I’ve done this before (here and here, and here if you’re so inclined) but this is basically just books that I don’t really feel like reviewing, for reasons. Mostly those reasons are “laziness” and “exhaustion” and “oh crap, no time”.
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Series: A Darker Shade of Magic #1
Paperback, 400 pages
Published February 27th 2015 by Titan Books
Source: Purchased
Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.
Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London – but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her ‘proper adventure’.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.
Quick & Dirty: Listen, everyone else has already reviewed it. Why bother? I liked it. I wasn’t quite as blown away with it as some other people, but it was a solid book and I will definitely be needing the sequel. Done and done.
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Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Paperback, 432 pages
Expected publication: May 7th 2015 by Bloomsbury Children’s
Source: Won
The breathtaking start to a seductive high-fantasy from New York Times bestselling author of Throne of Glass series.
Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price.
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
Quick & Dirty: Again, if you haven’t read a review of this yet, well, feel free to come out of hiding now. I adored this book. It was, for me, better than Throne of Glass. I love Feyre, I love Tamlin, I love Lucien, I love all the things. Moving along.
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Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1
Hardcover, 489 pages
Published July 8th 2014 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Source: Purchased
A princess must find her place in a reborn world.
She flees on her wedding day.
She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor’s secret collection.
She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.
She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.
The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can’t abide. Like having to marry someone she’s never met to secure a political alliance.
Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.
Quick & Dirty: I shouldn’t have waited so long to read this, because frankly, I adored it. I will be anxiously awaiting Heart of Betrayal. I need it now. If anyone has a spare… just saying. Also, I prefer Rafe. If you have read this, I need to know your preference. Please and thank you.
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Series: Loop #2
ARC, 336 pages
Published April 7th 2015 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Source: Won
The unbelievably thrilling sequel to the time-travel YA novel Loop.
Bree Bennis finally has it all—a non-comatose mother, an uber-hot (albeit anachronistic) boyfriend named Finn, and a new-found mission to protect the timeline from those who would skew it for their own gain. But when she leans over one day to smooch said boyfriend, her lips meet those of her arch-nemesis Wyck instead. The timeline has been altered, and Bree is caught in the crosshairs. But when she goes back to repair the damage, she is stopped by none other than her Future Self, who delivers an urgent message: Someone is kidnapping Shifters from the distant past. It’s up to Bree to stop them. But first, she has to figure out who… and why.
To follow the trail of chronocrumbs, Bree reluctantly accepts her new undercover gig as Wyck’s girlfriend. Everything goes spiffy until Finn shows up in the 23rd century on the eager arm of a gorgeous fellow Shifter,Blark. Even as Bree struggles with jealousy, she battles the nagging dread that Finn might be better off with someone less chronologically complicated. Her worst fear is confirmed when Finn becomes the kidnapper’s next victim. As Bree zeroes in on the culprit, they unravel her life one timeline-change at a time. She realizes that she alone has the power to save herself and everyone she loves. But to do that, she may lose Finn forever.
Quick & Dirty: I liked it, I didn’t love it. It was a decent book, just not quite as much fun as the original. The charm of Loop was a bit lost in this sequel, in favor of more action, and I’ll admit, a bit of confusion on my end. 
And that’s it for this round! I assume next round will showcase An Ember in the Ashes, The Wrath and the Dawn, and basically any other non-review book I get a chance to read! If you want to know more about any of these, I am happy to oblige!
Is the Throne of Glass series really good? I mean, yes, the blurb seems fantastic but I’m torn between The Lunar Chronicles and this series. So, any guess what series to start? Thanks, Shannon! 🙂
Please just start The Lunar Chronicles. I’ve tasted both of them and frankly The Throne of Glass paled compare to Lunar Chron.
Well, I haven’t finished either series yet! I read the first of both, and I am a little more anxious to read the next Throne of Glass book, but I also really want to pick up The Lunar Chronicles again too. It’s a tough call! AND I have heard that BOTH second books are better than the first! I guess the question is: Do you want retelling or straight up fantasy? If it’s retelling, go with Cinder, if it’s fantasy, go with ToG! Good luck, and if I read either second one soon, I will let you know!
It seems like The Lunar Chronicles is really good according to both of you! Gonna read that first. 🙂
Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think 😀
This is TOTALLY a great idea!! I only ever review ARCs on the blog…and I read sooo many other books and I kind of hate that I don’t get to yell at everyone how good they are. xD lol I loved Vicious and want A Darker Shade of Magic ASAP.
