Tuesday 18 July 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Legion by Julie Kagawa.
Looking at my reading log I came to realise that this is the 15th book I’ve read by Julie Kagawa. When did this happen? I don’t want to compare her series with each other because they each have different strengths and weaknesses, but overall you can clearly see her development as a writer as her stories are now much more plot driven (at least in my opinion, even though I really still miss Ash and Puck from her very first series).
I don’t often make remarks on my reading during the process of it. Usually because I am too busy reading and dont’t want to interrupt the flow ... along with several other overly involved reasons. I made an exception for this one as you may have seen on Twitter last week. At one point I really had to put down the book and take a breather. I’m not a squeamish reader (as opposed to viewer that’s totally different, go figure), or at least I wouldn’t think that I am, and graphic scenes of whatever calibre wouldn’t deter me from reading on. However, there I have so far discovered two things that are really difficult for me to get through: One of them relates to things that involve eyes and the other is anything that messes with a person’s brain/mind. Maybe some deep rooted fear because I’m such a head person, who knows. So yeah, that happened ... Nevertheless, this of course couldn’t keep me from the book for long as I simply had to read on.
The previous book ended on a Major Cliffhanger (note capitalisation, not a joke. I need to stop doing this to myself, otherwise medicine might soon have its first proven case of bookish cardiac arrhythmia, possibly flutter or rupture ...). and thankfully it’s resolved fairly quickly in this one. Not that this means the reader gets a break or that there is any slack in the tension. And then that twist where I had to take a short break because my brain rebelled at the thought of what was happening. I honestly don’t know if I could have read on if that had gone any longer than it did. Still gives me the shivers. And it might not even be that bad for other readers, but in my personal book this comes very close to my ultimate nightmare hell, don’t judge and I won’t hold your fear of moths against you (points if you know the book I’m referencing).
The end is not a cliffhanger of the capital letter variety, but it ramps up enough tension for the final book ...which of course is another year away. Story of my (reading) life. There better not be a funeral at the beginning of that one!
Now that we’ve talked about personal nightmare hells ... or at least I have, why not share some of your most beloved paradise dreams (or hells, if you really wish to do so) along with your teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Legion by Julie Kagawa.
 |
| Legion – Harlequin TEEN |
“If my plan was to lead you into a trap, it would be rather silly for me to open the prison cell, where you were already trapped, and let you out, wouldn’t it?”
— Chapter 25
“Even though they’re supposed to be mortal enemies who hate each other. Like the Montagues and Capulets.”
“If Romeo didn’t die from poison,” I finished. “And Juliet was a fire-breathing dragon.”
— Chapter 36
Looking at my reading log I came to realise that this is the 15th book I’ve read by Julie Kagawa. When did this happen? I don’t want to compare her series with each other because they each have different strengths and weaknesses, but overall you can clearly see her development as a writer as her stories are now much more plot driven (at least in my opinion, even though I really still miss Ash and Puck from her very first series).
I don’t often make remarks on my reading during the process of it. Usually because I am too busy reading and dont’t want to interrupt the flow ... along with several other overly involved reasons. I made an exception for this one as you may have seen on Twitter last week. At one point I really had to put down the book and take a breather. I’m not a squeamish reader (as opposed to viewer that’s totally different, go figure), or at least I wouldn’t think that I am, and graphic scenes of whatever calibre wouldn’t deter me from reading on. However, there I have so far discovered two things that are really difficult for me to get through: One of them relates to things that involve eyes and the other is anything that messes with a person’s brain/mind. Maybe some deep rooted fear because I’m such a head person, who knows. So yeah, that happened ... Nevertheless, this of course couldn’t keep me from the book for long as I simply had to read on.
The previous book ended on a Major Cliffhanger (note capitalisation, not a joke. I need to stop doing this to myself, otherwise medicine might soon have its first proven case of bookish cardiac arrhythmia, possibly flutter or rupture ...). and thankfully it’s resolved fairly quickly in this one. Not that this means the reader gets a break or that there is any slack in the tension. And then that twist where I had to take a short break because my brain rebelled at the thought of what was happening. I honestly don’t know if I could have read on if that had gone any longer than it did. Still gives me the shivers. And it might not even be that bad for other readers, but in my personal book this comes very close to my ultimate nightmare hell, don’t judge and I won’t hold your fear of moths against you (points if you know the book I’m referencing).
