the names they gave us: stardust arc reviews

The Names They Gave Us

Emery Lord

release date: May 16 by Bloomsbury

ALL OF THE STARS/5 (infinite stars. a whole multiverse full of stars for this one)

Lucy Hansson was ready for a perfect summer with her boyfriend, working at her childhood Bible camp on the lake. But when her mom’s cancer reappears, Lucy falters—in faith, in love, and in her ability to cope. When her boyfriend “pauses” their relationship and her summer job switches to a different camp—one for troubled kids—Lucy isn’t sure how much more she can handle. Attempting to accept a new normal, Lucy slowly regains footing among her vibrant, diverse coworkers, Sundays with her mom, and a crush on a fellow counselor. But when long-hidden family secrets emerge, can Lucy set aside her problems and discover what grace really means?

Full review under the cut. Definitely top two favorite books I've read all year. 

i'll give you the sun: stardust reread reviews

I'll Give You The Sun

Jandy Nelson

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (yeah I gave this book 10 out of 5 stars. COME FOR ME)

goodreads/b&n/amazon

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

full review of this book... since I've somehow never review it before... under the cut! 

spotlight on: favorite books of 2016

Welcome to the last Spotlight On for 2016! This year has been completely insane in so many ways, but I have loved doing this series and will definitely continue it in the new year. I will wrap up the year with a spotlight on: favorite books of 2016, because that feels like coming full circle. I hope you guys have had at least a marginally good 2016, and let's all hope and pray to whatever we believe in that 2017 is better. As for reading, I feel like as the world got crazier, I retreated more into books, which made my year of reading amazing. I can't wait for 2017 releases to come out, because I think there are some truly amazing ones on the horizon. Let me know what you guys loved this year, as I am always looking to add to my TBR, and have a good New Year's Eve!

2016 New-to-Me Favorites (In Temporal Order)

1. I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

review here 

 If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.
~~~
This was one of the very first books that I read and loved this year, and even almost 12 months later, I still think about it in my day to day life. I just felt like the setting and character development were so real, the book felt seamless. I loved the conflict and the romance, and the way they were both developed, and I am definitely planning on rereading it at some point this year. Totally one of my favorite contemporaries that I read this year, even though it came out in 2015. 
 

2. Kings Rising (Captive Prince #3) – C.S. Pacat 

review here

(spoilers for books 1&2!) Damianos of Akielos has returned.

His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill.

On the brink of a momentous battle, the future of both their countries hangs in the balance. In the south, Kastor’s forces are massing. In the north, the Regent’s armies are mobilising for war. Damen’s only hope of reclaiming his throne is to fight together with Laurent against their usurpers.

Forced into an uneasy alliance the two princes journey deep into Akielos, where they face their most dangerous opposition yet. But even if the fragile trust they have built survives the revelation of Damen’s identity—can it stand against the Regent's final, deadly play for the throne?
~~~ 
 If you take away one thing from my favorite books of 2016.... let it be that the Captive Prince series is INCREDIBLE!! I wrote a long and feelsy review for this entire series, but I just want to reiterate here how crazy amazing these books are. I just think they're totally groundbreaking for m/m fantasy, and if you haven't read them, I would totally recommend trying them out if you're looking to expand your experience in fantasy. Be sure to read the list of trigger warnings that I linked in my review of these books, but if you're cool with being a little shocked, I would definitely recommend this. The third book especially was playing so much on my emotions... planning on rereading them all soon!! 
 

3. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) – Alwyn Hamilton 

review here 

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him... or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is. 
~~~
  Count this as the book that surprised me the most during 2016. I was totally not expecting to like it, but I ended up devouring it in one sitting and absolutely adored the world and the characters so much. It was described to me as a middle eastern fantasy mixed with a western, which sounded so out of order to me, but it really is the best description, and Alwyn Hamilton mixes the two aspects so well, you don't even notice how odd it is. I absolutely cannot wait for the second book to come out early next year, because I truly can't wait to see where Hamilton takes this story. 
 

 4. When We Collided – Emery Lord 

review here 

We are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know…

Jonah never thought a girl like Vivi would come along.

Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world.

Neither of them expected a summer like this…a summer that would rewrite their futures.

In an unflinching story about new love, old wounds, and forces beyond our control, two teens find that when you collide with the right person at just the right time, it will change you forever. 
~~~
Emery Lord is one of my all time favorite authors, and her new book was no different than her last two. I absolutely loved this story, even though and especially because it was so different from her other two books. I love how Emery Lord portrays all of her relationships, whether they be romantic, familial, or platonic. I always feel like her characters are people I know, good and passionate people who love each other no matter what. I also really appreciate the way this book portrays mental illness. It is uplifting and hopeful while also addressing harsh realities of life. 
 

