Review 255. Jodi Meadows – The mirror king.

Title: The mirror king.
Author:  Jodi Meadows.
Pages:  554.
Published: April 5th 2016 by Katherine Tegen Book.
Sort: Final book in The orphan queen duology.
Source: I received an ARC copy from HarperCollinsINT.
 

Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies. HER FRIENDS HAVE TURNED. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right. HER MAGIC IS UNCONTROLLABLE. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her. HER HEART IS TORN. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.

Rating:

This, my friends, is how you write a sequel and I love that Meadows decided to go with a duology, which fits with the story and how it all ended. She made me fall in love with every character, because they are all complex and they all have their own motivations. I also really appreciate how she gave everyone a hard time. There are no rainbows and butterflies in this story, I can tell you that.

There are no spoilers for the first book.

Monthly Recap March '16 | Lots of good food.

 This post recaps my month: my personal life, all the books I’ve read & bought, movies and TV shows I’ve seen and links to posts that interest me.
I went to the Ikea with my boyfriend and my parents to finally pick up our last pieces of furniture. We are almost done for the house-warming, which we will celebrate together with my birthday in April. So, most of March we've been busy with the house.

I went to the hairdresser together with my sister and we tried a new one. I loved it! Head massage and warm towels to activate a hairmask; it was like a mini spa. The guy also cut my hair in a fantastic way and showed me a quick method to make beachy waves. My hair has never looked so good!

I went out to dinner with my boyfriend and we had some of the best spareribs ever. We also ordered sushi at my parents house, I went out to have a Libanese mezze dinner with my family-in-law for Easter and I went to the book club, so I had some tasty meals this month. We had Easter breakfast and a board game day with my family for Easter. I won with Monopoly from my father, boyfriend and brother in law. Ha!



This is a feature, started by Quartz Feather and co-hosted by The Daily Prophecy, where you divide the books you’ve read during the month in To read {recommended} and Not to read {not recommended}. Additionally, you can talk about the books you’re planning to read next month. You can link-up in the Linky down below.

Recommended. Jodi Meadows – The mirror king. 4.5/5.
Maria Snyder – Night study. 3/5.
Paula Stokes – Girl against the universe. 4/5.
Liesl Shurtliff – Red: the true story of Red Riding Hood. 3/5.
Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere, BBC audio. 4/5.
Rachel Caine – Ink and bone. 4.5/5.

Not recommended.
Sarah Ahiers – Assassin's heart.
Rosamund Hodge – But world enough and time. 2/5.
Rosamund Hodge – Perfect world. 2.5/5.
Not a bad month! I fell in love with The mirror king, Girl against the universe & Ink and bone.  I also found out that I quite like audio drama,. Neverwhere had awesome voice actors and I always love Gaiman's creative stories.
Movies.
1. Ride-along part 2. Funny.
2. My fake fiancé. Not the best, but enjoyable enough for one time.
3. The martian. Good! I liked it much better than the book.
4. Daddy's home. Hehe, stupid humor that did make me laugh.
5. Sisters. That was okay.
6. The amazing Spiderman 2. First time I saw a Spiderman movie and now I know why. What a terrible movie, damn. So much romance.. I want action people!

TV shows.
1. White collar season 4, still a big fan.
2. Reign season 1. So many pretty clothes. Such pretty girls. So unrealistic and annoying, yet addictive.
3. New Girl, up to date.
4. The big bang theory, up to date.

A nice stack of new books. The two on the bottom called 'De Dwergen' are part of a German series that is translated into Dutch. It means The dwarves and Markus Heitz is a really good author. I also got a new phone case, received my swag because I pre-ordered The forbidden wish & I placed my first order on Redbubble. I choose a few stickers and I'm impressed! Great quality, fast shipping and affordable prices. My new order is already on its way, haha.

You can always find tons of links to interesting posts on Christina reads YA and I thought it would be fun to highlight some articles and news that interest me. It is divided in Whozits (random stuff with gadgets and gismos for YT and scientific articles) and Whatzits (bookish).


