Book Nerds Across America: marissa meyer

Showing posts with label marissa meyer. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Book Summary
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king's marriage proposal, she meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship.

Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Countdown to Heartless
13 DAYS TILL HEARTLESS!
I am super excited to be part of the Countdown to Heartless blog tour! Check out our Twitter and Instagram page for today's fun challenge!

Flo's Review
Wow. I was late to get on board the Cinder series train, but I was definitely glad when I finally hopped on. Like many others, I was so incredibly impressed by Marissa's way to take elements of stories familiar to us and add them to a larger narrative all her own. So when I first heard about Heartless, I knew that I would love seeing Marissa's conception of Wonderland.

I was not wrong. This book pulled me in right away and did not let me go. It hurt so good, you know? It hurt to read because I ultimately knew how things were going to end up for Catherine, and that the ending was not going to be wanted. I grew to really enjoy the bubbly, creative, fun Catherine of this story and it was so hard knowing what she would turn into. And Marissa did the turn really well. I was afraid at one point in the story that it would be a light switch -- she's nice and lovable and suddenly she's awful. But it's not at all. I was able to see how and why her heart was hardening, and with a very clever final twist, how she became truly heartless.

The characters that we know and love from Lewis Carroll's story are given such depth. I was especially impressed with the Mad Hatter. Wow. His character is so, so well done. His story is clever and emotional, and the last scene where we see him was so emotional. I enjoyed seeing Cheshire popping up to gossip and the awkward, bubbling King. I laughed to myself every time I read about the Hare, because his name is Haigha, pronounced "hare" and I think that's awesome.

Jest is going to get his own paragraph, because Jest. He's the king's joker, but he is actually very clever, whilst the King is a fool. He's dark and mysterious and totally hot. His relationship with Catherine was realistic, and did I mention he's hot?! I'll take this joker any day!!

Heartless comes out November 8th, and I really think you will enjoy it! Imaginative, clever, emotional, fun -- it is all of this and more.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Thursday at BEA - Fierce Reads Blogger Event

BEA was in Chicago this year, which is a pretty easy drive for me from Columbus, Ohio. I arrived around noon on Thursday with the hopes of meeting Ransom Riggs, David Levithan, and Stacey Kade.

I missed Ransom by an hour or so, but I was thrilled to meet David Levithan. I tried to get his autograph at BEA 2014 when I was in New York, but it didn't work out. It felt like I ran into him everywhere this time around and was surprised by how personable and accessible he was. Even when he wasn't at a signing or a show event, he was hanging out in the booth . I even saw him passing out copies of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven King during her signing.

Then I was off to see Stacey Kade, who I have been Facebook and Twitter "friends" with since meeting her at RT back in 2012. I loved her Ghost and the Goth and Project Paper Doll series, which are both YA. 738 Days is her first NA novel, which is scheduled to be released June 7th. I will try my best to have my review up prior to the release.

That evening Mary and I attended the Fierce Reads blogger event at the Berghoff, which was definitely one of the highlight of our trip. THANK YOU Fierce Reads for the invitation!!

Below is a picture Fierce Reads shared on their twitter page thanking the bloggers. Mary and part of me made the photo, so I had to share it :)

This is about as crazy as it gets at a book event, so I will caption this one Authors Gone Wild.

From left to right are Kami Garcia, Marissa Meyer, Caleb Roehrig, and Leigh Bardugo.

Here I am with Marissa Meyer, the author of the Lunar Chronicles series. I've read the first two books in the series (Cinder and Scarlet) and LOVE this series. It amazes me how creative and imaginative she is.

I haven't read any of Leigh's books, but her The Grisha and Six of Crows series are both on my TBR list. I think I'm going to start Six of Crows first since Flo gave it a 5 star review.

Caleb was definitely the life of the party. The Book Nerds will be reading his debut novel, Last Seen Leaving, as our June read along. The release date isn't until October, but we can't wait that long. If you have the chance to meet him, keep an eye out for the little purple hat he is wearing.

Kami Garcia was a completely new author to me. I looked her up on Goodreads and she has quite a few books and series currently available. I have obviously been living in the dark. We received a copy of The Lovely Reckless, which is a contemporary YA romance scheduled to be released October 4th.

