The Selection Trilogy by Kiera Cass (The Selection, The Elite, The One)

My quick brief review of The Selection trilogy by Kiera Cass:

This trilogy was a very quick and fun one to read. Although they aren't very deep or emotionally books, they were still enjoyable. They are very entertaining and interesting and I would recommend this series for someone who likes nice light reads. My rating for each of these books are pretty high because I found them entertaining. 

Now for the spoiler review:

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 336

My Rating:
✰✰✰✰

Overall, I really did enjoy The Selection. Although the idea of girls fighting over one guy is degrading to women, I think this book wasn't too bad. I loved the idea of castes and how every family has their ranking that can be 1-8. Ones being highest and Eights being lowest. As for the characters, I think they were okay. 

I still thought the story was enjoyable, it wasn't bad and I wanted to keep reading.

At first, I thought Aspen was very nice and sweet, but I ended up disliking him in the end. It seemed so pathetic to end a relationship just because it seemed as if he wasn't spoiling America, but she was spoiling him. As soon as he made that choice, I disliked him.

Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 336

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

My Rating:
✰✰✰✰

This book really didn't have too much in it. Other than more competitiveness and America's confused feelings. 

In this book, I got frustrated with America. She constantly was changing her mind over the guys. As soon as one does something bad, she turns to the other and vice versa. When she was with Aspen, she felt so sure and safe, but when she was Maxon, she felt so loved and special. I just wanted her to make up her mind.

The Elite didn't feel much of a sequel, but more like the first book being stretched longer. This was all what happened when most of the other girls were eliminated. 

I think what America did for Marlee was so beautiful and when she saw her again I felt extremely happy. 

Although I know close to nothing about it, I really liked Marlee's and Carter's relationship.

I really didn't like Kriss that much. I just think America and Maxon should be together and that's that. The ship has sailed.

I also really liked the maids, I felt that they were very sweet and nice.

It was very predictable that America wasn't going to leave so that was no surprise. The king's attitude to her was though.

I expected to grow more founder of the characters in this book, but I did not. I didn't have any feels really and I didn't really find Maxon or Aspen that attractive. 

Title: The One
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 327

The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen—and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.


My Rating:
✰✰✰✰

Out of all of the books in this trilogy, this one was my favorite. I enjoyed it more than the others because that there were more things going on. The plot was more fast and this was a good ending to a trilogy. I think everything ended nicely and the epilogue was great.

Something that I would like to talk about was right in the beginning of the book, America tries to seduce Maxon which was so awful but hilarious at the same time. It was so strange and bleh.

The fact that Maxon and America ended up together was pretty predictable.  Unlike the other two books, she made it clearer and clearer that she wanted Maxon. I'm sure a lot of people hated Aspen, but in this book, he didn't seem so bad. I felt bad for him when he caught Maxon and America in her bedroom, just because I know how much he cares for her.

I'm very glad that Lucy and Aspen are now together. Aspen really seems like a great friend and brother to America. 

When Maxon gives her the gifts of jewelry, she promises that she won't ever give them away, or sell them and that she'll keep them forever. But at the Convicting, she gives it away to a random thief! It was great that  she went against the king, but it was ironic how she did actually give them away.

I wanted to scream when Maxon caught America with her hands on Aspen, just after Maxon proposed to her! The proposal made me really excited and happy and then this happened and I was like ohh crappp.
 I really wonder what would happen if there wasn't an attack at all. Would Maxon actually pick Kriss because he was fed up with America although her loved her?

I didn't feel like I knew Georgia and August that much. They were just there but I didn't really connect to them. There scenes weren't that significant to me. I didn't really think that Kriss being a rebel or her father being one did much to the story.

But I think some things were a little too sudden and rushed, like the part where we find out that America's father was in the rebellion. I think America did go through some development and really learned how to fight for what she believes in. 

I really got upset because neither America or Maxon would say I love you! They were both pretty stubborn and wanted to wait for the other to admit it first. We all knew that America was going to win the Selection from the beginning though, after all she is the main character. The whole story could have finished within the first book if America just told Maxon how she truly felt about him.

But I think there were a lot of unnecessary deaths in this book, including Celeste, Anne, and the king and queen. It made me really sad, especially since Anne is so kind and Celeste became sweet. I'm not that hung over the king's death though.

This trilogy was mainly about America being indecisive and trying to figure how who she loved. I do wish that there was more back ground information about the world and the history of Illea. 

This trilogy was very entertaining and worth picking up. 

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Title: Panic
Author: Lauren Oliver
Pages: 408

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most. 

The idea of Panic was very unique to me and I  enjoyed it. 

My Rating:
✰✰✰✰1/2

Overall, I think this book was very enjoying and was a thrill ride; it was a quick fun read.

The idea of Panic and the challenges really was what drove this book. The challenges were intense, some were crazy, and it was all very fun to read about. 
The plot was very interesting and I did enjoy reading about what they were going through. Somethings were quite  suspenseful. The stakes were pretty high since it was $67,000 on the line.

As far as characters go, I  liked Heather's character because she seemed realistic and not the classic short, small, protagonist. I loved Bishop. He was so protective and I loved their relationship together. Bishop was definitely my favorite character. 

