Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bones #3)

                Hello happy readers!  Another series I finished at the end of 2016 and also something that really got me into audiobook as more than just in the car type of things is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.  Now I enjoyed reading the first book but when I went to the audiobook for the sequel having trips and lots of hours in a car planned I think I enjoyed it a bit more.  So when it came time to finish out the series with Dreams of Gods and Monsters, you know I had to audiobook it.  So I’m happy to share my thoughts and feels on the last book I finished in 2016.  I previously reviewed Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight. 

Rating:  5 Bruxis

                So when we left off in Days of Blood & Starlight Karou had just ended the evil and horrid Thiago and worked the best out of it placing sweet Ziri inside the body to help steer the course into something that will not destroy everyone.  The deception is hard, maintaining expectations while trying to be different is a delicate line.  Enemies must work together to fight a larger threat with Jael with his Razgut helper and his army have made it into the human world causing a large amount of trouble.  So much is happening you need to buckle up.

                Like the first two books there is just something beautiful about the writing.  It's lyrical almost.  I love it.  High props to that and the audiobook was on point I loved the different accents and voices used for the characters and given that characters are from different worlds and places I thought it was well done.  My favorite voice was Zuzana though!  OMG I loved when she came on, not just because she might be my favorite character but the voice used for her just made me want to keep hearing more.  Seriously as Zuzana and Mik were the resident humans I connected with them, well that and they were just so darn cute.  Even when things got super bad and intense they stood by Karou!  That is serious friendship.  They also offer great comedic relief, they know they aren't warriors like everyone surrounding them but they are not easily dissuaded and speak their mind.  Plus the tasks Mik is set to complete, awe! 

                We also get to meet a new character in this, Eliza.  She has a secretive back story from the start and you want to know more and see how she will play in and interact with the story as a whole.  We also see more of others we only heard about, the Stelians.  With them comes so much more information about the world as a whole things are not just Eretz and human world but much much larger.  Added more depth to the story and for the most part I enjoyed them, though I did have some lingering questions. 

               Ziri was a huge favorite as well last book and in this, finally having lost his original form, to give it up the last of his kind to become someone so evil and hateful.  It was so bittersweet to see Ziri as Thiago.  His personality is just so much different from his and to be stuck without wings when you long to fly would be hardest of all.  Ziri is doing the best he can for his people no matter the cost.  Liraz also grew on me.  I enjoyed her well enough in the last book but she was still a bit too standoffish to really get to know and while she is still her, we see so much more of her.  Losing Hazael in the last book really hit her hard.  Seeing more from her perspective and her interactions with some of the characters really made me ache for her as well.  Towards the end though….just wow.

                This all started and I fell in love with the quote.  So of course Karou and Akiva are front and center.  Both are leaders of their own people.  Karou, secretly anyways, leading the chimaera and Akiva with the Misbegotten.  Things between them are so difficult.  So much in the way but yet you see the yearning on both sides.  Seeing from both POVs and seeing what the other wants and thinks and how actions are perceived you just want to reach into the book and push them together to talk!  Their moments are so heartbreakingly sweet.  I love their story and how no matter the challenges and hardships they still have hope. 

                This series was amazing.  I had a few unanswered questions at the end which I would like to have more clarification on.  Especially some of the newer information we were given into the world as a whole I wish we had more time to learn more but I'm not unhappy.  Just questions I would like to know like what ever happened to the ill fated Kaz from book one did her get his?  What about Eliza's so called family, we learned about them and their desires but what happened to them.  Plus the ending left in a way that there could have been so many more stories told.  Still while it gave us something to imagine in the future it also gave us a sense of closure. 

                I am so glad to have finally read this series last year.  I had been meaning to for so long but the size intimidated me.  Now having read them I wish I could re-read/listen to them again for the first time all over.  I'm sure when I re-read in the future I'll pick up even more of the tiny details that I didn't quite notice the first time, and I can't wait.  I enjoyed the characters, the world, the story.  No matter what is going on it always seemed that hope was a resounding point of the story and that is beautiful.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and feels below. 

