Title: Ten Thousand Skies Above You (Firebird #2)
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: November, 2015 by Harper Teen
Pages: 424
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents’ invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

Final Thoughts:
The covers are gorgeous. They’re probably the best thing about this series. I’m two books in now, and I can’t stand Marguerite. Her personality has just driven a wedge between me and this book. While I love all of the different worlds, the adventures we get to experience, and the overall conspiracy of the series going on around them, I just can’t stomach any of this girl’s rationalities for why she does the things she does. I mentioned last time that the romance got in the way of plot, but this time, Marguerite’s obsession with her boyfriend IS the plot. If this were from anyone else’s viewpoint, I probably could have loved this series, but with all of her ramblings of fate, and loving every version of this guy no matter what, it was a struggle.

Title: A Thousand Pieces Of You (Firebird #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: November, 2014 by Harper Teen
Pages: 368
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

Blogger’s Note: I haven’t been doing nothing this past month, I’ve just been reading a fair bit of manga—Nana and Highschool of The Dead. Both were great, but really could have used proper endings. I NEED MORE!!

Final Thoughts:
The first chapter drew me in immediately—something you always want to find. With its promise of revenge, world-jumping through parallel dimensions and science-y (but not over the top) explanations, I was in. I loved the idea that their physical bodies didn’t actually pass between the worlds, but rather their consciousness did, taking over the host body of their other self in whatever world they landed in (therefore, prohibiting from entering worlds they’ve never been born into, or had died in). It was great world-building in my opinion. Still, that didn’t stop the romantic fails from bringing it down. I loved a lot about the book, but the romance—just, no.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews 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!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (purchased)
• Backward Glass by David Lomax (purchased)
• Dark Heart Surrender by Lee Monroe (purchased)
• Spellcaster by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Steadfast by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Tiger’s Destiny by Colleen Houck (purchased)

I just realised my blog turned three this week. Wow, that time went fast. It’s hard to think back to a time before I was blogging, before I was reading. The two pretty much coincide with each other. I only started reading (things other than uni textbooks) about six months before I started this blog, before then, I was a tv-show-on-dvd addict.

So…onto the book buying. I did a bit of shopping all around the place this time. I picked up The Rook, Backward Glass and Spellcaster from my local bargin-bin shop. I’d been a bit on the fence about starting Claudia Gray’s latest series, but finding it for a couple dollars sealed that decision. Even if I don’t end up loving the books, it was worth it to have these beautiful covers on my shelves.

Dark Heart Surrender was another one of my online purchases. I found it cheap, and needed it to finish off the trilogy, so I thought I’d better snatch it up while the price was low. As for Tiger’s Destiny, I’m not a big fan of the covers, but I heard good things a couple–maybe a few–years back and decided to start collecting them. So now I just pick them up whenever I come across them. It’s another one of those ‘one day’ series for me.

Here are some of my latest posts if you want to check them out:
Asher, Jay & Mackler, Carolyn, The Future of Us – Loved this book!
Carter, Ally Heist Society #1, Heist Society – Joey’s guest review
Westerfeld, Scott Uglies #1, Uglies – Thought I should finally start this series

That’s it for this time. So, what books have you gotten lately? Which of these books would you recommend I read first? Let me know in the comments.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Night School by C.J. Daugherty (swapped)
• Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan (purchased)
• The Alchemy Of Forever by Avery Williams (thanks to Publishers)
• Balthazar by Claudia Gray (purchased)

It’s been a quiet two weeks book-wise for me. But I’ve got plenty that I want to read, so that’s alright. I just spent the past five days finally reading The Hunger Games during my lunch breaks. Glad I did. Now I know what all the movie-hype is about. Thanks to Simons and Schuster for sending me a copy of The Alchemy Of Forever. I’ve heard actually really good for a reincarnation story. Usually they all fall into the same pattern, so I’m interested in seeing what this one does. I picked up Balthazar when I went shopping on Thurday, but I still need to read final three books in the Evernight series. It’s like that though. I just like having them on my shelves for when I’m ready.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Armentrout, Jennifer L. Lux #0.5, Shadows
Collins, Suzanne The Hunger Games #1, The Hunger Games
Smith, Alexander Gordon Escape From Furnace #4, Fugitives
Waters, Daniel Generation Dead #1, Generation Dead