Whozits. Scientists have grown a first-of-its-kind functional heart muscle from stem cells. "Regenerating a whole heart is most certainly a long-term goal that is several years away, so we are currently working on engineering a functional myocardial patch that could replace cardiac tissue damaged due [to] a heart attack or heart failure," said researcher Jacques Guyette from the Massachusetts General Hospital Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM).

Surgeons can now practice on 3D printed hearts. What a wonderful, comforting idea!

Whatzits.
17 truths only book lovers will understand.

Review 254. Megan Morrison – Grounded.

Title: Grounded.
Author: Megan Morrison.
Pages:  384.
Published: April 28th 2015 by Arthur A. Levine Books
Sort: Part one of Tyme.
 

In all of Tyme, from the Redlands to the Grey, no one is as lucky as Rapunzel. She lives in a magic tower that obeys her every wish; she reads wonderful books starring herself as the heroine; her hair is the longest, most glorious thing in the world. And she knows this because Witch tells her so---her beloved Witch, who protects her from evil princes, the dangerous ground under the tower, even unhappy thoughts. Rapunzel can't imagine any other life. Then a thief named Jack climbs into her room to steal one of her enchanted roses. He's the first person Rapunzel's ever met who isn't completely charmed by her (well, the first person she's met at all, really), and he is infuriating-- especially when he hints that Witch isn't telling her the whole truth. Driven by anger at Jack and her own nameless fears, Rapunzel descends to the ground for the first time, and finds a world filled with more peril than Witch promised ... and more beauty, wonder, and adventure than she could have dreamed.

Rating:

This book did not turn out to be as epic as I thought it would be in the beginning. After a couple of pages I declared on Goodreads that this book would definitely end up in my top 10 of 2016. After finishing, I'm not sure if it will get a place, but it was highly enjoyable and I do recommend it. Also: the map is at the end of the book. No idea who came up with that idea, but all the way through the book I was thinking: I need a map to visualize this world! So, imagine my surprise when I found it at the end.. I'm happy they have one, but it is a strange placement.

Rapunzel has a quiet life in her tower, where she is cared for by Witch, the only mother she knows. Witch makes sure she is safe from the scary outside world, where princess try to marry her for her looks. No one has been able to reach to Rapunzel, as far as she knows, until Jack climbs into her tower. Jack only wants to find a cure for the fairy realm, so in return they can help him with his Giant problem. He helps her find out that there is more behind Witch than Rapunzel thought and she ends up leaving her tower for a quest.

Rapunzel was terribly naive and while I get that she might be more innocent than the average girl, at some point it started to get on my nerves. I liked how she cared for Witch, despite finding out what she has done. It was understandable and I always appreciate it when people can find something good in others. I also think she had a point when it comes to her birth parents.

Jack was a nice boy and I liked his mission to save his family. He had a hard time putting up with Rapunzel and I loved their bickering. The best thing about Middle Grade is always the fact they portray friendship between girls and boys without feeling the need to turn it into a romance. I think this book will appeal to younger girls who will be less distracted by Rapunzel's naive behavior.

The infinity dreams award.

The always lovely Chiara tagged me for this award and after seeing her description about me and why I should join her on a fellowship of the ring style journey ("because she could tell everyone fairytales to make them feel better about the fact that we could all possibly die trying to get this ring. Also: good bedtime stories") I could not pass this.

• Thank and follow the blog that nominated you
• Tell us eleven facts about yourself
• Answer the questions that were set for you to answer
• Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them