The end is not a cliffhanger of the capital letter variety, but it ramps up enough tension for the final book ...which of course is another year away. Story of my (reading) life. There better not be a funeral at the beginning of that one!
Now that we’ve talked about personal nightmare hells ... or at least I have, why not share some of your most beloved paradise dreams (or hells, if you really wish to do so) along with your teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 11 July 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
P.S. I Like You by Kasie West.
Show of hands: Who has ever doodled on their table during a boring lecture? I’m not going to rat you out, no worries. But now imagine that when you came back to that table someone else had replied to your thoughts to the void. As a minor queen of tragic passed notes romance (thanks for that random remembrance embarrassment) this idea of anonymous communication immediately appealed to me.
The endgame is maybe a little too obvious, but in my opinion for this kind of book it’s more of a journey rather than destiny kind of thing. And in this case the journey is quietly remarkable. Lily is at the same time the relatable heroine for the quiet, stuck in their own head book nerd, yet she can also be so frustratingly dense. I don’t know how often I wanted to shake her to get her act together and consider the wider picture ... but that’s also to beauty of it, because in reality who does that? Stepping back from our frog’s perspective on the situation that is our personal life. It’s possibly the hardest thing to do, if not quite impossible to accomplish completely. That’s what books are for and I enjoyed how this one explored and toyed with the experience.
This one firmly belongs on a Summer Reads list. Do you have any recent books to add? Share ideas and teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
P.S. I Like You by Kasie West.
 |
| P.S. Like You – Point |
“When I was dating, my girlfriends and I used to say, ‘Don’t cry in front of him before date three.’”
“Cry?” I echoed, frowning.
“Yeah. Guys gets skittish when you cry.”
“I don’t think I have to worry about that one.”
“You don’t cry?”
“I don’t make it to date three.”
— Chapter 15
So had we called a truce or not? Sealing a truce with insults didn’t seem like a very promising start.
— Chapter 30
Show of hands: Who has ever doodled on their table during a boring lecture? I’m not going to rat you out, no worries. But now imagine that when you came back to that table someone else had replied to your thoughts to the void. As a minor queen of tragic passed notes romance (thanks for that random remembrance embarrassment) this idea of anonymous communication immediately appealed to me.
The endgame is maybe a little too obvious, but in my opinion for this kind of book it’s more of a journey rather than destiny kind of thing. And in this case the journey is quietly remarkable. Lily is at the same time the relatable heroine for the quiet, stuck in their own head book nerd, yet she can also be so frustratingly dense. I don’t know how often I wanted to shake her to get her act together and consider the wider picture ... but that’s also to beauty of it, because in reality who does that? Stepping back from our frog’s perspective on the situation that is our personal life. It’s possibly the hardest thing to do, if not quite impossible to accomplish completely. That’s what books are for and I enjoyed how this one explored and toyed with the experience.
This one firmly belongs on a Summer Reads list. Do you have any recent books to add? Share ideas and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 4 July 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Once and for All by Sarah Dessen.
Who doesn’t love a June wedding ... right? The wedding planner if you ask them to pull this off in less than a year. At least if you want a high production thing like apparently all the people in this book. But the nice thing about this is that we get to read all about the hassle and fun of planning said weddings in addition to witnessing two cute teenagers dance around and fall all over each other in the course of it.
If this is your first Sarah Dessen novel (what have you been reading these past years?!), don’t expect this to be a fluffy, glitzy beach read. Sarah Dessen has yet to let me down in delivering a lovable cast of characters and a sweet romance with a profound back story. The same goes for witty banter and amusing misconceptions. The narration is split into a present and a past timeline, which expertly feed into each other. Of course, Sarah Dessen never just has a simple background for her characters but this one? Let’s just say the flash backs alone had me swooning and then very nearly destroyed me. But there’s also the healing part, which I also appreciated for its thoughtful and realistically slow approach in combination with the growing relationship between the two main characters.
I know that the author was worried about this book after being in the business for so long, but this is definitely not her swan song. If anything it’s yet another step up that ladder. To end with another common collocation here: Sky’s the limit.
