Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. Click Here for more details.
This week's Top Ten are my Top Ten Favorite Heroines. I have a good feeling there will be many of the same choices on other blogs today. But here are the ones that stand out to me the most!
TV
1. Piper - Charmed
Piper was the heart and soul of this show. I LOVED Charmed because the magic was fun but because the friendships and the family. They dealt with so much and Piper was the strength of the family.
2. Octavia - The 100
Octavia is AMAZING! If you've watched The 100 you will know why. She never gives up.
Books
3. Katniss Everdeen - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Katiness goes to hell and back all because she wants to protect those she loves. She's a great character because she comes out with scars and we all have things in our lives that leave scars.
4. Celaena Sardothian - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I love Celaena for many reasons. She's kick-butt girl who loves reading, clothes and is amazingly loyal to those she loves. Plus I love her development! She deals with tough tough tough stuff in life and she struggles with her baggage. But your past can be overcome.
5. Elisa - The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
I LOVE ELISA! Her growth as a character is humoungous in this series. Plus I love that she's SUPER SMART! I love that she's not just kick butt but also very intelligent.
6. Allison Sekemoto - The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
I loved Alli. She's also fiercely loyal to those she loves and this book is special to me because Allison has to deal with that fact that she's now a monster (vampire) and has to determine if that'll rule her life. I was dealing with an internal battle while reading this series and it was extremely encouraging that even if we're struggling on the inside we choose the outcome.
7. Elizabeth Bennet - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Lizzie is headstrong and I love her for it! She doesn't just go with the crowd or even pretend to be someone she's not. She's herself no matter what!
8. Josephine Charlotte "Jo" March Bhaer - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Jo is a great character. She loves her family but still will do what needs to be done. Plus she's creative and loves to write!
9. Scarlet - Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Scarlet is AMAZING. This is still one of my favorite books of all time. Scarlet is super kick-butt and awesome. Read this book if you haven't!
10. Ismae - Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Ismae is an amazing character. She's fully devoted to her religious beliefs and always wants to do the right thing. She knows how to fight, make poisons and grows a lot throughout this book.
Who are some of your favorite heroines?
Hardcover, 549 pages
Published April 3rd 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Summary
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
Grave Mercy
My Review 5/5 Stars
SUCH A GOOOOOOOD BOOK!
This book is a bit hard to review, for me, because pretty much all I want to say is YES, READ IT! READ IT NOW!
I didn't really know anything about this book going in because I like going in blind to books. I will give a short synopsis of what happens but won't have any spoilers.
The Story:
The story is very interesting, it's a mix of historical fiction and fantasy. I was pleased that this book contained magical abilities because I LOVE fantasy!
Ismae, the main character, for the last four years had been raised in a convent that trains young women to become Death's assassins. Here Ismae finds a home and is trained in many arts that will make her a successful Handmaiden of Death and do his will (which involves killing people). She's given an assignment outside the convent that challenges everything she believes.
The Characters:
Ismae is wonderful! She's a character that grows throughout the story and is a strong person physically but also in her determination to do what she believes is right.
Duval....swoon my heart! Duval reminds me a lot of Hector from The Girl of Fire and Thorns or Chaol from Throne of Glass. These type of male characters are my FAVORITE!!!!!
Side characters
All the characters are rich in their development and are easily understood (whether they're good or evil).
Romance
Does this book have romance? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS and I love it!
There is much to say about this book but I really don't like giving much away so all I have to say is READ READ READ READ READ READ READ IT!!!!!
BOOK LOVE!
Some books are so gorgeous like Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios that I can't help but take pictures of them!
Rebound by Noelle August has my FAVORITE first line in a book EVER so I had to share.
This year I also won a MASSIVE giveaway from Lissa Price the author of Starters and Enders. I got TONS of foreign editions, all signed! To get a closer look take a look at my
previous post!
Book Spine Poetry
A Pleasure to Burn
The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Shatter Me
My Last Kiss
Strange and Ever After
Add these books to your Goodread!
Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by
The YA Book Traveler
,
9:00 AM
The 2015 Book Bloggers Love-A-Thon hosted by Alexa Loves Book is a time for the blogging community to show some book love to authors and to fellow bloggers. This is my first one! Find out more info about his event
here.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What’s your name? My name is Sarah (like half of the blogging community!)
2. Where in the world are you blogging from? I am blogging from COLD COLD Michigan.
3. How did you get into blogging in the first place? Twitter. I really got into reading over the last couple of years and wanted to be able to join the amazing book community where I can flail about books.
4. How did you come up with your blog name? It's pretty straight forward. I was deciding on a name and all I could think about was that reading takes you on an adventure. So, The YA Book Traveler was born!