Eleven facts. (This is hard, because I've shared many facts about myself over the years.)
1. Quasimodo has my least favorite music of all the Disney movies.
2. I hate being home alone in the evening/night. I have too much imagination.
3. I'm terrible with birthdays. I just can't remember most of them. Thank you, Google Calendar.
4. I'm pretty good at shooters and I always play the co-ops together with my boyfriend. Call of Duty is my favorite game.
5. Sometimes I'm paranoid that people talk ugly about me behind my back and it makes me feel bad.
6.  I want to do a sport, but I'm afraid to take the step.. Meeting new people, afraid that I'm the only one who sucks at it; I need to force myself to take the plunge this year. I'm bad at doing things all by myself but I will get there with baby steps.
7. There are times where I feel like a boring person, but that is more because I am afraid others might look at me that way. I'm perfectly happy with who I am, but when I think about myself as an outsider, I can sound pretty lame.
8. I despise the typical Dutch food. Ugh. Such plain, yet gross flavors.
9. I think if I would talk with someone, I would be diagnosed with some type of anxiety.
10. I hate the fact that I am afraid to fly, because I want to see the world. I need to get over it. (First step: take a short flight.)
11. Feedback is amazing and I always appreciate it, but it also makes me feel like a failure in some situations. This effects my confidence and often ends up in more mistakes (hence the fact I still don't own a driver's license.)

Chiara also gave me the following questions:

1. You find out that you’re going on a six month holiday and can only bring six books with you. What are they?
   First of all: OH YES. Where do I go to and who can I bring with me?
   
   Scott Lynch – The lies of Locke Lamora; big.
   Brandon Sanderson – The way of kings; really big.
   Juliet Marillier – Daughter of the forest, because I want to re-read it.
   My leatherbound edition of the Brothers Grimm; enough material to read.
   Mira Grant – Deadline; it is dense and will take some time.
   Illustrated version of Harry Potter; never tired of looking through it.
   
2. If you could only listen to one band for the rest of your life what band would it be? I'm in the middle between First aid kit & Mumford and sons. I don't think I could ever grow tired of either of them.
   
3. You can immediately download one language to your brain. Which language do you pick? I really like other languages and I would love to learn a few more some day. I think I will be able to conquer Spanish on my own, so immediate knowledge of Chinese would be cool.
   
4. What is your idea of a perfect weekend?
   Having my boyfriend or family around me, a comfy chair, music on the background, sun in the sky, some lemonade and a really good book.
   
5. It continually rains for a month. Are you happy, or desperate for the sun to come out?
   Really, really, really desperate for the sun to come out. I hate cold. I hate rain. It definitely effects my mood.
   
6. Sweaters or cardigans?
   I was more into cardigans, but last year I completely switched to sweaters after I found some awesome, comfy ones.
   
7. If you could be the heroine in any fairytale which one would it be? Okay, act like you are surprised right now. I think I would be quite comfortable in the shoes of Belle.
   
8. The last movie you watched is the last you’ll ever see. What was it?
   The bridge of spies.
   
9. Were you going to be named anything but your actual name? What were the others (if there were any)?
   If I was a boy, they would have called me Anthony.
   
10. What’s your favourite TV show? Why? There are a few TV shows that I absolutely love, but I think I'm going with Game of thrones (sue me). I just love the whole atmosphere, world and actors.
    
11. It’s 11:11, what do you wish for? That I can have my happily ever after, with good health, happiness and personal growth, together with my boyfriend, family and friends.

I tag: Debby and whoever feels like doing this.

Questions:
1. What is your biggest fear?
2. What is your greatest achievement so far?
3. What is your favorite childhood movie?
4. What would be your district in The Hunger Games?
5. What does your typical weekend looks like?
6. If you could have one other job and you could pick anything, what would it be?
7. The whole world has to read the same book and it is up to you, what do you pick and why?
8. How fast can you type? (Tests like: Typing test)
9. What is one of your favorite bookish quotes?
10. If you could be in any Disney movie, which one would you choose?
11. What is your most recent TV show?

Let it go | The books that disappointed me.

Andy Weir – The Martian.
Rating: 3 out of 5. 
I think everyone is familiar with this concept by now. This book is recently adapted as movie with Matt Damon. The story is about Marc and how he strands on Mars after a failed mission. His crew believes he is dead and manage to go on their way back to Earth, but Marc is not dead at all. It is up to his intelligence and education to survive long enough, so that they can save him. That means he has to find a way to grow enough food, which is right up his sleeve as biologist, and he has to find a way to communicate with Earth.

