Most Anticipated Releases: Third Quarter 2016

Hello everyone! I decided to put my most anticipated releases for the third quarter of 2016 into a post. Basically, all the books releasing in August, September, and October that I am flipping excited about! Click on the title for the link to Goodreads and a synopsis for each novel. 

Let's start with August...

Nevernight 

by Jay Kristoff

Releases: August 9, 2016

And onto September, the month of amazing releases! Here are my top 4...

Empire of Storms

by Sarah J. Maas

Releases: September 6, 2016

ToG Coloring book

Releases: September 6, 2016

A Shadow Bright and Burning

by Jessica Cluess

Releases: September 20, 2016

I have an ARC ;)

Three Dark Crowns

by Kendare Blake

Releases: September 20, 2016

And finally, October...

Gemina

by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Releases: October 18, 2016

I have an ARC ;)

Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets: Illustrated

by J.K. Rowling with Jim Kay

Releases: October 4, 2016

Obviously there will be other books releasing in the upcoming months, ones that I simply do not know about but will be very excited about. These are just my current preordered releases. I am looking forward to all of these, especially EoS--my #1 anticipated release of 2016!

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Thanks for reading

xoxo

Lauren

Let's Talk: Nowhere But Here

Title: Nowhere But Here

Author: Katie McGarry

Series: Thunder Road #1

Genre: YA Romance/Biker?

Page Length: 483 pages

Publication Date: May 26, 2016

Date Started: July 17, 2016

Date Finished: July 18, 2016

Rating: 5/5 stars

*Semi-spoiler free review*

This book was a roller-coaster of emotions. I was frustrated, annoyed, excited, frightened, in love, and so much more. I cried, I laughed, I screamed (quite literally at 1 in the morning). It was amazing.

First off, Oz and Emily. Holy moly I shipped them so hard from the moment they met. I do like how their relationship started out and grew, however. I really hope we get to see more of their relationship in future Thunder Road novels.

Also, this biker club thing was super interesting but also annoyed me part of the time. I get that it's a motorcycle club, a brotherhood, for men, but it annoys me that women can't join, don't have a say, and that the club with come before a husband's wife or girlfriend if it came down to that. Just the inner feminist in me growled in frustration whenever there was gender inequality.

Everyone had interesting names. "Oz", "Chevy", "Razor", and "Pigpen" are a few examples. These ARE nicknames, but it was funny to me. It made them seem even more unique in my mind.

There was action, secrets, and more. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was better than I thought. I'm very excited to see how the club and the characters progress in the next book.

My feels were definitely all over the place with all the bombshells and things going on throughout the story. I recommend this book wholeheartedly and it is officially dubbed my "Summer Romance of the Year". 5/5 stars!

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Thanks for reading

xoxo

Lauren

Let's Talk: And I Darken

Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Series: "The Conquerors Saga" #1
Genre: Alternative History/Fantasy
Page Length: 484 pages
Publication Date: June 28, 2016
Date Started: July 7, 2016
Date Finished: July 12, 2016
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

*Semi-spoiler free review*

This book was fantastic. I honestly loved it so much...

When I first heard about this book, it was described to me as a "gender-bent Vlad the Impaler" story. As in, what would it have been like if Vlad had been a girl? In this case, Ladislav.

Oh Lada was awesome. She was wicked, right from the beginning, but you got to see her grow. You got to see what made her become who she was. She's different than all the other women in that time--she doesn't just want to be considered equal, she goes out and does it.

Radu, her brother, is like an innocent flower in comparison to Lada. He doesn't take the brutal or physical way to get what he wants. He plans and plots to get it, but he's such a kind-hearted person. He cares about people and he's not ruthless.

We got to see Lada and Radu's story (the book was told in dual perspective) from the moment they were born. We followed their childhood up until about the age of 17, which really helped me connect with these characters. I felt my heart go out to both of them, the cruel Lada and the kind Radu. I was rooting for both of them.

Then we add in Mehmed, the heir to the Ottoman Empire. We meet him when Lada is about 12, so well before the ages at the end of the book. It was interesting to see him grow up as well as the siblings. I wasn't expecting that going into this book.