YES! That is my biggest problem too lately, because it has been ALL review books, hence this feature. I also enjoy telling people when a book is complete rubbish, too 😉
You don’t want to review some of my fav books! lol. I kinda feel you on ADSOM. It took me 4 hours to complete my review because, well how tf do you even explain it?! I’m still trying to figure out how I was able to explain it. I literally just posted my review for ACOTAR and I started at 3pm, and didn’t finish until 12am. I loved everything about the book, that I just wanted to tell everything, so I ended up deleting what I had at first, and started fresh with a review where I’m not giving too much away. It’s still long because HELLO I am the queen of long reviews lmao. I adored TKOD and can’t wait for the sequel, I’m so glad you enjoyed it even though you’re rooting for the wrong guy! #TeamAssassin!
Hahah NOPE! That is the best part of buying books, I never have to say a word about them 😉 And that’s the thing- it is HARD not to just flail and write ALL THE THINGS, so I don’t!
Also, apparently, more people ARE on #TeamAssassin, I have learned. So you are in good company, and I will keep the prince for myself 😉
I love this!! I’m just waiting for the new UBB so that I can actually show multiple reviews in one post. Because I’m neurotic and I can’t handle the books not showing up in my review list.
SO glad you loved The Kiss of Deception. The Heart of Betrayal is actually the one and only book I’ve ever requested from one of the big publishers (not counting NetGalley, of course – and not counting The Maze Runner/Scorch Trials special addition that I just kind of off-handedly asked for in a reply to a publisher) – and I never heard back. I was SO sad! I’m guessing absolutely everyone requested this book. If I get my hands on it somehow miraculously, I’ll share!
ME TOOOOOO! I cannot WAIT for the new UBB, and I will be going back and updating these posts. I actually have wanted to do a LOT more of them, but like you said, waiting for UBB!
Awwww! I am sorry 🙁 That really stinks. I have heard that EVERYONE is dying for it though, so I guess it makes sense, but still! At least we only have like, 2 months left to wait! And we’ll be busy at bookish activities, so there’s that!
WOW YOU’RE JUST GONNA PASS BY ALL OF THESE AWESOME BOOKS. WHAT. Ok fine whatever. I’m glad you liked A Darker Shade of Magic. AND I ALSO PREFER RAFE. But that’s only because I don’t know anything about the other guy. Wow I’ve already forgotten his name. Oops.
It’s Kaden
Hahahhah YEP. That’s my plan 😉 Seriously, have we not seen enough reviews? You know where I stand, and that is what matters, no? And YAY RAFE! Holly will be mad to see that you’ve forgotten so much about this book 😉
Hahaha, I’m actually trying to write up my review for ACOTAR for a blog tour post, and honestly my mind is completely blank right now. I’ve been seeing reviews for this book back to back these past few weeks! But I totally agree–it was a lot better than Throne of Glass.
Sorry to hear that you weren’t blown away with ADSOM. I really hope I love it, or else I’ll lose faith in the blogging community, haha!
Hahha right? I am actually quite glad I didn’t request an ARC of it now, so I don’t have to say ANYTHING muhahah! I seriously think my plan is to only request ARCs of books that aren’t hyped, so I don’t have to worry about reviewing them 😉
And I really liked ADSOM. Especially toward the end- the second half of the book I was REALLY into. But the first half was a little slow for me. BUT, I definitely will be reading the next book AND will be super excited for it. Basically- first half of the book was 4 stars, second half was definitely 5 stars.
I can actually quite relate to this. There are just some books that you love so much (Referring to your first books mentioned here) that you just want to simply love and not be bothered to write about it. I mean, wouldn’t saying “THIS IS AWESOME READ IT!!!” be enough?! Haha. Some books are just so hard to express into words!
Hahhaha that is exactly it! I just don’t want to talk about it, just… know that I loved it! A lot of times I don’t even know WHY I love a book, so in these cases, “I love it!” will have to do. Those are the perks of buying books as opposed to getting ARCs 😉
I like these. I totally understand not wanting to review Darker Shade of Magic and Court of Thorns and Roses there are so many people talking about them right now. I haven’t read either yet! I really need to write one of these, so many books I just don’t have much to say about. I’ll let you know when I eventually get my hands on Kiss of Deception.
Yes, that is exactly it- everyone is posting reviews of them lately, so… why bother? Especially when I have like, 3000 review books to review 😉 I hope you like Kiss of Deception when you do read it!
I do mini review posts myself, but I love how you set this up! “Quick and dirty” – love it!
I’ve gotta read both ACOTAR and The Kiss of Deception – hopefully the former this month!