When we left the party, we each received a bag containing Last Seen Leaving, The Lovely Reckless, Heartless by Marissa Meyer, and George Orwell's 1984 along with some other great swag.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Book Summary
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Flo's Review
I've found my audiobook length limit. Apparently it's 23 hours. I'd listened to the rest of the Lunar Chronicles books on audio -- I adore Rebecca Soler, who has an amazing range of voices and really brought these characters alive for me. When I heard of the length of this installment, I cowboyed up and starting listening. But I just couldn't do it, guys. On average, it takes me about 2 weeks to get through an 8 hour audiobook. This is 23 hours. You can imagine. I was enjoying hearing the story, but it was also starting to feel like there was no end in sight. So a little more than halfway through, I switched to the 824 page book.

Since they are based on fairy tales, I feel it's not a spoiler to say I was quite happy about the happy ending! This installment came together so nicely and really left all of our young heroes in a good place. Even though the book was really long, there was never a lag in the action. I never had a point where I was ready to put it down. I always wanted to continue reading so I could know what happened next. (Though there was a scene in the middle that left me quite disheartened.) The resourcefulness and courage of all of these characters was always fun to read, and I admire them all for everything they were able to accomplish.

The connectedness of this entire series never ceased to blow me away. Things that were mentioned in passing in an earlier novel would come to play in a little one. Like, small details. They'd come back and be highly relevant. And, on top of that, they would fit perfectly with the fairy tale! The Lunar Chronicles are clever, well-written, and fun. I've really enjoyed reading this series and see why it comes so highly recommended.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Queen's Army by Marissa Meyer

The Queen's Army (The Lunar Chronicles, #1.5)

Jacque's Review:

The Queen's Army is a very short (18 page) story that is 1.5 in the Lunar Chronicles series. If you read Cinder, you will remember them mentioning The Queen's Army in passing, but I anticipate it will have a much larger presence in Scarlet. This book shows how the members of the army are selected, physically altered, and trained.

Z is selected at the age of 12 and is taken from his family to begin training. He is subjected to ruthless physical and mental challenges/abuse as part of the development process. As he grows and matures he becomes one of the strongest members of his "pack"....yes, think werewolves. One day, the queen arrives and wants to see two members from each pack demonstrate their skills. Will Z be able to stand up to the test?

Overall this was a great introduction and behind the scenes look at what the Queen has in store for Earth. We have already witnessed her mental manipulation and this army will add the physical force she likely needs to take over Earth. I really hope Cinder, Emperor Kai, and the rest of the characters we met in Cinder are able to conquer this ruthless dictator.

I strongly advise reading this short story if you plan on continuing the Lunar Chronicles series. There is a lot of background information that likely isn't presented in Scarlet. It is a free download and should take less than 30 minutes of your time to complete. The knowledge gained is well worth the investment of your time.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Book Summary
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Flo's Review
Posting this now, because for some reason I reviewing it on Goodreads, but not here:

One word for this book: intense. Whoa, kids! I had to let myself decompress before writing this review. Following the theme of the series, Marissa Meyer takes a fairy tale and makes it part of this story she is telling. Scarlet is the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlet is a feisty redhead who usually sports a red hoodie. When her grandmother goes missing, she will do anything to find her -- and her one lead is a guy named Wolf. Again, the way Marissa translates the fairy tale into this story is just so creative. The Wolves, you guys! Daaang. (I was trying to find another way of saying "intense"!)

Meanwhile, we are still following Cinder and Kai. We have the introduction of a new character -- Thorne. He is amazing. Thorne is so completely ridiculous that he is just a lot of fun to read. Marissa was still able to throw surprises my way, as I can think of at least one BIG thing that happened which I wasn't at all anticipating. The end of the story was quite -- wait for it -- intense, but it ended with an a definite action statement on Cinder's part. So this is what we are going to do. Onward to Cress!

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Book Summary
In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Flo's Review
So, I enjoyed Cinder. I liked Scarlet, too, though I thought it was a little intense. But, you guys, I LOVED CRESS. I loved it! Starting with Cress herself: I love that she is so smart and so creative. At the beginning of the novel she sees herself as a damsel in distress who believes in fairy tale (ha! ha! There's some irony, for ya ;-) romance and happily ever. But when she is thrust -- literally -- in a new world she is strong and resolved. She stubbornly sees the good in people. I love that she tells herself stories, like, "I am an adventurer!" to give herself courage. This leads me to Thorne.

Thorne! I can't with this guy! He is literally a "character." He always made me laugh and shake my head and, legit, I describe him to others by saying, " I can't with him!" It was nice to get into his head a bit in this book and I really liked the hints of what we saw toward the end. I am looking forward to seeing how his and Cress' story develops in Winter.