This book has a lot of glowing reviews and I have seen many blogging friends rave about the story. Normally I would not have picked this up, but I went in and came out disappointed. This book is definitely well-researched, there is no denying that. It is obvious that Weir knows what he is talking about and I was blown away by Marc's intelligence and humor under his difficult circumstances. The thing is, I don't care about math and if I read a book, I don't want to have a feeling I'm reading a manual. This felt more like a 'how to survive on Mars' guide then a fictional story. I was bored and really struggled at times, but in the end I was satisfied that I've finished it.

I also watched the movie and I think the concept worked better on the screen. They skipped all the explanations, which made the story much faster.

Jamie Cassidy – Hawthorne.
Rating: 2 out of 5.
I went into this book with different expectations. For some reason I was under the impression this book was going to be a retelling and while there are fairytale elements, it was written as horror. There were definitely a few creepy moments, but I didn't care enough for any of the characters, so they didn't make a lasting impression on me. Heather wasn't interesting and I also disliked the regular POV switches. The story behind her family and why all the things happened was okay, but I will not read the sequel.

Licia Troisi – Nihal of the land of the wind.
Rating: 2 out of 5. 
I really liked the cover and the blurb sounded interesting enough, so I went into this book expecting an interesting story. Instead, I was rewarded with a cliche tale about a girl that annoyed me often. Nihal had all the potential to blow my mind. At times she is strong, I admired her strength to go after her dream and she could be brave. That is unfortunately snowed under her constant whining and naive choices. I liked that the author tried to show that crying doesn't mean you are weak, but the endless crying sessions of Nihal started to get on my nerves. The cliche elements made it hard to feel anything for the story.

Nihal is the last of her species, sporting violet eyes and blue hair.
Nihal is the first female to enter the Academy to become a Dragon knight.
Nihal turns out to be the best fighter of everyone.
Country is in war against one big enemy, called the Tyrant.

I liked that there is no romance, only friendship between her and her once-enemy-wizard-friend and her relationship with her father and later on aunt was nicely portrayed, but there was nothing that made this book stand out between other fantasies. I will not continue this series (and the sequels are not translated yet anyway). Shame.

TTT | Fairytale retellings I can't wait to read.

Hosted by: The broke and the bookish.

This weeks topic was actually something else, but I want to combine it together with my (fairytale) retelling challenge. I'm going to spotlight all the retellings I'm planning to read this year.

Renee Ahdieh – The rose and the dagger.
I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.
I'm highly anticipating this one, because The wrath and the dawn ended up being one of the best books I've read in 2015. The ending was cruel and I need to know how it's going to end!

Jessica Khoury – The forbidden wish.
She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world... I love Aladdin and Jinni's, but I haven't read any book about that so far. I can't wait to see how this works out.

Wendy Higgings – The great hunt.
Kill the beast. Win the girl.
This book is inspired on 'The signing bone' I love that this features a tale that is not as popular as, let'say, Snow white and Sleeping beauty.

Sophie Jordan – Reign of shadows.
eventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne.
This is inspired on Rapunzel and I love how dark it sounds!

Brie Sprangler – Beast.
She is who she’s always been—an amazing photographer and devoted friend, who also happens to be transgender. But will Dylan see it that way?
A retelling about a transgender? Yes please!

Sarah Porter - Vassa in the night.
In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.
I love retellings of lesser-known fairytales!

Wendy Spinale – Everland.
Unsure if the virus has spread past England's borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. This sounds like a really unique spin on Peter Pan (which seems to be quite popular lately)

John Claude Bemis – The wooden prince.
The automa Pinocchio has always been duty-bound to serve in the floating palace of Venice's emperor. So when Pinocchio finds himself locked in a trunk and delivered to a new master-a wanted criminal and alchemist named Geppetto-he is curious about everything around him. I don't think I have seen a Pinocchio retelling before and I love that Geppetto is a criminal.

Sarah J. Maas – A court of mist and fury.
Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court--but at a steep cost. MUST HAVE IT.

Marissa Meyer – Heartless.
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.
1. It is Marissa Meyer. 2. Queen of Hearts is one of my favorite fairytale villains.

Do you have some (or perhaps all) of these books on your reading list?