Books I've Read Recently

| Books I've Read Recently! |

There are a handful of things in life that fill me with joy and make my heart happy. One of those things is books, whether it be perusing the aisles of Easons hunting down my next book obsession or being curled up on the couch with a book as the dwindling rain silently echoes off my window. I love taking time out of my day to be transported into a magical world and since my last book update, I've visited many different worlds... 


How I rate books:
1 Star = I didn't enjoy this book at all but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it.
2 Stars = Parts of the book were ok but overall it wasn't my cup of tea or I've read books that are much better in the genre. 
3 Stars = I loved or really liked parts of this book but on a whole, it was just average. I wouldn't re-read the books that I give 3 stars to but I would definitely finish the series if it were a series.
4 Stars = I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would definitely re-read it but I wasn't as invested in it as some other books.
5 Stars = I absolutely loved this book! It doesn't necessarily mean it was flawless, there could be parts that were slow or that I wasn't too keen on but on a whole, I loved the characters as well as the world, and the book had me thinking about it throughout the day.

My Goodreads 2017 challenge: 16/35

1) The Throne Of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas:
My Rating: 5 Stars

I was planning on doing monthly reading roundups here on the blog but I decided to read the TOG series and it took me until mid-April to finish the entire series, so the roundups would've been boring with the same books, haha! There are five books and a prequel in the series so far, and the final instalment of the series will be released in 2018. However, there's another book that's "sort of" apart of the series coming out this September. It's a book dedicated to one of the character's in the series, Chaol. I'm actually not a Chaol fan as I don't really connect with his character so I'm excited to read the book about him to hopefully get a better understanding of his character. 

Some people say the prequel isn't necessary to read to understand the series but I disagree! There's so much that happens in the prequels that relate to some of the story lines in the series so I think you do need to have an understanding of what happened in order to really appreciate the series, especially the 4th book. The series is fantasy and parts of the series reminded me of Harry Potter so I think if you like that genre then you'll enjoy this series. I always give five stars to S J Maas books because I think her world-building is phenomenal and easy to understand, she is the queen of banter - she writes banter between the characters so well, and her characters are so lovable! 

2) Carve The Mark by Veronica Roth:
My Rating: 1 Star

I was thrilled to discover that a new book from the author of the Divergent series was being released this year. I absolutely loved the Divergent books so I was hoping this would be just as good. The book sounded promising as it was set in a futuristic galaxy but unfortunately, there wasn't anything I liked about this book. Futuristic dystopia are usually so fun to read but Roth really struggled to build what would've been an interesting and fun world. I thought her writing style was all over the place and quite boring, which was strange for her because Divergent was written so well. I found myself not caring about the characters and not caring what happened to them. This book was so disappointing and I wouldn't recommend it at all!

3) King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard:
My Rating: 4 Stars 

This is the third instalment of the Red Queen series and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! This is another fantasy dystopian book where there is a class division based on blood colour. The Silvers are thought to be superior to the Reds and the entire series is essentially a battle for change and equality. I love these types of books as I think the metaphors are still relevant to our society today. Although we've come a long way with regards to equality, there are still some prevalent issues that we need to face and I like fantasy/dystopian books that have this realism element to them. The writing style was utterly phenomenal in this book, much better than the previous two books! There was a lot of exciting action and I had no clue how the book was going to end so I was kept on my toes. My only issue was that the ending wasn't as exciting as the previous two books but I'm still excited to see how this series is going to end!

4) A Court Of Wings And Ruin by Sarah J Maas:
My Rating: 5 Stars

I read the previous two books in this series at the start of the year and I was eagerly waiting for the release of this book for the last few months. It was everything I hoped it would be! In typical S J Maas style, there were lots of epic battles, romance, friendship and there was a lot of interesting plot twists in this book! The ending was quite underwhelming though but I think it was left open for the next books she's writing based on this world. Despite the ending though, it was still one of those books that give you a bit of a hangover after reading it *insert winking emoji* I highly recommend this series, even if you aren't into fantasy because it's so easy to read and the romance/friendship is quite heavily featured too. 

What books have you read recently?

You can add me on Goodreads to see what books I'll be reading next!

Love,

Cliona xx

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