Kat @abookiesbooks, Author at A Bookie's Books

Gemina

Author: Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

Series: Illuminae #2

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 659

“Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminaecontinues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.” -Goodreads

Review:

Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman are a power team. They make amazing stories together.

And I mean AMAZING!!!

The story was excellent. I think I liked this one more than the first one. I thought the plot was a bit more exciting. I think that there were some flaws and some fallouts. I think they could have handled certain plot lines better. There two main events going on and it was kind of weird how they handled them. Like they had to handle this one big major thing and then they eventually got to the other thing. And they didn’t give enough coverage to that issue. But the last big issue with (SPOILER!) the creature was kind of just there and then solved. I didn’t like that. (END SPOILER)

But I still really liked the book. I thought it was a great idea. I wish they had handled it a little better. But that doesn’t take away from my ultimate reading experience. It was still a good book. This book just like the last one had HUGE plot twists that really floated my boat all the way to happy town. And you all know how much I love a good twist.

I LOVE the format of the book. It makes it a hard read but it is still super fun and unique. It’s nice that I am not staring at a big block of text for once and seeing the creative sides of the authors shine a bit more.

I loved the new characters introduced. Hanna was a really great character. I think I could relate to her pretty well. She, unlike Kady in the last book, actually seemed like a real teenager. She was just the ditzy girl in love with the hot jock. And then Nik is that bad boy that every girl wants to find who is dangerous but sweet at the same time. I think they were a great team together and did really well to keep the book entertaining. Also they brought in Kady from the first book near the end which was awesome. But I didn’t get a whole lot from her which was sad.

Gemina was fantastic. I don’t have much else to say really except this was fantastic. Also, I don’t want to spoil anything for the people who haven’t read the last book and who hasn’t read this books so I am going to shut up about it. But comment down below your opinions on the book and tell me what you thought about certain parts.

Anyways, thank you for reading. I hope you guys go check this book out. It is a super great read and the hardcover looks great on my shelf.

Star Rating: 3.5

An Apology and a Welcome Back

Hi fellow bloggers,

So it has been a while.

Like a long while.

And I apologize for that. I have been busy with school. I didn’t have time. But now I am going to try and actually do it this time.

I left because I had too much to do. I was running my blog by trying to lost every weekday and it worked out for a while but then I started to be unable to get ideas. The posts were exactly the same as other posts. I just was doing too much in this. So I’m back with less but better posts.

I have been working for the past month to get ready to do this blog again. I have been writing reviews for the books I read during my break. So you are gonna get those as my next couple of posts. But they aren’t great cause I’m still trying to get back in the game and I read them a couple of months ago so my reaction isn’t as great. But nonetheless I have finished them and they are coming.

I also now have started a book club with my friend Maggie. It’s just me and her but then I will have a deadline to actually be reading a book. I am excited to read with her. I think I’m gonna post at the beginning of the month what book we are going to read so you guys can read along. And then I will publish my review and maybe even a separate blog lost just for the book club discussion. I don’t know yet but I will figure it out.

I also want to do some tags and get more into this community so I want some people to follow and some tags to do so comment down below people and tags that I should follow and attempt.

Anyways, thank you to those who stayed. Hi new followers. And I apologize for my sudden disappearance. And welcome back to my blog. It is going to be bigger and better than ever.

Tell me down below how you all have been. I have been doing really well. I have one more year of school left. I just got a job. I don’t know anything else major in my life to update you guys about.

Welcome back bookies!

-A Bookie

The Thousandth Floor

Author: Katherine McGee

Series: The Thousandth Floor

Published August 30th 2016 by HarperCollins

Genres: YA, Sci-Fi

Pages: 448

“NEW YORK CITY AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE.

A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future where anything is possible—if you want it enough.

WELCOME TO MANHATTAN, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. Everyone there wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

LEDA COLE’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

ERIS DODD-RADSON’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

RYLIN MYERS’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will this new life cost Rylin her old one?

WATT BAKRADI is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy for an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is AVERY FULLER, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Amid breathtaking advancement and high-tech luxury, five teenagers struggle to find their place at the top of the world. But when you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down….” -Goodreads

My Review:

“Sometimes love and chaos are the same thing.”

Chick-lits are my not-so-guilty-guilty pleasure. I am obsessed with them. I don’t understand how some people don’t like them. I get that they are cheesy and stuff but like this one a lot of them have some twist or suspense that keeps you thrilled the entire way through. These stories and any book with any sort of romance I love. I am a hopeless romantic. I love to swoon. I love to see a chase between the guy and the girl, forbidden loves (like this book), I love to see love triangles, etc.

This book has left my jaw on the floor. Until you read this book you will not understand how amazing it is. I can do it no justice.

