Cress- Marissa Meyer - Review

Hello All,

I'm diving into another review for you as I'm preparing to wrap up the wonderful short story book that I didn't realize went between Cress and Winter. So em yep that was almost embarrassing, however I got the next two books in the Alyson Noel series that I'm donating to the library when I'm done. I feel good about that.

Anyway onto the reason your here...

Cress- Marissa Meyer

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series!

Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker; unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

5/5 - Review

I'm not so sure where to start with this one. I was thrown a lot as many of you might know I'm not up on my fairytales as I missed a lot of Nursery growing up and my dad wasn't the read it to me kind of dad. So anyway here goes. 

I thought well this isn't your typical Disney fairytale that is for sure. I loved the whole thing, how well she went into the plot and the small details, making sure that the loose threads from as far back as Cinder were tied up which to me is pretty amazing as some authors tend to forget about those loose threads that aren't major to the plot line from book one by the time they get to book 3. So I'm clapping hard for that. 

I stumbled a bit with the POV jumps between chapters. I would have liked to have the chapters marked so it made it easier for me to keep up. Its a minor thing really and didn't cause a star to fall away as I finally got into the swing of things. I wasn't thrown to much out of the book that I didn't enjoy it. 

That to me is the main thing. 

I will say that the ending was nice and having a cliffhanger ending at book 3 like in the other 2 books just felt really right. I have to say it was well pulled off too. I'm interested in seeing what we have instore for us when it comes to the book Winter. 

I was nervous about starting this series way back when I first heard about it, but I'm glad I did in the end. Thanks to Kaytastic and Little Owl for wearing me down on that. Well earned 5 stars and can't wait to enjoy more of this lovely ladies hard work. 

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Thank you for stopping by, coming up next is Levanna's Short story book or Dark Flame so come back to see what I think of those! 

Kristal McKerrington 

Shadowland (Book 3 of Immortals) by Alyson Noel - Review

Hello Readers,

So keeping up my new reading goals has proven harder then I thought as I start to move through the large piles of edits but am keeping up the hard work as best I can. I have high hopes of reaching my reading goal of 110 books this year.

Shadowland- Alyson Noel

Ever and Damen have travelled through countless past lives – and fought off the world’s darkest enemies – in search of each other. But just when their destiny seems finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon them. A single touch of their hands, a soft brush of their lips will mean death for Damen – cast into the darkness of the Shadowland. But as she seeks to break the curse, Ever meets Jude – a green-eyed, golden surfer boy who understands magick, and understands Ever better than she realises. And she begins to ask a terrifying question: even if you’re immortal, can true love really last forever?

5/5- Review

This book picked up the series and seemed to get it through after the disappointment of the second book. I'm glad I stuck with it because Alyson Noel came back with such strength in this book. She created a great series of events that brings emotion out of the characters and into the hearts of her readers. She threads together a series of moments that makes you think twice about how you coudl have missed it. 

I was glad that Alyson Noel breathed more life into the series and leaving the door open to create a much more serious situations for them to go through. Yet bringing a happy ending for now and yet having the cliff hanger side effect to it. I am not starting to worry that Damen is going to be forgotten with the new characters stepping forward in the regards to Roman, Jude and this other mystery immortal opharns. I will be interested in seeing how she handles this moving forward. She earned a 5/5 for this book and even a smile when I closed the book. 

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Thank you for stopping by to check out the review for "Shadowland", come back for Cress and Dark Flame as those are the next two books am digging into. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Scarlet- Marissa Meyer- Review

Hello All,

Well what a day I had. I finished this great book and got some awesome shots of Scotland. Plus I've managed to screw up my reading thing that I'm apart of. But getting that fixed. So lets get focused on the review and the good stuff.

Scarlet- Marissa Meyer 

The second book in The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer.

This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget.

SCARLET BENOIT'S grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other.

Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive - when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.

As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner . . .

***Red Riding Hood-meets-Percy Jackson in a thrilling new spin on Grimm by Marissa Meyer, the author of Cinder.***

4/5 Stars

First let me say that this wasn't what I was expecting after reading Cinder. I got addicted to Cinder so it was what I expected when it came to this book. That though wasn't the case rather I found it harder to get into. The book jumped around a lot and that was what cost it the last star. I would have preferred to have had a marker on the chapters to let us know who we are jumping into rather than just having to jump in and trying to grasp where you are at in the storyline. 