5. The Loose Ends List – Carrie Firestone

review here

It’s a summer for first love, last wishes, and letting go.

Maddie has big plans to spend the last months before college tying up high school “loose ends” alongside her best friends. Then her beloved grandmother drops two bombshells: (1) Gram is dying. (2) She’s taking her entire family on a round-the-world cruise of dreams come true—but at the end, Gram won’t be returning home.

With a promise to live in the now without regrets, Maddie boards the Wishwell determined to make every moment count. She finds new friends in her fellow Wishwellians, takes advantage of the trip’s many luxuries, gets even closer to her quirky family, and falls for painfully gorgeous Enzo. But despite the copious laughter, headiness of first love, and wonder of the glamorous destinations, Maddie knows she is on the brink of losing Gram, and she struggles to find the strength to let go in a whirlwind summer shaped by love, grief, and laughter.    
~~~
I was sent this ARC having no idea what this book was going to be about, and then I read it and was totally and completely blown away by the humanity of the story, the complexity of the relationships, and the raw emotions that make this story amazing. This book contains three of my favorite things: traveling around the world, crazy but loving family dynamics, and some killer character development, all combined in a book that is as heartwarming as it is hilarious. I can't stress enough how much this book mixed the wonderful with the heartbreaking, and how much I enjoyed myself while reading it. 
  

6. And I Darken (The Conqueror's Saga #1) – Kiersten White 

review here

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.

Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.

The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she'll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive.
~~~ 
Definitely one of the most different books that I've read in awhile. I'm pretty picky about my historical fiction, but everything about a gender-swapped Vlad the Impaler was appealing to me. This book was dark and twisty, with amazingly complicated characters, political maneuverings, and relationships. I love the world of this novel, which we are simultaneously thrown into and guided through. Lada is a kickass anti-princess, anti-heroine who deserves to be celebrated for what she is, and Radu is a precious flower that conceals thorns. Love my murder kids! Can't wait to see what they get up to next!

7. The Unexpected Everything – Morgan Matson

review here

Andie had it all planned out. When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future. Important internship? Check. Amazing friends? Check. Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life. Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected. And where’s the fun in that? 
~~~
Morgan Matson is one of the best contemporary writers out there, IMO. Every single book she writes feels like coming home, they just exist in this comfortable place where I can read for hours and hours and feel like no time at all has passed. Andie and her friends are #squadgoals, I love the use of emojis in this book, the humor is on point, and Clark is the absolute cutest boy in the universe! This book also has a multitude of dogs and a great father daughter relationship, which aren't things I absolutely require in a book but are certainly things that I love to see :)

8. Love & Gelato – Jenna Evans Welch 

review here

“I made the wrong choice.”

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.
~~~
I picked up this book because I wanted something cute and fluffy during the summer, and I absolutely love Italy, so this seemed like something that I would enjoy. I ended up absolutely loving it way more than I expected to, and it was so much more to me than just a light and fluffy summer read. The characters were amazing!! I loved them so much, especially Howard, I just wanted to squish them. I loved the romance that developed, it was a slow burn that I really enjoyed, and the family mystery was what compelled me to keep on reading until the end. Wonderful book if you love travel for sure, and also there's some great relationships here! 
 

