Tag: marissa meyer
Winter By Marissa Meyer
Title: Winter
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 824
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Synopsis: Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? (Goodreads)
Review:
I don’t think that this book was my favorite book in the series. But, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. This book heavily follows Levena’s step-daughter, Winter. Winter refuses to use her lunar gift to influence the people around her. Due to this she has strange visions and is going a little insane.
Meanwhile, Cinder and her friends have kidnapped Prince Kai. Levena, begins a war on War, as revenge for the Kidnapping of her beloved prince.
This story is heavily based on “Snow White and the 7 Dawrfs”. Winter in this books is Snow White, while Levena is the wicked witch. Winter although burdened by her visions really cares about the people of Artemsia. All the citizens really look up to her which has made Levena jealous of Winter. As events unfound Levena tries to get revenge on Winter and her new found friends, (Cinder, Scarlett, Cress, Captain Throne, Wolf and Prince Kai)
I gave this book a 
/5 stars. I thought that the plot line of the character Winter was extremely interesting and I enjoyed how she was give certain visions, that she struggled to control. However, I thought that the story should have been strictly based on Winter and not combining the conclusion to the Lunar Chronicles all in one book. I personally, felt there was just too much going on and there were times in the book that I would lose complete interest in the story because there was just so much going on. I felt that each character would be up to there own storyline within this book. It took a while for all the characters to meet in the middle together.
I personally felt that this book was overhyped and I did prefer the less rushed style of the other books to this one. I think that the concept was good and the story as a whole was really entertaining but I felt like using this book as a conclusion just really rushed the series.
I would recommend this series and this book to those who like stories about royal families and fantasy put together. This was a very unique series and I think everyone should give it a go. There are books in this series that I connected more with than others but as a whole this series didn’t disappoint.
Waiting on Wednesday: Heartless
Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by: Breaking the Spine
Title: Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 416
Publisher: Feiwel And Friends
Release Date: November 8,2016
Synopsis: Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.
At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king’s marriage proposal, she meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship.
Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans. (Goodreads)
Marina’s thought corner:
I don’t think that I have ever been more excited for a book. I can not believe that there is more wonderland for me to explore. I have a slight obsession with anything related to “Alice in Wonderland”. I can’t wait for this book to come out. I really enjoy Marissa Meyer’s writing and I know that she will bring a very interesting new twist to the “Alice in Wonderland” story.
March 2016 Wrap up
March wasn’t the best reading month for me. I only read two books in March. For a majority of March, I was working on my final project for my “Child Development” class and visiting my dad in the hospital.
” A Clockwork Princess“, by Cassandra Clare. This was the 3rd and final installment of the “Infernal Devices” series. I loved this series from the very beginning and was a little sad for it to end. The ending was perfect and the book gave me all the feels.The characters really came to life, and the relationships between the characters were epic and touching all at the same time. I enjoyed seeing how Tessa’s life turned out and I had to reread the epilogue several times. I also, started reading/listening to “City of Heavenly Fire” and I felt that it really helped that I read “Clockwork Princess”, before starting “City of Heavenly Fire” because they do talk about certain relationship that occurred in “Clockwork Princess.” I gave this book a 4/5 stars.
I also read “
Cress“, by Marissa Meyer. This part of the Lunar Chronicles Series. I enjoyed reading the series so far. However, this was my least favorite book so far. I just really felt there was hardly anything going on the the story and for majority of the book they were flying around in space. However, the ending of the book was amazing, and I really can’t wait to get my hands on the next book “Winter”. I was a little confusing to me at parts because there were so many different characters that had significant counterparts. In this novel, many of the characters were separated from their counterpart and I had a hard time keeping up with which characters were together. I gave “Cress”, a 3/5 stars.
Stay tuned, for my April TBR, which I am hoping to have up this week.
Until next time, warm cups of tea and just a few more chapters!
Rina
Lunar Chronicles: Cress By Marissa Meyer
Title: Cress
Author:Marissa Meyer
Pages: 550
Publisher:Feiwel & Friends
Synopsis:Even in the future. there are damsels in distress…
In the third installment of the Lunar chronicles, Cress, having risked everything to warn Cinder of Queen Levana’s evil plan, has a slight problem. She’s been imprisoned on a satellite since childhood and has only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress a great hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress involving Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes as a high price. Meanwhile, Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
Review: 
/5
The Lunar Chronicles, are fairytale retellings with a science fiction spin to them. I enjoyed this book, but I honestly felt that it was a little slow. For a majority of the book the characters are flying around in space after rescuing a hacker named cress. I understood why the author did this but, it didn’t activate my attention much. However, although the first 3/4 of the book were really slow in my opinion. I thought the way the book ending was epic. Not only were we introduced to a character that will be an important part to the next book but there was an unveiling to how the war between Luna and Commonwealth really started.
