Top Ten Tuesday

I found this amazing weekly meme “Top Ten Tuesday“ that I’d be delighted to participate in. If you think it’s something you would want to take part in, I advise you to jump on the train and come along!

Top Ten Books For People Who Like Richelle Mead

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This book has a very similar society, as well as the plotline, as in the Vampire Academy series. Aiden is like Dimitri, Seth is like Adrian and Alex – well, let’s just say she’s Rose 2.0 (Rose Hatthaway is the original badass-sexy-little-warrior and no one can compete with her in her awesomness, but Alex is a very similar, somewhat an updated version of her and she’d give Rose a tough time on a battlefield). Covenant series is pretty much like VA only without vampires. At first I was a little dissapointed by the fact that these two series had so much in common, but now that the Covenant series has progressed, it’s becoming more and more original. I love it!

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The fabulous JLA has another awesome series and its first novel is “Obsidian“. It was the very first book I read written by her and I absolutely fell in love with it! Daemon is a hot sarcastic-don’t-give-a-damn-about-you-if-you’re-not-my-sister kind of a guy/alien and he totally rocks my world. Katy is a strong girl and gives Daemon something to think about besides his great looks and protecting his sister. It’s a wonderful book and I can’t wait to get my hands on my own “Onyx“ (Lux #2) copy.

City of Bones (The Mortal Instsuments #1) by Cassandra Clare

If you haven’t read it, I really don’t know what you’re waiting for! Go on: grab it, read it, love it! Clary is as strong as Georgina and Rose, she’s artistic, funny, protective. Jace is witty, swoon-worthy and the best Shadowhunter the world has known since the beginning of times. Simon, Clary’s best friend, is one of the funniest characters I know and I’m totally in love with him. Cassandra Clare’s world consists of vampires, werewolves, fairies, warlocks, demons and, most importantly, Shadowhunters and there are so many great characters that you just cannot get enough of them.

Clockwork Angel  (TheInfernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Another fantastic series by Cassie Clare. If you loved TMI series by her, you’ll love TID as well (or vice versa). I know I did! Cassie Clare is one of the most amazing authors I have come across and her books are to die for! While TMI characters live in NYC and are fighting for their and our lives right now, TID characters are working against some pretty dark creatures in Victorian England. All Magnus Banes fans should definitely read it, he’s as wicked in this one as he is in TMI series.

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris

If you’re looking for another vampire series, this is it! I’ve been a fan of “True Blood“ since it first aired on HBO and read “Dead Until Dark“ last summer. It’s a bit different from the TV-series, but it’s still absolutely brilliant!

The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa

This book doesn’t have vampires, but it has Meghan – a brave girl who discoveres the world of fairies; the lovely and famous Robin Goodfellow aka Puck – the master of sarcastic jokes and positive attitude; Ash – a cold, but sweet (well, the sweet part is actually hidden from public) and a gorgeous Winter prince; Grimalkin – the most wicked cat I’ve ever read about. It’s a wonderful adventure these four are setting their sights on and it’s a pure pleasure to follow them on that dangerous, but oh-so-fun trip.

Falling Under (Falling Under #1) by Gwen Hayes

This is a pretty dark, but an interesting book. It’s very original and captivating. It has its flaws, but the highs outweigh the lows, plus Haden is as hot as the guys in VA. In this two-book-series we follow the journey of Theia and Haden – a human and a demon – who fall in love and try to beat the odds in surviving the wrath of Hadens mother – a very powerful demoness. In addition, Theia’s in high school, which means that there’s plenty of teenage drama going on on a daily basis.

Hush Hush (Hush Hush #1) by Becca Fitzpatrick 

An angel story about Nora, a teenage girl, and Patch, a fallen angel, and their growing feelings towards each other while someone’s out there trying to kill her and for all she knows, it might as well be Patch himself that’s after her. It’s mysterious, thrilling and romantic! Patch is a great character and even though Nora’s not my favorite heroine, she’s still pretty cool. Vee, Nora’s bet friend, will probably make you laugh with her absurd comments, Nora will probably make you a little mad with her stubborn decisions and Patch will DEFINITELY make your heart beat faster.

Once Burned (Night Prince #1) by Jeaniene Frost

Haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my TBR pile. I’ve heard great things about this book and it’s been voted as the book of month on a group I’m in on goodreads. The description sounds captivating and dangerous, doesn’t it? Plus, the cover’s not so bad either ;) While you’re at it, you might as well check out Frost’s Half-Way to the Grave series.

Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Haven’t read this one yet either, but I’m planning on reading it this month. This book has a heroine Nikki (love this name) and two guys fighting for her: the love of her life and the reason she’s Returned from the Everneath – Jack – and Cole – the demon who fed on her during the Feed in the Everneath and who’s doing everything in his power to take her back with him as his queen. Sounds exciting, huh? I’m looking forward to reading this book, that’s for sure.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekley meme hosted @ The Broke and the Bookish.

Dreaming Awake

She fell for him in a nighttime world. But the time for dreaming is past—and the here-and-now can be just as fragile their love…

When Theia Alderson first encountered a mysterious, handsome boy in her dreams, she never imagined how finding Haden Black—and falling in love—could change her life. To save Haden, Theia sacrificed everything. And the dangerous bargain she made could have lasting repercussions.

Now Theia has returned to Serendipity Falls, and she finds herself struggling with the same deadly hungers that have tortured Haden. When students at their high school fall prey to a mysterious illness, Theia can’t help but wonder if Haden’s control is slipping—and how much longer she’ll have a grip on her own.

And still the nightmare realm of Under won’t let them go. Someone from Haden’s past is determined to destroy Theia from the inside out, starting with those closest to her, forcing Theia to choose between family and friends and a love that may have been doomed from the start…

Eeehh.. Kui kirjutada üks raamat, siis peab see olema piisavalt intensiivne, aga samas ei saa üle võlli keerata ning ei tohiks jätta liiga palju lahtisi otsi. Kui kirjutada mitu raamatut, siis kolm oleks vast optimaalne arv, öeldakse ju, et mida rohkem, seda uhkem, kuid näiteks kuue ja enama raamatu vältel võivad põnevus, intensiivsus ja loo mõte hääbuda, kaduda. Kuid kaks raamatut? Tõesti? Samuti, nagu ei tohiks kinkida kahte lille, ei tohiks kirjutada sarja ka kahest raamatust. Antud juhul on tegemist kaheraamatulise sarjaga ja juba seepärast tunnen end pettununa.

On kuidas on, sarja raamatud olid omanäolised ja huvitavad, originaalsetest ideedest tulvil. Tegelased on sellised, kellele saab kaasa ergutada, sest nende elud pole ideaalsed, kuid vastupidiselt sellele, nagu sageli ilukirjanduses juhtub, pole keegi neist jäädavalt katki. Donny on tüüpiline tüdruk, kes üritab näida karm ja ehitab enda ümber kilbi ning laseb sisse vaid väheseid. Ta kardab anda tükikest oma südamest, kartes haiget saada. Ame ei oska tunda end kuhugi kuuluvana, samuti on tal raskusi oma ande omandamisega, sest see käib kohati üle jõu. Theia on samuti üksik, sest ta isa on endasse sulgunud ja kui aus olla, siis elu Theia kodus on justkui külalistemajas või hotellis. Puudub soojus, hellus ja armastus. Need kolm eelmainitud näitsikut leiavad oma muredele lahendust üksteise najale toetudes ja teineteiselt lohutust otsides. Ka poistega on emotsionaalselt kerge samastuda ja neile kaasa  tunda, ergutada.

Sarja teine ja ühtlasi ka viimane osa (kuigi, lugesin autori internetipõhiselt kodulehelt, et hetkel pole plaani sarja jätkata, kuid võib-olla tuleb Hayesil tahtmine tegelaste juurde naaseda ning ta tunneb, et Ame’i lugu vajaks rohkem avastamist ja uurimist) oli veelgi süngem ja lugu liikus üsna kiiresti. Mulle tundus kohe, et Mike’iga on midagi valesti, aga kindlasti ei kujutanud ma ette, et Ame selle põhjustanud oli. Samuti olin kindel, et Mara tuleb kätte maksma ja sündmuste kulg võtab pöörde veelgi halvema poole.