9. My Lady Jane –  Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows 

review here

The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane is about to become the Queen of England. 
~~~
Not your typical historical fiction! Emphasis on the fiction. This was the #1 most hilarious book that I read all year. It had me giggling from page one. It reminded me of Monty Python and of the Princess Bride, in that it takes history and makes it funny, less serious, and doesn't let itself be held down by the actual history that it is trying to depict. This book tells the story of Lady Jane Grey, known for being the shortest reigning monarch in history and her untimely death. Or is she? I loved the magic and hilarity of the story, and the characters were wonderful as well.

10. This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) – Victoria Schwab 

review here

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.
~~~
Victoria, or V.E., Schwab is one of my favorite authors in both adult and YA fantasy. Everything that she writes is so different, both from the standards of the genre and from everything else she's ever written, and This Savage Song is no different. I loved how dark and gritty it was, and how that aspect was tempered by these moments of brilliant lightness. This book revolves around a world where violent acts literally spawn monsters, and our main characters are a monster boy who is anything but, and a human girl who would give anything to be monstrous. I flew through this one and for those of you who like fantasical dystopian world, I think you will too! 

11. A Torch Against The Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) – Sabaa Tahir

review here

 Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.
~~~
It's no secret that I adored An Ember in The Ashes, the first installment in this series, and so I was a little bit nervous to read this second one. Whenever a first book is just *that* good, there is a lot to live up to. I shouldn't have worried, though, because Sabaa Tahir delivered within the first few pages and then just kept on firing on all cylinders throughout the book. So many twists and turns and a new POV character benefit this novel, and I cannot wait to see what else Tahir does with this world.

12. Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) – Jay Kristoff

review here

The first in a new fantasy series from the New York Times bestselling author.

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
~~~
Are you looking for a little bit of darkness, gore, and action thrown into a really cool world, a kickass main character, and a rough and tumble plot? Then Nevernight is for you. I loved this book, the Romanesque fantasy world, the city built on the bones of a fallen god, a coven of assassins that worship the goddess of the night, and a world where there are three suns that hardly ever set? HELLO. All of the aspects are there and they are all used so wonderfully well. I loved the narration style and the footers, Mia is a great and quick-to-action protag, and the plot twist at the end really SHOOK me. I'd never read Jay Kristoff before, but he definitely burst into my reading life and I will be checking out his other works.
 

13. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) – Leigh Bardugo

review here

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world. 
~~~
If I had to write a summary for this book it would just be this: *CONSTANT YELLING FOR FIVE MINUTES.* That is how incoherent I was after finishing this one. Together with the first book in this series, Six of Crows, it makes up one of the best duologies in existence, IMO. The characters just pop off the page, and their relationships give me so much of the life. Also, if you're a fan of heists, ragtag teams getting shit done, and narrowly escaping death in impossible circumstances, these books are for you!! dont even try to fight me on the perfection of this book, because you will lose.   

14. The Female of the Species – Mindy McGinnis

review here

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
~~~
This is one of the most unconventional contemporaries that I've ever read, and I appreciate Mindy McGinnis and everyone who stands behind her for getting this one published. I think this is such an important book, and especially for it to be published in 2016, I just want to cry because I am so grateful for this book. It is dark, chilling, and at times difficult to read, but I think that is what makes it so important. It is rare that I run across a work of fiction that deals so directly with rape culture and the struggle of women in a world dominated by men and their opinions. I swear everyone needs to read this book. 
  