5. What genre do you read and review the most on your blog? I read and review mostly fantasy and dystopian. There are an occasional contemporary or NA in there as well.
6. What other types of posts do you do on your blog, apart from reviews? I'm new to blogging and have very limited time to do it. I've done a few Top Ten Tuesdays and a Stacking the Shelves.
7. Best blogging experience so far? I would say meeting other bloggers. They're SOOOO wonderful!
8. Favorite thing about the blogging community? To be honest, I probably tweet my Twitter blogging community more than I do real life friends. I love books and this is the place where we can be excited together. Everyone is so amazing and sweet.
9. Name the 5 books you’re most excited for this 2015! The Orphan Queen, ACOTAR, Ice Like Fire, The Wrath and the Dawn, and An Ember in Ashes. (Only 5??? There are so many more)
10. What’s an underrated book or series that you think everyone should read? I love Starters by Lissa Price. It's a great duology. I'm not sure if it qualifies as underrated but I love it.
11. Which book boy or girl would be your book BFF? Zuzana from Daughter of Smoke and Bone or Roar from Under the Never Sky! They're both so fun!
12. Apart from reading, what are your other hobbies or interests? I work for my church and I love leading children's ministry. It's super fun and I love my church family.
13. Apart from book shopping, what else do you like shopping for? I'm a mom of 3, I never get to go shopping! lol Um...clothes?
14.At a party, the DJ suddenly changes the song – and it’s your song. What song
would be playing? I'm actually at a loss on this one...sad!
15.Pick out either a book you want turned into a film/TV show, or a film/TV
show you want turned into a book. I WANT FROSTBITE! (cries). I was so sad the Vampire Academy movies won't keep being made...
Thanks for stopping by and join all the fun on Twitter, #LoveAThon
Princess Snow is missing.
Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.
Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.
When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.
Published October 14th 2014 by Disney-Hyperion
My Thoughts
This was a fun read for sure! One aspect I LOVED was discovering along the way the nods to the original Snow White story. I haven't read a lot of retellings but Stitching Snow seemed to have many nods and still hold to an original and unique story.
The Story
This book is set in space on multiple planets. You get to visit different places and different people groups. It starts off with Essie on the plant Thanda. One day a shuttle crashes and she goes to investigate. There she meets Dane. But Dane has his secrets too.
The Characters
Essie - Essie is tough. Think Scarlet (from Scarlet written by A.C. Gaughen) meets Raven from the TV show The 100. She's super smart with technology and can fix anything but she's also a fighter. Her journey unlocks over time why she is the way she is. There's more to her than we see at the beginning. But I love her! She a thinker, smart, tough and likes to accomplish things that get the job done. What I love about Essie is there is a definite growth of her character throughout the book. I'm always excited to see characters mature over time.
Dane - I love Dane. He's just the male type I love. He's full of conviction, smart and a good fighter. I love that in a character (wink). His character also has layers that are unfolded throughout the story.
One of my favorite aspects of this book were the drones, Cusser and Dimwit particularly. They don't have the personality as complex as Iko from Cinder but they're fun characters.
I recommend this read to anyone that loves Fairy Tales or Scifi, or both!
Ten Book Related Problems I Have
1. Time! Like all of you there's always a lack of time for reading. I work full time, am married with 3 kids. Time gets very limited when I'm running around packing lunches going to work to not only read but to blog. Blogging is a hobby for me that I try to do when I can. Unfortunately I cannot give it as much time as I'd like.
2. Twitter! Yes Twitter. Twitter is a good AND bad book nerd problem. I LOOOOOOVE the YA book community where I've made tons of friends. But I've had days when I spent hours on Twitter TALKING about books but then not having time for actually READING books.
3. It's all about the Benjamins baby! Money. I wish I had more money to buy books but alas I have to pay bills, food for the family, etc. So I do utilize my library quite frequently.
4. Real Life Book Friends. I'm finding more but having lack of actual people I know in real life who loves books like I do is a bit of a bummer. But I'm happy for Twitter and the couple of people I do know. I love talking books!
5. Book Envy. Yes it's real my friends and I've suffered from it many times. I am new to the blogging world and have not gotten to the place where I would be approved for ARCs.
6. Book Events. I would LOVE to go to book events. But having a family makes it tough and an impossibility to go to book events. I have been fortunate to go to one book signing where I got to meet Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard. That was an amazing night!
7.Too Many Books! Sometimes I get overwhelmed with how many books are in the world and it's depressing thinking about the fact that there is NO WAY that I could read them all before I die. Anyone ever depressed about this? Also, I wish the publishing community would take 1 year off so I could catch up!
