Book Review Lightning Round

I love reading book reviews and thought, "why not write a few of my own", only, I have read quite a few books in the past few months. So, I thought to myself, what if I did a kind of book review "lightning round" where I briefly review a bunch of books while still trying to include all of the important points. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, let's begin then!

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare // I had to start with my all time favourite series (and yes, I have read Harry Potter). This trilogy, set in the same intriguing Shadowhunter/Downworlder world of the Mortal Instruments, is a real roller coaster of emotion. From angst to pure joy, these books played with my heart like no other series ever has. It is set in the 1870s an centres around Tessa Grey, who unknowingly gets entangled in the world of angels and demons and finds herself in love with two equally beautiful boys. By the way, team Will forever ;)

Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee // This is the most recent series to be added to my bookshelf. I had heard great things about the first book Angelfall and thought, what better way to get out of my reading slump than to read a book about angels?

Let's just say… I was right! All three of these books were fantastic! This series concerns the idea of a girl trying to survive in a world that has been taken over by angels leaving all humans to fend for themselves in a world with no hope. I love Penryn, the protagonist, and her strange family. It is not often that authors include characters with mental illnesses in their stories, so it was really interesting to see how Penryn's schizophrenic mom added layers to the story and Penryn's character as well. While these books are amazing, they are definitely not for the faint of heart, so here is your forewarning.


Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas // I recently finished both this and the second in the Throne of Glass

series and am currently reading the third. If this series keeps going the way that it is, this may become my all-time favourite series (sorry Infernal Devices ;) These books are about an infamous assassin named Celeana Sardothien who is pulled from a death camp she was sent to after being caught to fight to become the King's Champion. Throughout the books the reader learns so many new pieces of information not only concerning the plot, but Celeana as well. There really isn't much more I can say without risking spoilers, so… just read these books! I promise you will not regret it! Ps. Team Choal all the way ;)

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey // This book has maybe the most interesting and different plot of all the books in this review (with the exception of maybe the Angelfall series). It was that intriguing plot that really kept me from closing the book though. The gist of The 5th Wave is that aliens have come to Earth and are methodically killing off all of the humans in waves. The first wave consisted of shutting off all power and transportation (lights out), the second, huge tsunamis kill most of the people on the coasts of the world (surf's up) and so on. While I did not love this book, I may still pick up the second because the plot really intrigued me.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer// Now, I'll admit it has been a while since I read this wonderful series, but the impression they left on me was far from forgetful!

Currently there are four books in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Fairest (which is a prequel and not the fourth and final book in the series, Winter, which is set to be released in November!) These books are essentially a sci-fi fairytale retelling where each book centres around the character on the cover. (I'll let you guess what fairytales each book is based on ;). My only advice when reading this series, keep going! Cinder is a solid read, but every book just gets better and better. I mean Cress was fantastic!!!

The following books I read on my iPad, therefore I had no physical books for pictures!

The Darkest Minds Trilogy by Alexandra Braken // One of my favourites to date, this series is filled with brutal circumstances, hardened characters, and a story that has you gripping the books like you could reach in and pull your favourite characters from harms way. Basically, this story centres around a girl named Ruby Daly who in spite of a deadly virus killing 98% of America's children, survives only to find that that the 2% that lived were not left unscathed by the virus. I loved how Ruby's character develops so much throughout the entire series. She goes from a timid young girl scared of her own abilities to a strong women willing to fight to free those other children going through what she had. This series can be emotionally tough at times, but it is so so worth the read. So, pick it up NOW!

The Martian by Andy Weir // This standalone was fantastic! I'm a lover of all things sci-fi, so I knew when I picked this up it was going to be my cup-of-tea ;) This novel centres around astronaut Mark Watney and his survival story after being stranded on mars with no communication after a freak storm sent the rest of the crew back to earth under the assumption Watney was dead. Mark is a hilariously fantastic character that really captivated me as a reader. I also loved everyone at NASA and how they kept the story from feeling too isolated. If you have not read this book yet (although you probably have if you're a fan of sci-fi like me ;) read it! Warning: this book contains some not-so-great language, that really does add to Watney's character and adds another layer of believability to the story (I mean if I was stranded on mars, I'm pretty sure I drop a couple of F-bombs too ;). So, if inappropriate  language is not your thing than maybe this book is not quite right for you.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series by Laini Taylor // Amazing, amazing books…but way to complicated to explain. Just READ THEM if you love fantasy and crazy kick-butt blue haired chicks ;)

A Picture of me and my all-time favourite book: Clockwork Princess

Whew, that was a long post! If you made it this far I applaud you ;) I hope this Book Review Lightning Round helped you find a new book (or books ;) to begin as soon as possible. If you'd like to see another post like this one or a more in-depth review of a certain book let me know in the comments below and I will be more than happy to read and review it for you!

What is your favourite book or series? Should I read it?

Thanks for reading!