15. The Sun is Also A Star – Nicola Yoon 

review here

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
~~~
Another book that has important applications, especially in the year that we are just coming out of, I think The Sun Is Also A Star is Nicola Yoon at her best. I loved Everything, Everything, but this book is even better. It is such a frank look at immigration, deportation, relating to family when you are the product of two different cultures, and interracial and intercultural interactions. And it is all told in gorgeous prose with wonderful explanatory chapters sprinkled into the narrative. Take an afternoon and read this in a sunny windowseat. It will warm your heart and make you think.

I think that is all of my favorite books from this year, I might have left off a couple that I really loved, but don't hold it against me! there are so many amazing things that I read this year. I cannot wait to see what 2017 hold for all of us, in reading and in life :) 

xx
Caroline 

   

spotlight on: my favorite fall reads

Welcome to Spotlight On: a monthly feature hosted her at Stardust and Words. You can find the rest of the spotlight posts here! I did a post that is similar to this one last year, where I talked about the books that capture the spirit of Halloween for me, and I talked about this again in my TTT post last week! Now I want to talk about some books that I love to reread in the fall. Some of these are perennial favorites, and some of them are new-to-me favorites, but they all have the coziness and feeling of coming home that I associate with fall, and they are all perfect for curling up with a mug of something hot and watching the leaves swirl outside the window :)

1.The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas – Swashbuckling, revenge, misty islands, and mistaken identity make this a perfect book for a fall afternoon. It's super long, so you can either power through with the help of a lot of coffee or read an abridged version. I just love how atmospheric it is.

2. Ella Enchanted – Gail Carson Levine – The perfect quick read for when you need a pick me up. I love to make a super elaborate hot chocolate and then snuggle up with this book or its (HIGHLY inferior but still a ton of fun) movie. Gail Carson Levine is one of the best writers I've ever read, and she manages to capture so much emotion and heart in all of her books. Ella Enchanted is my personal favorite, but you can't go wrong with any of her novels.

3. Inkheart – Cornelia Funke – One of my favorite books from when I was in middle school, this entire trilogy reminds me of driving through New England in October. Lovable characters, a great father daughter relationship, and traveling into all of your favorite books means that Inkheart is basically every bibliophile's dream.

4. The Princess Bride – William Goldman – Okay, who doesn't adore The Princess Bride? It is one of those classic fairy tale stories that you absolutely can't go wrong with on a fall day. It's hilarious, heartbreaking and completely engaging.

5. Entwined – Heather Dixon – A darker retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Dixon conjures up the darker side of fall with her fairy tale. I think of abandoned castles, sleeping beauty on her one-hundredth year of slumber, and dark fall nights lit only with candles.

6. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien – Do I even need to explain myself here? I don't know about you guys, but curling up in a Hobbit hole with Bilbo is the perfect way to spend October.

7. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak – save this book for the moment that you can almost feel autumn turning into winter. That is the feeling that I associate with The Book Thief. The nights are freezing but the days are still warm enough that you aren't cold, and you can see the frost on the grass early. This book is the most heartbreakingly beautiful thing that I have ever read, and I love every second of it every single time I read it.

8. Jellicoe Road – Melina Marchetta – Looking for a home, looking for your place of belonging, looking for fun, looking for a love. Long, winding paths, mysteries, pranks, making up. Jellicoe Road is haunting, captivating and so perfect for fall days.

9. Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaria – The leaves are dying and falling, but they are so beautiful as they do so. That's kind of like Love Letters to the Dead. Death is something that, sometimes, like the leaves, stares us right in the face. But we have to find the beauty despite of it.

10. We Were Liars – E. Lockhart – Family secrets, first loves, mysteries, blink and you'll miss them clues, an enormous plot twist.

11. Attachments – Rainbow Rowell – Caloo, Calay! There is one scene in this book that talks about October in the best way, and that is why I always associate this book with October and fall in general. It has a homey feel to it too, like a cup of tea and your favorite movie.

12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling – I'm not sure why it is just this particular book of the series that I always think of when I think of fall, but I always get the urge to read PoA when the weather starts changing. Maybe it is because I think the movie is beautiful in the way that it deals with the changing of seasons, or maybe it's because this was my favorite one when I was little, but something about it screams autumn to me.

13. A Little Something Different – Sandy Hall – One of those adorable warm and fuzzy contemporaries that I think is perfect for the crispest and clearest fall day. I love the alternating POVs and the fact that it takes place on a college campus just makes me think of walking to class and stomping on the falling leaves.

14. Carry On – Rainbow Rowell– Maybe this also has something to do with the on-campus/Hogwarts/school-time feeling, but I think this book is perfect for reading in the fall. It combined the sparkly brightness of a crisp fall day with the spooky darkness of the chilly fall night. Lovable characters and a little bit of magic rounds off this amazing book :)

15. First & Then – Emma Mills – football/school/first love. The ultimate fall trifecta!

16. Walk the Earth a Stranger – Rae Carson – The aesthetic of the cover combined with the gold rush era historical fiction of the plot makes this one a perfect fall read for me. It is engaging while still being subtle, and isn't in your face with its fun.

17. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Saenz – Adorable LGBT romance, finding out who you are and what you're really made of, "boys like me were made for the rain," adorable puppies. These are all of the things that you need to know about this book please read it, it is my favorite thing in the entire world.