Contemporary YA isn’t always my brand, apart from a few trusted authors. Have you discovered new contemp authors you’d recommend? Share your findings and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Once and for All by Sarah Dessen.
 |
| Once and for All – Viking |
He was like that upside-down exclamation point at the beginning of a sentence in Spanish, the mere appearance of which warned of something complicated ahead.
— Chapter 2
So many things we ask for, hope for, prayers put out into a world so wide: there was no way they could all be answered. But you had to keep asking. If you didn’t, nothing even had a chance of coming true.
— Chapter 23
Who doesn’t love a June wedding ... right? The wedding planner if you ask them to pull this off in less than a year. At least if you want a high production thing like apparently all the people in this book. But the nice thing about this is that we get to read all about the hassle and fun of planning said weddings in addition to witnessing two cute teenagers dance around and fall all over each other in the course of it.
If this is your first Sarah Dessen novel (what have you been reading these past years?!), don’t expect this to be a fluffy, glitzy beach read. Sarah Dessen has yet to let me down in delivering a lovable cast of characters and a sweet romance with a profound back story. The same goes for witty banter and amusing misconceptions. The narration is split into a present and a past timeline, which expertly feed into each other. Of course, Sarah Dessen never just has a simple background for her characters but this one? Let’s just say the flash backs alone had me swooning and then very nearly destroyed me. But there’s also the healing part, which I also appreciated for its thoughtful and realistically slow approach in combination with the growing relationship between the two main characters.
I know that the author was worried about this book after being in the business for so long, but this is definitely not her swan song. If anything it’s yet another step up that ladder. To end with another common collocation here: Sky’s the limit.
Contemporary YA isn’t always my brand, apart from a few trusted authors. Have you discovered new contemp authors you’d recommend? Share your findings and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 27 June 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas.
Is there a limit on potentially soul-crushing books you can read in a row? Seeing that this is the third book in the series and somewhat of a break (although there are three more books to come) I was slightly optimistic that the end wouldn’t completely destroy me. However, before you get to that end there are 700 pages where you can convince yourself that everything is about to go to hell. Repeatedly. I loved the second book in this series so much and have re-read passages of it over and over, so the bar for this was incredibly high and I don’t blame the book that it doesn’t quite (in my opinion) live up to its precursor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great, amazing, breathtaking read, but that one final ingredient that would make it magical is somehow missing. And I couldn’t even tell you what would be needed to make it so. Maybe A Court of Mist and Fury just broke the mold.
Anyway, back to the everything is going to hell part: I’m in awe of the author who can set up a scenario where you care so much about the fate of a fictional world that you constantly worry about it when you can’t read about it (pesky real life again getting in the way of reading time). And the real art is giving glimpses of hope in this horror scenario that then turn out to be spinning everything even closer to total destruction.
It would always have been too early for me to let go of this cast of characters, but I hope that in the books to come they won’t be completely absent. I am wondering though about the significance of certain fighting characters because what happens when such ancient beings with arguably important roles suddenly cease to be able to participate in the running of the world? (Vague enough?)
We’re almost at the exact halfway point of the year, how is your reading pile shaping up? Do you tend to read more or less in the second half of the year? Share your observations and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas.
 |
| A Court of Wings and Ruin – Bloomsbury Children’s Books |
She complained that I was flying deliberately slow. So I went fast.
— Chapter 24
My knife clattered to the stones and snow. And I looked into the mirror.
— Chapter 68
Is there a limit on potentially soul-crushing books you can read in a row? Seeing that this is the third book in the series and somewhat of a break (although there are three more books to come) I was slightly optimistic that the end wouldn’t completely destroy me. However, before you get to that end there are 700 pages where you can convince yourself that everything is about to go to hell. Repeatedly. I loved the second book in this series so much and have re-read passages of it over and over, so the bar for this was incredibly high and I don’t blame the book that it doesn’t quite (in my opinion) live up to its precursor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great, amazing, breathtaking read, but that one final ingredient that would make it magical is somehow missing. And I couldn’t even tell you what would be needed to make it so. Maybe A Court of Mist and Fury just broke the mold.
Anyway, back to the everything is going to hell part: I’m in awe of the author who can set up a scenario where you care so much about the fate of a fictional world that you constantly worry about it when you can’t read about it (pesky real life again getting in the way of reading time). And the real art is giving glimpses of hope in this horror scenario that then turn out to be spinning everything even closer to total destruction.
