Freakin' Massive Bookhaul

Okay so this has been a long time coming. I've been meaning to do this bookhaul since I bought a ton of books with my Christmas money back in January, but to be honest, it's just never happened. The flow of books has never really stopped (not to brag or anything) so I've actually never found a suitable time to do a bookhaul because 'well I've got MORE books coming tomorrow, so I'll do it then'.

Yeah. That never happened.

So I'm doing it noowwww!!!! I mean I've got mocks in a few weeks and I'm drowning in art coursework but I finally caved in to Sophie after countless requests and...yeah. Here I am. Ranting about books. My specialty.

Yep. These are the books I bought/received since Christmas. You shouldn't be surprised. I told you it was a 'Freakin' Massive Bookhaul'. Don't worry, don't worry, we'll go through them.

The Mortal Instruments Series

Read? Yep.

Rating? ★★★★

Review?

Okay so I actually read this series ages ago. The reason why it's featured in this haul is because I'm buying all my books in hardback because hardbacks are so much prettier than paperbacks, right? I still have to buy City of Lost Souls in hardback but slow and steady.

I don't really care what people have to say about this series. I still enjoyed it. I'm actually really looking forward to reading City of Heavenly Fire in May (so soon!), and although this isn't my favourite Cassandra Clare series, it was still highly entertaining and I do care for the characters and am (dear god) so concerned with what happens in CoHF (6 characters we know by name will die. Hold me). Needless to say, Magnus is the best. Oh, Magnus, how I love you.

Would I recommend it?

If you enjoy adventure, romance, kick ass action, and witty dialogue, then yes, I would. Like every series, it has its faults, but if you're up for lighthearted reading, then I don't see why you shouldn't pick it up!

The Infernal Devices

Read? Yep!!

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

Okay so needless to say, this IS my favourite series by Cassie Clare. It. Is. Stunning. Like TMI, I read this a long time ago, but when I got the money I basically scrambled to the Book Depository and bought them in hardback. To be honest, I think this edges its way to my favourite trilogy of all time list because

1. The characters are stunning. They all undergo so much development and just wowowow.
2. It's a prequel to tmi, and although you don't have to read it with tmi, if you do, it makes the experience so much richer because Cassie Clare has intertwined the family histories amazingly.
3.One of my biggest book boyfriends of all time. 'Nough said.
4. It's historical fiction!! Historical!!! Fiction!!!!
5. The trilogy was closed so well. Cried all day (still not over it) to the end of Clockwork Princess. Honestly, ugly sobbing. My mum was like 'oh my god what's wrong?!' I couldn't get the words out. I couldn't.
6. It has a love triangle, but one of the best love triangles I've ever read about. Let's just say: Nobody loses. Everybody wins.
7. Magnus Bane.
8. Herondales 5 eva.
9.Freaking awesome plot.
10. Twists and turns basically every page OH GOD THE FEELINGS.

Would I recommend it?

I think you know my stance on this. I don't care if you're Harry Potter or The Queen of England. Read it. Tissues are a necessity.

Throne of Glass Series

Read? Yep! Although, not The Assassin's Blade which is basically a bind up of all the novellas.

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

This series is great. It honestly is. Celaena Sardothien is one of my favourite protagonists of all time. To be honest, I really think it opened the fantasy genre up for me, because let's face it, those huge books (Looking at you, George R.R Martin) are pretty hard to approach. It's hard not to get daunted by them. ToG is not like that. At all. Although it's high fantasy, it's extremely approachable, and so very addicting. The action is great, and the character development is flawless. All the way, you're rooting for Celaena, who for once, provides us with a confident, self assured narrative. This girl knows what she wants, 'Kay? Don't mess with her. Or her friends / lovers. 

Speaking of which, there is an interesting love triangle in this story. It's great. Although I am with Chaol on this, there are still several books to come and the plot twists show no mercy. In these books, however, the love triangle adds to the story, it doesn't make it. The story would be perfect without any love interests because Celaena makes it that way. Personally, I think that's fab.

Would I recommend it?

Urm, yes. Yes yes yes yes.

Miss Peregrine's Series

Read? Well, the first one, yes. I haven't got on to Hollow City yet.

Rating? ★★★★

Review?

These books are so unique. They are made beautifully, with creepy photos, decorated covers (under the dust jacket), scary illustrations, and quirky characters. I really enjoyed the first one, and I can't wait to get onto Hollow City!