Those two were the stand out characters for me. As for plot, I love how Marissa links the story so well across the four books. Things that were just little nuggets dropped into the previous books get fleshed out in later books in the series and the connectivity blows me away every time. Finally, I have to give props to the audiobook narrator Rebecca Soler. She is so good that at times it is quite hard to believe that it is the same person voicing all the parts.

So now I'm up to Winter. I'm a bit intimidated by the whole over 800 pages and approximately 22 hours of audio thing. But of course I'm going to dive in! Thanks to The Book Addict's Guide for hosting the #TLCReadAlong and getting me into this series!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Stacking the Shelves: Week of November 1st

I (Flo) decided to jump on the Stacking the Shelves train! As Tynga explains, Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!"

Book Nerd Jacque also shares this over at her blog, so be sure to check that out as well! But here's what I got this week:

Bought:

Yes, I have multiple copies of this book. But it's one of my favorites, and for awhile there it was $2 on Amazon. And it's so pretty! How could I say no?!

From the library:

These are all audiobooks. Jandy Nelson and Meg Wolitzer are coming to Books and Books on Monday, November 2. I just finished reading Jandy's book The Sky is Everywhere and I loved it, so I'm eager to start on I'll Give You the Sun. I'm participating in the TLCReadAlong to read all the Lunar Chronicle books before Winter, so I'm hoping to catch up with Cress.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Jacque's Review

With the upcoming release of the final book in this series, Winter, Flo and I decided to join the Lunar Chronicles Read Along hosted by The Book Addict's Guide.

Cinder is a unique twist on the traditional Cinderella story. Cinder is a cyborg, which is someone who is part human and part machine. Her step-father died from an illness shortly after her arrival and her step-mother blames her for no apparent reason. There are of course two step-sisters to keep with the original story.

Rather than having to scrub the floors and clean the house, Cinder is one of the best mechanics in the area. She can repair just about any mechanical device, but all of the money she earns goes to her step-mother. As a cyborg, she is technically the property of her step-mother and is not considered a free citizen.

The story is set well into the future in New Beijing, which is one of the rebuilt cities after the fourth world war. Earth has been trying to establish a treaty with the Lunar people for over a decade, but the Lunar Queen's demands have been unreasonable. The Lunar Queen hopes that the newly crowned Emperor of New Beijing will finally be her chance to control Earth as well as the moon. With a plague spreading across Earth, the Queen may have something to offer that the Emperor will not be able to refuse.

Overall, I found this book to be very entertaining. I loved "prince charming" (Emperor Kai) and can't wait to see how things unfold her him and his people in the next book in the series. He is in a very difficult spot with the manipulative queen, but I feel like he will have some leverage as this series progresses. There is also hope for Cinder. She is more valuable than she ever imagined and may finally be able to gain her independence and more. I wish there had been a little more to this love story, but hopefully that will escalate throughout the series.

Flo's Review
Cinder, Cinder, Cinder...I'm glad to have finally read this and know what all the talk is about! And especially as we come closer to Winter! This story is so unique. One of my best said to me, "I love how she takes this story and makes it her own." And it's so true! Prince Kai is so swoonworthy and Levana is so evil and Iko is so cute and fun! I listened to the audiobook, which has a great narrator, but found myself so invested in the story that I finally had to read the last part in my book because I couldn't wait to be driving around to see what happens! With a re-imaging of an established story, it's always fun to see how memorable plot points and elements translate, and I enjoyed that aspect of Cinder, too.

Onward to Scarlet!

Monday, July 27, 2015

The Lunar Chronicles Read Along

The Book Nerds decided that our August Book of the Month is going to be Cinder by Marissa Meyer. None of us has ever read it, and it's been on all our TBRs. We were finally spurred to action by the fact that Flo found the audiobook at the library and started listening.

Fast forward to a few days later when we stumble upon this post on The Book Addict's Guide about a Lunar Chronicles Read Along! It's going August through December and reading all the books...which means that they are also reading Cinder in August! Coincidence, much?! It only makes sense for us to join in and read them all! Here's how's we start:

CINDER | August 1st – August 31st

8/1 – 8/7: Chapters 1-9
8/8 – 8/14: Chapters 10-21
8/15 – 8/21: Chapters 22-30
8/22 – 8/28: Chapters 31-38
Week of 8/30/15: Post review and/or recap

We'll also be tweeting from @booknerdsblog with the #TLCReadAlong hashtag.

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