Review: Defy by Sara B. Larson

  
Grade: 3 Butterflies
Series: Defy #1
Author: Sara B. Larson
Publisher: Scholastic Press

Goodreads Summary

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

I love fantasy, absolutely love it. It is my favorite genre and when I saw the premise of this book my attention was instantly grabbed. It took me a while to get to this book, but I was happy with reading it. Overall this was a solid book. It was an enjoyable read, the plot was fast paced and enjoyable, I never lost interest in reading, and the world was really interesting. However, I think this book would have benefited from more; more pages, more character depth, and more world.

To start off, the plot was fast paced and interesting. I speed through this book and never lost interest in it. I liked where the plot went and enjoyed reading it! It was good! However, I believe this book would have benefited if another 50 pages were added. I just felt that the book speed through scenes that could have been longer.

Also, added to that, I believe that if more pages were added then the characters would have benefited. The characters were enjoyable and I liked them (except the Alex). However, they lacked depth. They had some depth, like the prince and Alex, however, they could have much more. Also, I just I didn't feel connected to them. Throughout the whole book I was never on the edge of my seat in worry over the characters and that really bothered me. Books are so much better to me when I am emotionally connected to the characters.

Another thing I didn't feel connected to was the romance in this book. I liked Alex and the Prince together. However their relationship moved really fast, too fast. I didn't get to savor the romance. And while their relationship did have some depth to it I was never connected or invested in it. It just moved too fast for me to appreciate it. That didn't affect my reading experience during this book but the second one seems to hinge heavily on the romance. So, during the next book this might become a problem.

I feel like thus far all I have been doing is bashing this book, but I really did like it. It did have its flaws, but I still really enjoyed reading it. I liked the fantasy world, the plot was good, and the characters were decent. I would recommend it to any fantasy lover and I will be continuing the series because I've seen some good reviews for the second book.

This book got.....

3 butterflies

Basic; Enjoyable

Happy reading!

Year in Books.

So this is really, really late, but I still wanted to post it. So, here are my reading stats for 2014.

So, another year has came and gone. 2014 was a decent year reading and life wise for me. I signed up for college classes (Side note, since I'm editing this in 2015 these classes have already started and are completely sucking up all of my reading time and I hate them for it) . I attended quite a few weddings in 1014. My Mom started school again. I won NaNoWrimo again in 2014 (Yay!).

I didn't read as many books as I hoped and I've been in a reading slump for the past few months, but I did read a lot of great books. However, that is balanced out by the fact that I read quite a few horrible books. So, yeah, its been a decent year.

~Stats~

-Reading-

Books Read| 74

My Goodreads challenge was set at 100 but I'm not all that mad at myself for not reaching it. For me my Goodreads challenge is more of an outline of what I want to read and I never really push myself to read all 100 books in a year. However, 74 is really low for me. Last year I read 15 more books and the year before that I read 12 more books. So, this wasn't my best year.

5 Star books| 32

4 Star books| 30

3 Star books| 9

2 Star books| 2

DNFs| 1

Re-reads| 13

-Faves-

Contemporary- Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Fantasy- Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Paranormal- Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

Romance- The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutoski (Not technically romance but I love this book to much not to have on this post somewhere)

Historical Fiction- The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

New Adult- Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Destopian- Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson 

-Reading Challenges-

I planed to read 11-20 TBR books and I read 3. 

This was my card

The only slots I did not fill was the Suspense or Crime and Non Fiction, the two genres I never read. 

Number of Series started before 2014 Finished| 6

Number of Series Started in 2014 Finished| 1

Number of Re-Read Series| 0

That was my year, how was yours? Was 2014 a good or bad year for you?
Happy Reading

Series Review: If I Stay series by Gayle Forman

Grade:

If I Stay| 4 Butterflies

Where She Went| 4.5 Butterflies

Series| 4.25

Book 1- If I Stay

Review

Goodreads Summary

 On a day that started like any other,

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she'll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.

Warning: There will be spoilers in book two's summary. There isn't any in the review, but there are some in this summary.

Book 2 - Where She Went

Review

Goodreads Summary

It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.

And three years he's spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

Book 1---

If I Stay was a beautiful story of grief, hope, death, and love. It was just so captivating that I finished it in a day and a half. I just got so invested with Mia's life and her choice. I was terrified to keep reading because I was afraid of her decision. I don't think I could come back from that. If my whole family died in one blow I don't think I would be able to function. I cried a few times when reading this book, because it was just all so tragic. So, I was so afraid that Mia wasn't that strong, because you have to be a freaking strong person to came back from that.

Gayle Forman knows how to make a reader feel connected with her characters. I was just so invested in Mia's story. I couldn't put it down because I wanted to read more about Mia, her life, her family, and Adam. I just got so invested and I feel in love with these characters!

The one big problem I had with this book, and series, was the flashbacks. Gayle Forman had a good concept with the flashbacks going, but I don't think it was well delivered. Some of the flashbacks were necessary in my mind because they added depth to the characters and told us more about Mia and her family. However, there were just to many of them. About 50 percent of these flashbacks could have been cut because they added no value to the book and where placed at such random spots that I got really confused in some parts. So, if Gayle Forman just didn't use so much flashbacks this would have easily been a 5 Butterfly book.

Book 2 --- 

This book starts 3 years after the events in If I Stay and its from Adam's POV. Adam is in a really bad place, even though he got, mostly, what he ever wanted. He was in self-distract mode and it was so hard to see him like that because I got so invested in him as a character during the first one. I wanted him to have a happy life, not a painful one.

This book was just so full of the emotions. I loved it!! I felt that it was a really great ender to this series. If you loved or even liked If I Stay you will love this book. It answers all of your questions you have in the beginning of the book, were of course you are suppose to piece together the painful truth of what happened between Mia and Adam. It was so great to understand why Mia did certain things. It was also great to see Adam grow, or rather move on, throughout this book.

This book is not without its faults. While I loved it and thought it was a really good conclusion for this story, I still thought it had so many dang flashbacks! The flashbacks in this one mostly have a good purpose; they are there to tell the readers what happened between Mia and Adam three years ago. However, there where also a lot of flashbacks that I felt could have been cut out. There were just to many. A chapter would end and you would want to continue the story, but the next chapter is a flashback and that would mess with the flow of the book. If she just put all of the flashbacks about what happened between Mia and Adam at the beginning and left the last half, or at least the last quarter, free of flashbacks it would have been so much better. 

-Overall-  
The only major problems I had with these books were the amount of flashbacks that the author used. Some I felt were necessary, but most others weren't and they messed up with the flow of the books and left me frustrated. So, if you like flashbacks, or at least want to tolerate them, then I would highly recommend these books. They are full of emotions; hope, pain, grief, and love and I got so invested in these character's story. 

Recommended if you like, the Leaving Paradise series, contemporaries, and the Pushing the Limits series.

So, what did you think of this series?

Happy reading