The one criticism I would have of it is the romance. I'm not going to say any spoilers, but... well...

It's a bit weird. And seemed a tad unnecessary. It just doesn't seem like it fits in with the general theme of the books and let's just say I could live without it.

Would I recommend it?

I would! It's a brilliant take on the gothic genre and, in parts, is genuinely scary! I would definitely look into them.

The Darkest Minds Trilogy. Look at those beautiful covers. Just look at 'em.

Read? Oh god. Yes. Yes I have.

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

One of my favourite trilogies again. You're probably getting bored, right? All of these reviews are positive. I don't know why. Quite a few of my books deserve a whole lot of ranting. Don't worry, young one. The angry caps lock will come in time.

Okay so mainly it's the characters that make this series. The humour and heartbreak come in equal measures, and oh my god, there's a lot of both. These books will leave you screaming 'WHYYYY, CRUEL WORLD?', but don't worry it's worth it. There's the most adorable romance ever, action, suspense, just...everything. It's fab.

It's a dystopian. It is. But one I would love to live in if I got to hang out with the Black Betty Crew. Alexandra Bracken, I salute you.

Recommend?

GET IT. NOW.

The Mara Dyer Trilogy

Read? Yep. Again, I read this a while back but wanted it in hardcover because let's face it, the covers are beautiful.

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

One thing these books do really well is the whole unreliable narrator thing. It's one of the few books in YA fiction where you're actually questioning whether the main character is mad or not. Mara would do something and she would explain it logically and clearly so that you get the impression that it's the sane thing to do. It's only when you look back on it later when you sort of realise that what she did wasn't entirely right.

Despite all this, you're rooting for her. The hallucinations just make the story even richer and keep you guessing at basically every turn. This, I can confidently say, is a trilogy which is entirely, entirely, unpredictable. Do I have any idea what's going to happen in The Retribution of Mara Dyer? Nope. Not at all. In fact, I'm kinda scared. When I finished The Evolution of Mara Dyer, I literally threw the book across the room. Gah. I was crazed. I immediately tweeted Sophie like 'HAVE YOU READ MARA DYER', and she was like 'no' AND I BASICALLY HAD A BREAKDOWN.

It's a hard life. None of my friends had read it at that stage.

Plus, Noah Shaw. People have mixed reactions about him, in fact, this book is pretty controversial overall in the book community, but personally, I love it. And him. Freaking baby Jesus and all his donkey's that boy is really something. This fictional boyfriend problem is kind of getting out of hand.

Recommend?

Well, I can guarantee that you'll have strong feelings about it. You'll either love it or hate it. I loved it. So I would say yes.

The Heroes of Olympus Series

Read? Aaah! Currently reading The House of Hades (The Fourth one in the series. AKA the penultimate one).

Rating (so far)? ★★★★★

Review?

The main thing that completes this series is Percy and Annabeth. This series is the spin off series from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and oh it's so greeeeaaaaat. I could probably talk about Percy Jackson for days on end, and wouldn't stop for toilet breaks. My least favourite in the series was probably The Lost Hero, and that's only because Percy wasn't in it. Literally. Instead we got handed Jason. 

Um.

Well.

Okay.

Jason.

sorrytosaythistoyoubutyoullneverbeasgoodaspercyandyoucanshoveyourromanheritageupyourjupitersizedbuttthankyouverymuchokaybye.

Recommend? 

Yes yes YES, but you have to steel yourself. It's a lot of pain. Rick Riordan likes to kill the reader slowly and painfully. If you don't believe me, check out what he wrote for the dedication page in House of Hades. I was half crying, half laughing. It was a strange combination. Most definitely not pretty. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Read? No. But I've heard it's fantastic.

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

Read? Nope! All I know is that the cover is gorgeous omg.

Shatter Me Trilogy (Unite Me is a bind up of the two novellas)

Read? Yes. Yes yes yes.

Rating? ★★★★

Review?

So Shatter Me (the first one) I bought before Christmas so of course it's not included in this haul, so that leaves Unravel Me, Unite Me, and Ignite Me to haul. Just keep that in mind, because overall, I'm going to be talking about the trilogy as a whole. 