I loved the characters once again. I still think that Wolf and Scarlet are my favorite couple in this series. But, this book introduced Cress and Thorne which also made a badass team. One thing that bothered me in this series is that the female characters are portrayed to be very strong and most of the time they are even taking care of their male love interests. But, it made me wonder in the last half of the book are the male characters really necessary to the story or would it have still been an excellent series with out all the love interests. I noticed myself getting really confused in certain parts of the book, because each female character had a their own story that somehow connected with the other female characters. But, there was also the same number of male characters per female character and in this book not all the female characters were in the same situation as there male counterpart which made the book to be a little confusing and I had to go back several times to reference who was who’s love interest.
The antagonist, Levana is such a frightening character. Every time that she made an appearance around Prince Kai I would be on the edge of my seat hoping that Kai would stand up to here. On numerous occasions he did and I did a little cheer for him in my head. I recognized that the decisions he was making were for the good of the country but sometimes I wish he would have told Levana off.
I have to say that the world building was fantastic, not only does it encompass the planet of Luna, Commonwealth, but all the countries that surround the Commonwealth as well. I enjoyed seeing the characters travel through space to Africa. It was interesting to watch Cinder, struggle with decisions that can risk the wellbeing of not only her friends but the planet of Luna and the country of Commonwealth. There are a lot of things that Cinder has come to terms with, and make some big choices as to how to save her and her friends. On numerous occasions she battles with herself and wonders if it would be better to just rescue herself and let her friends figure things out on their own while she is safe and sound. She battles with the choice to start a rebellion and be responsible for a revolution on Luna.
I am impatiently looking forward to read “Winter,” to find out what our characters are going to face next, thanks to the sneak peak in the end. I highly recommend to check this series out if you like science fiction and fairy tales.
January 2016 Wrap -Up
Hey Bibliomanics,
Its been a hot minute. The last week of January and the first week of February was attack of the flu. That is the main reason that there hasn’t been posts up in the last week. I am glad to announce that I am feeling so much better and I am ready to tackle February.
Reading: In January I read a total of 3 books. And I have reviewed 2/3 of those books. ( The reviews & Discussion will be linked below.)
Grey: I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. It was a bit of a downfall for me because I was expecting to learn more about Christian’s childhood. Even though, I got a glimpse of it, I had higher expectations. I didn’t feel like their needed to be a retelling from Christian’s point of view of the entire book. I did find some parts enjoyable such as learning about Christian’s business and seeing some of the difficulties Christian had to face as a child. However, I only gave this book a 3/5 stars because I felt it was just too drawn out with very little new information to give to the reader. (Discussion)
Scarlet: This book was very enjoyable. I had a hard time getting used to the changes in POV between Cinder and Scarlett. That took a while for me to switch over from one to the other but once I got used to it the book was very enjoyable. The relationship between Wolf and Scarlett was simply perfect. I loved Wolf. He was very witty and had a good guy/bad boy vibe and I am a huge sucker for the bad boy vibe. As always Cinder was badass and I just enjoyed seeing how her story intertwined with Scarlet’s. There was also a huge mystery element in this book which made it even more enjoyable. I gave it a 4/5 stars.
Clockwork Princess: I listened to this one on audio book. I loved, loved, loved the narrator. This book just slightly didn’t make the cut to be a 5 star read, mainly because there were a few parts in the 
book that dragged one. The relationships between the characters were so strong and complicated that it made it hard for me to stop listening to the story. I loved Jem and by the end of the book I began to love Will as well. I fell head over heels Jem. But, overall the book was great. I loved the love triangle, which I don’t say very often. The romantic relationship between Henry and Charlotte, was beautiful, simply because it was so pure. Charlotte supported Henry in all his inventive ideas no matter how obscene they may have seemed to everyone else. That was something that seemed so powerful to me. Also, Tess’s characters as always came out to be so selfless and strong that I couldn’t help but admire her. My heart ached for her as well as she had to face so many difficulties regarding the ones she loved. But, this book was beautifully written and is my favorite out of the “Infernal Devices” trilogy. I gave this one a 4/5 stars. (Review to come.)