18. Some Kind of Happiness – Claire Legrand – a haunting, moving description of depression in and for younger kids, I absolutely adore this atmospheric novel. Forests full of dangers and delights, old family secrets, houses full of relatives, friendships formed in the heat of imagination. A long sip of cold water.


19. Uprooted – Naomi Novik – a lush fairy tale retelling of a few different mashed up tales, there is darkness and dark magic as well as lovely sunlight in this one. Dragons or humans? Monsters or girls? Who to trust and who to be wary of? Magical and unconventional girls who have friendship above all. Lovely.

21. Milk and Honey  – poetry for autumn. Poems about breaking, loving, healing, becoming. Poems about the worst times and the best times, extremes that stick with you. Beautiful verse, beautiful illustrations, read it in an hour or linger for several.

What are some of your favorite fall reads?

xx
Caroline

crooked kingdom: stardust reviews

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)
Leigh Bardugo

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

full review under the cut! 

princess academy: stardust reviews

Princess Academy (Princess Academy #1)
Shannon Hale

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village.

The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. Soon Miri finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires.



Full review of this wonderful story under the cut!

how to: learn to love classics

We've all been there: you're going through your bookshelf, and you glance at those few, leatherbound classics that you've had for years. The thought goes through your mind: I should finally read those? And become, like, cultured? And a better citizen probably? But then you pull out those few leatherbound books, read a couple pages, and are instantly bored. Then you think, WHY can I not do this? If everyone else in the world loves Jane Austen, why don't you?

Well, I am here to help. I don't consider myself particularly well-read, but I am almost done with a double degree in English literature, so I have dabbled in many different time periods and mediums of classic literature. So I can definitively share with you these few secrets, if you want to get into a classic or two without wanting to rip your face off from boredom.

1. The newer, the better. The word "classic" has all sorts of ambiguity to it, and there isn't really a hard line where classics end and contemporary or modern begins. So my advice to the reluctant classic reader is this: start as late as possible. Pick up The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (still living!), The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, or Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. These types of books are classics in their longevity without the confusion antiquated language, practices, or cultural references. "Classic" books from the 20's-50's, and even, in some cases, up the the 90's, are way easier to understand than books from the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries.

2. Try a new form. If you've struck out with classic novels, I have good news for you! The classics are not comprised of just novels! There are many different forms that you can enjoy a classic in. If classic novels aren't for you, you could try epistolary novels, such as The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster or The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Or maybe you'd like books of poetry, such as Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Ariel by Sylvia Plath, or Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara. Perhaps plays are for you! There is anything from the ancient works of Aeschylus, such as The Orestia, all the way to Death of A Salesman, by the more modern Arthur Miller, or Tom Stoppard's mathematical play Arcadia. There is also epic poetry, like Homer's Odyssey, Beowulf, or Gilgamesh. Or even short stories, such as Faulkner's collection called Go Down Moses, Flannery O'Connor's collection A Good Man is Hard To Find, or Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. The list goes on!

3. Branch out from your high school summer reading. I swear, when I was in high school, I remember thinking that I was going to claw my eyes out if I had to read another book by a dead white guy. But when I got to college, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. I started reading books by people who were not American or English! I started reading books written by women! I started realizing that classic literature can be amazingly diverse, if you dig a little to find it. So if you're discouraged because you can't relate to anything that is on your reading list, never fear! There is someone out there for you! Looking to get real about living as a POC in past America? Try Gwendoline Brooks or Charles McKay! Looking for LGBT+ writers who aren't defined by their sexuality? Try Frank O'Hara, E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf or, hell, take a close look at Shakespeare's sonnets! Looking for books about POC women, written by badass women? Try Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, or Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Point being, there are so many awesome writers out there for those of you who are bored by straight white male POVs.

4. Genres! Have you tried classic sci-fi? fantasy? mystery? there is something out there for you. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the earliest and longest lasting sci-fi novels, and Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are also well-known pioneers of the genre. As for fantasy, there are examples lasting back centuries, to the stories of King Arthur and Gawain and the Green Knight, going up to Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, P.L. Traver's Mary Poppins, and of course, the Narnia and Lord of the Rings books by Lewis and Tolkein, respectively. Mystery and action is also abundant, in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White or The Moonstone, and in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo.

