired this past year. My love for reading is stronger than ever; I have Goodreads to thank!

Here’s a brief summary of this reading year!<

I have about a 10% success rate with ARCs. I received about 30 but only had five 4&5 star reads, but a lot of lower ratings :(


On the bright side, I won my first giveaway!


On the sad side, a few series came to an end unfortunately. They came to an end, but will stay forever in our hearts.


Here are a bunch of my favorite 5 stars of the year!


Phew. That was a lot! I found some awesome books this year and thanks to everyone who gave recommendations! It's crazy to look back at those books I read in the early part of the year and think 'That was this year?!' I already want to reread the Shatter Me series and the Ruthless People series. Maybe I should make it an annual thing?

In keeping with my resolution, next year my goal is to read 201 books (one more than this year)

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The Air He Breathes

The Air He Breathes by Brittainy C. Cherry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

They all warned me about Tristan, begging me to stay away. ‘He’s an asshole, he’s wild, and he’s broken, Liz,’ they would say. ‘He’s nothing but the ugly scars of his yesterdays,’ they swore. But what they didn’t see, what they chose to ignore was the fact that I was also a little wild, a bit crazy, and completely shattered too.

Wow. Just wow. This book was so emotionally raw. I don't think I have ever experienced such real emotions while reading. Not that I never cry while reading, but this was different. I would find myself crying one moment, and laughing the very next. And when I cried it was either gut wrenchingly sad moments or ones so happy that they make you heart hurt.

I love that the author hit every point on people being judgmental. Everyone does it. But you shouldn’t judge someone based on their appearance. I hate gossipers, and those like the group of women who think they are living life perfectly. Newsflash: not one life is the same, and you have no way of knowing the truth of another’s life unless you crawl inside their’s. Clearly Tristan was an asshole to everyone, but that was just his way of pushing people away and staying alone. But when a kindred spirit brushes yours, you can’t help but feel drawn to them. Because finally someone shares your pain.

”Everyone in this town is afraid of me. Do I scare you Elizabeth?” He whispered, his breaths brushing against my lips.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I see you.”

This author is quickly becoming one of my new favorites. I did’t realize this was the same author as Loving Mr Daniels, which has been sitting on my tar shelf for quote some time after the recommendation from Ash. I will definitely be picking that book up soon, as I have come to love Ms. Cherry’s writing style. Her writing has a way that hits your soul. Who knew I would cry over someone cutting their grass? And she made their real first time seem like the first time they were together. Seriously, there are SO many beautiful quote in this book I want to frame and hang on my quote wall, which is still a work in progress. I didn’t want to give too many quotes away because I like to find them as I read and not beforehand. If you are interested in reading more check out the quote I liked from my review page below!

Also… HOLY HOT COVER, BATMAN!! I mean hot damn!

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