                Until next time…

Stacking the Shelves

                Welcome to Stacking the Shelves was created by Tynga and the full details can be found on her page here.  Basically you showcase the books you bought or received each week.  Little, or not so little, weekly book hauls.  These are all the books I have gotten this week! 

Physical Books:

SuccubusRevealed (Georgina Kincaid #6) by Richelle Mead- I owned all the books accept the last so now that I've started the series I need it.

The Return (Titan #1) & The Power (Titan #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout- Getting ready for ApollyCon

More HappyThan Not by Adam Silvera- Hoping to attend a signing next week!

                That's if for this week.  Share a link below with what goodies you got this week.  

The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4)

                Hello happy readers!  My first review of 2017 was Blue Lily, Lily Blue where I admit I had almost skipped over it and went right for the finale, The Raven King but had to back track a bit.  Now a little while later I am happy to finally get to post that review of the fourth and final book in the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven King.  Spoilers ahead for the series thus far, duh. 

Rating:  5 Ravens

                So I dove into this audiobook ready and nervous.  I wanted to see where all these books and stories and events would lead my friends.  Because they had become my friends through it all.  I cared for each of them deeply and I worried if what I knew from book one was to truly come to pass or if there was a way around it.  I had hope but I also had this leery sense not everyone would make it out happy and unscathed.  So I listened carefully and dreamed this world as Stiefvater painted it before my eyes.

                I loved this book.  This series.  Basically everything I said last week about Blue Lily, Lily Blue here is still true.  The characters are a real strong point.  You are so deeply invested in your core you feel everything with them.  I loved getting to know more of Henry Cheng, he was just entertaining and the way he talked and thought.  So very much like one of our group.  Artemus, Blue's daddy, is interesting to say the least.  He's a bit off.  I am glad though that Maura didn't go searching for him to be with him, I much prefer her assassin boyfriend but still it was nice for Blue to get to meet him and for her mother to have a sense of closure.  Plus Orphan Girl whom we’ve seen bits and pieces of since book two   We also got to see more of the world of Ronan's father and in part more of Declan. 

                Relationships.  That is how I would describe this book.  Magical.  Unique. Amazing.  Beautiful.  So many things encompass this series but I feel it was the relationships.  Between friends.  Between lovers.  Between family.  Between you and your past.  Between you and a place, it all comes down to relationships.  I could talk about the group: Blue, Gansey, Ronan, and Adam for hours and never fully grasp the depth of it.  It just is.  Now I was sad to see less of Noah with him fading away but he was still there in their hearts.  Still no matter the romantic relationships of our core they were best friends and all loved one another.  That was beautiful.  Blue and Gansey just meat your heart even they were nearly outshined.

                The world of this book is so well balanced between reality and magical that you feel like they are real.  That 300 Fox Way really exists full of astounding women with abilities and sharp wits.  That you could swing by Monmouth Manufacturing and see Gansey’s model of the town and the mess that is their rooms.  The Barns full of sleeping dream objects in a variety of different shapes, sizes, and purposes.  And most of all Cabeswater, where time is lost and thoughts can be made real.  It was both beautiful and scary at times but I'd still give anything to visit.

                These books were really something different.  They don’t try to be something they aren’t.  They just are.  I can honestly say I can't think of another story similar to these.  Things are dark in points.  Death and possession on the rise.  It just breaks your heart each time though to see these character suffering.  To see the turmoil in those being possessed, forced to do things against their core self to hurt those they love and those attacked forced to defend themselves and risk hurting someone they care about.  The feels!  And the demon trying to unmake Cabeswater, to unmake our dreamer Ronan Lynch.  So many feels were happening in this book I'm thankful for the audiobook that I could listen through the shock and tears. 

