Book Recap: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado – taking you with it – you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I’ve read the books. I’ve seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can’t be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There’s still a yellow brick road – but even that’s crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm – and I’m the other girl from Kansas.

I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I’ve been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

★★★★★(5 stars)

What happened after the Scarecrow managed to have a brain? The Tin Woodman a heart? And the Lion his courage? Has Dorothy got her wish of returning home?

This book tells the story in an upside down manner of how Oz, a place of magic and wonders, turns when Dorothy, the girl from Kansas takes the throne and become her Royal Highness, the Princess of Oz. A beautifully twisted book that will make you believe that lies can truly be hidden in what you believe is true. And remember, you can never trust anyone.

• The novel is one hell of a book, crazy enough to be the least expected scenario after The Wizard of Oz. It is as twisted as it can be, making the novel super fun to read.

ARC Review: The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King

As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple. But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life.

Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.

Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.

In Emily R. King’s thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own.

★★★(3 stars)

For Kalinda, a lifetime of peace in service to the Sisterhood is all she ask. Her recurring fevers has never made her a candidate for the Claiming, what more of becoming a wife.
But things changed when the Raja suddenly favors her to be his Hundredth and last rani.

With the rank tournaments fast approaching and a tempting love brewing, Kalinda has to face the truths that are slowly surfacing and embrace the person she is ought to become.

• It has a very intriguing plot. One of the reasons why I opt to finish the book is because of its very absorbing plot. Who wouldn’t be enthralled to read about a girl who suddenly became the raja’s one hundredth wife? That’s a lot of women to be competitive for, don’t you think? (Smiles)

Blog Tour: A Void the Size of the World by Rachele Alpine

A haunting novel about a girl who must face the consequences after her actions indirectly lead to her sister’s disappearance.

Rhylee didn’t mean to kiss her sister’s boyfriend. At least, not the first time. But it doesn’t matter, because her sister, Abby, caught them together, ran into the dark woods behind their house…and never came home.

As evidence mounts that something terrible has happened to Abby, no one wants to face the truth. Rhylee can’t bring herself to admit what she’s done: that she is the reason her sister ran away. Now Tommy, Abby’s boyfriend, is the prime suspect in her disappearance, and Rhylee’s world has been turned upside down. Slowly, Rhylee’s family is breaking—their lives center on the hope that Abby will return. Rhylee knows they need to face the truth and begin healing—but how can they, when moving on feels like a betrayal? And how do you face the guilt of wishing a person gone…when they actually disappear?

★★★★★(5 stars)

Rhylee didn’t mean to fall in love with her childhood friend and her sister’s boyfriend, Tommy. But when Abby discovered them kissing and ran to the woods without a thought, Rhylee knew she betrayed her sister and she must pay her price.

But when her sister didn’t come home for the night and becomes officially missing, Rhylee must face truth that hunts her and the truth that everyone in their little town refuses to accept.

• John Green + E. Lockheart + Amber Smith. If you love the works of these authors, this book will never disappoint you. It is sad yet very sensible. It has a character that is so epic that her disappearance shook the whole town and it also talks about moving on to life despite your loss. In short, it is a combination of the works these authors have published. So if you love their books, this is a perfect book for you.

Book Recap: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

★★★★(4 stars)

Celaena is one of the most notorious assasins in Endovier. When the crown prince summons her to be his champion in exchange of her freedom, she dutifully accepts.

But being a champion does not only involves physical battles but also tests her psychological strength. When another champion is found dead in the middle of the night, Celaena investigates before her corpse become the next one on the list.

As the search for clues progresses, Celaena finds something that is tied to her destiny that never before did she imagine into becoming.

• I love how the romantic triangle in the story is portrayed. It is not a matter of who Celaena will choose in the end since both of them has proven themselves worthy for me to not mind.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

The #1 New York Times bestseller and modern classic that’s been changing lives for a decade gets a gorgeous revamped cover and special additional content.  You can’t stop the future.

You can’t rewind the past.

The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.

★★★(3 stars)

Hannah Baker’s life ended two weeks ago when a package arrived at Clay Jensen’s house, containing seven tapes, sides A and B, and thirteen reasons why she committed her suicide.

As Clay listens to each tape, he soon discovers that Hannah’s last words will change his life forever.

• The story of Hannah’s suicide is very relatable. I know most of you have this one very depressing moment in your life where you want everything to end including your life. Well, Hannah’s story is a mirror of almost every horror a girl could imagine occurring in school, including those simple stupid things that happened on the sidelines. Many of us have heard or experienced some of her circumstances, thus, making it relatable.

Blog Tour: The Bakersville Dozen by Kristina McBride (review)

You have four days to locate five treasured trophies. Break the rules and you all die. Happy hunting!

Back in September, the town of Bakersville, Ohio made national news when a video went viral featuring thirteen of the high school’s elite in compromising positions. Now it’s May, and every month since the “Bakersville Dozen” made their infamous appearance on the national stage, one girl has gone missing. Officials are no closer to identifying the criminal.

Bailey “Like a Virgin” Holzman is getting really fed up with the scrutiny. She just wants to enjoy the rest of her senior year and have an epic summer before heading off to college. So when she discovers a note in her locker on the last day of school inviting her on a scavenger hunt, she thinks it’s just a sweet surprise from her boyfriend trying to cheer her up.

But following the clue leads her, instead, to the first official casualty. And another sinister envelope. The killer is close, and it could be anyone. Even the people Bailey’s always trusted most—her best friend, her perfect boyfriend, or the boy-next-door she’s always pined for.

With the clock ticking, she faces a terrifying choice: play the game by the killer’s rules—follow the clues, tell no one, and no cops—for a chance to save the rest of the missing girls, or risk becoming the next grisly victim.

★★★(3 stars)

Bailey only wants to have her peace ever since the video of “The Bakersville Dozen” went viral and some of the girls included in the video starts to disappear. But when an envelope with her name on it appeared in her locker on the last day of school, telling her to participate in a scavenger hunt, what she thought would make all her worries disappear would became the biggest disaster of all.

• It exceeded my expectations. This is one of those books wherein I expected less but really got much much more. It is interesting to the point where I slept in late because I want to know how the story ends.

Book Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Welcome to the world of the Grisha.

After pulling off a seemingly impossible heist in the notorious Ice Court, criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker feels unstoppable. But life is about to take a dangerous turn—and with friends who are among the deadliest outcasts in Ketterdam city, Kaz is going to need more than luck to survive in this unforgiving underworld.

★★★★(4 stars)

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First and for all, I would like to inform my dear readers the fact that I have included in my review of Six of Crows some of the things that are quite general for the whole series. To make this review short and not redundant, I decided to just state only the things that I have observed in the second book of the series. If you want to read my review of the first book, click here.

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When Kaz and his friends found out that they were scammed, he finds a way to let the merchant who promised them wealth, pay. With every meticulous plan and successful exits, Kaz and his gang found themselves in a game not only the city of Ketterdam is playing but also, the countries surrounding it.

• The story is cleverly written. From the plot to each of the main characters in her story, the author has made the best out of each and every element including Kaz’s extraordinary tactic and intelligence.