The Evolution of Mara Dyer

*Spoilers for The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer*

The story continues in this book with Mara and Noah continuing their search on what is wrong with them: Noah heals and Mara kills. Why do they do this? On top of this, she has Jude to deal with. He didn't die when he was supposed to. Why? Jaime, Stella, and more all have something in common with her but they don't know what it is and they want to know.

This book was a whole ball of crazy. Due to the introduction of all the characters in this book and this being the second book of a series, I'm going to do my opinions on character's again and then the plot.

Characters

• Mara:  She has some good character development in this book. At times she feels good and others she doesn't, which is how people with these things actually feel. I just love her as a character and think she is fantastic. Her love for her family is also unreal and beautiful.
• Noah: You learn a lot about Noah in this book and why he is the way he is. He learned about his healing ability in one of the most heartbreaking ways. Their relationship in this book was a little more cold; they weren't as close in a lot of the parts. That happens though and I like that they aren't just obsessed with each other all the time.
• Jaime: His sarcasm and his demeanor is perfect in this book. He's the character that can bring up the mood in the sassiest ways.
• Jude: I'm mixed with him because I don't hate him and I also don't feel he is the best villain for this book. I just know he has more to him than is able to be shown and though he did some bad stuff, it wasn't 100% him.

Plot:
Plot was slightly weirder in this book. At times I felt disconnected with what was going on because I didn't get the end goal of it or why it was even going on. There are certain chapters in particular about India that left be very lost. I thought I started understanding them in the end and their significance, but I'm still not sure. The writing was still beautiful and I adored it.

5/5 Stars

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

This book is full of twisty stuff and murder. Mara is scared. She doesn't know how her best friend and boyfriend died and she doesn't know how to handle it so she moves. Then she starts hallucinating and meets Noah Shaw. Together they go on some wild adventures trying to figure out what's wrong with Mara and how to fix her.

Holy crap! I don't even know where to begin with this book. I'm going to try and separate the characters and then do two of them together and say my opinions on it all.

Characters

• Mara: completely messed up and she's so realistic it's scary. I was rooting for her through this whole story and I wanted to know what happened and how. Some of her moments were so heartbreaking I just wanted to give her a hug (she had Noah for that though).
• Noah: He's the bad boy with the reputation that you can't help but love him, but unlike the rest of the bad boys he changes. Through the book he has some amazing character development. He cared for Mara so much that it hurt because she was so scared to love him and he just wanted her to know she'd be safe with him.
• Daniel: So he's not a huge part of the book but I loved him! He's not the typical big brother; he actually cares about Mara and worries when she has her episodes. Such a good secondary character.
• Mara + Noah: Woah. Their romance was breathtaking. I didn't feel it was rushed at all and I felt the rawness with it. They're absolutely perfect together and Michelle Hodkin did an amazing job at writing this romance.

Plot & Writing Style
I was racing through this book to find out what happened next. I needed to know. the author knew how to tease the readers and when to give them the information they had been needing. The writing itself is beautiful and haunting and captivating. I was just shocked that this story existed in this book. I was hooked from the first page and I'm now dealing with a book hangover until I get my hands on the second book.

A million Stars/ 5 Stars

The Sky is Everywhere Review

The Sky is Everywhere is the debut novel of Jandy Nelson. Lennie, or Lennon (she was named after the Beatle), just lost her sister and doesn't know quite how to cope. Her and her family are going through the motions but they're lost without Bailey. Bailey's boyfriend, Toby (?), helps her keep her sister's memory alive while the new kid, Joe, helps her forget and allows her to start becoming herself again. This is her journey through loss, love, and healing.

I didn't agree with the way Lennie was portrayed with her sister's boyfriend or her trying to through the loss. It all just felt so shallow to me and that she really may have missed her sister, but now Toby was free so let's mess with him. To me she was basically a stereotypical "slut" and the love triangle felt too forced and weird. One minute she was thinking about sex with Toby, then she was thinking with Joe, and then random boys from the funeral. None of it made sense. The other characters were also stereotypes to me and it all just bothered me. Then a certain part came up and I went from just disliking this book to hating this book.

The author made a very poor word choice: the r word. If you don't know what that is, I'll explain it in depth to maybe make it obvious. I hate that word as it is because normally people use it to make fun of mentally challenged people and to see it in a book that was labeled "funny" and "coming of age" I was absolutely livid. There were other words that she could have used. That one wasn't necessary. This book lost me after that. I know the whole book is about her deciding which guy to "do" and I just wasn't about this book. It's only even getting one star because it made me laugh once which is a hard feat. While books make me smile and cry like crazy, not a lot make me actually laugh out loud.