                The Raven King was a conclusion. The journey started back when Blue first saw Gansey on the corpse road then met her raven boys searching for their sleeping king.  The story is wrapped up.  It was fitting.  The journeys end fit.  I loved how it wrapped up.  At first it took  me a moment and I rewound some to make sure I had heard it properly but once I was sure I was correct and took a second to think on it, it did fit.  The story is not what I expected but still all that I hoped for.  It was beautiful and I'm happy to have been on the journey. 

                Overall I have to say I loved this book and this series as a whole.  I'd love to hear what everyone thought about it especially the end.  So many feels.  I cried at several points throughout.  Just so many things happening and concluding.  I love this world and I'm sorry to see it end no matter how wonderfully and faithful it was to the journey. 

                Until next time..

~Waiting on Wednesday~ Wintersong

                “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  Basically books that are not yet out that we are dying to get our hands on.  This week’s pick is:

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Out: 2/7

From Goodreads:

                Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

                All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King.  He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed.  Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family's inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

                But when her sister Kathe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above.  The Goblin King agrees to let Kathe go—for a price.  The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws.  A life for a life, he says.  Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow.  Without death, there can be no rebirth.  In exchange for her sister's freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King.  He accepts.

                Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally.  Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl's life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King's bride.  As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice:  her life, her music, or the end of the world.

Why I’m Waiting:

                 This was on my anticipated 2017 debut books.  I love the cover and the story remind me a bit of Beauty & the Beast and Hades & Persephone which are both tales I really love.  So this had be drawn in.  I can't wait to get my hands on it. 

                What are you waiting on?  Tell me below what you think of this title and leave a link to your WoW as well so I can check it out.

Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 releases I haven't read yet

                Hello everyone!  Top Ten Tuesday is just how it sounds, a topic is picked and we put our Top Ten for that in a post and share and check out everyone’s answers.  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

The top ten today is:  2016 releases I haven’t read yet…but totally plan to!

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare- This one I wanted to hold off on until the Shadowhunter Academy stories released in hardcover so I could read those as someone told me having read them first made the book better for them as you get little snippets.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer- The last part of the year was just crazy busy but OMG this book is so pretty naked!

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo- I’ve been carrying it around with me for the last month but I have had other things I had to finish first and as anxious as I am to read this and know what happens I know it’s the end.

The Last Star (The 5^th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey- I read the first two books when the movie came out to prep and when the final book came out I didn’t dive right in and it got pushed aside.

The Midnight Star (The Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu- When this came to my door I was excited but also not in the right mood for something so dark.  As the books have progressively gotten darker I knew my mood.

Witch’s Pyre (Worldwalker #3) by Josephine Angelini- I was so ready for this one!  Book two broke my heart and I have been going through so many options in my head to make things better with no luck but then it arrived in the crazy flood/move time and yeah I’m still waiting.

I didn’t know a lot about these titles just that I really wanted to check them out in 2016 and bought them but then never got to them L

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro

Assassin’s Heart (Assassin’s Heart #1) by Sarah Ahiers

Burning Glass (Burning Glass #1) by Kathryn Purdie

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Okay I could keep going this list is hella extensive!  I just ran out of time. 

                 Tell me what you think of my list in the comments below.  Also please link back to your Top Ten as well so I can check out your list and see what I missed!

A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2)

                Hello happy readers! Okay so last week I had typed up my first review of the new year just as I finished today's book and being in such need to discuss I almost pushed ahead.  But I needed time to process my thoughts into a coherent review.  The book in question is A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by the wonderful Sarah J. Maas.  I love her books and I am behind.  This is a sad truth. Still it is a fact.  But as I am caught back up one of her series let's discuss.  Also side note this book/series leans more into NA than YA and has much more adult content in some parts, sexy steamy parts.  Enough of this because it's a long one…lots to say!

