Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)
Winter is the final book in bestselling The Lunar Chronicles series. This 800 page beast took me two weeks to read just from it's sheer mass but it is so worth it. Winter is the book you always wish would be the final in a series. It is so long and has so much content every question you had was answered and none of it felt rushed.

We have a lot of near misses in Winter. Our friends get to Lunar within the first 100 pages but it takes so long for us to finally defeat Levana. The length isn't an issue, in fact the pacing is bang on. Every time I start a final book in a series I always panic. It inevitably feels rushed and always feel like there needed to be another book. This was not the case with Winter. It was actually wonderful the amount of detail and the build up to the final fantastic battle for Lunar.

We join the team on the Rampion after they kidnapped Kai. They return him soon but not after making a master plan to get onto Lunar. Only 100 pages in I start to panic, oh god what is the rest of the book if she becomes queen so quickly. Luckily that didn't happen. A whopping 700 pages later she becomes queen and quickly decides to abolish the monarchy, but we will get to that. The journey there is this up and down roller coaster of fighting and rallying and sickness and poison apples. We have fake murders, real murders, several propaganda videos and finally get to see what is behind that veil.



As the team gets to Lunar they are immediately found. Obviously because Meyer has no interest in making this science fiction space opera more realistic. They flee the capital, this part steam punk, part sci-fi world of Lunar has been a long time coming and it didn't disappoint. Cinder gets caught and breaks free and gets caught and breaks free so many times. She is in so many sticky situations that my fists were clenched and my breath was short with each paragraph. My favourite escape has to be the balcony leap. Cinder is finally caught by Levana, who starts sending cyborg pieces of her to Kai, then at the wedding reception. Guess who's the entertainment? Levana begins this trial of Cinder and then BOOM! Cinder is manipulating guards, wolves are fighting and she rips herself from Levana's grip and leaps from a balcony. It was heart thumping goodness and there are so many other moments like this that I really don't want to spoil. Then with the final battle, it was tense, I felt like I knew that Cinder was going to win but with each passing moment and page I was less and less sure and then as the final fight between her and Levana begins and Thorne is stabbing her and slicing and apologising it was just AHHHHHH!

There is also this really lovely romantic underlying feel. Even with Cress/Thorne, Scarlet/Wolf and Cinder/Kai we have a new ship that I can so get behind . WINTER + JACE! They are so perfect together and I just adored them even with only one book to really see them, the relationship dynamics were immediately clear and Winter herself was this wonderful, a little nuts princess who was kind of rocking. Towards the end after everything with her manipulating Scarlet I was worried.

I really don't want to spoil any books here. I really don't, I put the spoiler warning just in case but I really want you to know this book is amazing. The perfect ending to a consistently wonderful series. There is no weak link in this series all the books are amazing. Anyway pick it up, the series or just the book. You won't regret it. There is a reason these books are bestsellers.

Happy Reading.


P.S - Winter doesn't have to be the end.

STARS ABOVE

A LUNAR CHRONICLES COLLECTION

I have gone book crazy this September onward. I moved house to Bolton and so the Arndale Waterstones has been within my reach. Safe to say my student loan now lives only in history books.

I have been heavily into Kingdom themed novels since reading Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas. I knew I would have a bad book hangover, so I prepared thoroughly. Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker declared that fans of Maas would enjoy this. Naturally I trust everything the yellow font on the front of a book says.

Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.

Kick-butt heroine caught herself in a pickle. Sounds right up my street.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine promised me medieval-type adventure with the included literature love of The Book Thief. I love purchasing the first book in a new series. It always sort of feels like a promise, like something great is yet to come and knowing their is more of the adventure out there, really matters when I'm choosing material to read.

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.


The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal is my favourite buy for fall. I have read nothing of it other than the blurb. The blurb and the title though, it sounds amazing, I have high hopes for this book, especially seen as the author has won several very impressive awards, this book even being shortlisted for the Printz prize.

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Next on the agenda were the books I'd be waiting to buy or that weren't available in bookstores in my hometown. Naturally after reading Fairest by Marissa Meyer and eagerly waiting for Winter, I had to buy it in paperback and it was so worth it. The cover is even more beautiful in real life. It's like shiny and fiery and just breathtaking. 