8. Bookstagram. I love taking pictures of books and looking at pictures of books. However, I'm sad because I don't have many great spot to take pictures of my books! Especially with it being winter right now I'm limited to my house which doesn't have any great places to take pics.
9. Reading new books and not the books on my shelf. I have books on my shelf I bought a while ago but still haven't read them. Why? Because new books come out and I want to read them first. My goal this year is to read books that I already own (intermixed with new of course, I can't go cold turkey!)
10. Saying goodbye to characters I love. It's so hard when a series ends. Some books I love so much that I know I'll reread but there are books that I really loved but may never reread. This makes me sad because they were a part of my life for a while and now they're not. It's sad to say goodbye but it's great meeting new book friends.
276 pagesPublished February 10th 2015 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Goodreads Summary:
Hooking up is only the beginning of the fun in this sexy and irresistible second installment of the thrilling New Adult series, Boomerang.
Adam Blackwood has it all. At twenty-two, he’s fabulously wealthy, Ryan Gosling-hot and at the top of the heap in the business world. His life is perfect, until a scandal from his past resurfaces and knocks the tech wunderkind down, throwing his company, Boomerang, a hook-up site for millennials, into chaos.
Three years ago, Adam married his high school love—and then lost her in a tragic accident. Now, the heartbreak and guilt he’s tried to bury with work and women begins to take over his life.
Alison Quick, the twenty-one-year-old daughter of a business tycoon—and the very ex-girlfriend of Boomerang’s former intern, Ethan—has a problem of her own. She’s got one chance to prove to her father that she deserves a place in his empire by grabbing control of Boomerang and taking Adam down.
But as Alison moves in on him, armed with a cadre of lawyers and accountants, she discovers there’s much more to Adam and Boomerang than meets the eye. Will earning her father’s approval come at the price of losing her first real love? It appears so, unless Adam can forgive her for wrecking his life and trying to steal his livelihood. But Alison hopes that old adage is right. Maybe love can conquer all.
Goodreads Summary:
Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...
As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.
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Hardcover, 528 pages
Published January 27th 2015 by Bloomsbury
My Review
The Mime Order is the second book in the Bone Season series about a dystopian London where the world is full of people who have special abilities, clairvoyance. Paige Mahoney (AKA The Pale Dreamer) is our main character who is a member of The Seven Seals, a gang of clairvoyant under the mime-lord Jaxon Hall (AKA The White Binder). In this book she is back in London and is the most wanted criminal in the city.
The book starts off right where it leaves off in The Bone Season, on the train escaping from Sheol I.
Her journey in The Mime Order is figuring out how to deal with life now that she knows the truth behind Scion and it's corruption. She seeks help of the Unnatural Assembly, other mime-lords and mime-queens, for help but things start getting CRAZY! People are dying and she's getting blamed for it.
She also has to decide who she trusts. Does she trust Jaxon who has saved her life many times, given her a job, money and support? Or does she trust the Rephaim rebels who want to overthrow the Rephaim who are behind the evil in the city? Or does she trust in herself?
The Characters:
This book is set completely in London this time. Because of that we get to know the Seven Seals better. They were only somewhat introduced in The Bone Season but their characters are given much more time in this book.
Paige's growth: Paige's life changed when she spent six months in the Sheol I as a slave and it has grown her perspective on life. She can never go back to how things were before.
The Rephaites Rebels:
The Mime Order also gives more light to the group of Rephaim that are not loyal to Nashira Sargas. It's also a treat to learn more about the Rephaim and where they come from.
Is Warden in the story???? You'll just have to read and find out.
The Story:
The story is great, full of complex mystery and lots of adventure. As true to Samantha's writing, there are lots of newly integrated vocabulary words within the book. A glossary is available in the back of the book for reference if needed.
The Bottom Line:
This book is definitely worth the read. It's long but she masterfully weaves the story together. The ending of this book was soooo soooo good! And I know I will be itching to read book 3 next year.
I gave this book a 4/5 stars.
About the Author
Samantha Shannon was born and raised in West London. From 2010 to 2013 she studied English Language and Literature at St Anne's College, Oxford, where she specialised in Emily Dickinson and Principles of Film Criticism.
In 2012 she signed a book deal with Bloomsbury Publishing to publish the first three books in a seven-book series, beginning with The Bone Season. Film rights to the novel were optioned by Andy Serkis's London-based production company The Imaginarium Studios in 2012, and acquired by Twentieth Century Fox and Chernin Studios in October 2013. The Bone Season has been translated into twenty-nine languages. Its first sequel, The Mime Order, will hit shelves on 27 January 2015.