Rating:  5  Sets of Painted Eyes

                So if you look at my review for A Court of Thorns and Roses you will see that I was firmly Team Tamlin.  I went into this book a bit nervous with so many people shipping Rhysand.  I couldn't understand that given my temper towards him at book ones end.  I mean seriously he made that crappy bargain with her that tattooed her out of nowhere, like first crap deal then surprise a tattoo comes with it and I can feel you through it, not cool man.  Second my biggest issue was that he drugged her.  Yes I get it that he wasn't that evil he had been playing a part and all, I get that, but no way did I ever think drugging a girl and parading her around and touching her, albeit restrained, is something I think of as ship-worthy.  Plus afterwards no apology or anything just did what I had to do would do it again.  Huge pet peeve of mine and I went in worried if anything happened I'd find myself disappointed or angered. 

                Then I started reading.

                I was still mad at Rhysand for book one items.  Even as he started to grow on me as a character and I wanted so badly to like him I was conflicted because of my issues with book one events that had not been addressed to my satisfaction.  And his cocky attitude made it worse at times.  But even as I got to know more about Rhys and he started to thaw me I wasn't completely convinced of any ship factors even after I was well off the Tamlin ship. 

                Book one changed everyone.  Feyre is no longer mortal.  She flipping died and was bought back high fae.  That is unheard of.  She also killed innocent people.  She was pushed to her breaking point, tortured and held captive.  She is broken in ways she wasn't before and trying to understand and live with that.  Tamlin and the rest of the courts have their power back and the spring court got to lose the masks.  He also watched the woman he loved die before his eyes.  Rhys hated by all before and especially after is finally free and no longer Amarantha's whore, free to see his family and friends and to fly once more but also to live with the things he has done.  Everyone is changed.

                Things are better with Amarantha gone but things are not yet safe.  Greater evil still looms and they must work to find a way to defeat it while still stuck in her bargain with Rhys.  That can put a damper on things with your husband to be.  Feyre is caught between being a spy for Tamlin in Rhys court and Rhys trying to ready her for what is to come.  Rhys, attitude and all, is treating her more like she needs than a porcelain doll Tamlin is treating her as which confuses her head.  Her heart though is broken and shattered from beneath the mountain.  As Feyre spends more time with Rhys in the Night Court she begins to see there are two sides to every story and that everyone may have misjudged the High Lord of the Night Court for having the ability to do what they could not to protect his people.

                 The whole world is developed more as we get to see more.  We know about the Spring Court, where we start but we get to see the Night Court in both the Hewn City and Velaris as well as Summer Court.  Getting to know both Courts and see the contrasts was pretty cool plus some other areas I won't mention.  Some things you expect others just floor you.  Prythia is expansive.  There are also new powers to see and understand.  Everyone's powers were pretty limited in book one so now with the release; we are opened up see more of what they can do.  Add to that Feyre was mortal but now is Fae and gifted with a part of all High Lords this has given her some unique abilities, harnessing bits of all of them.  Seeing what Feyre could do as she learned new things and understanding other areas we have yet to visit just wowed me.  I'd really like to know about the one that glows….

                I loved getting to know more characters, like Rhysand's inner circle.  Cassian, Azriel, Morrigan, and Amren are my favorite new editions for sure.  They were just on point.  Each was unique and different personalities and traits and a vast history between them all with many stories that shaped them but one thing they all know is that they are loyal as they are fierce.  The inner mingling of them, the conversations and such made so much of the book for me.  Also plus from the audiobook I know how to say the names!  You want to know more about them but also want them to find happiness to sooth the darkness all have faced.  We also got to see more of Feyres sisters living in the human world, Nesta and Elain along with some human queens.  They have come a long way and Nesta is constantly fierce, back and forth on if I like or hate her sometimes but no matter what she is fierce and that I appreciate.  In seeing the Summer Court we got to meet their young ruler Tarquin and brother and sister Cresseida and Varian.

