MFB: Dare You To (Pushing the Limits # 2)

“That must be love: when everything else in the world could implode and you wouldn't care as long as you had that one person standing beside you.” 

     Dare You To is the second book in Katie McGarry's Pushing The Limits series and is one of my favorite books of all time. This sweet, heartbreaking romance novel is one of the most emotional experiences I have ever had with a book. The novel tells the story of unconventional Beth Risk and golden boy Ryan Stone as they go from hate to love in an emotional journey.

     When I bought the first book in this series, I wasn't expecting that I would find one of my favorite romance series. While reading Pushing The Limits I found Beth an interesting character although there wasn't much of her and she wasn't exactly nice. But that's exactly what I liked about her. When I finished the first book and found out that there will be a book for Beth, I was extremely happy. 

Here is the official description of the book:

"If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....
Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.
But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...."

     I really, really liked Beth although she was annoying most of the time. But I loved her and I identified with her. She was broken, unable to trust and scared to love. She had a very tough life and the second she let herself get carried away even for a second, something terrible would await her. 

     While Ryan's character wasn't as intriguing and mysterious as Noah from Pushing The Limits or as sexy and messed up as Isaiah, the dangerous boy who liked Beth, I really liked him as well. I loved how the second he realized Beth would never give him a chance he only got more determined to get her. I love how after all the bad things Beth does he still feels the need to pursue her. I loved how he needed to protect her from herself and from others. 

      I was instantly happy with my decision to continue this series when I started reading Dare You To. I loved that this book made me laugh and made me cry. This book ruined me, broke my heart and then put all the pieces back together. If you're looking for a nice romance book that will do that to you, I definitely recommend checking out Dare You To!

Review: Bloodline (The Forgotten Origins trilogy)

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Bloodline is the first book in The Forgotten Origins trilogy. It is a Sci-Fi thriller and it tells the story of a teenage girl. Alex is a sixteen year old living a normal life with her mother and her little brother, Jacob. Her life changes after a meteoric shower that causes a flu virus outbreak which infects most of the population. The outbreak leaves Alex and her brother unaffected but their mother is infected. What starts out like an usual flu with frequent symptoms ends up being a dangerous virus that could cause amazing damage to the population.

The virus causes changes in people during a few days. The people start acting odd, seemingly being wiped of any emotion. After her mother gets sick, Alex finds an old book of her late father which seems odd to her. This is how her journey begins. At about the same time, Alex finds out that most of the people she used to know are becoming sick, including her best friend. One of her school classmates, Chris, notices the odd behavior of the people as well and he and Alex start forming a friendship. 

While Alex tries to decipher the messages left behind by her father, she and Chris team up in an attempt to understand exactly what is going on with the rest of the people. The two of them, along with Alex's brother Jacob, start working to uncover the truth about the mysterious virus. What follows is a race against time to find a way to stop the virus before it's too late. Following the clues her father left behind, Alex struggles to solve things all while trying to keep her brother safe from the "Shiners" - the infected people who are targeting everyone who wasn't affected by the virus. 

What I really liked about this book is the fresh subject. I am a huge fan of Sci-Fi novels and most of the times, they can be similar. This book involved a whole new plot that kept me curious while reading. The involvement of Egypt culture and hieroglyphs also was a very interesting theme of the novel. 
I also really liked the fact that there wasn't an unnecessary romance in this book. While I do believe that Chris could potentially be a love interest for Alex, I think that the romance wasn't necessary in this book. However, I can see it happening in the second installment of the trilogy. I feel like this book was centered more on the action rather than character development and I liked that. Alex had one main goal and that wasn't to fall in love like so many other books of the genre. Her one and only goal was to keep her little brother safe, no matter what. I appreciated that a lot.

Bloodline was definitely an exciting read for me. I liked the plot and I liked the main character. I really liked the addition of Egyptian culture because I find it very intriguing and that made the novel a much more interesting read. My rating is 3.5 stars because I would like to see more character development and more intriguing action in the following books.

MFB: Brightest Kind of Darkness (Brightest Kind of Darkness # 1)

“Nothing makes you appreciate life more than when you wake up from a nightmare and realize it was just that. It's a good reality check.” 

     Brightest Kind of Darkness is the first volume in the Brightest Kind of Darkness series written by P.T.Michelle and one of my favorite books. It is a YA, fantasy, paranormal, supernatural novel. The book tells the story of sixteen year-old Nara Collins, your average girl. Only she's not average.

     I usually read science-fiction, dystopian novels but this book is very dear to me. I came across it while browsing on Goodreads and I have to admit that one of the main reasons I started reading it is the beautiful cover. I don't make a habit of judging a book by its covers but this one blew me away and I just had to read it. And I am glad that I did. 

Here is the official description of the book:

"Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.
After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past." 