It would always have been too early for me to let go of this cast of characters, but I hope that in the books to come they won’t be completely absent. I am wondering though about the significance of certain fighting characters because what happens when such ancient beings with arguably important roles suddenly cease to be able to participate in the running of the world? (Vague enough?)
We’re almost at the exact halfway point of the year, how is your reading pile shaping up? Do you tend to read more or less in the second half of the year? Share your observations and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 20 June 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare.
Since this is a second book in a series I won’t say anything about the plot, because everything – and I mean everything – is a potential spoiler that’s how complex and intricately connected all of it is. Sort of blink and you miss a reference. But I will say this: If there was a possibility to safeguard my heart by keeping it outside my body while reading, I would do it. If Cassie Clare gets any better at what she does, she will obliterate me in one of her next books. And while we’re on the topic of obliteration: The word cliffhanger called and says it no longer wants to be associated with Shadowhunter books and will send its older brother suicidal free falling to take on the job. I know that things have to get worse before they get better in these books, but there is worse and there is traumatised-rocking-in-the-corner worse.
It’s been said before that you don’t need to have read all series to understand the others, but I’m completely in love with the glimpses and allusions to the other beloved characters and the glimpses into their lives. Yet at the same time that also means they are not safe. And that is one aspect that really has me worried. Yes, I want to know how they are faring, but at the same time I realise that also means in this world they will remain in danger. The same would be true if their book simply ended and I never heard of them again from a logical aspect yet this feels more immediate. Please, please, please let that one vision not be a literal one ...
And now it’s going to be an almost impossibly long wait for the final book, because Cassie is writing others before it. Perfect for coming up with ever more intricate doomsday scenarios fed by information added through the Queen of Suspense and Foreshadowing. So don’t mind me while I’m hurtling through empty space and try to come to terms with what happened. If there is one thing you need to be aware of with these books, it’s that you shouldn’t let your guard down (or let that treacherous hope off the leash) until the book is over. Seriously, this is at least the second time Cassie has done this to me on the last few pages.
What is the last book that has emotionally devastated you? Were you prepared for it or has it blindsided you? Share experiences and teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare.
 |
| Lord of Shadows – Margaret K. McElderry Books |
We fear things because we value them. We fear losing people because we love them. We fear dying because we value being alive. Don’t wish you didn’t fear anything. All that would mean is that you didn’t feel anything.
— Chapter 7
I think you cannot root out love entirely. I think where there has been love, there will always be embers, as the remains of a bonfire outlast the flame.
— Chapter 20
Since this is a second book in a series I won’t say anything about the plot, because everything – and I mean everything – is a potential spoiler that’s how complex and intricately connected all of it is. Sort of blink and you miss a reference. But I will say this: If there was a possibility to safeguard my heart by keeping it outside my body while reading, I would do it. If Cassie Clare gets any better at what she does, she will obliterate me in one of her next books. And while we’re on the topic of obliteration: The word cliffhanger called and says it no longer wants to be associated with Shadowhunter books and will send its older brother suicidal free falling to take on the job. I know that things have to get worse before they get better in these books, but there is worse and there is traumatised-rocking-in-the-corner worse.
It’s been said before that you don’t need to have read all series to understand the others, but I’m completely in love with the glimpses and allusions to the other beloved characters and the glimpses into their lives. Yet at the same time that also means they are not safe. And that is one aspect that really has me worried. Yes, I want to know how they are faring, but at the same time I realise that also means in this world they will remain in danger. The same would be true if their book simply ended and I never heard of them again from a logical aspect yet this feels more immediate. Please, please, please let that one vision not be a literal one ...
And now it’s going to be an almost impossibly long wait for the final book, because Cassie is writing others before it. Perfect for coming up with ever more intricate doomsday scenarios fed by information added through the Queen of Suspense and Foreshadowing. So don’t mind me while I’m hurtling through empty space and try to come to terms with what happened. If there is one thing you need to be aware of with these books, it’s that you shouldn’t let your guard down (or let that treacherous hope off the leash) until the book is over. Seriously, this is at least the second time Cassie has done this to me on the last few pages.
What is the last book that has emotionally devastated you? Were you prepared for it or has it blindsided you? Share experiences and teasers in the comments!
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