There was romance and heart-breaking friendship in this book, which I also did not expect. There wasn't as much blood and violence as I thought there would be, but I definitely enjoyed it more than I expected. Lada is the antihero I didn't know I wanted.

I definitely recommend this book and I am infinitely excited for the second book to come out next year.

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Thanks for reading

xoxo

Lauren

Let's Talk: Throne of Glass

Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: "Throne of Glass" #1
Genre: YA High-Fantasy
Page Length: 404 pages
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Date Started: June 5, 2016
Date Finished: June 30, 2016
Rating: Infinity

RE-READ
*Semi-spoiler free review*

ToG is my favorite book series of all time, by my favorite author of all time, and it was a real treat to sit back and savor reading this book. I didn't have to read it fast and I could read it at my own pace. I took it to France and read it a little while I was there. ToG will be a part of the memory of that trip now, making it even more special to me.

I love these characters. Celaena is so freaking badass and snarky, which is one of the reasons I love her so much. She's different than a lot of YA characters because she can survive on her own for the most part. She doesn't need someone babying her or doing everything for her. She also has such strong willpower. I certainly wouldn't be able to keep running day after day when my lungs feel like lead and I'm throwing my guts up. At the same time, she's a realistic character. She has nightmares. She has realistic problems mixed in with the magic and competitions. She makes mistakes, she's not perfect, but that's what makes her such an amazing YA character.

I enjoyed the male characters as well. Chaol and Dorian are hilarious. Chaol got on my nerves at the beginning only because he treated Celaena like a criminal--which she is. Looking back at how naive I was I completely understand Chaol in this book. His character arc is quite awesome to read because he goes from hating her and not caring about her dying to whatever-the-hell his feelings are at the end. He's one of my favorite characters, but then again, pretty much everyone in the main character spectrum are my favorite characters.

Dorian was funny and witty and he loves to read. That's the way to my heart, finding a guy that I can talk about reading with--or he at least listens to me talk about reading. He captured me from his first line and kept my heart in his grip the whole book. Man, my feels were all over the place.

The magic that was subtly woven into the first half of the novel was brilliant because in the second half it's BAM! Magic has been a part of ALL of this and caused so much. It didn't take the center stage, like some high-fantasy novels do. Speaking of, everything went together well, like pieces of a puzzle. Nothing took center-stage, really, which was nice. This book didn't focus on romance. It didn't focus on magic. It didn't focus on the competition much more than the others. Everything fit together perfectly, all leading up to the final showdown and climax.

I will always love this book and this series. It is a series that I recommend with all of my heart. I cannot wait to continue on and finally get the 5th book when it releases in September.

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Thanks for reading

xoxo

Lauren

June 2016 Wrap-Up

1.
Title: The Problem With Forever
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publication Date: May 17, 2016
Days Spent Reading: 2
Rating: 5/5 stars
Book Talk: http://laurensboookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/06/lets-talk-problem-with-forever.html

2. 

Title: The Winner's Curse

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Days Spent Reading: 1

Rating: 5/5 stars

Book Talk: http://laurensboookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/06/lets-talk-winners-curse.html

3.

Title: Hell on Wheels

Author: Julie Ann Walker

Publication Date: August 1, 2012

Days Spent Reading: 3

Rating: 4/5 stars

Book Talk: http://laurensboookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/06/lets-talk-hell-on-wheels.html

4.

Title: Of Poseidon

Author: Anna Banks

Publication Date: May 1, 2012

Days Spent Reading: 2

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Book Talk: http://laurensboookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/06/lets-talk-of-poseidon.html

5. 

Title: Throne of Glass

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date: August 7, 2012

Days Spent Reading: 25

Rating: Infinity

Book Talk: http://laurensboookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/07/lets-talk-throne-of-glass.html

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I reread ToG this month and wanted to savor it and not force myself into reading it. I enjoyed it immensely the second time around and am glad that I was able to write a book review for it, which I wasn't able to do the first time I read it.

I didn't read as many books as I wanted to this month, due in part to my 2-week France trip and work picking up to 40+ hours a week. I am happy with the books I did read this month, however, and am excited to see how many I read in July (hopefully a lot).

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Thanks for reading

xoxo

Lauren