Side note: I realize my beginnings to my blogs are always very similar because I never know how to start these so they end up sounding exactly the same.

So to get into this blog, my first major talking point is about the stories exhilarating plot. It starts of super mysterious with its prologue. In the beginning an unnamed girl is falling from the thousandth floor of the building. This creates so much suspense going into the story because you are captivated and the questions who and why ringing through you during the book. The entire book I made guesses as to who and why and let me just say it is completely unexpected. I like these beginnings because it always foreshadows the ending. The rest of the book starts off fairly normal. The characters are just about to go back to school, one is coming back from rehab, another is struggling with he fact that she loves her brother, you know, normal teenager lives.

If you like Gossip Girl you are really gonna like this book. About a month before I read this book I had finally finished Gossip Girl and as I always feel after finishing a TV series or a book or anything I felt sad and had a lull in my reading and Netflix watching activity. So when I started to read this I got very excited about how similar it was. I was overjoyed. I am all about those cheesy chick-lit novels that is full of glamour and everyone secretly hates everyone even if they don’t know it.

Anyways I really loved the way this story went. I really thought the Sci-Fi element of it where people basically just live in this one tower in New York was a very interesting twist to the normal teenage socialite story. The world that McGee built is exciting and I cannot wait to read the next book, Dazzling Heights, and to dive into the world again. The technology this world has is extremely satisfying. The author does well to show you what things look like and how they are used. I have read some books where the technology just has some holes in its function.

The characters were all very basic in these types of stories but they had some nice spins to them. You had Avery who was genetically modified to be perfect and lived with her family on the thousandth floor. Leda was another rich socialite who was addicted to drugs. Eris’s mother cheated on her father and lied about it for eighteen years until her unbiological father found out with a genetic test. Rylin the low life girl who gets a job working for a guy she knew a long time ago near the top floor introducing her to the glam life. And then there is Wyatt who has an illegal gadget in his brain so he knows everyone and everything. The five different perspectives we get in the book help you dive more into the world and learn about their world more efficiently. With people from the lower floors and the higher floors you get a deeper understanding of how this world works. It explores class division and privilege and how different each floor is. Also their is a good deal of diversity which I love to see in books.

I am excited for the sequel. I am ready for a sequel but I feel that the sequel is not needed. I have already pre-ordered the sequel and got an email yesterday that it was coming so I am excited.

Well I hope you enjoyed this blog. Please like and comment if you have read it. I you haven’t tell me if you are going to.

Star Rating: 4.7

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS BOOK TAG

Hello, blogging community, I saw this floating around and I thought that I might as well try it since I believe I have the most unpopular opinions about a lot of books.

A Popular Book or series that you didn’t like

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

A Popular Book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love

Twilight by Stephanie Meyers

I wouldn’t say everyone seems to hate the book just the movies but I didn’t know what else to say.

A Love Triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with (warn ppl for spoilers) OR an OTP that you don’t like

Rowan and Aelin vs. Chaol and Celena from the Throne of Glass series

While I love that she is with Rowan, I wish that there had actually been more of a struggle between her choosing. Just a little more drama. Still, I love both the couples 100%.

A popular book Genre that you hardly reach for

Science Fiction

I can never really understand it. I am always confused.

Same goes for like classics and stuff.

A popular or beloved character that you do not like

Tris from Divergent

I feel like she just wasn’t a dynamic character and just kind of fell into everything. Maybe it was the way she was written, I just don’t know if the author conveyed her well.

A popular author that you can’t seem to get into

Alexandra Bracken and her Passenger book.

I just cannot read this. Her writing style is too cryptic and all over the place for me.

A popular book trope that you’re tired of seeing. (examples “lost princess”, corrupt ruler, love triangles, etc.)

Woman assassins

Like I am all about girl power and I do love my girl assassin books, but I feel like because they are selling more people are coming out with books about assassins and stuff. I just don’t see the point in doing something that is really overdone.

A popular series that you have no interest in reading

The Divergent series

I read the first book and I do want to finish but at this time I just don’t have the motivation to pick it up.

The saying goes “The book is always better than the movie”, but what movie or T.V. show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?

A lot of them

Don’t ask me because at this point I don’t recall.

All I know is I love to see the world come to life.

Thanks for reading guys. Please follow and like this post.

What did you guys think? Do you agree with anything I said? What do you disagree with? Please don’t hate. These are just my opinions.

Assasin’s Blade

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass

Published by Bloomsbury

Genres: Fantasy, YA

Pages: 448

“Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan’s most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin’s Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas – together in one edition for the first time – Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn’s orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Wowie wow wow

So I have to tell everyone reading this something.

In the world there is a blonde woman who writes. She writes amazing stories that bring you into a new world. She is a queen.

I didn’t say her name but two people popped into your mind.

