February Book Haul 2016 ~Bonnie

Hello all! I hope that everyone is doing well. I tried really hard this month to be a good girl and not get so many books, but I still ended up with quite a few. I also didn't keep them separate from my other books. So, I think these are all that I have. However, it might not be.

First, I have The Book of Ivy and The Revolution of Ivy by Amy Engel. I am currently almost done with book two and I am going to try and do a small review of both in the coming days. I haven't been taking notes and things while reading. So, it will probably end up being short and semi sweet. I picked these up on a whim. I had heard very little about them, but the reviews I have seen seemed positive. I have normally only seen the second one and when I saw both at a local bookstore I thought I had better go ahead and grab them.

Next, I have Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray. I really enjoyed  A Thousand Pieces of You and I cannot wait to get into this one. Though, I am not in too much of a hurry to do so either. The next book is supposed to be out in November this year. So, I might just wait until we get a little close to that date. Then I don't have to wait so long to pick up the final book.

I watch a ton of Book Tube, so because of that I picked up Curio by Evangeline Denmark. This one I may have had in a different haul. I don't remember when I actually picked this one up. Since I didn't keep things separate this month. Sorry! But even with this one only having a 3.62 rating on Goodreads it sounds interesting enough that I would like to give it a try.

I had to get The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. It is a horribly cute little hardcover and it is probably going to sit on my shelf as a cute little accessory till the end of time. I did actually read it as well though. I have mixed feelings about it, but I love Gillian Flynn's writing and I will always buy her books.

I have been working on getting all of the Harry Potter in the new covers. I think I have said before in previous posts that I have never read this series. I am actually working on reading them, slowly over time. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling was the last one I needed to complete my collection.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. I have tried to stay away from reviews of this book. I haven't even read what it is about. Well, I know bits and pieces of what it is about, but I really just want to dive into it. I have heard wonderful things about it and that is good enough for me.

Lastly, I bought The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. This is another one that I have heard wonderful things about but I have managed to stay away from what exactly it is about. So, when I saw it in the bargains at Barnes and Noble for 6 bucks... well now it is mine.

Maybe next month I can do better at this not buying a bunch of books thing. We shall see!

Have any of you read any of these? What did you think about them?

Thanks for reading! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

~~~~~Bonnie

Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. In the beginning I found it really great. I was getting characters confused a bit, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a character cheat sheet at the back of the book. The dreams were probably the most interesting in the first part of the book. The dream corridors were great and being able to lock your door to keep those unwanted out.

Her home life seemed to lack something for me throughout the book. The characters also lacked something for me. I didn't feel much of a connection to any of them. The book didn't seem to be going any where through most of the book. And then all of a sudden there is a revelation, that honestly, I did not see the book building towards. I just seemed to lose interest somewhere in those last hundredish pages.

Overall, I would say this one is probably a 3.5 out of 5 starts for me. I labeled it as 4 stars on Goodreads. I feel I lean a little closer to that side of the scale. Even with the issues I had in this book. If I will continue with the trilogy or not is left to be determined. We will have to see how I feel when the next book comes out.

If you have read this before let me know your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!

~~~~~Bonnie

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Hello, I hope all of you are well! Things have been fairly hectic around here and I have not had much time to sit and post. But I have been up early this morning and thought I would get to it. So, here is a review. 

I am starting this review even before I am officially done with the book. This is a book that I have been looking forward to for awhile. I had no plans on picking it up just yet however. I found it on my libraries website as an audio book and decided that since I also own a hard copy that I would give it a go. I enjoy being able to listen to a book at work, as well as read it when I can't listen.

I know they say not to judge a book by it's cover, but let's be honest here, it's the first thing we see. A gorgeous cover like this is the first thing that get's us to pick up the book. It may not be full on judging at that point, but we are already assuming that it should be a wonderful book just because how could something so wonderful looking be so bad. This book for me definitely lived up to it's cover.

I seem to have some how missed all the hype around this book and that was nice. I did of course read the blurb and had an idea of what it was about. But I don't think from the blurb I fully understood. I love talk about the possibilities of other dimensions and things so of course that intrigued me right away.

I have just about 10% of the book left and I am pretty sure I figured out a long time ago part of what is going on. I may have flipped through some pages now that I am so close to the end and accidentally read a sentence that could confirm that. Bad habit of mine when I get so near the end. Yet there are still some things that I just haven't seen coming and that have shocked me.

I'm going to go finish up the last few pages and then I will finish up this review.

~~~~~

All done! I would have to give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I thought the world building and characters are wonderful I loved them all. And listening to it part of the time I think brought them to life more for me. The narrator did a wonderful job of it.

Yes, there was the typical love triangle. Yes, it was pretty much like a romance at times. But these were things that I felt added to the story. They didn't bother me so much. The one thing that stands out that bothers me is, if she was wearing a thick diamond choker, why on earth would she have had pearls on as well. Royalty or not, in one dimension, this choice of jewelry really bothers me.

Also, I would like to point out that I was right! I am really glad that there were things in the book that surprise me though. I probably should have seen some of them coming but I was so engrossed in the book I didn't see it.

To me it is definitely worth giving this one a try if you haven't already!

If you have read this let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

~~~~~Bonnie