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Book Review: Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5) by Richelle Mead

Jul 28, 2014

Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

Pages:380 (paperback)
Publish date:29 July 2014
Publisher:Penguin Australia, Puffin, Razorbill
ISBN: 0141350180
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour,

Silver Shadows:

First line: I WOKE TO DARKNESS

I received a copy of Silver Shadows from Penguin Australia. This in no way has influenced my review. This review will contain spoilers from the Vampire Academy series and the previous Bloodlines books. It will NOT contain spoilers from Silver Shadows.

I love Richelle Mead. I cannot explain how much. With each book she writes everything just seems to be getting better and better and I don’t even know how. Silver Shadows is pure brilliance and, in my eyes, a masterpiece.

I cannot control my fangirling at all. But what VA/Bloodlines fan can? There were so many moments in this book that I wanted to scream and dance. I read Silver Shadows in less than 12 hours. As soon as I received it and picked it up I could not put it down. From the first page the story grips you and you cannot put it down. Richelle Mead’s writing is breathtaking and gripping.

Like The Fiery Heart, Silver Shadows is told from both Sydney and Adrian’s point of view. And let me tell you, Richelle Mead knows how to write from two perspectives. You can tell who is who even without having each chapter title.

We’ll be together soon. In real life. The center will hold.

At the end of The Fiery Heart we are left with a massive cliff hanger and it doesn’t get better for either Sydney or Adrian. I wanted to hug them both and cry with them. Sydney, as we know, is in rehabilitation and it’s not great, not at all. She suffers in so many ways that I cannot explain. Sydney is so strong throughout the whole series and she becomes so much stronger in Silver Shadows and I admire her so much more.

Adrian, oh my poor Adrian. I wanted to hit him across the head sometimes. I also wanted to hold him in my arms. I just wanted to make everything better. We really got to see a lot more of Adrian, the real Adrian. Richelle Mead captures the true emotions of her characters so much. And we feel those emotions too and it’s heartbreaking. He made some wonderful decisions and some, let’s just say a ‘Really Adrian’ is needed. Why, why why.

The romance. Oh how I feel for both Sydney and Adrian. Not even the universe wants them together. But those times, those times that I could not keep a smile off my face were brilliant. Adrian and Sydney are just so beautiful together.

To be told that was a sham, that all love was a sham, couldn’t have come at a worse time. I didn’t believe it, of course. I knew there was real love out there. I’d experienced it firsthand…

We get to know quite a few new characters in this book. They were all very intriguing. Duncan is one of the new characters that I really enjoyed reading about. He was different, but still quite the same. Even though at times he annoyed me and got on my nerves because of things that he said and did. But I know that his intentions were in the right place.

We also got to see a lot of our old characters as well. I loved seeing Rose and Dimitri. I always love seeing them and we even got to see that playful side of Rose that we haven’t seen in a while. I also loved, like a lot, the scene with Dimitri and Adrian even though it might have not ended the best way, it was still nice to see. Lissa on the other hand. . .

Lissa, I love you girl, but please just stop. I wanted to hit her across the face just so many times I cannot explain. Everything that came out of her mouth just got on my nerves like you wouldn’t believe. But I guess Lissa has always sort of been like this, but something just ticked me off.

We finally get to see some faces that we only know names to and it’s really nice and thrilling at first, but then we see those people that we don’t want to see at all. They made my blood boil and yours will too.

Okay, let me try and say something without giving anything away. Okay I can’t say anything that won’t give it away. But I know that you will know what I am talking about when you get to it and then we can all fangirl like crazy people. Because I was screaming around the house at 9 at night because of this and I just OMG. I love you Richelle Mead so bloody much. Trust me all of you will love it. Well I hope you do. Okay it is just so amazing and I cannot stop fangirling. None of you will not be able to do the same, not after you get to this bit. It’s just so cute and I cannot control myself.

For a moment, there was a part of me that was a little more in love with her than ever.

But, then again, I can hate you as well. Another cliff hanger. Why do you do this to us Richelle? Why hurt us, stitch up our hearts, then rip them out again? But you are the queen of cliff hangers that I can give you.

There were so many times that I was on the edge of my seat. Turning one page after another, wanting to know what was going to happen next. Richelle Mead is unbelievable she grips you from the start and hold you on a leash. She doesn’t let go. You cannot anticipate what is going to happen next because she can pull something out of a hat that will turn it all upside town.

Silver Shadows is utterly breathtaking, heart gripping and sensational. It’s Richelle Mead’s best work yet. It is a magical piece of work that pulls you right in, waiting for more.

Have you read the Bloodlines books yet, what did you think of them? Have you read Silver Shadows? What did you think of it?

Book Review: On The Fence by Kasie West

Jun 27, 2014

On the Fence by Kasie West

Pages: 320 (paperback)
Publish date: July 1st (US and Australia), July 31st (UK)
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062235672
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

She’s a tomboy. He’s the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn’t know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she’s got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she’s falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

On the Fence:

I received an ARC of On the Fence from Harper Teen Australia, this in no way influenced my review.

First Line: ‘The engine whined against my attempt to go faster.’

I had never read a Kasie West book before I picked up On the Fence and I am hating myself for not doing it before. She is such an amazing writer, captures emotions so well.

Charlie is a tomboy, there is no denying it. She doesn’t wear makeup, she dresses without much care and she hangs out with boys and, you know what, I loved her. It’s rare that I read a book with a girl protagonist that isn’t worried about what she wears, or if she is wearing makeup. It was different, but nice.

I loved the writing style of Kasie West. It was interesting and it intrigued me to keep on reading. The book started off with a bang and just kept on getting better and better as it went on.