J.K Rowling and Sarah J. Maas

But today we shall talk about the latter.

WHAT THE HECK SARAH?!?!?!?!?! Sarah if you are reading this please just give me your secrets. How did you create such exciting stories. I am just so shocked at how every single book you write, makes my mind just explode. Please give me your secret. PLEASEEEEEEEEE!!!!

So if you don’t know what this book is, it is the prequel to the Throne of Glass series. It is a combination of five novellas that take place before the first book, Throne of Glass. The stories go through some of the allusions Celeana/Aelin alludes to in the series. She never goes into clear details about what happened so it was fantastic to read these short stories and learn more about the events that shaped her. I really liked to see where Celeana came from. Her past was amazing. You learn all these knew things about her that were never totally told in the series. I feel like I am closer to her from reading these.

This is one of those books that are hard to review because everything is a spoiler. So I shall try my best to just give my opinion on the book as a whole. I am not going to talk about each book because one slip might ruin the book for you and I try my hardest to keep this review sit a spoil free review. I hate spoilers unless I ask for them. But reviews are just to make you wanna read the book not tell you about the book.

So here we go…

The way Maas writes is such a unique way. Unique, I mean, by being just so amazing and clear but also a little bit mysterious and exciting. At this point in my life, I don’t know why, I can guess the ending in everything. I am not always right but I just can guess what is gonna happen to everyone just by the way stuff is laid out. I think that is because I read and watch to much TV (no shame). But, in Maas’s stories I can never tell. Everything is so suspenseful and I never expect the next thing.

This story is the same. Everything that happens is only lightly alluded to in the series so when I was reading this I was actually shocked at the events in the book, especially in the first novella because it was never mentioned in the books.

I am so in love with this book. If you have read the other books then please read this book. I wouldn’t read it until after you have read book 3, Heir of Fire. I don’t know I think that is just the best placement for this book.

Okay here is my plug for Sarah.

GO READ HER BOOKS! I love her so much and if you are following my blog that mean you at least like my reviews so you better go read this book. I love her so much. She is my second favorite author (closing in in first) to J.K Rowling.

Okay thank you for reading this blog. I really appreciate you spending the time to read this. If you are new give a follow and a like.

Star Rating: 4.7

Have you read this yet? If so, what did you like about it? If not, are you going to?

Top Ten Tuesday-10/3/2017

“Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish…Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer.” –Top Ten Tuesday

Topic: Book Boyfriends/Girlfriends

Okay, I don’t really ever crush on characters. I mean I do. I have my few but this list is not just gonna have crushes. It will also have people I admire okay so don’t judge. It will be short.

Newt from Maze Runner (book & movie because Thomas Brodie-Sangster is heart eye emoji)

Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (I have a thing for guys named Newt okay? Leave me alone)

Rowan Whitethorn from the Throne of Glass series

Chaol Westfall from the Throne of Glass books

Basically, all the male leads from Throne of Glass

Okay well, this is the end of my list. I cannot think of any more for right now. I do have others but I don’t feel like discussing them on this post. I also don’t have time for it.

I hope you enjoyed this short little blog. Please follow and like this post.

Who are you’re fictional crushes? Did you do Top Ten Tuesday for this week? Link it down below!

October Preview

Well guess who isn’t prepared for this month…

This girl!

So I have really nothing planned for this month. This whole already having posts ready to go, really doesn’t help me when it comes to writing these because I just don’t remember to write more. Basically, I have nothing planned for the month.

I have a few reviews coming out from more books I still have to review from my hiatus.

I want to write some discussion posts but I have no clue what to write about so if anyone has any suggestions please comment below.

I did not finish my TBR for last month so that is being continued up into this month.

Basically this month is going to be a crap show and ya’ll are gonna have to sit through it and deal with it. Posts probably wont come every day but I will try…Any posts I do write will most likely be like this one, rushed, short, and done the night before.

But hey it is October and you know what that means:

HALLOWEEN!!

and

RIVERDALE

and

STRANGER THINGS 2

and

CANDY

and

OTHER OCTOBER THINGS

What I can say is that I shall be giving reviews on Riverdale and Stranger Things. I may give post about my Halloween plans or parties that may happen. I don’t know if that would end up in this month though. I can tell you I shall be doing some fall favorites. I can tell you this because that will be my post for tomorrow because it is simple and easy.

Anyways this is all I can give you for this preview. I know this post sucks, do not judge me. I am doing the best I can with the schedule I have.

Thank you for reading and see you next post!

The Star Touched Queen

Author: Roshani Chokshi

Series: The Star Touched Queen #1

Published April 26th 2016 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Pages: 342

“Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Okay so again to get caught up after this long hiatus I am gonna write this review as fast as possible.

Well what can I say about this book…

It was good. It wasn’t great. But it was good.

