Book Review: The Vampire Diaries

Taken from mybooksmylife.com

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith

Release Date: 1. March. 1999
Read: July 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher
Format: Paperback, 311 pages

Description from Goodreads:
A Love Triangle of Unspeakable Horror...
Elena
Searching for the ultimate thrill, she vowed to have Stefan.
Stefan
Haunted by his tragic past, he struggled to resist her passion.
Damon
Driven by revenge, he hunted the brother who betrayed him.
The terrifying story of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

Review: 
This book was very different than the show, let me say that much. It shocked me at the liberties that the show took from the book. They changed the personalities of quite a few characters, and took others out completely. One of my favorite parts of the book was Meredith, someone who didn't make it into the show, despite the fact that she is a strong female character. I thought that as a whole, the book was a really fun read. The action was exciting, and most of the characters were extremely fun to read about. While reading, the biggest casting fail that I found was Bonnie. In the book, she is of Irish decent with red hair and freckles. In the show, she is the complete opposite. 
However, the show did succeed in one regard. I felt like in the book, Elena (the main character) was at times acting like a certain other human who falls in love with a vampire. She was strangely oblivious to Stefans odd behavior. There was too much obsession in her, which was cringe-worthy. However, since the summer of 2013, I have read the entire series and I am now searching like crazy for the first book in the Returned series.

Favorite Quote: “Evil will never find peace. It may triumph, but it will never find peace” 
― L.J. Smith, The Awakening
Rating: 3.25/5 Stars

Recommended for people who like: supernatural, romance, YA, adventure

Happy Reading,
Mari

What About Friday: School Books

What About... Friday!

Sorry we haven't been on lately, things have been getting busy again, so it's been a little disorganized. We're back, so here's a "What about... Friday" to tide you over until we post our next review! Because school's back in session, we thought that a back-to-school theme would be appropriate! 

Lauren's Picks
1. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter 
2. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick 
3. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Ola's Picks
1. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
2. Gone by Michael Grant
3. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Mari's Picks
1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
2. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter
3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Stay tuned for the next review!

XOXO, The Autumn Bookshelf

Book Review: The 5th Wave

Taken from Goodreads

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy


Release Date: May 7th, 2013
Read: June, 2013
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover, 457 pages

Description from Goodreads:
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.
Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Review: This book intrigued me from the very first page. For a long time I searched for a fresh take on the whole dystopian genre. This book is pretty much it. It's a little slower to start, and it really takes time with the character building and the backstory of the whole tragedy is very interesting.
Cassie is an interesting heroine, and she is very headstrong. However, I felt that her relationship with Evan was a little cheesy and predictable. The moment that he appeared on the page, I knew right where his story was going. Even with that fact, I bought the book (I read it from the library) and have read it multiple times. It's a fun ride, and is great to pass the time.

Favorite Quotes:   “But if I'm it, the last of my kind, the last page of human history, like hell I'm going to let the story end this way. I may be the last one, but I am the one still standing. I am the one turning to face the faceless hunter in the woods on an abandoned highway. I am the one not running but facing. Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity's last war, then I am the battlefield.” 
― Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Recommended for people who like: thrillers, romance, YA, sci-fi, survival stories, dystopian

Happy Reading,
Mari

Book Review: Reawakened

Reawakened by Colleen Houck

Release date: August 11th, 2015
Read: August 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: Hardcover, 400 pages


Description from GoodReads: When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers, who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification.
   And she really can't imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe to find his brothers and complete a grand ceremony that will save mankind.
   But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world.
   From New York Times bestselling author Colleen Houck comes an epic adventure about two star-crossed teens who must battle mythical forces and ancient curses on a journey with more twists and turns than the Nile itself.

Review: I was expecting something like Rick Riordan's The Kane Chronicles, but more YA. What I did not expect was a pouty rich girl who has nothing to do but endlessly wander the halls of the Met. So tragic.
   Egypt in general is portrayed as an exotic fairytale place, and doesn't delve any deeper than that. Ever. The three princes are all somewhat in love with Lilliana, despite her lack of redeeming qualities. One of them feeds off her energy against her will, stalks her, and she still falls for him. Mostly because he's gorgeous by 21st century beauty standards.
   The book only mentions about a third of Egyptian gods, and upon further the investigation, the myth that the story is based off of is wrong too.
   Thoroughly, thoroughly disappointed.

Quotable Quotes:
"I could fall recklessly, dangerously, in love with a guy like him." - Lilliana Young

Rating: 2/5 stars

Read if you liked: the Red Pyramid, the House of Anubis, bad representations of other countries, Beauty and the Beast, Tiger's Curse, bad romances




Optimistically yours, Ola <3