Movies/TV: This month I watched several movies that that I throughly enjoyed and meddled in some tv shows.
Crossroads: I love this movie. This has been one of my favorites since it came out in 2002. It stars Britney Spears, Taryan Manning, and Zoe Saldana, as 3 childhood best friends who reunite on a road trip after graduation. There is friendship and a mystery boy involved. Like I said I love this movie, it has some of Britney’s hit singles such as “I love Rock and Roll”, “I am not a Girl” and “Overprotected”.
This one was one of my favorites this month. I have a f
ull movie review on this movie. I thought it was great, Maggie Smith was an amazing Miss.Shephard. She played a little old lady, who had her set ways and lived in a yellow van. It was humorous and full of love. I adore Maggie Smith, and this movie was very heartfelt. I highly recommend everyone to check it out.
Kangaroo Jack:
I have a feeling that I fell asleep in the middle of this movie. So, I don’t have all that much 
to say about it. The parts that I did watch I found very funny. It follows two friends that are sent to deliver money to the mob in Australia. The money is put into a jacket pocket, and the jacket ends up on a Kangaroo. And so the movie follows the adventures of these two friends as they try to track down the Kangaroo to get back the money. ( I think I need to re-watch this one.)
Angel Season 1:
This is another one of my favorites. This is the spine off tv show, from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. It follows 
Buffy’s love interest Angel as he protects the citizens of Los Angeles after leaving Sunnydale. I love this show. Angel is such an awesome character. I love seeing how he comes to terms with the loss of his relationship with Buffy. He tries really hard to make up for his sins, by saving the people of Los Angeles. I really like that there is a detective feel and not just exploring the supernatural. There are two characters that join Angel from Sunnydale, a watcher- Wesley and Sunnydale’s popular cheerleader Cordelia Chase. I’ve been enjoying re-watching this show. Plus who doesn’t like a hunk who protects citizens from the night?
Girl Meets World Season 1:
This show I stumbled on accidentally. I have heard 
about a spin off from the 1993 “Boy meets World”, starring Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel. This follows their daughter, Riley and her best friend Maya as they run into adventures and learn life long lessons. It is a Disney channel produced show, so there is a lot of kid friendly content and a typical Disney feel to it. However, I did find it to be enjoyable and I loved seeing Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel, and how their characters have grown through out the years. I think that its worthy checking out for the Topanga and Corey fans and its a nostalgic feel to fans of the original show. (Don’t expect it to have the same feel, as it is very much 2000’s Disney. )
General:
In general life news, I am officially back in school so juggling blogging and assignments is a little bit of a struggle but I am committed to at least one post a week.
Secondly, I went back to yoga and I have been loving it. I have been currently doing hot yoga and have been working on mastering the sequences with closed eyes as part of a meditational and balance practice. I am not quit there yet. I have also signed up for the February Yoga Six challenge where you try to go to 29 classes. I know that I won’t be going to all 29 but I want to go as many times as I can this month. The main goal is over 5. Secondly, this months practice focus is primarily mastery of the hot yoga class. (And possibly some meddling in running/walking. We will see how that goes.)
How’s was your January? If you wrote a January Wrap- up leave a link in the comments down below I would love to check it out. Let me know what you watched or read. As always if you have any recommendations or requests for reviews please leave it in the comments or for review inquires e-mail me at: marinareviewsbooks@gmail.com. I love connecting with all of you.
Warm cups of tea, and too just a few more chapters.
Marina
Teaser Tuesday: Cress by Marissa Meyer
Hey Bibliomanics,
I have been under the weather today, and it has been very cold out. Unfortunately, my reading and yoga routine were most definitely not on track. But, I am just going to go with the flow.
(Reading Update: I am currently 35 pages into Cress. I hope to read a little before bed today, but I think I might just listen to my audiobook (“Lock and Key” by Sarah Dessen) . Listening to audiobooks before going to bed has been kind of my thing during the past few weeks.)
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB ofadailyrhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers
So, without further or due here is a little teaser from “Cress”.
Title:Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
” “Peony…” Cinder shifted closer to the net screen. “Thats why the android wanted her chip.””(Cress, p. 35)
What are you reading on this fine Tuesday? Leave your thoughts, down below. I would love to hear all about the books your reading. Don’t be a stranger and leave a teaser or a recommendation.