     One of the main things that I liked about this book are the protagonists, Nara and Ethan. I thought that Nara was a very good protagonist and I loved her. Ethan was the much-needed mysterious presence of the book, at least for the most part. Their romance was really sweet and the fact that they form such an important bond sealed the deal for me. Nara and Ethan aren't just typical teenagers fallen in love. They are also very good friends who respect and trust each other and, most importantly, help each other. 

     I believe this is the first paranormal YA book that I have read and it really made me like the genre a lot because I loved it. Everything paranormal intrigues me and I often find myself doing research on the subject but I had never read a paranormal book before. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and I think it's a very underrated one. If you have the chance, I definitely recommend checking it out! 

Update: Followers & Subscribers

     In an attempt to manage my blog subscriptions and my own blog more easily, I have created a bloglovin account and so I will share here the link to claim my own blog. Also, you can now follow me or my blog faster and more easily: you can subscribe by email, subscribe to either my posts or comments (or both), follow me on Twitter, add me on Google + or follow my blog with Bloglovin!

     I will also post quick direct links to some sites where you can find me:

• My Twitter
• My Goodreads Profile

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12295633/?claim=panqugpzmqf">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Review: Starters (Starters # 1)

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

When I first bought this book a couple of months ago, I was really excited to read it. But along with it I had bought another book which I'd been meaning to read for a very long time, so I read that one first. This one was, therefore, put on hold for quite a while.
I finished reading it yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it. If I were to be completely honest, I was extremely curious to read this book at first but now that I've finished it, I feel that it didn't reach my expectations. I don't know, maybe I was just expecting something else from it. I didn't hate the book, not at all, but I also didn't love it. 

Starters is another dystopian book and that's the main reason I wanted to read it. I have to admit, it was another kind of dystopia book, different from those I have read so far, and that's one of the things I liked about it. As I started reading it, I was curious to see where things were going. I liked most of the book because I thought it had an interesting idea, that was a bit different from all the other books of the kind. I really enjoyed the first part of the book.

What I didn't like was the second half, I guess. I thought it was odd that all of a sudden, just because a sixteen year old girl told them so, all the Enders decided that what they were doing, what they have been doing for so long was wrong. Seriously? The whole book makes us believe that the Enders are ignorant, immoral jerks who use teenagers so that they can live another life full of excitement. They are mean, they are selfish and they only care about themselves. So when, in the ending, all the Enders suddenly decide that it's wrong to act like that, to use Starters and Prime Destinations for their own selfish reasons, I thought it got real cheesy. Sure, some of their grandchildren were missing and all, but I thought it was just too cliché. Maybe other people liked it, but that just didn't do it for me. Plus, when I read the part where Callie has to flee the party where she was invited by Blake and she loses one of her heels, which she later notices Blake holding in his hands I just couldn't help but roll my eyes. I thought it couldn't get cheesier than that. 

Another thing I really disliked about this book was the revelation about Blake at the end of the book. I mean, sure, everyone loves a good twist and this was the mother of all twists BUT! Making us believe that Blake was this nice, cool guy who seemed to like Callie despite her having lied to him and despite her being a poor girl of the streets to just have it all turn out as a sick illusion? I don't know about you, but I enjoyed every little scene between Callie and Blake and I thought they had something genuine going on. I was horrified to learn that the Blake I grew to like so much was actually The Old Man. I mean really? An old man with a sixteen year old girl? They actually kissed, for the love of God! I really didn't see this one coming until the very end.

Anyway, what I liked about this book was that I felt it was different from other dystopian books, with a fresh subject and an interesting plot. Otherwise, I honestly wasn't too impressed with this book and I'm sad to say that because I was really looking forward to reading this and enjoying it. I might check out the next book simply because I liked the twist at the end and I'm a bit curious to see what happens next. But for now, the sequel isn't at the top of my to-read list. The best I can rate this book is two stars because it literally was ok and nothing more.

Update: Posting Info

     Finally, I have finished organizing my blog and setting up each section. I think it's best if I set an expected post date from the beginning and try to stick to it as much as possible. Seeing as how reading books and writing reviews on them can take quite a while, I have decided that I will:

• post a new Review each Monday;
• post a new Favorite Book each Friday;
• Books Of The Month will be published in order each month after being read;

Example: Book 1 was read during May 1st-May 4th; added to Books Of The Month on May 4th

               Book 2 was read during May 6th-May 9th; added to Books Of The Month on May 9th. 

     I will try to stick to this schedule as good as I can. If, in the future, I am able to read a lot and have more than one review per week, I will consider posting twice.

May Books

• Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi; my rating: ★★★★☆

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green; my rating: ★★★★★

• It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini; my rating: ★★★☆☆

• Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi; my rating: ★★★★★

• Starters (Starters #1) by Lissa Price; my rating ★★☆☆☆

• Bloodline (The Forgotten Origins trilogy) by Tara Ellis; my rating ★★★☆☆

• Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) by Veronica Rossi; my rating ★★☆☆☆

• Easy (Contours of the Heart #1) by Tammara Webber; my rating ★★★★☆