To put it bluntly, this trilogy is an acquired taste. In the first two books, Juliette is like the most annoying protagonist ever. She is whiny, useless, pathetic. She moans all the freaking time. Ignite me - the last one in the trilogy - brought it up a star because that book was freaking amazing. Something major happens at the end of Unravel Me, forcing Juliette to finally get her shit together and realise who what she wants. She deals calmly with the most annoying butt face ever Adam and starts to realise that her power can be used to do REALLY AWESOME AMAZING STUFF. The writing is the best in Ignite Me, whereas in the other two the writing is excessively 'poetic', making Juliette seem like one of those pretentious girls who makes tumblr edits and poems (when really it's just a sentence on a lot of different lines) about how the world doesn't understand them and how there's nobody out there brave enough to kiss their wounds. 

But I don't think I'm doing this trilogy justice. I did enjoy it. I did. There were some great parts, and the characters were not at all like I expected. Warner my baby.

Recommend?

This trilogy mainly focuses on characters and their development. It's labelled as a 'dystopian romance', but mostly I would say it's a romance, with a minimum amount of world building to justify its place in the dystopian genre. If you're interested, you  should look into them. They are fun to read, and it's pretty much a universal fact that these covers are amazingly amazingly pretty.

These Broken Stars

Read? Yep!

Rating? ★★★★

Review?

Think about the Titanic, then think about it in space. That is basically the premise of this book. Overall, I did enjoy it. It's the first survival story I've read, as most of the book is taken up by two people going across this alien planet to try and uncover the secrets of, frankly, a really creepy planet. In this book (oops, I can't remember their names. I think one's called Amy) these two characters detest each other, but then grow to actually kind of love each other (shush that wasn't a spoiler, I mean look at that cover). There's this HUGE twist at the end, which I really wasn't expecting. It was actually kind of heartbreaking.

Recommend?

The reviews on Goodreads are stellar. Some people absolutely loved it, while I only liked it a lot. If it sounds exciting to you (it was) you really should add it to your tbr shelf because it was fun.

More Than This

Read? No. But it's by Patrick Ness so it should be good.

Noble Conflict

Read? No.

Come here friend, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away known by the tree folk as Waterstones, a humble peasant called Nina was looking through their selection of books. It occurred to her that many of the books in the YA section were paperback, and therefore, undesirable. Nina was despairing, and was about to voice her discontent to her friend, when she came across Noble Conflict. Immediately, Nina's interest spiked. Not only was this a hardback (this peasant was shallow, shut up) but the cover was beautiful. On closer inspection, Nina realised that it was by Malorie Blackman, the legend only queens dared speak of.

The legend who wrote Noughts and Crosses.

Nina had never really taken interest in this book. She had seen it, many a time, in Ye Olde Bookshops, but had never thought to pick it up until that fateful day. 

With that thought, Nina opened the cover, completely unaware of the fateful miracle that would occur in mere seconds. 

And, before her very own eyes, the rays of heaven shone out from the title page, almost blinding this peasant with their beauty. 

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??????!!!!!!

Ahem.

Resuming the story, Nina stared at the signature. No. Could it be? Miracles such as this simply didn't occur to people like Nina. She squinted at the autograph, wondering if some cruel jest had been made at her expense. Her finger trailed over the letters, searching for the tell tale bumps and crevices that would reveal whether this signature was a separate entity from the book.

It was.

Stunned, she flicked the cover closed, and saw what she had previously missed when she took Noble Conflict off the shelf.

The sticker.

Signed Copy.

Nina whooped with joy, reveling in her good fortune, drunk with the idea of a signed book from the legend that wrote about Callum from N&C.

Happy as a bird, she skipped to the counter and purchased it, confident with her secured Happily Ever After.

The End.

The Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu

Read? Yes

Rating? ★★★

Review?

Eh. It was okay. There's a lot of hype surrounding these books, but personally, I didn't get it. The word I would use to describe these books: good, but unremarkable. Day and June were great and all, but overall, I wasn't that attached to them.

Recommend?

If you love well written action scenes, check it out. If you want a bit more substance, then... I'd go with other dystopian books. It wasn't for me.

The Night Circus

Read? Nope, but loOK AT THAT COVER IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL I CAN'T

LOOK

OMG BLACK PAGES

IT HAS TOP HATS AND BOWLER HATS ON THE INSIDE PAGE.

IT HAS A BOOKMARK.

I'M SO EXCITED TO READ THIS.

Let It Snow

Read? No. Not yet. Strangely enough I'm not really in a wintry mood, what with it being April and all.