                The story did a great job of moving forward developing the world and so many wonderful and rich characters but also calling back to the previous book.  Smaller things you thought would be important later on, they were!  I love when books do that. 

                Okay that's all I can really say without spoilers.  From here on out I'm going to be discussing the spoilery bits because OMG I need to!  So if you haven't read or finished it yet then you have been warned to stop here. 

*****SPOILERS*****

                So my ship.  I did jump to team Rhysand eventually.  I was so relieved with how Maas played it out.  It wasn't jump from one to the other.  There was so much happening between the characters that really made things seem real and deep rather than flakey.  Everyone changed after book one like I said. Tamlin became an overbearing ass.  He no longer treated her like an equal but like a pet or some pretty face with nothing more to her.  He also wasn't as attentive to her in anything my sex.  I understood his beastly need to keep her safe after watching her die and that held me to him longer but when he locked her up and made her a prisoner again I was gone.  You can't treat someone you love that way.  No excuse. 

                So Rhys.  He had won me over character wise from the first bit but the romantic part came later.  As he opened up to her and saw more of him.  Book one we didn't see much but the evil mask he put forth.  So seeing him in the Velaris with his people he loved and his friends just hit you hard.  Especially in contrast to his mask he wears at the Court of Nightmares and his not wanting her to see him like that.  However, more than that, he did apologize.  My pet peeve was pushed aside and I let the feels come in.  He knew no one would see him as anything but evil and no amount of apologies would fix that so why bother he would simply take their hate he felt he deserved but he still was sorry.  He hated himself far more than I could have for the things I hated him for in book one.   I'm still a bit miffed about the tattoo and drug thing even if one of the two is explained but in the grand scheme of things I understand it and his intentions better.  The way he handled her, handled the one part and explaining it all hopeful yet worried just broke me.  That moment was when he had me.  I was officially Team Rhysand. 

                I was sad we didn't see much of Lucien in this book because he was one of my favorite characters in book one.  Though I didn't care for him as much.  At the start he was not helping her even though he knew how she was hurting, more than Tamlin seemed to but instead did as he was told.  Then in the clearing, that scene was on point as well.  I loved it!  I was totally digging it.  Her words to him.  And then later the little bit of guilt I had for him vanished as we find out what happened.  So many feels there.  ALL THE FEELS.  The game they are now playing is going to be hard but it made me love Rhys so much more.  When Amren made her demand, which coming from her made the impact that much more, and Rhys with his answer was just personification of why I love him.  An equal.

                I'm interested to see what happens next.  My small issue would be how Tamlin changed so drastically.  Some of it I can understand but I feel there has to be something more to it and I bet it has something to do with that evil vindictive priestess which I hope to find out more about.  Okay more like I want to watch her fall.  I also want to know more about mate bonds, they are supposed to be sacred and regarded above all else and rare.  Something has to be up with Tamlin for him to believe she was cool with him when they parted on bad terms and what he did caused so much pain to people she love.

                Anywho I have so many ideas and theories for the next book but I'm anxious because my ship is apart and well it's called A Court of Wings and Ruin, hello RUIN does not sound good.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about this book and any theories for the next book!

                Until next time…

Stacking the Shelves

                Welcome to Stacking the Shelves was created by Tynga and the full details can be found on her page here.  Basically you showcase the books you bought or received each week.  Little, or not so little, weekly book hauls.  These are all the books I have gotten since the start of 2017!

Physical Books:

Wayfarer (Passenger #2) by Alexandra Bracken

The Problemwith Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

E-books:

Reign ofShadows (Reign of Shadows #1)by Sophie Jordan

Queen ofShadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas

Audiobooks:

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas I just finished the audiobook for ACOMAF and really wanted to dive back into this one in audiobook form so when I saw you could get the kindle and audible version bundled cheaper than the audible by itself I was on board!

                That's if for this week.  Share a link below with what goodies you got this week.