Archive for August 2015

Review: Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 0 Comments A + a -

Hey guys! I'm Marifer better known as Maf from Maf's Crazy Book Life, I love talking about books, looking at books, listening to books, taking pictures of them...etc and I am also not nearly as smart as Vangelina so my school won't keep me as busy and when she asked if I could post something from time to time, I said something along the lines of "If your password isn't cupcakes, I'm going to be super disappointed" (it isn't and I am disappointed)

Anyway, today I'm going to be doing something I usually don't do and that's review a book I did not enjoy, like at all. Not even a teeny tiny speak of a bit.

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Some loves will last ’til your dying breath

Every choice has consequences—but seventeen-year-old Layla faces tougher choices than most. Light or darkness. Wickedly sexy demon prince Roth, or Zayne, the gorgeous, protective Warden she never thought could be hers. Hardest of all, Layla has to decide which side of herself to trust.

Layla has a new problem, too. A Lilin—the deadliest of demons—has been unleashed, wreaking havoc on those around her…including her best friend. To keep Sam from a fate much, much worse than death, Layla must strike a deal with the enemy while saving her city—and her race—from destruction.

Torn between two worlds and two different boys, Layla has no certainties, least of all survival, especially when an old bargain comes back to haunt them all. But sometimes, when secrets are everywhere and the truth seems unknowable, you have to listen to your heart, pick a side—and then fight like hell… 


Rating:  1 out of 5 stars

Publication: July 28th 2015

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Truthfully, after my last Jennifer L. Armentrout, my expectations for her books went down a bit but to be fair, I had ridiculously high expectations, the first books I read by her were the Lux Series and to this day, that's one of my favourite series, and I really loved a lot of her other books, but after I read Wicked and Stone Cold Touch I started lowering my expectations for her books, I started noticing she tends to follow the same pattern for her plots and while I was reading Every Last Breath I felt like I could have easily switched the main characters for any other main couple of hers and it wouldn't have made any difference because they all sound and act the same. The plot was predictable and the writing, which I used to enjoy and find funny, felt immature and overused. It was like one of those jokes that is hilarious at first and after a while the person keeps repeating it and you get tired of it.

There wasn't much, if anything at all I enjoyed about this book, which is very sad considering it was the last one of the series and I did adore the first book in the series, I felt like by the end Layla and Roth had morphed into generic characters I had absolutely not feelings for. Their original chemistry was nowhere to be found, their banter felt forced and every thing they were supposed to feel for each other felt like flat and unbelievable.

Then we have her relationship with Zayne...actually no, we don't really have that. Her dialogues with him were like her talking to a wall she had married and was bored of hanging out with and me being super surprised the wall talked back. At one point she mentioned they had been friends for their entire life and I had to take a second to remember if they really were friends for that long because it didn't feel like that at all, I didn't even find it in me to hate their relationship, I just had absolutely no interest in them.

The only moments I enjoyed where the little snippets of self awareness the author seemed to have with her characters' terrible decision and she wrote stuff like "I'm beginning to think your darling naivete is actually adorable idiocy. You're like a cute version of the village idiot" and "All you've done since the Lilin revealed itself is mourn your friend, pout, indulge in relationship drama I would normally only expect from a pitiful human teenager and surrender your chastity" for the background characters to say.

This book was a huge let down, which is so sad to write because I used to LOVE JLA, I am thinking of taking a break from her books for a while, the more I think about it, the more they all sound like exactly the same in the great scheme of things and I can only read about the same characters in the same circumstances but with different names for the monsters and villains so many times.

The Diviners

Thursday, August 20, 2015 0 Comments A + a -

Title: The Diviners

 Author: Libba Bray

 Published Date: September 18th 2012

 Rating: 4/5 Stars

 Synopsis: Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.
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Review: First off... HOW DID I NOT HEAR ABOUT THIS BOOK TWO YEARS AGO?!?!
Seriously guy, this book is pretty darn awesome. It's a lot like Supernatural with their version of Dean & Sam coming and rescuing the world.

 Second off... Do you know how long it's been since I've read a book that had sentences or words instead of numbers as their chapter titles? Percy Jackson & The Last Olympian long. I remember while reading PJO how much fun I had guessing how these sentences/words would come into play and that same excitement came along with this book. Nothing but pure enjoyment while reading this book.

I'm not one for books with long descriptions but dang. Libba's descriptions are glorious. They literally make you feel like the wind when she describes people and their actions and what's going on around them. I can say that Libba is one for diversity, she uses every character she can think of, and she uses them really well. I can't even begin to imagine how much research went into this one.

 If you're looking for a book that has amazing characters and an equally amazing story line then definitely grab this book.
With more books to be read
-Vangie
Ezra 10:4

Review : Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu

Tuesday, August 04, 2015 0 Comments A + a -






Title : Devoted
Author : Jennifer Mathieu
Published : 02-06-2015 by Roaring Brook Press
Buy from : Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo
Add to : Goodreads
Rating : 5 Stars
Rachel Walker is devoted to God. She prays every day, attends Calvary Christian Church with her family, helps care for her five younger siblings, dresses modestly, and prepares herself to be a wife and mother who serves the Lord with joy. But Rachel is curious about the world her family has turned away from, and increasingly finds that neither the church nor her homeschool education has the answers she craves. Rachel has always found solace in her beliefs, but now she can’t shake the feeling that her devotion might destroy her soul. 


When I first heard about Devoted I knew I had to read it. Religion, personal freedom, and a coming of age story? It had my name written all over it. Let me tell you this first though, while I loved Devoted it’s definitely not an easy read. It makes you think about so much. From your own religion and faith to what you want out of your own “wild and precious life.”

When we first enter the world of Rachel we see how she lives day in and day out. She’s charged with taking care of her younger siblings and taking care of the house. She and her younger sister are in charge of so much that it makes me upset that they cannot have a real childhood. It’s not fair to be so young and have to do so much. Especially while their brothers, and father, only have to work and pretty much have free time to do what they want. Within reason of course. If you’re not familiar with the Quiverfull or the “Christian family renewal movement”, I suggest you look it up. But if you’re not inclined to, think of the Duggar family. That’s really all you need to know about Rachel and her family.

As time goes on Rachel starts questioning why God has given her gifts if she’s not allowed to use them. She wonders why the only thing she, and all girls in her family, are only allowed to aspire to be mothers and wives. She doesn’t understand so much about what she’s grown up around but she loves her family so much that she tries her best. When she’s “discovered” and given the ultimatum to go to a camp or leave home, she leaves and moves in with a girl named Lauren who grew up like Rachel and has left the movement.

I found myself relating to Rachel so much. No, I never grew up in this movement, but I have grown up in a church. I’ve questioned so much about what the Bible says and how I should be living as a Christian but at the end of the day, I have many mixed feelings about religion and faith. Rachel’s family’s faith is very extreme and is very much a cult. I hate using the words religion, faith and cult together but sometimes it just needs to be said together. Rachel’s church is so very anti-woman and anti-secular that it’s really scary.

I really loved Rachel’s journey. As the book went on we see Rachel grow from essentially being a part of a hive-mind into her own person who thinks and does things for herself. She never really lost her faith but knew it was different from her family’s. She’s rather inspiring. She’s proof that free will exists and is integral to life. 
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