12/50

Here they are! The first 12 reads of the year and what items they complete on my list. (In no real particular order.)

Allegiant - Veronica Roth - 526 pgs
10) A book with a one word title

A few of these books will seem very oddly placed for what item they complete, most of the time this is because I already knew I wanted to read this book and just placed it in a requirement it just happened to fit. Allegiant could fit a large number of the requirements (written by a female, made me cry, stared but never finished, etc.) but I'm just going to file it under one word title. I don't know how I feel about this book being the end to the Divergent series; there seems to be so much left unresolved. Not to mention I feel like some choices were made to deliberately hurt me, not because they were necessary. The beginning seemed slow compared to the other two books, which is probably why I didn't finish it the first time I checked it out from the library. I won't lie, I didn't fully understand the premise either. It wasn't horrible though, just not what I expected/wanted. But hey, it wasn't worse than the end to the Series of Unfortunate Events books...

Four: A Divergent Collection - Veronica Roth - 285 pgs
5) A book with a number in the title

Does this count? Is it a number, or is it a name? Does it matter? I don't know, but this is my blog so I'm saying it counts.
Remember years back when Stephanie Meyer was going to publish Twilight from Edward's point of view? (Then people stole it and put it on the internet so she changed her mind) This is similar but completely different. Veronica Roth took Tobias/Four's backstory and wrote short stories as well as putting in some scenes in Divergent from Four's point of view. That was a confusing sentence, sorry. Basically, Veronica was writing the Divergent series from Four's POV, but as she wrote she discovered that Tris would be the better narrator. That made it so she had enough material to publish this little book. It's a quick read and really interesting. If you're a Divergent fan, don't miss out on this little treasure.

The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J. Maas - 435 pgs
6) A book written by an author under 30

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas - 404 pgs
25) A book with a love triangle

Crown of Midnight - Sarah J. Maas - 420 pgs
45) A book told from multiple points of view

Heir of Fire - Sarah J. Maas - 562 pgs
29)  A book with magic in it

My goodness. I put the four Sarah J. Maas books in a row next since they're all one story. As much as I wish I could share all my feelings for this series with you, there wouldn't be enough time and you wouldn't have enough patience. I will say this. Many people need educating in the geometry department. A triangle has THREE SIDES. Everyone knows this, yes? So WHY do we call almost every relationship part of a love triangle??? A REAL love triangle should include three people who have some kind of relationship/feelings with the other two people, NOT one person loved by two people or one person who loves two people. Does that make sense? I feel like I should draw a picture. This series is an example of a real love triangle (The infernal devices is the best example though). Two boys who love each other and are like brothers who love the same girl and one girl who loves both the boys. That is what a triangle looks like. Rant done.
If you love high fantasy, you'll love these books. Celaena is one of the best written female characters around. She can hang with Katniss any day of the week. I will say that Throne of Glass is not perfect nor my favorite, but Crown of Midnight is. The Assassin's Blade is a prequel written after the first two books, but can be read first. I will say that I was a little crushed when I found out this isn't a trilogy and I have to wait quite a long time to get the whole story, but that means more adventures with Celaena, so... I'm good.

Red Rising - Pierce Brown - 382 pgs
27) A book with a color in the title

Just when I thought I'd found my new favorite series in Throne of Glass, something very unexpected happens. This is one of the first books I picked up because it fit the description of one of the books on my list. I saw it all over my library website and Goodreads (probably because the second book was about to come out) and thought, "I like Hunger Games and Game of Thrones" (the books it's being compared to) "I'll give it a try". Now, I don't hate them, but I don't particularly enjoy sci-fi books. I don't know why but too much talk of space and futuristic things I don't understand just turn me off to the story so picking this up was a leap of faith. I'm very glad I made that leap. And you know what? It IS a mix of Hunger Games and Game of Thrones. Just let that sink in. Now, this book is REALLY GOOD (the set up takes a while), but the sequel was AMAZING.

Golden Son - Pierce Brown - 442 pgs
26) A book set in the future

Why did I have to discover this book over a year before the last one comes out? This cliffhanger is the most brutal cliffhanger I've had to endure. I NEED to know what's going to happen. YOU HEAR ME PIERCE? I NEED TO KNOW NOW. My first thought after finishing this book was, "I've run right into Pierce Brown's torture chamber and I can't leave." UGH. This book broke me. Obviously I have a hard time making real sentences about it. READ THESE BOOKS. If for no other reason than I'll finally have someone to vent with.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - 370 pgs
28) A book that made you cry

Or as I like to call it A Thousand Splendid Sobs. If you were to look up Khaled Hosseini's books on Amazon, you'd probably find crates of tissues in the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section. Those of you who read Kite Runner know what I'm talking about. I was still breaking out in tears a week after I finished this book. But not just because sad things happen, because I learned so much from this book. I know some people feel that reading one of Hosseini's books is reading all of them, but that's not how I see it. While Kite Runner was about childhood creativity and friendship, TSS is about women. Females everywhere take note, A Thousand Splendid Suns is an education definitely worth sobbing for.

The Kiss of Deception - Mary E. Pearson - 486 pgs
8) A book written by a female author

This book isn't terrible. This book isn't profound. In fact, it felt quite strange to read it after TSS, like it was superficial and shallow. Perhaps it really is. Honestly, I found this on Goodreads and just went for it. Apparently I missed the fact that you're not supposed to know who is the Prince and who is the Assassin until the official reveal a little past the halfway point. That went right over my head. Somewhere along the line I just made an assumption. And I was wrong. I had to look back through the book to get the plot twist through my head. That was exciting. The sequel will be at the bottom of my reading list when it comes out later this year. I hate becoming THAT guy, but I feel like I'm too old for this sort of writing.

We Were Liars - E. Lockhart - 225 pgs
20) A book you can read in one day

Kiss of Deception is going to look so dumb sandwiched between TSS and We Were Liars. I ranted to my mom about this book. I told her the whole story just so someone could sympathize with me. When that wasn't enough, I told my dad, and my sister, and my brother. I'm tempted to tell you. You'll find little information of what exactly We Were Liars is about. It's better to just read it and freak out about it later I suppose. The only thing I'm going to comment on is the description of emotional and physical pain being very poetic in this book. The main character suffers migraines, a pain I know all too well and have struggled with my whole life. The descriptions may seem like too much and overly poetic, but I can tell you first hand, that is EXACTLY what it feels like. It's a quick and enjoyable read.

Half a King - Joe Abercrombie - 333 pgs
22) A trilogy (This is the first book)

Lucky me, the last two books of this series both come out this year. If only Pierce Brown could do that...
I have a rule in which I require myself to read 100 pages before I give up on a book. Not going to lie, this book took 130. It's not that the beginning wasn't interesting and action-packed, but, I didn't really CARE. I already knew that stuff was going to happen, you told me on the cover and inside flap! But dude. Once this book got rolling, it REALLY got moving. The characters finally got interesting and I finally cared. I'm excited to read the next two.
I touched on this earlier when talking about the Throne of Glass series, but trilogies are funny things to me. I get to spend more time with the characters, but I have to wait years for the whole story.
Usually, the second book is my favorite. You are familiar with the characters and (hopefully) care about them, more questions are being answered but you don't feel the impending end lurking over you, and the author can just jump right into the action without too much set up. Win, win, win.
It'll be interesting to see how this trilogy plays out.

Well, hopefully I'll have a book tomorrow!

Read on,

Jamie