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 


Then, I returned to the Grishaverse, with Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. This book is a monster, it is huge, only 500 pages but has a good inch in height more than the other books. Cannot complain though because I have been waiting for this for over a year since Bardugo announced it via tumblr.  I already knew I was buying this book as soon as it was published. The Grisha series was amazing, I loved it and  I'm praying for a Darkling  character who turns out not to be completely bonkers. 

As I am a fan of Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston, I purchased the sequel Stolen.

Months after Nat and Wes said good-bye on the shores of the Blue, Nat is learning how to control and use her new power. She and her drakon are the last of their kind—and she’s risked her life for their reunion. When she receives a mysterious distress call, she races to help, soliciting the guidance of her new friend, the beautiful and aloof Faix Lazaved of the Blue. Still heartbroken over losing Nat, Wes is racing cars on a New Vegas racetrack while his team is scattered and lost. When he finds out that his sister, Eliza, is being held in the golden domes of El Dorado, he does what he’s best at—running to her side—and gambles on luck to see him through one more time.

As I'm also a lover of Disney, I couldn't help by help myself to The Descendants by Melissa De La Cruz. I went to Cuba in the summer and Disney Channel was all about The Descendants Movie and to an extent the book. I like Melissa De La Cruz's easy to follow pace and I like Disney. So what's not to like - nothing that's what. 

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon and made to live in virtual imprisonment on the Isle of the Lost. The island is surrounded by a magical force field that keeps the villains and their descendants safely locked up and away from the mainland. Life on the island is dark and dreary. It is a dirty, decrepit place that's been left to rot and forgotten by the world. But hidden in the mysterious Forbidden Fortress is a dragon's eye: the key to true darkness and the villains' only hope of escape. Only the cleverest, evilest, nastiest little villain can find it...who will it be?

Another book I purchased on a whim simply as it had an authors name on,  is Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher. I have read every book Pitcher has written and she is a very talented British writer. Sh has this impeccable way of writing each of her books the same but also different. Ketchup Clouds was written in letters to a murderer and My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece was directly focused around the London Bombings. She is a very contemporary style and I have never regretted reading one of her books, so here is to this one. *Raises mug of Irn Bru, clinks like it's champagne.*

My name is Tess Turner - at least, that's what I've always been told.
I have a voice but it isn't mine. It used to say things so I'd fit in, to please my parents, to please my teachers. It used to tell the universe I was something I wasn't. It lied. It never occurred to me that everyone else was lying too. But the words that really hurt weren't the lies: it was six hundred and seventeen words of truth that turned my world upside down.
Words scare me, the lies and the truth, so I decided to stop using them.
I am Pluto. Silent. Inaccessible. Billions of miles away from everything I thought I knew.

Another favourite author of mine is Sarah Crossan, of whom I will be seeing at Manchester Literature Festival later on in the month. Crossan's novel The One, is based around two twins who are conjoined. Much like The Weight of Water it is written in verse and I loved that book so I think I will love this just as much, maybe even more. 

Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it’s normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. The two sixteen-year-old girls have two heads, two hearts, and each has two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery.

The last few books I purchased were spur of the moment. For the most part, I judged a book by it's cover. The Catalyst by Helena Coggan is just stunning looking. Almost like an iris with the shadow of people walking inside it. It really captured my interest and I picked it up. This year's Divergent? We shall see. 

Rose Elmsworth has a secret. For eighteen years, the world has been divided into the magically Gifted and the non-magical Ashkind, but Rose's identity is far more dangerous. At fifteen, she has earned herself a place alongside her father in the Department, a brutal law-enforcement organisation run by the Gifted to control the Ashkind. But now an old enemy is threatening to start a catastrophic war, and Rose faces a challenging test of her loyalties. How much does she really know about her father's past? How far is the Department willing to go to keep the peace? And, if the time comes, will Rose choose to protect her secret, or the people she loves.

The next stunning cover was The Night Owls by Jean Bennett. The gold spray paint, the golden map lines behind. My eyes were just in love instantly and I had to buy it. 

Meeting Jack on the Owl - San Francisco's night bus- turns Beatrix's world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive...and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists. But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On the midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is. 