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Supernaturally by Kiersten White (purchased)
• Elixir by Hilary Duff (purchased)
• Stargazer by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Hourglass by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Afterlife by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Need by Carrie Jones (purchased)
• Captivate by Carrie Jones (purchased)
• Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe (purchased)
• Dark Heart Rising by Lee Monroe (purchased)
• Trial By Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (purchased)
• Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson (purchased)
• Heist Society by Ally Carter (purchased)
• Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder (purchased)
• Outside In by Maria V. Snyder (purchased)
• Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck (purchased)
• Tiger’s Quest by Colleen Houck (purchased)
• Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased)
• Passion by Lauren Kate (purchased)
• Pride by Rachel Vincent (purchased)
• Alpha by Rachel Vincent (purchased)
• Days Like This by Alison Stewart (purchased)
• The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (purchased)

My favourite purchase this week is my Charmed Book Of Shadows, plus the lectern, I had to get that as well, otherwise the book would just sit in my cupboard. The Book was released back in ’07, but was discontinued before I got around to buying one, so when it randomly popped up in the Big W catalogue after so many years, and for half the original RRP, I had to get one. It has some of the original artwork from the book used in the tv show, plus the dvds from all eight seasons, stuck to holders on the pages. Now onto the fiction books. Looking at them all spread out like this, it makes me realise how bad my spending got this week. Some were cheap though. Heist Society was only $1.20, so I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve already read five of these books, but that still leaves heaps to read. I’ve been trying to track down Rachel Vincent’s Shifters series. While I was in Brisbane for the Lauren Kate signing on Saturday, I tried thirteen stores and only managed to come across a lone copy of Pride in one of them. Alpha, only just released here in Australia, was a lot easier to find. I’ll keep my eye out for the rest of them. I can’t wait to start Trial By Fire, I really loved the first book. I want to start Maggie Stiefvater books soon too, but Amazon shipped Linger to me before Shiver. There’s so many there, that I’m not going discuss the rest. If there’s one there you think I should get to sooner rather than later, let me know.

Here are my reviews from the past two weeks:
Davies, Jocelyn A Beautiful Dark #1, A Beautiful Dark
Kate, Lauren Fallen #1, Fallen
Kate, Lauren Fallen #2, Torment
Vincent, Rachel Soul Screamers #3, My Soul To Keep
Vincent, Rachel Soul Screamers #4, My Soul To Steal

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Evernight by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Raised By Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (purchased)
• Born At Midnight by C.C. Hunter (purchased)
• Winter’s Shadows by M.J. Hearle (won) Thanks Lisa @ Badass Bookie
• Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz (purchased)
• Nevermore by Kelly Creagh (purchased)
• Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton (purchased)

I borrowed Evernight and Raised By Wolves from my library last month, and I enjoyed them both so I snapped them up cheap on AmazonUK. I also order the following books from both series, but Amazon decided to split my order and send me the ones I’ve already read first so I’m still waiting on them. Thanks to Lisa from Badass Bookie for my copy of Winter’s Shadow. It’s another one I library’d and really loved, so I’m happy to have my own copy now. She also sent me all of those bookmarks, badges and even a little Possession bottle opener. That tiny booklet also has the first chapter of Divergent in it. The rest of my books here, I haven’t read. If you read my IMM last week, you’d see I now have two copies of Blood Magic, one US hardcover and one UK paperback. I actually like both covers, I just hope I enjoy the book once I get around to it.

Here are my reviews from the past week:
Vincent, Rachel Soul Screamers #2, My Soul To Save
Weatherly, L.A. Angel #1, Angel

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!

Title: Evernight (Evernight #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: February, 2009 by HarperTeen
Pages: 327
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Bianca’s been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn’t fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He’s not the “Evernight type” either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

“I couldn’t stand it if they took it out on you,” he tells Bianca, “and eventually they would.”

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can’t be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she’s ever believed.

Final Thoughts:
A slow start to another vampire boarding school series. Stick around through the first half and it picks up the pace. There’s lots of romantic angst, but plenty of the good stuff to balance it out. Not as much vampy-ness as I would have liked, but I’m guessing that’s what book two is for.