Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1) by E. L. James ☆☆☆☆

This isn't necessarily a young adult book, but then there are a few times I read outside YA. I know that everyone picked up this book for the erotica, and I had to pick up the book to see what all the fuss was about. Overall the writing wasn't that great and the plot seemed simple, contrived, and cliche. The erotica was definitely worth the read, but that isn't why I ended up loving the book in the end.

The characters grew on me. And with everything they did and went through, it reminded me of all the good and bad things in my past relationships, things I hadn't thought about in a long time. Surprisingly, it helped me cope with a lot of the bad and think about it in a new way. And the good....it reminded me that I actually don't want to be single forever and I need to start opening myself up to people again.

So despite the bad writing that greeted me, and the erotica that pulled everyone else in, this book did more for me than any of that. And on top of all of that, it ended with a cliff-hanger so big I immediately started the next book even though it was already sunrise because I had stayed up all night finishing the first. That's always a sign of a great book.

Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine

Carpe Corpus (Morganville #6) by Rachel Caine ☆☆☆☆☆

 I've been reading this series slowly, but two at a time. And I was really excited after I started this one when I suddenly remembered that in meeting Rachel Caine she said that the series was originally only slated for six books, so I have now officially finished the story arc. It's a great place to finish...for now. I have every intention of reading the following six follow up books, but I have other reading to squeeze in too!

So watch can I say about this book? I loved it! It went in so many different directions that I couldn't expect. It had appeals I'd been dying for since book one (those that read it know exactly what that means). And overall, it just ended perfectly. All the loose ends were tied up, the series could have easily have finished, and yet it's still also perfectly left open for more.

My only quip...as the story does start wrapping itself up in the end, there is a side story thrown in and wrapped up quickly in just a few pages and it felt almost unnecessary. In fact, it could have ended just before that and let the story start the next book. I'll eventually get to the next book, but taking a break after the arc is tied up is just the right spot for a break. I'm going to miss Shane while I read something else though, and I won't be able to stay away from him for long :)

Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine

Lord of Misrule (Morganville #5) by Rachel Caine ☆☆☆☆

I'm so behind in this series, but mainly that's because I pace myself. If I read the whole series at once I wouldn't have time to read anything else.

This book could have easily gotten five stars from me, but it felt too short. I'm definitely picking up Carpe Corpus next so that it doesn't feel as short. The book didn't completely blow me away, but it was like coming home again. I love Morganville and it's Texas influences, which is probably why it makes me feel so at home. 

And I love Shane! I've loved him since the first book. I love the bad boy with the snarky comments. The bad boy that tries so hard to be good. So it's a given. I love how all the characters and written and how they interact with each other. I have a problem with some of the physical descriptions, but that's not that important.

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2) by Richelle Mead ☆☆☆☆

I almost want to say this book was lucky to get four stars, but that's where I am really conflicted. There is a lot wrong with the book, but there is still also a lot that is right with it.

The story was just as gripping as all the other books in this series and the series is spun off from, Vampire Academy. And even though I enjoyed reading it, I found it took me awhile to get into it and I didn't find it that hard to set it down if something else came up. The culprit? There was no surprises.

The end of the Vampire Academy series ended with major surprises. The clues Mead left ended up leading in several directions, ones that seemed obvious and were wrong in the end and ones that I didn't see coming, but became obvious in hindsight. Bloodlines was similar. While there were a lot of obvious things going on, there were still surprises throughout. But in this book? Nothing surprised me. And I think that was the biggest let down when I finished it right now. I figured out all the clues before Sydney did and I hated her for her naivety as a character. And the clues were so obvious that I was hoping for those surprising twists that the other books had, but I didn't find them.

My other problem with the book was typos. Both the series before this and this series is riddled with typos and a new copy editor definitely needs to be hired, or at least someone needs to start doing their job because I've never read any other series with this many typos. Along the same lines as the typos, there are a lot of "writing techniques" used in here that no trained writer would actually use. In fact, some of the ones I caught were techniques I was told to avoid in my first fiction class for my undergrad Creative Writing degree.