Last but not least, The Jewel by Amy Ewing  I bought not because of the cover, which is kind of The Selection by crapper. I got this because it reminded me of Only Ever Yours by Louise O'niell. In which I loved the concept but the narrative didn't go where I hoped. This book seemed to follow much more what I expected from Only Ever Yours. 

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

So that is my Fall Haul, I really did go a little crazy but then again, I will never run out of anything to read. I hope  you enjoyed this and I would love to here what you have been reading this Autumn, so keep in touch. 

Happy Reading.

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)


In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

I want to start off by addressing this cover, this series always has stunning cover art and I do judge a book by it's cover, not aggressively but there is always a small part of me affected by the cover. This cover is stunning, they all are but this is my favourite, the fire, the veil, it's haunting and dark and yet has a sadness about it. It tells me so much about the book with just images. I love it.

This is the sentiment throughout the book. I loved it, and I know I'm supposed to keep my opinion to the end, but this simply can't wait. Within Cinder, Queen Levana is simply the bad guy - the evil queen, and yet within Fairest we delve into her past. How her beginnings were full of good intentions and cruel treatment. I was surprised Cinder's mother was so vicious, it was a genius and realistic twist. Levana's struggle was so engaging to read and I didn't want it to end. I flew through the book and wished I'd read it slower.

From her hard childhood and bullying from her sister, orphaned and alone Levana falls in love with a guard. Hint: Winter's father. Being the only person in the palace who is kind to her this doesn't surprise me but the way it develops, the way her mind becomes confused and obsessed with what she thinks love is and what it should be. You see a child caught up in something, her immaturity being her greatest downfall. Her insecurities having this huge power over her and yet still trying to do better but repeatedly doing worse. Levana honestly seemed like a victim, this changes only as she becomes more twisted with power after her lover's wife dies. She becomes terrifying, eventually killing the man she loves and becoming the Levana we see within the series. We meet Winter and Cinder as children and see her "death" being plotted.

As it's in first person, we are able to see all of Levana's thinking, the way her mind works. She rationalizes all the sick things she does and you can almost understand her reasoning. Which is messed up and really is a technique so sophisticated, it perfectly shows the relevance of YA fiction. It is smart and new and fresh. It follows the same feel as the previous novels but gives a new insight into the villain, the kind of which I haven't seen since Harry Potter. This novel makes Levana a person, not simply a two dimensional, cardboard villain for our hero to fight. She now has a journey and a background and a heart. I honestly fell a little in love with her and now hope she gets some form of a happy ending in the final book. Yet before this book I couldn't have cared about her at all.

Overall this book is more than just a bridge to keep us going until Winter. This is a solid beautiful asset to the series and has made this more than you're average YA dystopian series. I love it.

Every Word Nerd knows that feeling when you finish a book in a series and then realise you have to wait for the next one. I mean, its enough to drive anyone to fictitious insanity and the GIF's born from that are well...

So in no particular order.

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

I adored The 5th Wave, it was like Falling Skies but more awesome. Cassie was awesome and the cliffhanger was legendary, I feel like I have been waiting forever for this book and I can't take any more. Come on Yancey, hand over the book and everything will be fine. 





Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

 While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love

I have already expressed my adoration for this series, it is by far my favourite and I am jump up and down, squeal at strangers and pee my pants excited for this book. Also Maas is releasing another series and I have complete faith it will be just as awesome. We aren't even halfway through the Throne of Glass series and I am deeply in love with everybody.





Winter by Marissa Meyer
 This book will feature Cinder and Snow White and will take place on the moon. 

This is literally all we know currently about the final book in the Lunar Chronicles series. From what we've seen of Winter it's going to be awesome.  I adore Cinder and now the Prince has joined the crew. What could go wrong?!










Landlines by Rainbow Rowell

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. Two days before her and her husband are supposed to visit his family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her. That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

 Having read all of Rowell's current books, I  am so excited for this new book. I have even been posting questions on the Goodreads interview with Rowell out of my excitement.



Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater






No blurb yet for this book but this series is excellent. And that cover, that's enough to get anyone giddy.











Young Elites by Marie Lu
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Even despite the disappointing ending to the Legend series I am so excited for Marie Lu's new series, the plot sounds awesome and she has such a wonderful visual style.