Tuesday 30 December 2014

These Books Have it All

It's amazing what book vouchers and cheap books can do.  Being overseas, I've been forced to only read books bought, not borrowed, and it's done quite a bit to my book selection.  There's no second-rate books or books that bore me to death.  No.  Since I've been here I've read three books in a row that seem to have the whole package.  They've all got mystery, new societies or universes, a forbidden romance, deception, ethics and very very good concepts.

 The first of the three is a book called The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.

The protagonist is a girl named Kestral, a Valorian, daughter of the powerful wealthy general who took over the Herran land.  Despite her father wishing for her to be a soldier, she's not a natural fighter and would much rather turn to music.  She is, however, very deceptive, able to win any game, able to strategize perfect plans.

One day she goes into the markets and finds herself bidding for a Herran slave, and winning.  And just so you know, he's the love interest.  But he's not quite who he says he is.  He's pretty deceptive too.

It's a story set in a world of court policies and military plans.  It's a story of power.





The second book I read is called The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

One small town survived the war.  In it were two sides.  One wanted a monarchy, with presidency passed down the bloodline.  They wanted to live life for the good of the group, with arranged marriages and women producing children for the good of the population.  The other wanted a democracy, with the rights of each individual in mind. The monarchy side won.  And from that year onwards, the daughters of the losing side were forced to marry the sons of the winning side, a sign of peace.

Ivy is being forced to marry the son of the president, Bishop.  All her life her sister and her have been home-schooled by their father, turned against the system of their current society.  All her life Ivy has felt second best to her sister.  And for two years she's been dreading and preparing for this moment.  Her mission is to kill Bishop.

But maybe things aren't as they seem.  Either he's a really good actor or Bishop's not as bad as she thought he'd be.  Maybe her father isn't completely right.  And maybe the president isn't completely bad.  Maybe there is no wrong or right.  But then, what's right?

This one's a story of ethics and morals.  What's the right thing to do?


The third book I read is called A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray.

Marguerite's the daughter of two fantastic physicians.  All her life she's lived amongst science, taught that anything's possible.  She's had her sister and the extra family of all the grad students coming in and out.  Most importantly and recently are Paul and Theo.  Paul is large, a little awkward, and kinda quiet.  He's brilliant though, and he's the one Marguerite likes.  Then there's Theo, who's arrogant and flirty.  He's smart, but not quite as brilliant as Paul.

Marguerite's parents have just made a breakthrough.  They've created a device that can jump between dimensions (but all the stuff explained about that is too complicated to tell you here).  But before they're even able to test it out, Marguerite's dad is murdered and the prototype is stolen, the murderer and thief being Paul.

Soon Marguerite and Theo are on a quest after Paul, hopping from dimension to dimension.  But what happens when Marguerite meets a different version of Paul?  What happens when what happens is not quite what it seems?

It's just one confusing jumbled up story, containing everything, that you will greatly enjoy.


And you know what?  I could've made it four in a row if only I'd remembered to bring this book.


Oh well.  But guess what else these three books have in common?  They all have a sequel that hasn't come out yet.  Ugh.  I hate waiting for anticipated books.

  
 
Love,
M

33 comments:

  1. I'll definitely check some of these.

    Do you wanna follow each other? Let me know x

    www.drownedinfashiondreams.blogspot.it

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    1. You definitely should! I'm checking out your blog now xx

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  2. I've heard of all of the books but I'm most interested in The Winner's Curse and The Young Elites. I plan to read them both this 2015

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    1. I plan to read the Young Elites in 2015 too. Ugh I can't wait for the moment that book is finally in my hands again. I hope you like the Winner's Curse! I'm sure you will ;)

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  3. Very cool. The Winner's Curse sounds very interesting.

    I think I've heard a little of The Young Elites. It looks really neat. I love the cover!! I'll have to try either of them if I see them at the library.

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    1. It definitely is interesting ;) And if you end up liking the Young Elites, you should try reading Legend, another book by the same author which is amazing!

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  4. Thank you for the book suggestions :)


    http://hazelasoy.blogspot.com/

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  5. Definitely need to have a look at these

    Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
    ♥♥♥

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    1. Yes Candice! You definitely have to!

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  6. I absolutely LOVED "A Thousand Pieces of You"! It's one of the top books I read this year for sure. I'm also curious about "The Winner's Curse", since I've heard great things about it.

    I like your picks! :)

    -Savannah | [Savannah] in Wonderland

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    1. A Thousand Pieces of you was amazing!! It had... EVERYTHING!! Not even kidding. I'm so glad you loved it too! Can't wait for the sequel. You should definitely read The Winner's Curse, and I'm assuming you heard good things? ;) Thanks Savannah!!

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  7. When I lived over seas I read so much, I think my count was 32 books in 9 months!

    I wish I still had time to read like that.

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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    1. Yeah. Holidays really bring out the readers in us. Haha. I'm loving the spare reading time I have here. But now I've run out of books!

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  8. I have been meaning to get to A Thousand Pieces for a while and I need to get to it soon, especially since you loved it!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
    Enter my blog birthday giveaway!

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    1. You definitely do!! Glad I could motivate you to get it a little more Missie ;)

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  9. These books sound really interesting. Especially the first two!

    -Kathie K
    http://climbingthroughtomorrow.blogspot.in/

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    1. They are so interesting, and I hope you read them and like them as much as I did!!

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  10. I heard that A Thousand Pieces of you was an awesome book! Great post. With love,
    Vera

    http://theflashwindow.weebly.com/

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    1. It is an awesome book! You should read it Vera xx

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  11. These books seem to be very interesting by the way you described them! I'm definitely going to add them to my 2015 reading list :)

    Salha | Abuhayar

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    1. They are interesting! Haha thanks Salha. You should definitely add them!

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  12. Titles sound interesting. I always borrow books from local library and it never has any novelties- or they come out late ;) Happy New Year! xx Maja
    - http://modern-muffin.blogspot.com

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    1. Yeah. Out of these three books, my local library only had one. Happy new year Maja! xx

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  13. They sound brilliant ! xx
    Fashionismyfirstlanguage.blogspot.ie

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  14. These books sound so interesting i hadn't heard of any of them until i read this now your making me want to go to the book store and buy them all! You are so amazing at book reviews!

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    1. Thanks Tshi!! I'm glad I introduced you to some amazing books and I hope you do get to read them! I'll lend one to you if you want ;)

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  15. You've been doing heaps of reading even though your own vacation now. That's great! xx

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    1. omg forgive my grammar, I think I'm getting blind...

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    2. Aha Juney. I get what you're saying ;) I was actually doing so much reading that I've now finished 5 books and run out, so what am I supposed to do with myself every night between the hours of 12 and 2!??

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  16. These sound amazing! Now I want to find them.

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    1. They are amazing and you should find them!!

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