Raamatu lõpp röövis ühe peategelase elu ja kuna mõlemad kirjateosed olid üpriski sünged, oli oodata, et keegi tähtsatest ja armsatest hukkub. Lootsin, et hingekella lüüakse kellelegi teisele, seetõttu oli just selle tegelase surm üsna šokeeriv, kurb ja pahameelt tekitav. Teose lõpp jäi üpriski lahtiseks, sellepärast olingi pettunud, kuna kuigi kujutlusvõimele jäi üsna palju ruumi ja kuna kogu raamatu vältel liiguti kulminatsiooni poole, mis oli üsnagi vältimatu, siis pärast tipphetke tuli justkui liiga suur pingelangus ja .. Hästi, lähen liiga keeruliseks. Ma olin pettunud lõpuga, sest kõik tundus kuidagi liiga lihtne. Nad oleksid pidanud olema rohkem endast väljas, sest kõik neist kaotasid hea sõbra, meeleolu oli kuidagi liiga  rõõmus, kuid jah, leina oli tunda küll. Võib-olla oli viga autoris, kes oleks pidanud lõpu kuidagi paremini lahendama. Ja ma usun, et suur roll on sellel, et sari on vaid kaheraamatuline ja lahti jäänud otsi oleks võinud näiteks Ame’i vaatenurgast kinni siduda.

Kui lõpp välja arvata, siis oli see lühike sari suhteliselt huvitav ja omapärane, piisavalt sünge vahelduvate päikesekiirtega.

Hinne: 3/5.

Lugemisjärjekord:

1. “Falling Under“
2. “Dreaming Awake“

Dreaming Awake

She fell for him in a nighttime world. But the time for dreaming is past—and the here-and-now can be just as fragile their love…

When Theia Alderson first encountered a mysterious, handsome boy in her dreams, she never imagined how finding Haden Black—and falling in love—could change her life. To save Haden, Theia sacrificed everything. And the dangerous bargain she made could have lasting repercussions.

Now Theia has returned to Serendipity Falls, and she finds herself struggling with the same deadly hungers that have tortured Haden. When students at their high school fall prey to a mysterious illness, Theia can’t help but wonder if Haden’s control is slipping—and how much longer she’ll have a grip on her own.

And still the nightmare realm of Under won’t let them go. Someone from Haden’s past is determined to destroy Theia from the inside out, starting with those closest to her, forcing Theia to choose between family and friends and a love that may have been doomed from the start…

Umm.. When one writes only one book, it has to be intense, but cannot be overdone and there shouldn’t be any loose ends. When one writes more than one book, I think there should be an optimal number of them. There’s a saying: the more the merrier. However, if there’re six books or more, sometimes the intensity and the meaning of the story can vanish. But 2 books? Really? One shouldn’t buy two flowers to bring as a gift and one shouldn’t write two books as a series. Okay, one could, but not in a series like this which is dark, intense and could be developed into something really great. I feel quite dissapointed, to be honest.

It is what it is. The two books of this series were original, interesting. The characters were somewhat enjoyable and relatable.They’re lives are not perfect and none of them are completely broken. Donny’s a typical girl who’s afraid to get her heart broken and, therefore, tries to be tough and builds a shelter for herself. Ame doesn’t feel like she belongs and she has trouble working on her gift. Theia’s lonely, too, because her Father’s not adoring or loving. Her home’s like a hotel for her. It’s not warm, caring, loving. These three try to find answers to their problems by relying on each other. It’s easy to connect emotionally with the boys in this book, too.

It truns out that it’s the end of the series. I read on Hayes’ webpage that she doesn’t plan on writing anymore about these characters, but maybe she’ll return to them someday in the future and she feels like Ame’s story needs discovering.

This book was even darker than the first one and it was a very fast read. It seemed to me from the beginning that something was off with Mike, but I definitely had no idea that Ame had caused it. Also, I was sure that Mara will come for her revenge and it doesn’t turn out to be a peaceful surrender by Theia and Haden.

The ending of the book meant the end of one of the main characters. Both of the books were quite dark and scary so it wasn’t that unexpected death, but it was still one of the saddest things about this series. I hoped that it would be someone else, therefore, it was shocking, dissapointing. The ending felt kind of.. Well, I feel like it wasn’t solved. I was dissapointed because so much was left for my own imagination, but during the whole book the author moved towards a culmination, then came a huge decrease in the intensity and.. Oh, okay. I’m being too complicated. I wasn’t sattisfyed with end of the book, because it all felt too simple. They should have been more upset (I know I was), since they lost a dear friend and although they were mourning, the atmosphere felt just too happy. Maybe it was the author’s fault and she should have completed the ending better. I also think that the ending wasn’t that good, because the series consits of only two books and there were too many loose ends.

With the exception of the ending, this little series was quite interesting and different. It was dark enough with a few rays of sunshine.

Rate: 3/5.

Reading order:

1. “Falling Under“
2. “Dreaming Awake“