Hunger (The second installment in the Gone series by Michael Grant)

Read? No, not yet!

Vampire Academy Series 

Read? Yes! It's great!

Rating? ★★★★

Review?

Rose is so great. I love everyone. I love Dimitri. Lissa is slightly annoying. The title doesn't do justice to the series, and neither do the covers. 

Rose.

I love you. 

Many emotions were experienced. And yes, I did click my fingers in a Z formation mUTIPLE TIMES OKAY DON'T JUDGE.

Recommend?

Yes! It's fantastic! I need to get onto Bloodlines (The spin off series) really freaking soon. And no, I haven't seen the movie yet.

Fangirl

Read? Yep.

Rating? ★★★

Review?

okAY SO HERE'S A THING. I WALKED INTO THIS BOOK EXPECTING IT TO BE THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD. BOOKTUBERS, FELLOW FRIENDS, PEOPLE ON GOODREADS, RAVING ABOUT THIS THING. I WAS EXPECTING THIS TO BECOME MY NEW FAVOURITE CONTEMPORARY.

HOW WRONG I WAS. 

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT: I LOVED THE PREMISE. A BOOK ABOUT A FANGIRL? I CAN RELATE, OKAY? I CAN. I HAVE EXPERIENCED EVERY SIDE-EFFECT OF BEING A FANGIRL. I CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE. IMMEDIATELY, I CAN CONNECT WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, AND I HAVEN'T EVEN OPENED THE BOOK YET.

ALSO, THE COVER IS BEAUTIFUL. AND HUMOROUS. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT IT'S WRITTEN BY RAINBOW ROWELL, ELEANOR AND PARK EXTRAORDINAIRE. HECK, I LOVED THAT BOOK. SWEETEST THING EVER.

SO WHY OH WHY DID I NOT GIVE THIS BOOK THE FIVE STARS I WAS FULLY PREPARED TO DISTRIBUTE.

THE ANSWER LIES IN CATH.

CATH CATH CATH.

OHHH HOW I DISLIKE YOU.

OKAY SO CATH IS THIS REALLY BORING GIRL, OKAY? HER CLOTHES NEVER CHANGE. CARDIGANS. THAT'S ALL SHE WEARS. SHE'S THE SORT OF GIRL WHO I WOULD HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH.

BUT OH.

OH NO.

APPARENTLY, SHE'S A 'FANGIRL'. 

I'M SORRY TO ALL THOSE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO LOVED THIS BOOK, BUT I WASN'T FEELING THE LOVE. CATH WAS NEVER OUTGOING. SHE NEVER TRIED ANYTHING NEW. SHE DECLINED PARTY AFTER PARTY. 

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT: SHE WASN'T A FANGIRL.

SHE DIDN'T GET EXCITED ABOUT ANYTTTHIIING.

Okay I'm sorry I've got to stop. I think you know my stance on this. I could go on for days on why I dislike Cath but this post is already extremely long, so I'm not gonna do that. In short: I did not like Cath, and therefore, the book was ruined for me. Therefore, I think you can guess that I wouldn't recommend it. 

The Ocean At The End of The Lane

Read? No. I haven't actually read any books by Neil Gaiman yet. Shock horror.

My Life Next Door

Read? Unfortunately, yes.

Rating? ★★

Review?

This book was boring, recycled summer reading. I just...I didn't care about any of the characters. At all. The best thing about it was the spine because damn it's pretty.

Don't quite get why so many people are in love with it???

Recommend?

Nah, I'd give it a miss.

Half Bad

Read? Yep

Rating? ★★★★

Review?

Okay so this book was interesting. Immediately it starts off in second person (you walk to sink, and turn the tap on) and carries on that way for about 10 pages. I think overall this happens twice, and it was pretty interesting because I've never actually read a book in second person before, even if the majority of it is also in first. That made it really unique, as this book generally was.

Overall, I liked this book. The pacing was good up until three quarters of the way in where things started to get a bit chaotic and rushed. Up until that time, I felt like the pacing was measured and strong, ensuring that the reader could comfortably feel their way around the world.

I've seen  a lot of Harry Potter comparisons pop up about this book, which doesn't really make sense to me. Sure it has witches, but that's where the similarities end. Everything else I felt was totally original, and I feel like in the next book, we're going to get more detail about white witches and black witches.