I thought it was be a sappy contemporary romance instead novel, but it was so much more. It turned into a mystery novel somehow, it was so good. Yes, there were still those snappy romance moments, but it made them so much more glorious.

I loved Charlie’s brothers. Yes, they may have been over protective, but, once you find out why, you kind of understand why they were protective. Each one of them were from the other, but they all related to Charlie in some way. It was different seeing sibling interaction, as again in YA there isn’t much of yet when there is they aren’t the best relationships. So it was nice seeing good sibling relationships.

Dreams are messages, things out minds want us to learn. Recurring dreams can be really important messages. they often come in the form of nightmares. Recurring dreams could represent a real-life problem that hasn’t been dealt with or resolved. Overcoming or resolving that problem could help one move past the recurring dream. – ARC pg82

She even had a pretty okay relationship with her father. I didn’t mind her father at all. Yes, he was a little strict, but I can again understand why. I normally don’t like parents all that much in Young Adult books, so that is another thumbs up to Kasie.

Branden, he is just amazing and not to mention the boy next door. Charlie and Branden’s ‘Fence’ moments were just so cute and moving and heartbreaking. Just everything all at once.

On the Fence was funny and cute as well as very moving. Charlie struggles the whole book with the death of her mother and she doesn’t know how to be a ‘girl.’ She can’t get over her mother’s death and as the book goes on we see why.

On the Fence reminded me a lot of Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry in the sense of suppressed memories. Which intrigued me a lot. It’s an interesting concept that no matter how many times it’s done it always seem different.

I laughed, I cried and I swooned. On the Fence was simply just gorgeous. Kasie’s writing is brilliant and beautiful. It was entertaining and the banter between Charlie and her brothers and Charlie and Braden just added so much to the book. The heart-warming family moments also added so much depth to the book.

Sometimes we expect more that people are capable of giving at the moment

The romance between Charlie and Braden was simply beautiful–the true nature of friends becoming more. They were totally adorable together and the scenes on the fence were just so brilliant.

Over all On the Fence is a book of self-discovery, love, friendship and family. The tales of a girl becoming a ‘girl’, finding love and friendship. On the Fence is mesmerizing, moving and funny.

The Fault in Our Stars Movie Review No Spoilers + Giveaway

Jun 13, 2014

I knew as soon as this was becoming a movie I would need a tissue box by my side and I wasn’t wrong.

The Fault in our Stars movie was just perfect. I cannot explain how I feel about this movie enough.

On opening night, my friend, sister, mum and I headed to the movies to see it (I made both my mum and sister read the book before we went) with our tissue boxes in tow.

The casting for this TFIOS is just perfect. Gosh Ansel Elgort is Gus, through and through, man. His smile, his laugh, just everything. I couldn’t help but smile at everything he said, even if it was so cheesy.

Shailene Woodley captured Hazel so well. I was very hesitant at first because I have seen her in so many different roles and I just didn’t know how she would capture Hazel, but she did just perfect.

Nat Woff, man. He is Issac. I hadn’t seen him in much before TFIOS so it was my first really seeing him act and, man, he was perfect. To me, he was just like Issac.

Even though I did cry so many times in movie, Issac did make me laugh. Quite a lot actually. It was just so funny at times and I couldn’t help but laugh in hysterics. Even if it was just something little like a face that Gus or Hazel pulled. It didn’t make up for all the crying, but it did put a smile on my face.

The other thing that I really liked about the movies, was when Gus and Hazel or anyone else had text conversations or emails that a little screen would pop up with the conversation. It was just so cute! I loved it a lot.

I think that TFIOS is one of the best book to movie adaptions. It was just so good. All those lines from the book were in the movie as well as those big, scenes and moments. I can say that most of them were in the movie. It was really nice seeing a YA contemporary novel being turned into a movie, and an amazing one at that.

Yes, they still missed certain scenes and all because they had to, but overall, I was really happy with how it turned out. I think having John Green on set really did help.

As I said before and many others will say, it was an emotional journey. I cried, much like I did in the book from that scene in Amsterdam. Gosh, so many emotions. Also the gas station scene wow, wow. I applaud you Ansel, I know that was the hardest scene, emotionally, to film and, man, you did it well.

The music, wow, the music was so well picked and placed. It set the emotions for everything.I felt things so much more when music was played. And come on playing Ed Sheeran at the end, no thank you please, the tears just didn’t stop flowing.

Overall I really loved The Fault in Our Stars Movie. it was just so beautiful, it was a masterpiece. Even though I was a sobbing mess I would see it again, and again.

Have you watched The Fault in Our Stars yet? What did you think? Are you looking forward to watching it?

I have also written spoiler free reviews on Divergent and Vampire Academy.

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of The Fault In Our Stars, I am going to be giving away a hand painted Okay? Okay. T-shirt to one lucky winner. All you need to do is fill out the rafflecopter and done! Here is the top that I will be giving away.

Obviously it will be new for you and to your size. The Sizes that I have are Size 10 (bust 30 Inches), Size 12 (bust 33 Inches), Size 14 (bust 35 Inches), Size 16 (bust 37 Inches), Size 18 (Bust 39) and Size 20 (bust 40). Sorry these are the only sizes I can do at the moment, hopefully I can do more soon.

Terms and Conditions

– This contest is open INTERNATIONALLY

– You must be 18 years or older, or have parents’ permission to enter.

– All your entries will be disqualified if you pickup entries for something you haven’t done.

– If you only use ONE account to do all these tasks and enter under different names, they will still only constitute as ONE entry.

– If the winner does not respond to my e-mail within 48 hours, I will have to choose another winner.

– I am not responsible for any items lost in the mail. Sorry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway