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I’ve seen a growing trend in YA that both excites and worries me. This trend is authors coming back to their most popular series or world, instead of writing different novels set with completely different worlds and plots. The examples are endless from Rick Riordan being one of the first I noticed doing this, to Cassandra Clare, and more recently Leigh Bardugo. I was a big fan of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series back in middle school! I’ve read most of those books multiple times, but when I was reading The Mark of Athena , I just found myself no longer caring about these characters. I stopped halfway through the novel, and it was the last Rick Riordan novel I’ve attempted to read. I still see all of the different mythology series that he is releasing but I just can’t bring myself to care. All I can think about is how it feels like Rick Riordan is just trying to get every last penny out of these books and characters while he can. Now let me back up and say, I h...

Hey fellow readers, welcome to Top 5 Wednesday! If you don’t know what Top 5 Wednesday is then click   HERE , if not, stay! This week’s topic is top 5 SCIFI/ fantasy books. By now it is safe to say, Victoria Schwab is my favorite author. A Darker Shade of Magic is the fourth series I’ve read by her and it has never disappointed. I’m in the middle of the third book right now and LOVING it. Oh look, my other favorite author. The Unwind series has brought me so many emotions. I’ve laughed, cried, and cheered these characters on since I was in 8th grade; it just feels so real. These are technically Urban Fantasy, but that is a subgenre of fantasy sooo :) This is another series where everyone feels so real! After the end of each series, I never want to let these characters go. I sobbed at the end of both Clockwork Princess and City of Heavenly Fire . Check these books out (and PS, I recommend reading in publication order for any Cassandra Clare novices). ...

Well 2016 is wrapping up with farewells from everyone! It was a great year for some and not so great for others, but now it’s time to take one last look at 2016 before launching into the hopes and dreams I’ve built up for 2017! Reading My reading goals for 2016 were vague and without a set number of books to read. With that said, I did keep to my goal of only reading things I enjoyed. Looking back on the year, I enjoyed most of the books I’ve read and I never wasted time powering through a mediocre book. During 2016 I also branched out a lot and read things I wouldn’t normally read. I found myself reading (and enjoying) a lot of indie and less popular books and it was nice. While I’m now going to have to go back and catch up on some of the more popular books and series that came out during the year, I don’t really mind. Notable Reads Bad Bloods: Shannon Thompson’s novels have yet to disappoint. Both November Rain and November Snow were great parts to a fast-paced story fu...

Well this is sad… I promise to make myself read more once exams are over. April Reads The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Current Reads The Martian by Andy Weir The Haters by Jesse Andrews May Reads Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare As you can see, I’m going easy on myself this month since I had such a poor reading month in April. My goal for May is really just to survive, since school is throwing as much work on me as possible. But I promise I’ll survive and I’ll get some reading and writing done! *POSITIVITY* Keep Reading… Elise!

We all have those authors that no matter what their next book is, we know we are going to pick it up. Whether it is because of that author’s track record or only one series that you love, you trust the author that much! For me, I will automatically pick up anything that Cassandra Clare or Victoria Schwab release. Cassandra Clare I’ve been a Cassandra Clare fan ever since I first read The Mortal Instruments . I enjoyed it, but The Infernal Devices truly made her one of my favorite authors. Most authors get worse when they keep revisiting a series or idea, but no, not Clare. Her stories only get better with the more she writes. I cannot wait to see where she takes the Shadowhunter universe next! Victoria Schwab I became a fan of Victoria Schwab back when I read The Archived and LOVED it! From then I read Vicious , The Unbound , A Darker Shade of Magic , and A Gathering of Shadows . Victoria Schwab always crafts brilliant stories and intriguing characters. At this point...

Well, a season of Shadowhunters has come and gone! And how was it…? It was, umm, serviceable… It’s crazy to think, just a year ago the fandom was going crazy about the fact that Jace got cast and the show was officially going to air on ABC Family (*cough* Freeform), and now here we are, at the end of season one, and renewed for season two! Fan reaction for Shadowhunters has been extremely mixed since it premiered and I have been pretty open about the fact that I believe the show is not a quality show, but I enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. From the first episode of Shadowhunters , I knew the show was not going to be of the best quality, but I knew it was going to be a great guilty pleasure watch! I LOVE watching Shadowhunters after I’m already in a good mood from The Flash the hour before, and laughing at the mistakes but still being interested in the differences from the books. But that’s my issue with Shadowhunters , you have all of these amateur mistakes where they cl...

Hey guys, welcome to Top 5 Wednesday! If you don’t know what Top 5 Wednesday is then click HERE , if not, stay! This week’s topic is top 5 DNF (did not finish) books! Despite LOVING Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children , when I tried to read the second book, I ended up putting it down 100 pages in. This could, of course, have something to do with the fact that I was reading it on my kindle, and you don’t get the same effect with the pictures when you’re looking at them on a kindle. I’d like to give this one another shot one day, but I don’t know. I went into Half Bad with high expectations after hearing amazing things about it on Bookstagram and Booktube, but when I tried to read it I couldn’t get into it. I read about 100 pages before I finally gave up. I was expecting a fast paced story that I wouldn’t be able to put down, but, when I tried to read it, I just wasn’t interested. This was a highly, highly anticipated book for me since I’m a huge fan o...

Another month of 2016 has come and gone, launching us into the month of March! But before then, we must look over the last month and wrap up all the books that have been read in February. February Reads The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Through the Dark by Alexandra Bracken Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Current Reads A Gathering of Shadows by V E Schwab March TBR Room by Emma Donoghue The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare My March TBR is kind of ambitious so I don’t know if I will get through all of those books (even if the majority of them are rereads) but we will see! Have you read any of the books mentioned above? What did you think of them? Keep Reading… Meagan!

Yep, this series still holds strong. It only gets better with each book. In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends. With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they enco...

Over the past month, I have found myself reading more character based novels and all of these character rich novels have been getting me thinking about the importance of memorable and strong characters. By ‘strong’ I don’t mean a character that can fight off an army with their bare hands— no, I mean a character who has morals, beliefs, and flaws, but they grow and learn from these flaws and mistakes. You understand why they do what they do and why they make the mistakes they make and it immerses the reader further into the story, since the reader actually believes the main character is acting in a rational way and it makes characters feel real! This is important because, like I said, it makes the characters more real and thus makes the reader care more about them. I feel like a lot of recent Young Adult novels are missing these realistic characters meaning that they miss a potential connection with the reader. There haven’t been many memorable characters in recent novels that I’ve...

Hey guys, welcome to Top 5 Wednesday! If you don’t know what Top 5 Wednesday is then click HERE , if not, stay! This week’s topic is top 5 books that we had spoiled for us! Don’t worry there won’t be any spoilers in this post! I used to have a tradition of reading the last words of books first and, unsurprisingly, this is how I got the majority of books spoiled for me. It wasn’t until I got really invested in the mystery of the Mara Dyer trilogy that I started to not like spoilers, up until that point I had just shrugged off spoilers and not let them affect me. That was a series where I felt that the reading experience was truly altered by having it spoiled and if I could go back and read one book for the first time again, it would be The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer . What books have you had spoiled? Have you spoiled any books for yourself then regretted it? Keep Reading… Meagan!

Hello fellow readers! We’ve all know the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover, and we all know that we break this rule. These are some of favorite series covers (the quality of the book has nothing to do with this list). These covers go brilliantly on your shelf and the covers look beautiful together! While I am not a fan of The Mortal Instruments covers, these are much better capturing the beauty and elegance of the era while keeping the main trio the center of the covers. I am specifically talking about the original covers but I love the new ones too. I was actually not a fan of these covers to begin with but wow they have grown on me! All three of these covers are simple, beautiful, and elegant. These are how you do people covers well! Each cover is a different striking color making them look great together on the shelf. I am talking about the US covers since I much prefer those to the UK covers. All three of these covers are extremely me...

We have finally made it through a whole month of 2016! Now that January is over it’s time for a January wrap up and February TBR! January Reads Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray Passenger   by Alexandra Bracken Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare Current Reads The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare February TBR Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare Les Misérables by Victor Hugo Jackaby by William Ritter I might not get to all of those books during February (especially because it will take me a while to read even part of Les Mis ) but that is what books I’m aiming to get through next month! What books have you read so far? What do you plan to read next month? Keep Reading… Meagan!

It’s so refreshing when you can go back to a book that you read in middle school and remember why you love it. In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series. The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them... – goodread.com summary As some of you might know if you fol...

I’m the type of person that likes to plan out every aspect of my day, and that aspect of my personality has bled over into when I read. I like to make a plan for reading and have a TBR list for every book that I plan to read a few weeks ahead. Because of this, I thought I’d share some of the books on my upcoming TBR. At the moment I’m reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, but once I finish I plan to read… Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Continue Les Misérables by Victor Hugo Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins I don’t know if I’ll get through all the books I mentioned above or when I’ll read them but these are the books that I am looking forward to and planning to read! Have you read any of the books mentioned above? What did you think of them? Keep Reading… Meagan!