I know it was a hyped up book. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I did but it wasn’t very good.

Like it wasn’t the story or the characters or anything else that I didn’t like but the writing style just wasn’t my favorite. It wasn’t clear what was happening in the book at all. Every time something big happened I feel like the author just made it so confusing. Maybe I just was reading it to fast. I just kept reading it because eventually I just got bored reading it. I think the author could have slowed down, taken sometime to describe, and helped the reader understand. Maybe it was just me but I felt like the book was rushed.

Other than that it was a good book. Even though I didn’t understand half of it, the plot was really good. I mean the overall view of the book I understood but, the author had so much of this delicate and intricate prose type writing and, while it was beautifully described, it made no flipping sense.The way it was written was great but there was so much detail, I felt like I lulled and then kind of tuned out then got confused cause only two or three lines down they were talking about something totally different and many things happened behind the descriptions of the places that you couldn’t really tell until you went back through. I think I was left with a lot of questions at the end. Like not just about the ending but like from beginning, middle, and end. I mean there are so many things that may or may not have been answered in the book but I think I read it so fast I didn’t understand anything. I was just reading it like:

Now I thought the author had a really good idea and had a goal to reach, which was a fantastic goal. I really loved the ideas in the book but the way she executed her ideas, like I said above, were not up to par. To clarify, it was a very good book and if you have a long attention span and can really pick out the details I think it would be an excellent read. I love a good romance novel and a good story with magic and mystery. I love being introduced to whole new worlds, but coming out of this book I really can picture the world better than I can recall what happened in the story. I don’t wanna dog on the author to much so I will give that she had an amazing idea and her writing really is beautiful.

The main character Maya was a seemingly flat character. I didn’t see much character growth. I mean really it is kind of like she just went through the story letting what came wash over her. She seemed really willing to listen and obey. There was some rebellion in her which was the only real action in the first part of the book. Also I kind of thought everyone around her was (sadly) way more interesting than her. That is why I have decided I shall read the next books to see what happens to them.

I cant write this review because I have so many questions and want to ask them but I aint a spoiler blog. Ugh.

Gosh, I am so sorry but I really cannot write anymore. I hate writing blogs super negative. I am trying to be super positive. It was a good book but it wasn’t the best book. That is about the best thing I can say about it.

I really hate dogging on books especially ones super hyped up because then I feel super negative and like I am not seeing what others see.

Also, Roshani Chokshi, I am so sorry. Roshani is a great and detailed writer, the style just wasn’t for me.

Okay, that is the end of this blog. I hope you enjoyed this. Again, if this is your favorite book I am sorry I am dogging on it. Comment below what you loved about it. Also, tell me your opinions about it. Thanks for reading!

Star Rating: 4

TOP TEN TUESDAY-September 26th

Topic: Ten Books That Feature Main Female Characters

Heartless by Marissa Meyers

The Thousandth Floor by Kathrine McGee (technically four female leads and one male lead)

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Dang I thought this week I could get ten. I am only looking at the books on my Goodreads shelves and I just couldn’t find very many. I am sorry I am not doing ten. I feel like I am cheating when I only do a few instead of the full ten.

Anyways, thank you for reading! Comment below if you have read any of these books and what you thought of them.

A Mid-Summers Nights Dream

Author: William Shakespeare

Published July 2016 by Simon & Schuster Paperbacks

Genre: Classics, Drama, Plays

Pages: 298

“Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia’s father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon’s head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke’s wedding (one of whom is given a donkey’s head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.” -Goodreads

My Review:

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Guess what time it is!

Time for another short school book review. If I am being honest it is mostly gonna be short because this play is a really short play. Like I read it with the class in five days by reading it one hour a day.

I actually liked this book a lot.

Wait am I hearing myself correctly? Did I just say I liked a school book?

FINALLY!!!!

It has been along time since a school book entertained me.

But , just cause I like it doesn’t mean I am going to write a big long book review.

To begin, Shakespeare is always confusing to read at the beginning but eventually I got the hang of his language and full immersed my self into the romantic comedy.

I love rom-coms. Like LOVE them. They are my heart and soul. If my relationship couldn’t be made into a movie I don’t want it. the utter confusion between all four of the characters, Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, is awesome. I would hate to be in there position but I love reading about it.

While we read, we also watched the movie which really helped with the understanding of the story. At first I was super confused because the long speeches and the ol’timey language but I got the hang of it thanks to the movie.

If I was judging this story on the elements of a story it wouldn’t be very good. There were flat characters, no real suspenseful or climactic moments but it is funny. Even though it is simple I think it is still a good story.

Okay, I think I am dont with this blog. I haven’t done a short blog like this for awhile. I just dont know what else to say. Thanks for reading! Comment your opinion on this book.

Star Rating: 3.9