Aw thanks! I think it will be SO easy to do mini-reviews when the new UBB comes out, but until then… I like that these can be ridiculous, I try to keep it a *little* more legitimate when I do review books 😉 Hope you enjoy them both!!
Haha, I will fully admit that I’ve stopped reading ACOTAR reviews. There’s only so many you can read. And when like 500 of them came out the week of release, I just had to like, escape my feed to be honest. Hoping to read ADSOM and The Kiss of Deception this summer, since obviously, I NEED TO. And then we’ll see if I agree with you about Rafe…
Ha ME TOO! I read them only if it is from a blogger whose reviews I REALLLLLY love and I want to see if our thoughts match up. Otherwise… I am so over it! I don’t think there has been a book yet with as much (and as long lasting) hype as ACOTAR, really. Ohhh you must let me know what you think when you read them 🙂
I’ve heard V.E. Schwab mentioned so often now that I finally looked up the blurb. I’m not enthusiastic about another book set in London, but the concept sounds awesome (I LOVE parallel universes). I think I might give it a try!
I think I’ll read Twist, because I liked Loop. I’ve heard of Kiss of Deception, but Iiiii don’t know. The blurb kind of sounds pretty unoriginal and like there’s going to be an annoying love triangle and lots of schmoop? Do feel free to change my mind. I didn’t love Throne of Glass, so I don’t think I’ll be reading ACOTAR.
It was good! It started a little slow for me, which is why I think I wasn’t AS blown away as others, but by the end I was definitely smitten.
ACOTAR is very different from ToG. I liked it much better. It’s got faeries, and not Celaena, and no love triangle. So there’s that. Kiss of Deception honestly doesn’t have a love triangle, but it has the possibility for one. And not tons of schmoop either! Basically, Lia is pretty badass, and she runs away, and she is like, making a life for herself by working hard, meeting other women- dude there are female friendships in this one, so it’s a huge win on that front. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I was very wrong!
I’m kind of fed up with faeries right now, so ACOTAR doesn’t really intrigue me, but Kiss of Deception sounds awesome! I think I’ll give it a chance 🙂
I need to do a quickies post (which is where I do quick mini reviews of books that I otherwise wouldn’t review) for like 8 books. Part of my problem is I’ll read books in a series back to back (like Throne of Glass or Falling Kingdoms) and I start the next book before writing the last books review and then I read the wohle series back to back and all the installments run together and I can’t divide them in my mind into separate reviews.
Oh I have that happen too! In that case, I would just do a series review, then you don’t really even have to do them individually! 😀
I prefer Rafe too, even when I guess wrong. I just can’t help fall for him is all 🙂
I agree, he was just… I don’t know, nicer in general!
Apart from Twist (I haven’t even read Loop yet) I need to read ALL OF THESE (but especially The Kiss of Deception because I feel like the last person to have not read it now) and ACoTaR has been getting ALL THE LOVE. I want some of that love. 😉 Okay, that sounds bad. Leaving now.
Hahha you might be the last one, because I was sure I was the last one 😉 And trust me, you DO want some of the love 😀
A court of thorns and roses & A darker shade of magic definitely have a lot of buzz around them! That’s why I’m always torn about posting my reviews.. I don’t want to post it too late when everything has already been said, but now I feel like I’m ‘one of a thousand.’ Oh well, I love your short recaps and I have to agree with them. I’m not sure if I loved ACOTAR more than TOG, I think I love them equally 🙂 Sarah proved, again, to be a very talented author.
They sure do! I mean, I would do reviews IF I felt that I had something different to say, or something I really wanted to share. But for the most part it was a case of “I like book”, and I really didn’t need a review for that. Yours was a quality review though, and I think those are important too! We can’t all just write a sentence about it 😉
I spy A Court of thorns & Roses – if I love this book too, then I will have trouble writing a unique review about it. Almost everyone loves it xD I like the mini reviews idea.
Thanks! And that’s a good point- if my opinion was different, I probably WOULD have written a real review, but since I am just another person who liked it… why bother? 😉
I can understand your decision to not to review ACOTAR. It’s actually a bit tiring to see reviews for that book all around the blogosphere and all of them stating the same-the book is perfect.
And A Darker Shade of Magic!I really want to read it! I read Vicious and loved it so much that I can’t wait to read more from V.E.Schwab
I know what you mean. I am also a bit sick of it, which is why I just didn’t want to be another one of “those” reviews hahha. And I cannot WAIT to read Vicious, I have heard such great things!