5. If all else fails, watch the movie first? If you're really determined to read a classic like Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird or Great Expectations, sometimes watching the movie or miniseries before you read the book can actually be helpful. I would never normally recommend this, but if you are truly struggling to follow the plot, watching the movie can help clear up plot and character confusions, and leave you to focus on the meat of the story. I personally did this when I read Anna Karenina, because I was so lost when I first started reading that one! Watching the movie helped me understand what was going on, and then I was able to recognize the beauty of the writing and the strength of the characters easily.

6. Caroline's List of Classics for Reluctant Readers

(listed in this post)
1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
3. The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster
4.  The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
5. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
6. Ariel by Sylvia Plath
7. Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara
8. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
9. The Oresteia by Aeschylus
10. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
11. Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
12. The Odyssey by Homer
13. Beowulf
14. The Epic of Gilgamesh
15. Go Down Moses by William Faulkner
16. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
17. A Street in Bronzeville by Gwendoline Brooks
18. Collected Poems by Charles McKay
19. Room with a View by E.M. Forster
20. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
21. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
22. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
23. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
24. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
25. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
26. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
27. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
28. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
29. The Three Musketeers/The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandra Dumas
30. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

(not on this list)
1. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
2. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
4. Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare
5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
6. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
7. Animal Farm by George Orwell
8. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgsen Burnett
10.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
11. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
12. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
13. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
14. The Stranger by Albert Camus
15. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
16. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
17. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
18. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
19. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
20. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
21. Evelina by Frances Burney
22. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
23. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

I hope this helped you if you want to get into classics but don't know where to start!

xx
Caroline

this savage song: stardust reviews

This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)
Victoria Schwab

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

full review under the cut!

love & gelato: stardust reviews

Love & Gelato
Jenna Evans Welch

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

full review under the cut! 

the rose and the dagger: stardust reviews

The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2)
by Renée Ahdieh

goodreads/b&n/amazon

☆☆☆☆☆

(Spoilers for book 1) The much anticipated sequel to the breathtaking The Wrath and the Dawn, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance."
I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.
In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

full review under the cut! 

the loose ends list: stardust arc reviews

The Loose Ends List
Carrie Firestone

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

Seventeen-year-old Maddie O'Neill Levine lives a charmed life, and is primed to spend the perfect pre-college summer with her best friends and young-at-heart socialite grandmother (also Maddie's closest confidante), tying up high school loose ends. Maddie's plans change the instant Gram announces that she is terminally ill and has booked the family on a secret "death with dignity" cruise ship so that she can leave the world in her own unconventional way - and give the O'Neill clan an unforgettable summer of dreams-come-true in the process.

Soon, Maddie is on the trip of a lifetime with her over-the-top family. As they travel the globe, Maddie bonds with other passengers and falls for Enzo, who is processing his own grief. But despite the laughter, headiness of first love, and excitement of glamorous destinations, Maddie knows she is on the brink of losing Gram. She struggles to find the strength to say good-bye in a whirlwind summer shaped by love, loss, and the power of forgiveness.




full review under the cut!

when we collided: stardust reviews

When We Collided
Emery Lord

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

We are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know…

Jonah never thought a girl like Vivi would come along.

Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world.

Neither of them expected a summer like this…a summer that would rewrite their futures.

In an unflinching story about new love, old wounds, and forces beyond our control, two teens find that when you collide with the right person at just the right time, it will change you forever. 

full review under the cut!

top ten tuesday recent five stars

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is "March 29: 10 Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads (Or Ten Of The Best Books I've Read Recently if you don't 5 star stuff...or you could do 5 of my latest five star reads & five of my most disappointing or 1 star reads)" And BOY do I LOVE talking about my latest five star reviews so HERE WE GO!

1. Clockwork Prince – Cassandra Clare

This was a reread for me, one of my absolute favorite series. If you haven't read The Infernal Devices yet, honestly, what are you doing with your life? Will Herondale is my number one book crush, and I identify so much with Tessa. These books are incredible! Y'all need to give them a chance if you haven't already :) 

2. Rebel of the Sands – Alwyn Hamilton 