The majority of this book is basically Nathan being tortured. I'm not gonna lie. Nathan (who is half white witch, have black witch, aka half good half bad) faces horrible discrimination and is basically despised for existing. Let me get this straight: He lives in a cage. Yeah. I'm not talking about the type of discrimination where people are especially rude to him, ignore him, whatever (although that does happen), I'm talking about torture, the witch government controlling his every move, annual testing to see if he's 'turned to the dark side'.

Yeah.

It's intense. Especially horrible when you're experiencing his torture through second person, making it all the more vivid. I really feel for the guy.

This book was great, and I would love to talk about it more but my fingers are actually aching right now.

Recommend?

Yeah! I would! I feel like it has a ton of promise, and to be honest, I want to know why White Witches are perceived as good, and Black Witches are perceived as bad, because we're actually never told. If I'm honest White Witches seem like assholes but that's just me.

I don't know if you can see it but the back of my copy has a massive scratch across it. Sigh.

This Star Won't Go Out

Read? Oh yes.

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

This Star Won't Go Out is basically a memoir of Esther Earl, a girl who was a potterhead, a nerdfighter, a vlogger, a writer, an all round awesome human being who also happened to be diagnosed with cancer. And you know what? I say it in that order because that's what she was. She didn't want to be known as a girl who had a terminal illness, she wanted to be known as Esther, and that's who she was in her friends eyes, and that's who she was in her eyes.

Let me get this straight: she was an awesome human being who deserved way longer than she got. 

I don't want to say too much about this book, because it can only really be described by actually reading it. John Green, does in fact write a great introduction that faces these issues fantastically. Probably, because he's faced them himself. In fact, Esther was kind of the catalyst of John Green's creation of The Fault In Our Stars. 

To be honest, this book was a very emotional journey, and I feel like the way I'm putting things is clumsy and disorientated, not quite doing justice to Esther's journey. I'm just gonna stop talking.

Recommend?

Absolutely. Just purchase tissues at the same time.

Yeah, good luck reading that.

Ahem

1984

Read? No. I know. The shame.

The Moon and More

Read? Nooo. I haven't read any Sarah Dessen books yet?!

This Is What Happy Looks Like

Read? Nope. 

Penryn and the End of Days

Read? HELL YES.

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

OKAY SO LISTEN UP. I HAD LOST FAITH IN THE ANGEL GENRE. AFTER BOOKS LIKE FALLEN, HUSH HUSH AND HALO, I HAD STARTED TO DESPAIR. I HAD FALLEN INTO THE TRAP OF BELIEVING THAT ANGELS IN YA FICTION COULD NEVER BE ORIGINAL OR GOOD.

HOW WRONG I WAS.

SUSAN EE BLASTS THESE ASSUMPTIONS OUT OF THE WATER. PENRYN IS SASSY AND KIND AND CLEVER, AND WHAT'S MORE, SHE ACTUALLY KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT. SUSAN EE LITERALLY TOOK CLASSES LEARNING HOW TO FIGHT SO SHE COULD ACCURATELY WRITE FIGHT SCENES.

SO I'M GONNA EXPLAIN THE PREMISE NOW BECAUSE I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.

IT IS THE ANGEL APOCALYPSE, RIGHT?

THE END OF THE WORLD IS HAPPENING.

HUMAN'S ARE BEING KILLED LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE.

THIS IS ACTUALLY A WORLD WHICH IS SCARY, OKAY? FORGET FREAKING CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS, THIS SHIT IS BAD. 

THERE IS GORE AND GUTS, BUT ALSO HUMOUR AND SUSPENSE.

HELL, I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS.

WE ALSO HAVE A LOVE INTEREST. AND HE'S FREAKING AWESOME. 

OKAY SO I'M PRETTY SURE I'M FANGIRLING TO THE EXTREME NOW, BUT IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, CHECK OUT ITS GOODREADS PAGE.

I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS.

Recommend?

WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK.

The Name of the Wind

Read? No! But oh, I want to. Badly.

Prince of Shadows

Read? No. I've heard it's a Romeo and Juliette adaptation? That's all I know. Well, that and the cover is freaking ugly.

Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door

Read? Yessss!!!!!!!

Rating? ★★★★★

Review?

Although I prefer Anna, both books were freakin' adorable. They're so fluffy and cute and urgh. So great. Anna and the French Kiss is probably one of my favourite books ever to be honest. My only complaint is that ST. CLAIR ISN'T REAL WHAT IS THIS.