1/5 Star

Empire of Storms Review

Empire of Storms is the 5th book in the Throne of Glass series. I have a lot to say about this book, so I'm going to jump right in. SPOILERS AHEAD (MAYBE)

Characters:

• Aelin: I still love her sassiness, but she didn't seem like a key part of this book anymore. Her chapters were pretty much always about Rowan and how she needed him and stuff. The ending with her made me cry horribly though.
• Lysandra: I love her! She is my favorite character and the things she risks her life several times for Aelin. Anyone would be lucky to have her in her court.
• Manon: Her character is changing and I don't think for the better. She's starting to become soft and in Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows that was unheard of. I'm a little worried Elide or Dorian is changing her.
• Elide: Yeah, I can't stand her. She's too meh for me. I mean I feel bad for what she's been through but I don't care enough about her chapter. If Maas was going to kill of anyone, I hope it would be her. I do like the Manon x Elide ship though. It's never going to happen sadly.
• Chaol: Who's Chaol in this book?
• Dorian: I loved Dorian, but obviously he has changed because of what he's been through. I kind of don't care about his character anymore either.
• Aedion: Oh, Aedion. He's basically Aelin but in guy form.
• Rowan: I mean he's a good character. He protects Aelin which makes me happy because she needs someone to keep her grounded. They work quite well together in my opinion and though my other ship sunk, I'll take this one.
• Lorcan: One minute he can't stand Elide and the next he wants to do some explicit things with her??????? When he was mean, angry and tried to kill everyone is when I liked him.

Plot:
I don't think there was much of a plot in this book. I think this was a set up for the last book because I was quite bored with parts of this book and thought about putting down. The world has been expanded, but it left me lost and looking at the map constantly (which didn't really help). I know people were upset about the gay character thing which I understand completely. There could be more diversity in this book because the only one who was a different race then all the other characters was killed of. Oh well. I still rated this book pretty high due to characters.

4/5 Stars

Welcome and Ultimate Book Tag!

Hey Everyone! My name is Elle and this is my book blog! Here I'll discuss books, authors, I'll do book tags, and if there's controversy going on with things I might make a post on it. Basically, anything book related is going on here. I am in school so some posts might be far apart, but I'll always be working on something. Also if anyone has ideas you can comment them down below! Today we're going to do the Ultimate Book Tag to kind of introduce myself. This was originally made by the Chapter Chicks.

1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?
If I'm reading on my phone, then no. If I'm reading on my kindle, sometimes. If I'm reading an actual book, there's a good chance. If we're backing up or turning or anything like that, then yes I'll definitely get nauseous and dizzy and feel sick to my stomach.

2. Which author's style is completely unique to you and why?
I'm going to do with Laini Taylor. I love her books and her writing is something that I haven't seen duplicated. Her books will always hold a special part in my heart.

3. Harry Potter Series of Twilight Series? Give three points.
Ha, I haven't read either.

4. Do you carry a book bag? What do you have in it (other than books)?
The only bag I have is for school and that has normal, boring school stuff in it.

5. Do you smell your books?
Yes. Yes I do.

6. Books with or without little illustrations?
If they're at the beginning of each chapter, then definitely. They add a little character (hahaha).

7. What book did you love while reading but then discovered that it wasn't quality writing?
I'm going to go with My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. Now looking at it, I see that the writing isn't as good as other books in this genre, but it's still my favorite book.

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!
Uhm, my mom would ground me from books because she didn't know what else to take away.

9. What is the thinnest book on your shelf?
Looking for Alaska by John Green

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?
City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you want to become an author when you're older?
I do also write and I would love to become an author. For right now, though, I'm going to school for my English degree and then library science. I'll see where it takes me.

12. When did you get into reading?
I've loved reading ever since I could remember. My mom read to me when I was little and I just continued as I got older.

13. What is your favorite classic book?
I haven't read many classics, so I don't have an answer for this.

14. In school, was your best subject Language Arts/ English?
Yes, and my worst was math. (Still hate it!)

15. If you were given a book that you have read before and hated, what would you do?
Give it to someone who would enjoy or put it up in a giveaway.

16. What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to HP and The Hunger Games?
All the series I know of are pretty popular.

17. What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) while filming?
I don't film so no answer again.

18. What is your favorite word?
Onomatopoeia.

19.  Are you a nerd, dork, dweeb or all of the above?
Most likely a nerd.

20. Love Triangle or forbidden love? (I skipped questions because I haven't read books with the characters they were asking about or I didn't really like them in general.)
I love forbidden love. I find it interesting when two people love each other when they shouldn't.

21. AND FINALLY: Full on romance book or action book with little romance?
I can't stand romance so I'm going with action.

I hope you enjoyed this!