The storyline itself was so well thought out and detailed down the finest level. The detail in this book seems to be something that a lot of writers are just skipping over and I'm glad to see that Marissa kept with the detail and the darkness level of the storyline that she used in Cinder. I like the werewolf elements, that was well thought out too. I was a little disappointed in the meeting between Cinder and Scarlet as I felt that was something that was jagged but she smoothed it out as I entered into Cress. So I will see how it goes. 

I would have liked to see more interaction with Cress to help Cinder find the answers that she finds out in the book. I thought that would give a far better flow and uses the characters she has introduced. After reading the line "Red Riding Hood- mee

ts Percy Jackson" was something I agreed with. I did like how Scarlet fought and fell for Wolf. It would have been nice to see more happen between them romantically but I get that is a area that is restricted.

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Thank you for stopping by and come back to see my thoughts on either Cress or Shadowlands. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Bluemoon- Alyson Noel - Review.

Hello all, 

I'm getting into book three of this series as I believe that when you start a series then you should finish it. I don't hold each book against the author or the characters. That is why I think that you will be surprised with this review. 

Blue Moon- Alyson Noel

Alyson's Noël's bestselling Immortals series has been hailed as "addictive" "beautiful" "haunting" and "mesmerizing." In the second installment, Blue Moon, Ever can bring her family back from the dead―but only if she's willing to sacrifice the guy she loves more than life itself.

Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever's powers are increasing, Damen's are fading―stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.

Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen's past―the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden―but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them―or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day...

4/5 Star Review. 

So this one was a tough book for me to get through as there is a lot of bullying of Ever in this one. There was a lot of whining from her in this and sometimes she just seemed to do nothing other than complain. I wanted to get past this part of the book and it spreads nearly the entire length of the book. It put me off the book and would have liked to see far more things. At least had one friend that she would talk too rather than going to Ava to whom I struggled with from the first book. I just didn't believe in her character. There was just to many things that didn't feel like they worked. 

When finally Ever gets everything together it comes out that she has been tricked and that things aren't going to work out like she thought they would. The entire time I found myself hoping for more of a show down with Roman than what i got and I was a bit sad to see how it ended. I was lucky to have book 3 in my home as I would have properly stopped there in the series. I was just more disappointed with it than I thought I would be. 

What made this book keep itself at 4 stars was the love that I could sense from every word that the author put into. She put a lot of work into this story and that could be seen in the spells, magic research and the way that she put together the Summerland world. I think working on three plains is very hard and she did that well. She made the book 3D and it gave me a lot more to like in it. 

She has done a great enough job that I will be continuing on to do books 3 to the end. I hope that the series fixes the points that I'm worried about. 

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Thank you for stopping by and I hope to have Scarlet by Marissa Meyer up soon. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Evermore- Alyson Noel - Review

Dear All, 

Well I got distracted which happens when you finish one great book but you forget to put the second one underneath it. That is what happened when I finished Cinder and realized that I didn't have book 2. So I am saying sorry for leaping to this book and hope that you understand my choice on the rating. 

Evermore-Alyson Noel

Seventeen-year-old Ever is the sole survivor of a car crash that killed her entire family. Living with her aunt in Southern California, she's plagued by the ability to hear the thoughts of those around her, and haunted by the ghost of her little sister. She tries to tune everyone out, shunning her old lifestyle as the pretty, popular cheerleader, but somehow she can't hide from Damen, the new guy at school. Stunningly handsome, clever and not a little bit intimidating, there's something about him that doesn't quite add up. Ever realises he's hiding something, but nothing could prepare her for the truth - especially when the truth involves past lives, murderous enemies, everlasting love and the secret of eternal youth . . .

4/5 Stars- Review

Okay I can hear the eyes rolling and the groans that I didn't love it completely. It was such a stupid thing that cost her the final star. The writing style was something that I got into really well and easily. I found myself enjoying the characters that she detailed and created with such ease. I could the impression that this book had been written in a time of grief. That was confirmed when I read the interview that was written in the back of the book. 

She gave us a great start to a great series of books called "The Immortals". She showed a great deal of commitment to the story with the way she laid it out. What really took the last star off of the whole book was the final fight scene with Drina. It was just such a let down when she died the way that she did. I was like 'what the heck that is it?' I would have been truly in love with the book if Ever managed to finally got some revenge on this woman who wants to kill her. 