Recommend?

Hell to the yes. Magical curer of bad days.

Ashes

Read? Currently...reading...?? Sort of? Put it down for a bit, got bored.

Rating? N/A

Review?

It's okay...it's basically in a zombie apocalypse. Currently I'm not loving it, but you know...I'm only half way through.

Recommend?

N/A

Under the Never Sky or whatever this freaking trilogy is called.

Read? *sigh* yes.

Rating? ★★★

Review?

One word to describe this series: Forgettable. Completely and utterly forgettable. It was okay. There were no major flaws in it that bugged me, but hell, I can't even remember what the character's names are, and I didn't read it that long ago. The main point I remember about it was that the sky was dangerous.

I don't know.

Recommend?

Not really. Could someone please explain to me the reason behind all the hype?

The Selection Trilogy orwhateveridontknowihatethisstrilogysomuch

Read? Urgh. Yes.

Rating? ★★

Review?

I should have known to stay away from this. I should have known when I found out that the main character was called America Singer. I should have known when I found out it was 24 girls competing for a Prince's love in a freaking palace (basically a tame version of The Hunger Games. And yes, I hate comparing books to other books, so you must realise how serious this is). I should have known when I heard about a blossoming love triangle because of it. I should have known that despite all of this, it labelled itself as a dystopian.

I should have known, and instead I looked on the bright side and chose to follow the hype. I chose to dismiss the terrible synopsis and trust that teenagers had common sense when it came to fangirling over literature.

Never again.

These books...were...terrible. I couldn't stand to properly read the rest of The Elite so I skim-read the last quarter of it. And that's saying something. Like, I never do that. Never.

Introducing: America Singer, our special snowflake!

This girl is great! Because you know what? She's not like other girls! Instead of coming from the rich sectors or whatever, she comes from the poor sectors! Instead of enjoying the wonderful dresses in the castle, she puts on the most understated dresses in her wardrobe, because she isn't there to compete for love! She's there for the money! For her family! Instead of loving it in the castle, she breaks down crying (wtf?) and runs into the gardens where she just so happens to meet Prince Maxon (swoon!) before, guess what, the other girls! Instead of flirting with the prince, she laughs easily with him! Instead of being just generally a nice human being, she's not afraid to put the prince back in his place!

America Singer is not like other girls! Instead, she is (attempted to be written as) interesting, humorous, not attention seeking, and politically active! She's not afraid to stand up for what she believes in!

...Right??

...Because the rest of the female population is just...just interested in hair...and-and makeup...and dresses? Yes, dresses!! Right?! AMERICA SINGER IS UNIQUE?! RIGHT???

I want to shove my feminist foot up every single character's ass in these poor excuses for novels because no no no no no no no no.

These books are abundant in stereotypes and recycled characters. You know, the usual 'beautiful, sly, undercover bitch who manages to fool everybody but the main character into thinking they're nice', the 'shy, introverted one who happens to be best friends with the main character and oh who also likes reading', the 'background characters who scramble for the prince's attention to no avail', oh, and don't forget the 'rugged, poor, handsome boyfriend back home'. I'm surprised there weren't any goth stereotypes if I'm honest. 

I just.

I hated these books. So very much. It labelled itself as a dystopian by vaguely mentioning 'The Rebels', who, by the way, we are given no information on. The just occasionally attack the castle, and yeah that's it.

But they're rebels. So...they're scary. And something to be afraid of. 

Rebels.

Doesn't that plant a seed of fear inside of you? What do you mean it doesn't?

All in all, it was awful. I hated it with a burning passion. I honestly don't give a shit about any of these characters, especially America-not-like-other-girls-Singer. 

Recommend?

Sure, if you love shallow YA fiction with no substance and boring characters. Go ahead!

~

So. That's it.That's my book haul. Finally. Oh god, it took so long. I applaud you if you're still with me, because I'm not sure I am. I think I went a bit crazy at the end. 

All in all, the books I would recommend the most out of this lot (that I've read) would be The Infernal Devices, Throne of Glass Series, The Darkest Minds, Mara Dyer, Percy Jackson, Angelfall, Anna and the French Kiss, This Star Won't Go Out, and The Selection (being totally sincere about the last one).

OH MY GOD I'M FREEEEEEEE.