The Cortlandt Boys by Laura Vanderkam

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
A small town high school basketball team wins the Pennsylvania state championship with an improbable last second three point shot. The Cortlandt Cavaliers celebrate their unlikely victory, but good fortune changes the boys’ worlds in unpredictable ways. This story revisits the characters 10 and 20 years later as the ramifications of their youthful success play out over the course of their lives, forever linking them and the people around them to this little town that has its ways of not quite letting you go.








My Review
***I received the eBook free as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Wow, I really didn't expect this book to be this awesome.
OK, so the basic plot of the book: in a very small town, where everybody knows each other. During winter time, the basketball championship was going on.  The Cortlandt basketball team called the Cortlandt Cavaliers made it into the finals and had to play against the Harrison Warriors. It was a close game and the Warriors were in the lead. Then, miraculously, the Cavaliers made a last second three-point shot and they won by one point. Then all the boys in the team were known as the Cortlandt Boys. The story is talking about how the boys evolved after having wonn the basketball championship.
The book is divided into four different parts. The first part is the prologue told by Max, in 1993-1994. The next part is ten years later in 2003-2004 again told by Max. Part three is told by Janie in year 2013-2014. The epilogue is told in Janie's perspective in year 2014.
I really liked Max's perspective. I don't know why, but I felt a kind of connection to Max, which I didn't feel towards Janie. I think this is because I liked the plot more during the first half of the book because there was more mystery and you kept on wondering what the meaning of the actions of the characters were. I also liked Max's personality. She is very curious, active, ready to help, cheerful and generally has a positive attitude. She looks towards the future, wanting to do something with her life, in comparison with the Cortlandt Boys, KC, Lawrence, James, Mickey and Leroy. They seemed to be stuck in the moment of their victory and they didn't really seem to care what they do with their lives. When Max came back to Cortlandt, I felt sorry for the boys and also a bit nostalgic when Max described Cortlandt as timeless.
The writing style also somehow made me want to continue tearing through the book. You instantly had a connection to the characters and the book.
I was a bit confused at the beginning though because there were so many characters introduced at once because there wasn't any world building needed, that I had to check many times to refresh my mind who was who but I got to know all of them well enough later on. I also didn't know any basketball terminology, but I slowly got the hang of it.
I really loved this book, it is definitely worth reading. I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them, and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake. The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it might be able to stop a war between the two camps. The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

My Review
What do you do when Percy's and Annabeth's perspectives aren't in this book? You add other awesome characters' perspectives.
In this last book of the series, the demigods have to stop the Earth Mother from awakening and also prevent a war between the Roman and the Greek camps. Meanwhile a certain goddess of victory is foreseeing the death of one of the seven demigods...
Let's start with the dedication again. This time it was a kind of apology for the apology in the last book. Yeah, he better be!
The story is told out of two more new perspectives. One of them is Nico di Angelo! He is always acting so mysterious, now we can finally find out what he is thinking and while the story is progressing, you can see character development happening. Nico is finally becoming more confident. Another new perspective is Reyna's. This is interesting because you don't know anything about her past. The other perspectives are Jason's, Piper's and Leo's. We are also meeting a lot of different gods. especially when you meet an Olympian, you can see how they have suffered from the dispute between the Romans and the Greeks.
In the last few chapters, you grow more and more frustrated, because the perspectives always changed in the most critical moments (Rick Riordan!!!!). Also, the ending of the second last chapter was so depressing! And then the final ending. You can't end a book like that! There are still so many other stuff that needs to be solved! So much still needed to happen! I need another book! Another prophecy!
This was an awesome book, and I really recommend reading the whole series. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) by Beth Revis

Book Blurb (from Goodreads)
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. 

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

My review:
 If you have seen Alecto's 5th wave review you will know about the reading arrangement the we made. If you haven't here is a brief explanation: We saw that we did not have many books in common that we both loved so we each chose three books from our favourites and the other had to pick one book out of the three to read. Alecto chose the 5th wave and I chose Across the Universe by Beth Revis, purely because it sounded like something that I would like. Do I regret my decision? Unfortunately yes...
I love dystopians, I love Sci-fi put them together and you have made the perfect book for me right? Wrong. The plot for me in this book, was to stretched out and boring. I could identify parts of the book which were suppose to be exciting but unfortunately were not. There was two chapters in this book (one after the other were something unnerving happened to Amy) which were exciting and got my adrenaline pumping. I finally thought that the book was going to get better but alas, it did not. It only lasted for two chapters and then everything calmed down again. I wish that Beth Revis had pulled out that section of the book a little bit more because it was the only part of the book which I generally liked. 
This next paragraph will contains a large spoiler! Please do not read this if you have not read the book!
Beth Revise had a attempt at a plot twist which is great, good for her, but I do not think that it worked out quite in her favor. At the end, we found out that it was in fact Elder who had taken Amy out of the chamber. This is all good and that, but my problem with it is that a secret was not hinted in the book. The was no guilt in Elder no should I tell her should I not. Not even a hint of remorse until the end of the book! That is not right. You can not just suddenly give the character a huge secret that has been there from the beginning. This probably frustrated me more than it should and I don't know why. Another thing that bothered me about this is when he does tell Amy about this 'secret' she is okay with it so fast. That would of been the perfect time for some good old conflict between characters but no. Unfortunately not. 
Okay spoiler bit is over you can read from here on!
I am going to talk about Amy and Elder at the same time. They are both so similar it was annoying. If you are going to make a book a duel perspective you have to do it right and give the two completely different  personalities and characteristics. I should be able to open the book to a random page and be able to go ah that its Amy's perspective or ah that is Elder's perspective. I was not able to do that. I sometimes had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to check whose perspective I was reading from. I found Elders character bland and although Amy had her brief sassy moments she was a bit bland and boring as well. 
Overall I would say that I would say that I am just one of those people that end up not liking a popular book. I am sure that it is a great book to some people and I would recommend that if the book blurb does sound interesting to you go give it a shot. Do not let my review put you of, it is just my personal opinion. 
I give this book 1 out of 5 stars.

The Wizard Heir (The Heir chronicels #2) by Cinda Willamas Chirma

Book Blurb (from goodreads)
Sixteen-year-old Seph McCauley has spent the past three years getting kicked out of one exclusive private school after another. And it's not his attitude that's the problem: it's the trail of magical accidents - lately, disasters - that follow in his wake. Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained, and his powers are escalating out of control.

After causing a tragic fire at an after-hours party, Seph is sent to the Havens, a secluded boys' school on the coast of Maine. Gregory Leicester, the headmaster, promises to train Seph in magic and initiate him into his mysterious order of wizards. But Seph's enthusiasm dampens when he learns that training comes at a steep cost, and that Leicester plans to use his students' powers to serve his own mysterious agenda. 



My review: 
This book is too long! Cinda Willamas Chirma could have easily cut of 150 pages of this. It started of good and exciting and ended with long conversations about wizard politics...
The original plot of the book was good and could of been stretched out over a longer period of time. The beginning felt a bit rushed which was a pain because it was the only part of the book where adrenaline was really pumping through my body which is a feeling which I really like whilst reading and I feel like I have been robbed of it in a book which had the potential to give the reader that feeling 24/7. The ending on the other hand just seemed to go on forever. It was all about wizard politics and what was going on. Which was great for history and would be good in small doses, but do not revolve the whole second half of the book about it. Yes you still had action but not as much as I was hoping for. 
Seph was my least favourite character. Which sucks because he was the main character and I had to see the most of him. His character felt a little bland and like there was something missing. I could not relate to him in any circumstances which is a trait which most main characters should have to help make the book appealing to readers. I was glad to see Jack and Ellen come back into the story. It felt like old friends were coming back from the dead. I love their characters and my only complaint for them would be that we didn't get to see enough of them. I would of liked to have some clearer updates on their life together. 
The descriptions in this book were very clear and easy to imagine. Although it was hard to keep up with who was talking because the point of views were switching back and forth without warning. At the end we even got the point of view from someone who we barely know anything about! I had to retrace y 'steps' and figure out just who exactly was talking. 
I give this book 2 stars. I defiantly suffered the-curse-of-the-second-book-in-a-series-of-5-books-which-could-really-just-be-one-book. 

Abhorsen (Old Kingdom #3) by Garth Nix

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
When the ninth gate calls, who can resist its summons?

An old evil has arisen - freed from its subterranean prison and seeking to escape the binding silver hemispheres which prevent it from finally unleashing its terrible powers.

Lirael, newly come into her inheritance as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, knows that the fate of the world is in her hands. With only a vision from the Clayr to guide her, and the uncertain help of her companions — Sam, the Disreputable Dog, and Mogget — Lirael sets out on her perilous mission.

Then answer must be found somewhere in Life or Death - but can a former Second Assistant Librarian possibly discover the means to defeat the Destroyer...before it is too late?

My Review
This time I wasn't that reluctant to start reading this book, because Lirael, Sameth, Mogget and the Disreputable Dog are all still in this book. This time, in the prologue, there is a major shock and the book jumps immediately into the action. Since the last book, Lirael, there has been a lot of character development taking place. Prince Sameth isn't the coward he once was, he is braver, fights more in battles and he even wielded the panpipes and bells when needed even though he was absolutely terrified of them ever since his incident with Hedge.
In this book, I also noticed that a lot of secret names were revealed and when I was sitting there, thinking about names in the book and I noticed that a lot of names ended in -ael or-el. Like Sabriel, Lirael, Astarael and many others.
The ending of the book was very, very sad! You can't end a book like that! It just breaks one's heart!
This book had a lot of action in it and I am giving this book 5 out of 5 stars!

Lirael (Old Kingdom #2) by Garth Nix

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr's birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.

In this sequel to Sabriel, winner of the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Australian Science Fiction, New York Times best-selling author Garth Nix weaves a spellbinding tale of discovery, destiny, and danger.