I liked how different yet similar Dodge's  and Heather's life were. Their reasons for participating in Panic were pretty different too. I really liked Dodge's determination on getting revenge and how he acted towards his sister protectively, showed that. I liked Dodge's character and his flaws made him quite likeable. Dodge's family and Heather's family were very realistic. I actually loved the character of Heather's mom, even though she was an awful person. 
For both protagonists, they both wanted to be able to escape from everything, including the game itself.

I think the dual perspective was great and I liked how Dodge's and Heather's  story intertwined nicely. It was fresh to see that the the two people from which the perspectives was being told was not a couple, unlike many other books. Lauren Oliver has a very nice way of weaving stories together.

Nat seemed pretty sketchy to me but her character made sense, although she is not my favorite. 
For some reason, this book did not feel like a contemporary. It felt too action packed and almost like a dystopian, which I liked.
Overall, I recommend this book for everyone. It was fairly quick and very enjoyable.

Discussing specific points (Spoilers):

I actually didn't think Bishop was a judge until I saw the scenes where Dodge thought that he looked too serious and stressed. I think that was one of the best parts of the story. 
Out of all of the challenges, (jumping off a cliff into water, walking across water tanks on a plank, stealing something from a crazy man's house, staying inside a haunted burning house, and the car swerving joust,)
My favorite is the Joust and the burning house. I think those were the most fun parts to read.

It made me sad when Dodge realized that Nat didn't like him. In my opinion, I thought Dodge deserved someone better than Nat. There were many points in the story I just wanted Bishop and Heather to confess their feelings.

I did like the ending, but wish it was longer. The tiger appearing at the end was great, and speaking about them, I loved Anne and thought the tigers were very cool. Because of Anne, Heather was able to learn that she wanted to become a veterinarian.  

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Pages: 221

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same. 


Speechless because wow.

My Rating:
✰✰✰✰✰

I actually didn't know anything about this book before reading it which made it more exciting.

This book was just spectacular. The story, the characters, the writing; everything was amazing. Reading this book made me want to go do something. I want to seek my own Great Perhaps. This writing style, I thought, was pretty different to the way John wrote in The Fault in Our Stars, but I actually think that was a good thing. In a lot of ways, I think Looking for Alaska was better.

Miles was a great protagonist. I thought he was very smart and nice and I loved how he had a thing for knowing peoples' last words which was very cool. His character development was great and even throughout a pretty short book, he changed from being a pretty lonely boy to someone who had this amazing fun group of friends. I loved seeing all of the friends hang out, get drunk, and do whatever they wanted. The pranks were very fun to read about.

Without a doubt, Alaska Young was my favorite character. She might be my all time favorite character now too. I just loved her character along with Miles and Chip (Pudge and the Colonel), who were also great. Alaska just had these traits that I love reading about. She was outgoing and spoke up for what she believed in. I loved what the story circled which is friendship and overcoming hardships.

Although this book was fairly short, it did not feel rushed and I felt like I really knew the characters. I loved every single one of them, and I loved every second of this book. I also really liked how it was written with Before and After. 

This whole book felt so quotable and was very thought provoking. This book was so fun yet very intense.

Sometimes a book is so good, it's hard to explain why. This book was one of those. These characters were so great and the story was amazing. Just *sigh* spectacular. Looking for Alaska is very high on my favorites.


My overall thought: A pure coming of age story about self revelation. 

Bout of Books 10.0 Read-A-Thon

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Hello everyone! This will be a quick blog post announcing that I will participating in the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon! For more information, click on the link in the blurb above to visit the Bout of Books blog so you can sign up as well!

I don't have a strict TBR for this read-a-thon, but I hope to read a lot! Good luck to everyone participating and happy reading!

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Attachments
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Pages: 336


"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

This being my first adult book, I was a little weary on how I would feel about this book. But I absolutely loved it.


My Rating:
✰✰✰✰✰

This book was brilliant. I can't think of one flaw it has. This is my 2nd Rainbow Rowell book, Fangirl being my current favorite book of the year, and I was blown away again. Rainbow was able to create such real, breathing, living normal characters. This was also my first adult book which, specifically this book, didn't seem too different.

The idea of this story was very unique and different; it sounded like it was going to be good and it was. At no parts did I find it boring or slow. The plot was great and moved along nicely. The book takes place in 1999 which I actually liked. 

In the book, some chapters are about Lincoln, the main character with the job of monitoring emails, and others are the email messages between the two good friends Beth and Jennifer.

In the beginning of this book, I worried that I wasn't going to be able to tell the difference between the two friends, which wasn't the case at all. Right from the beginning of the story, you get to know the characters. It was crazy how much I knew them and understood them. Beth was very different from Jennifer, and in their emails you can see how.
I loved reading the long emails and stories they shared. It really allowed you see the inside of their lives and all of the drama that was going on. 

Lincoln's life was surprisingly fun to read. I partially thought that I was going to find this part boring, but it wasn't. He was such a great character and seeing his troubled life just made me want to hug him and talk to him. He seemed so real to me and his life just seemed so typical; I loved it. 
His relationship with his co-workers (Doris), D&D friends, Eve, his mom, were all great. He was just an overall sweet person.

As the story continued, we start to see Lincoln's feelings for Beth. I found myself smiling and grinning many times as I read this. It was just so adorable. I loved how Lincoln fell in love with Beth's words and her soul. 

I felt like I was there with Lincoln the whole time as he experienced this. It was like I was right besides him, patting his shoulder and saying, "It's alright buddy."

My overall thought: A heartwarming story that helps you discover what love really is.