I'm picking up the second book as I own the first three but I'm sort of wondering if she can pull off the series after the way she end the first one. I'm hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised. I hope that she has a lot more to offer us through this series. I hope that this is not the end of Riley's story either. 

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I want to know your thoughts and what you think should have happened in the big fight feel ending? I hope to have either Scarlet or Bluemoon up next. Just come back to see which one that wins out my attention. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Cinder- By Merissa Meyer- Review

Hello All, 

So this book took a little longer to be finished as I thought. Rewrites and edits are kicking my butt and making it hard for me to be able to keep up with the reading I want to do. August has my reading challenges in it so I will be balancing a lot of balls in the mean time. 

Here is the review that I did for Cinder, I hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to read the Lunar Chronicles too. 

Cinder Book 1 of Lunar Chronicles

A forbidden romance.
A deadly plague.
Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .

CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.

This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget.

Book Review: 

5/5 Stars 

Okay wow doesn't seem to cover this story. It does have elements of Cinderella in it and there is moments when its something completely different. Its a great take on the fictional children's story and it makes it feel more like this century and most importantly its so much fun. You can't help but feel trapped in the book and unable to let yourself put it down. The addictive quality of the writing in this book is just beyond words and Merissa has done something that I could only respect. She continues to surprise the reader with each twist of not just the future of people who need limbs but also the future of this planet. How it can easily be put in so much danger. 

How there will always be old world way of thinking that will always exist like marriage and how it has a lot of control over society. How the ranking system of where you are born and the problems of housing. She touches on so many issues that you don't realize that she has you questioning things while whisking you further and further into the depths of Cinder's world. The way that she leaves the book will have you scrambling for book two and three before you are able to grab the much needed hours of sleep that are needed. 

This is a book that you have to be prepared to give up a weekend or a whole week too. Don't even think about Netflix that whole week because this book will consume everything that you do. As you will find yourself asking "what in blue hell happens next?" 

This is has to be my MUST READ of 2016. I can't see me putting down the series until its finished. I have to say that I'm going to have to wait to see if Heartless is a series because I will have to wait until the whole series is out before I can buy book 1. 

Another amazing author for my must buy list and it needs to be on yours. 

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Thank you for stopping by and come back for the second book of the series "Scarlet". 

Kristal McKerrington 

Happily Ever After: Companion to the Selection Series (The Selection Novella) - By Keira Cass- Review

Hello Readers,

So this book was finished several days ago but me being trapped in the writing cave after losing Carla's book twice I hadn't had the time to do the blog that reviewed this authors work. I'm finally getting to it as the heat beats us down in Scotland. No AC so we are depending on open windows and fans. Its that warm.

Okay lets get down to it.

Happily Ever After: Companion to the Selection Series (The Selection Novella)

By Kiera Cass

Meet Prince Maxon before he fell in love with America, and a girl named Amberly before she became queen. See the Selection through the eyes of a guard who watched his first love drift away and a girl who fell for a boy who wasn’t the prince. This gorgeous collection features four novellas from the captivating world of Kiera Cass’s #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series—two of which appear here in print for the first time—as well as exclusive, never-before-seen bonus content.

This series companion is a must-have for any Selection fan, and includes:

• The Prince
• The Guard
• The Queen (in print for the first time)
• The Favorite (in print for the first time)
• Exclusive new scenes from The Selection, The Elite, and The One
• Introductions to each novella from Kiera Cass
• A map of Illéa and other illustrations
• And more!

5/5 Stars -Review Part- 

While I found myself desperate for the knowledge how the characters ended up after the books came to a close I was surprised by the way that she chose to do the short stories. Each one was building to a much more rounded happy ending. Something that I was surprised to find in short stories. Most of the time I read short story books they are random however she made the book feel like a whole novel. It was exciting interesting and gave us the answers that the other books seemed to miss. A smart move on the behalf of the author. 

Kiera's excitement and joyful style worked well through each of the stories. I always wanted to know how the Elite girls who lost turned out I was found a little let down by their endings. I know however these were the endings that the characters needed. The endings and wrap of their lives seemed to fit well together. Each one seemed like a synopsis rather than just a sharp short blunt way of wrapping up the story. 

I can't recommend that those who have loved the Selection series check out this short story series book. I was in love from the page and was so sad when it finished. 

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Thank you for stopping by to see my wrap up of the Selection series. I will be back for a review of the book by Merissa Meyer called Cinder as I start to enter the Lunar Chronicles. 

Kristal McKerrington