Monday, June 30, 2014

Book Bingo Wrap Up

If you don't know what Book Bingo is, check out this page explaining it in depth on Great Imaginations (the blog running it). Basically, over the course of April, May, and June, people read books that fit the bingo tiles and try to get as many bingos as possible! The more bingos you get, the more entries you get into the final giveaway!

Lucky me, I got every bingo tile, which means a LOT of reviews are about to go up. So bear with me.

The Book Bingo card started out looking like this.


And now, here are the books and reviews!

First up is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. That book was INSANELY good! My mind was bent every which way to Saturday. I kept thinking something was happening and then it was something else entirely! The end will surprise most readers and will likely cause for a reread!


The Spring Before I Met You by Sarah Rees Brennan

This was a free novella that I've been meaning to read for ages. It goes along with the Unspoken trilogy, which ends this fall. It was fun reading about the characters, but from the point of view of someone else entirely, in this case, one of Jared's teachers. It was fun and interesting and I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FINAL BOOK!!!!!! That is all.


Empower by Jessica Shirvington

THIS BOOK WAS BLEEPING AMAZING!!!! I loved it SO much! A beautiful conclusion to the Embrace series! Also, I REALLY hate Amazon/UPS right now. They took THREE extra days to deliver when I had preorder guarantee. Grr... Anyways, Empower was amazing! If you haven't already, you must read the rest of the books! This review will probably contain spoilers for previous installment in the series.

Full review here.


Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

I actually read this book for a book club at my library! I suggested it since Jessica would be at a local bookstore a few weeks later. I loved Born Wicked and devoured it over my spring break! I was a little (okay very) confused about when the book takes place, but it makes more sense over time. There were characters I loved and characters I wanted to murder... It was super fun meeting the author and hope to see her again!

Review from this post.


Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

So, I know that Elizabeth is amazing, but even I didn't suspect the awesomesauceness of this book! I've read Take a Bow by her and loved it. From page one, this book left me conflicted on how I wanted it to end, and yet she managed to end it perfectly! The story starts in the seventh grade and goes through their junior (?) year in high school. It's super fun and has commentary from the characters between chapters!

Review from this post.


Look at that! My first bingo!

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Is there anything Jennifer L Armentrout can't right? Heck no. Don't Look Back was AMAZING! Though I don't read a lot of it, I love the YA thriller genre. Also, Jennifer is a book-making machine! She has something like fifteen books coming out this year, two of which I've already read! Don't Look Back was a creepy, fun ride that I couldn't put down!

Full review here.


Undead Much by Stacey Jay

Undead Much was an okay read. I don't read a whole lot of books with zombies, so it was definitely something new. The book itself was only meh, and I couldn't get behind the romance, among other things, but it was interesting and new. Plus, I got the book second hand for like, 50¢, so I very much wanted to read it.


Crusin' by Sarah Mlynowski

First off, that author's last name is IMPOSSIBLE! Second, this was an AWESOME novella. I loved reading it, and the end majorly took me by surprise. It was a quick, easy read, but definitely worth it. Whatever you think is going to happen, won't. And all in less than 100 pages!


Vivian Divine is Dead by Lauren Sabel

I have many things to say about this book!!!!! First of all, if you add an 'I' to the beginning of the author's last name, it becomes my name! I was majorly freaking out! Also, there was a character with my name in the book! Which shouldn't come as a huge surprise, considering where it takes place, but I actually don't come across many Isabel's in books.

Full review here.


House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

I have much love for this book! It was so much fun to read and was a very original story. I still don't like how the romance ended though. Grr... ANYWAYS! The book was like nothing I've read before, and I wouldn't hesitate to read a sequel if the author ever wrote one!

Review from this post.


Look at that! Another bingo!

Fallen by Lauren Kate

This one, unlike the others, was a reread (which I checked and made sure was okay). Fallen is one of those books that I just love, but then dislike all the others. Rereading the book was a little hard for me, mostly because I kept wanting to smack all the characters upside the head. I seem to have forgotten how annoying Daniel is at first. I still enjoy the book, and I can't wait for the movie which should be coming out next year!


The Summer Before I Met You by Sarah Rees Brennan

This novella was slightly more entertaining than the first novella, mostly because I like this character more. It was fun seeing the main character through someone else's eyes, which doesn't happen much. The novella shed some light onto things that are only mentioned in the books and made the wait for Unmade even LONGER!


Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I can't even put my love of this book into words. When I heard about it, I was immediately intrigued. Dorothy came back to Oz and became its evil ruler? Count me in! I waited and waited on this book from the library and when I got it, I dug right in! Dorothy Must Die was SO amazing! I love twists and retellings of classic stories and fairy tales, and this one is definitely one of the best.

Full review here.


(I skipped the center spot to go last as my favorite read of the spring)

The One by Kiera Cass

I can't even put my feelings into words about the end of this series. As many of you know, I did not overly enjoy The Elite, but The One made up for it! So many questions are answered, and most importantly, you learn who America choses. Barnes & Noble and UPS didn't get the book to me until Friday, three days after the release when I had preorder guarantee, which left me spitting mad. I was preparing to make them go die in a hole filled with vipers, that was how angry I was. But then it got here and everything was all better!

Full review here.


Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz

Whoa, I read this one so long ago, that I barely remember reading it. I read this during my spring break at the beginning of April, and while a satisfying conclusion to the Blue Bloods series, it wasn't anything spectacular. Not the best nor the worst of what I've read.

Review from this post.


Saving June by Hannah Harrington

This book was interesting. I couldn't find many titles with June in it, so I went with the one that looked the most interesting. I was not expecting to be as drawn into this book as I was. I think I read this in twenty four hours or so. I enjoyed reading something that was different from my usual reads. I generally avoid books with suicide, but this was an interesting way of portraying it. I honestly enjoyed this book,


Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel

I heard about this book from The Regulator when they announced that they were doing an event with the author in early April. I was stoked to get to meet another YA author, especially of a book that looked right up my ally! I loved the author and I loved the book! I can't wait to read the second one!

Review from this post.


Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Holy bleep, this book was good! I had decent expectations for this book, but it just blew them out of the water! Rebel Belle was fun and flirty, with a nice dose of action and magic. The main character, while maybe not the most likable, becomes really kick-butt! I loved the book and can't wait for book two!

Review from this post.


Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Definitely a good book and solid conclusion. I was not happy with how a few things turned out, but that was no fault of the author's, simply that I wish one thing had turned out differently. I loved the book right up until the end. Not ideal, but still good.


Woot! Another book bingo!

Defiance by C. J. Redwine

I loved this book! I've been waiting to read this series until the last book came out, but when I got an ARC of the final book, I decided to read all the books. Defiance was a little slow at points, and I wanted to stab Logan sometimes, but overall I enjoyed it.


Another bingo!

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

I did enjoy reading the book, but a few things, that are spoilery, were left to be desired. I love Rainbow Rowell, but I was not happy with the end of this book. There were some very simple ways for things to end up okay and the author/the main character didn't take them, ending in a way that will just leave the main character unhappy.


Another bingo!

Red at Night by Katie McGarry

I have had my Katie McGarry fix that'll last me until Take Me On comes out in a few weeks. Katie McGarry is easily one of the best contemporary authors I've read. Jonah and Stella's story was really interesting, and I hope to see it continued in later books!

Review from this post.


Unforgotten by Jessica Brody

I was really excited for this book. Sadly, it wasn't quite as good as I was expecting. While Unremembered was SO good, Unforgotten just didn't live up to it. I was incredibly bored at points, and while still excited for the final book, I was very meh about it.

Review from this post.


Yet another bingo!

You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay

A fun quick read. I'm hoping to get a novella that goes along with this series soon. I honestly enjoyed the book and its characters. It was lots of fun and was one of the best Stacey Jay books I've read!


Another bingo!

And finally, my favorite book of the spring . . .

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

You have no idea how much I loved this book (unless you read it/watched me read it). After Clockwork Princess, I was really worried I'd be sobbing at the end, but surprisingly, I was not. I got the book the week I was volunteering at a local elementary school, so I didn't exactly get much reading time. Which means, I got it Tuesday evening and finished it Thursday evening. And by Thursday evening, I mean really early Friday morning. So what if I stayed up past midnight to finish it, right? RIGHT? As I told me parents when I was explaining myself, it was SO worth it! There is a good possibility that part of this review will be be whited out for spoilers, so prepare yourselves.

Full review here.


Four more bingos and a full card! I loved taking part in this challenge and can't wait to do the Summer book challenge! Check out the details here and here is the Summer card!


Is anyone else going to be participating!

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like SO much fun! I love the idea of a ' book' bingo!
    Whoosh, you really read a lot, haha.
    I read House of Ivy and Sorrow and We Were Liars a while ago, and loved them as much as you did :) I look forward to all the reviews!!

    ReplyDelete