 

My Review 
I was slightly reluctant to start reading this book, because I really liked Sabriel and her personality, so I didn't really want to meet a new hero just yet. But I did end up liking Lirael. There are two completely different sites of her: first, she is timid, shy and quiet with other people like the Clayr. But with her friend the Disreputable Dog, she is brave, talkative and has some sense of humour. I am still very happy, that Sabriel and Touchstone are still in this book.
And of course, our favourite star, Mogget, is back with all his talk, comments and sneers, just a bit (a lot) more sleepier, because he is under the influence of Ranna. Now I also liked the Disreputable Dog because she is almost as indirect and painfully truthful as Mogget. She also stays cheerful, even in very grim situations. Prince Sameth was a bit annoying though, because he was always so meek and timid and so very weak. Now, I understand that part of his spirit was ripped away and he is scared, but I was just really annoyed when he acted like that.
The adventure started a bit late in the book, but it made up for it with all the magic, danger and numerous near-death-experiences.
Overall, I think that I can give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas

Book Blurb (from Goodreads) 
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world. 






My review: 
Best high fantasy book out there? Most likely. Why do I always put of reading the best books?! That is a serious habit that I need to break really soon, like yesterday soon. 
The plot in this book was so existing that I was shaking from adrenaline about 200 pages in. I would close the book and 'try' to sleep but I was still so hyped up from the book that I felt like it was nearly impossible. It took its time to develop and never got boring. We went from one problem to the next with ease, even when things sped up and you could still see two clear paths and that allows you to pray with all you have that I does not go down the second. On a scale from 1-10 for creativity I give it an 11.
The characters were awesome. We had a nice cosy little group of 3 main characters and many sub characters. Celaena was an awesome kick-ass character with an interesting mind in terms of how she regarded people and different situations. She was fairly relatable in the terms of her hobbies (reading) but not much else. She went through different situations and came out almost laughing and I respect her for that. I wasn't sure what to think about Chaol. His intentions were sometimes unclear but by the end you could clearly see that he actually did have feelings for Celaena but never fully acted on them which made things interesting and sent mixed signals to her which is why she probably hated him for the first quarter of the book. Dorians intentions however were clear. He was not my favourite character but he did treat Celaena well (at the end). I liked how we continuously got a peak at his life a court which was always interesting and allowed us to get a better perspective on what was really going on inside the castle. I wish that Chaol and Dorian's friendship was better shown and we had a scene were that just talked together without it being about Celaena. It probable would have done them both good. Nehemia was defiantly 100% my favourite character. She was a mystery up to the very end and a great friend to Celaena. I honestly hope that we get to see so much more of her and learn more about her origin. 
I you want a seriously action packed book to read but have not read this one yet, get on it.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, it was amazing!

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Book Blurb (from goodreads)

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.

Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way. 

My Review: 
I have never read a book almost purely about high school life, and as soon as I saw that it was by E. Lockhart the author of we were liars  which I adored and therefor threw against the wall (those of you who have read it will know why), I had to buy it. I had high expectations for this, they were probably a little too high because I feel a little short but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. 
The plot in this book was well thought out and explained. We got a lot of Frankie's history and family life which would be harder to do if you are placing almost all the scenes in a boarding school. However it did take a little bit too long to get to the main plot which only really came around in the last 200-150 pages. This was a 360 (somewhere around that number) page book, that's a long time for a plot to really come into, for me, however it was worth the wait. The pranks in this book where funny, and I loved how each one had their own meaning. And may I just say that if Frankie doesn't end up being a spy when she grows up she will defiantly be a criminal. 
The characters in this book where, well just there. We got a lot of history on Frankie which was great and I loved her character because I could really relate to it, but that was it. I know that the whole book was about Frankie's development from cutsie girl to 'criminal mastermind' but I doesn't mean that you have to cut out the other characters back story. For example I really, really wanted to know more about Trish but the information never came. I felt like she could have been a really important character to Frankie and I wish that they had more girl time together so there could be some kind of best friend thing going on because that was one thing that this book was lacking. 
Mathew and Frankie's relationship, whilst cute felt a little inappropriate. It is a senior, so an 18 year old boy (something like that) dating a 15 year old girl. I know that it is not that rare-a-thing in the world world but still made me feel uncomfortable in their moments where I think they were suppose to be the cute couple. It just did not feel right to me. 
Okay, now for a quick rant about something that has been annoying me and I have been holding my frustration in. GRAMMAR, grammar lessons in a book? NO! You do not do that, that is not allowed. I get that it was part of Mathew's character and all, but we got a 5 page grammar lesson in this book, A 5 PAGE GRAMMAR LESSON! You can not put in a 5 page grammar lesson in a book. I does not work like that. The reader (or at least me) does not care about those kind of things in a book whilst reading. I just skip over it. It was thoroughly annoying that, that was in there. Okay i'm good. On to the stars...

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars (I actually really did enjoy this book despite its faults!):