This is hands-down a top three favorite read of the year for me. It totally snuck up, I wasn't expecting to even read it, let alone love it as much as I did. Kickass protagonist, interesting setting, incredible potential for further installments, I just loved it all. 

3. Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins 

Another reread on this list, but this is one of my favorite books of all time! I love basically everything about this book, and every time I read it, the love I have just seems to grow. I love the setting, Paris is such a romantic city, and Anna and Etienne are one of the best couples in YA, to me! 

4. Kings Rising – C.S. Pacat 

 OMG YOU GUYS! This series!! This book is the third and final installment of the trilogy, and it's without a doubt my favorite. There were so many scenes that made me squeal and die from feelings. I can't stress enough how much I love this series. 

5. Prince's Gambit – C.S. Pacat 

Basically, refer back to what I just said about Kings Rising, apply it to Prince's Gambit, and then read these books and die over how amazing they are. 

6. Me Before You – Jojo Moyes 

I'll be honest, I've seen Jojo Moyes' books before, but I didn't think about picking any of them up until after I saw the trailer for the movie based on this book. But boy, am I glad that I picked it up. It ended up being heartbreaking and beautiful, and now I can't wait for the movie to come out! 

7. I'll Meet You There – Heather Demetrios 

 This is another one that I wasn't expecting to love. I saw a couple good reviews of it and picked it up because I was kind of in a reading slump at the time. It snapped me right out of it and surprised me on every single page by how much I loved it. 

8. Passenger  – Alexandra Bracken 

 I only read the first book of the Darkest Minds series, and I really enjoyed it, but I've just never finished the series. Passenger's premise was something that immediately sparked my interest though, and I ended up falling in love with the book, the characters, and the time-travel aspect of it. Definitely cannot wait for Wayfarer to come out! 

9. Truthwitch –Susan Dennard 

This was probably the most hyped book of 2015 into 2016, I just heard glowing review after glowing review about it. I was a little apprehensive, because after all of that hype, it would've been so easy for Truthwitch to fall short, but I ended up ADORING this book. I can just tell that this is going to be a new epic series. 

10. Ten Thousand Skies Above You – Claudia Gray

I love this series, and I feel like it doesn't get enough love. These settings are so incredible and I am so invested in the happiness of all of these characters! Definitely read these first two books before the third one comes out in November!

what is on your lists this week? 

xx

Caroline

top ten books I don't talk up enough

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at the Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is: "March 22: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough/In A While," and I am really grateful for the chance to look back into my bookish past and rediscover some old faves that I may have forgotten about!

1. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale– Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her.
Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own.

2. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta– I'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago.

Taylor is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs—the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.

And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother—who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.

 

3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore – Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...

4. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

5. The Covenant Series by Jennifer L Armentrout – The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is.

If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

6. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black – Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

 

7. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales – Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

8. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – 12 year-old Meggie lives with her father, Mortimer, a bookbinder. Mo never reads stories aloud to Meggie because he has a special gift: when he reads a book aloud, the characters come out of the book and into the real world.

One night, when Meggie was a small child, Mortimer was reading aloud from a book named Inkheart when an evil villain named Capricorn, his aide Basta, and a fire-eater named Dustfinger escape from the book and into their living room. At the same time, Mo's wife Resa gets trapped within the book .

Twelve years later, Capricorn is on a hunt to find and destroy all copies of Inkheart and use Mo's abilities to gain more power for himself in the real world. Meggie discovers her father's secret and, along with the help of Dustfinger and Meggie's eccentric aunt Elinor, fights to free her father and destroy Capricorn.

9. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge – Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

10. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE. 

what is on your lists this week? 

xx

Caroline 

spotlight on: an old favorite: Anna and the French Kiss

welcome to another episode of "spotlight on," a monthly feature here at stardust and words, where I pick something bookish at random and prattle on about it for quite a while. You can find the rest of the spotlight on posts here. This month, instead of doing a themed list or anything of that sort, I decided that I would go back and read a book that I loved pre-blogging, and tell you about it. I've chosen Anna and the French Kiss, which I've read many times but never done a proper review for, so I do hope you enjoy this!

(this is the old school cover that everyone kind of hated but that holds a special, nostalgic place in my heart.)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

☆☆☆☆☆

pub date: December 2010
original read date: june 2011
rereads: either 7 or 8 times... I've lost track

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

look at her go: reviewin' reviewin: captive prince trilogy

Captive Prince Trilogy: Captive Prince, Prince's Gambit and Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

blurb for book 1: "This was Vere, voluptuous and decadent, country of honeyed poison"

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the truthful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else...

mini-reviews of all three books under the cut!