Despite the flaws, I still liked the story. And most of all, I still love the characters. I fell in love with Adrian even more and wished I could smack him upside the head several times. And I realized just how much I missed his snark, though I would have loved even more of it.

I thought it was ridiculous that the next book in the series will be out in February, less than a year away. To me it showed why there is are many typos, because there isn't enough editing time to be had. But still, I can't help but be glad that I don't have that long to wait to keep this story going. Can't wait :)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth ☆☆☆☆☆

I literally just finished the last line and I am stunned into silence. I remember back to reading the first book last year when I said I would have loved to give it an 11 out of 5 stars. You can double that statement with this book. A lot of books in the middle of a series become nothing more than filler to get the arc to the end of the series. This book goes well beyond that. It created so much more than the first book was able to and went in more directions than I literally could have dreamed. I have fallen even more in love with this series, and can now appreciate fully my decision to re-read the first book in conjunction with this one.

It's really hard to express the emotions I've had throughout this book at this point. I'm not exclamation point happy because I'm honestly just stunned. The first several chapters were to die for, I was laughing so hard that I was covering my mouth to keep my neighbors from hearing my through our thin walls at 4am. I love the Dauntless snark and it reminds me so much of the snarky conversations I've had with friends and lovers in the past. It felt like home. :)

And as funny as those first several chapters were...things eventually got very real, and real means painful, confusing, and quiet. I was fully engrossed in the story like any other character. I was screaming at the characters. I hated them, hated how they were acting. And it had nothing at all to do with how they were written, they just stood out from the story for me that much that I hated them as if they were real. Bookish people, you get it and I know you do!

I also reminded myself how much I hate books where a war of some kind is taking place. I came to this conclusion during the Harry Potter series. (Sirius!!!) The first book of this series easily slipped from memory as it was just one book, but then came the Hunger Games series for me (Rue!). And now this series has officially become a series for me...and hell, I really hate reading war books. Loss cannot be avoided, but I care about the characters so much that I hate to see any go, even small ones that barely stand out. As much as I hate reading it and want to blame her, I know as a writer myself that she probably hurts more than any of her readers do over the losses. She lives with those characters every waking day as she writes.

All said and done, this series is amazing. I will recommend it over and over until the day I die. I have already begged and prodded people to read it and to join in with me. And to break the seriousness of my shock from this book turned into review with a little humor...and to also express how awesome I am at getting others to read the series, I present the most awesome discussion I have had while reading this series with my best friend (her first time with the entire series).

(During the last half of Insurgent)

E: Do you ever wonder if the Dauntless read stories about us haha, I mean not that half of them could read, but ya know
A: Hahahaha I can honestly say I don't think so. If they have, they were probably so bored they stopped haha
E: Hahaha point made!

Free Four (Divergent #1.1) by Veronica Roth

Free Four (Divergent #1.1) by Veronica Roth ☆☆☆☆☆

This is a joint review. I read Divergent last July and left an awesome review. And here I re-read it and loved it even more. I even noticed things I hadn't noticed the first time. Like how Tris could just as easily have ended up with Uriah and it would have been cute! Don't get me wrong though I'm a Four/Tris girl all the way. And I got to fall in love with Four all over again which is more amazing each time.

What made it even better was that I got to read Roth's side story told from Four's point of view just after I finished re-reading Divergent. Can I just say O-M-G?! I didn't think it was possible to love Four even more until the moment I started reading this side story. I already wished I could rip him out of the story and have him for myself and now I'm begging for the chance to do it! I fell for him on an even deeper level. He's a total jerk, but he also cares too much for his own good. And he doesn't always think about what he says before he says it, as evidence by both these stories.

I'm totally psyched to start Insurgent now!!! (Yeah yeah yeah, I know I'm behind, but I had school and stuff to get to first!)