Warm cups of Tea and too just a few more chapters,
Marina
Scarlet By Marissa Meyer
Title: Sca
rlett
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 331
Version: E-book
Publisher: Feiwel And Friends
Synopsis:Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner. (Goodreads)
Review:
May Contain Spoilers from Cinder, the first book in the Lunar Chronicles.
Oh boy, there is just so much to say about this book. This is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles, it take place in Rieux, France. Our main character in this book is Scarlet, who is on a mission to find out who kidnapped her grandme’re. In the process she meets a street fighter named “Wolf”, who offers to help her. As Scarlet, pieces together what happened and why someone would want to take her grandmother, an unlikely relationship forms between Scarlet and Wolf. In the meantime, Cinder breaks out of prison and becomes a fugitive on the run in this exciting installment of the Lunar Chronicles.
I gave it 
/5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. I felt that the relationship between Wolf and Scarlett was down to earth. Wolf, was a very strong male character and he made the book very enjoyable. There was a lot of chemistry between Wolf and Scarlett. This chemistry really made the book more enjoyable because both characters were faced with difficult decisions that could have been devastating to their relationship. This book dealt a lot with loving someone that your family or people that you are close to wouldn’t approve off. I also enjoyed that it dealt with a major mystery factor, which was thrown at you from the very beginning. I couldn’t put this book down because I wanted to know what happened to Scarlett’s grandmother and why she was such an important element in the story.
This book contained of back and forth emotion. In the pervious, book we were introduced to Cinder and her relationship with the royal prince Kai. In this book Kai, is faced with a lot of challenges as he learns how to rule a kingdom and protect his people from a war that the Lunar queen threatens on the Commonwealth.
I wasn’t a huge fan of how the point of views changed between Cinder and Scarlett. I felt that I couldn’t really get into this story fully because I was so invested in Cinder’s story from the pervious book. That would be my only compliant, I would have preferred to have less information on Cinder through out the book and have an epilogue that talked about what Cinder was up too, in the time that this book was taking place. I just felt that I would get so invested in the voice of Cinder and then be pulled out and have to get reacquainted with the voice of Scarlett.
If you enjoy a supernatural mystery I recommend you check this book out. I will be finishing the rest of the series. I have already started Cress, which I will talk about in my weekly TBR post tomorrow.
Warm cups of tea and too just a few more chapters,
Rina
#Friday Reads 1/29/16: Scarlet & Clockwork Princess
Its that time of the week again, Bibliomanics. Happy Friday! We worked hard and now its time for a little break. Here is what I will be reading this weekend.
Last week in my #Fridayreads I talked about Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I planned on finishing it up last weekend but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance too. The new goal is to finish it by tomorrow night, because I would like to review it this weekend
Synopsis:
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.(Goodreads)
I am very much enjoying it. So, far nothing that I predicted to happen actually happened. There is so much suspense going on and I am just dying to find out how the story is going to conclude.
I have been trying to read a little each night before bed, but I have been going to bed really tired that the moment my head hits the pillow I am out like a light. So, now I schedule a designated time in the morning after I get off work to read whether that be 15 minutes or an hour. I make sure some reading is being done.
Also, if you follow me on goodreads, you may have noticed that I am also reading “Clockwork Princess”, by Cassandra Clare. I have been listening to the audiobook for about a month or two, anytime I’m driving anywhere or doing some housework I just put it on. I have been extremely enjoying it. It is the 3 book in the Infernal Devices series. This book I think is
my favorite in the series. It had so many feels, and swoon worthy moments. It also contains a very interesting love triangle, add a few demons, and scientific inventions and this book is difficult to put down. I have been extremely enjoying it.
Synopsis:Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.
Tessa Gray should be happy – aren’t all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her. (Goodreads)
If you participate in #fridayreads, or are reading something that you are excited about, leave a comment down below. Feel free leave your links to your blogs, or youtube videos I would love to check them out. Also, if you have any book recommendations leave a comment down below I am always looking for something new to read.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Warm cups of tea and too just a few more chapters,
Rina
Teaser Tuesday: Scarlet
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of adailyrhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers
“Kai stared at her, appearing confused, then let his gaze dance over the crowd. He shuffled his feet closer to the podium, a wrinkle forming on the bridge of his nose.” – Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Chapter: 24)
Have you posted a teaser? Leave your thoughts/ links down below.
Happy Reading!
marinainw0nderland 