The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

This book is all over Tumblr (you can follow me if you want!). It's really everywhere. I've seen so many aesthetics and edits that I had to see what it was all about. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. 

The Raven Cycle is an urban fantasy series that follows a group of friends who are trying to find the sleeping Welsh king Owen Glendower. The Raven Boys are Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah. They live in a small town in Virginia and they are trying to follow the ley lines, the lines that connect magical places, in hopes of finding Glendower. Even though it started as Gansey's quest, each one of the boys has their own reason for wanting to find the sleeping king. They are kind of in a rut with their quest, but when they meet Blue, a girl who comes from an all psychics family, things take a turn.

I really loved this book. My love for these characters was instant. They are all so colorful and interesting, and the relationships they have with each other are so complex. The genius of this novel rests on such intricate character relationships.

Maggie Stiefvater's writing is superb. It reflects the theme of the book, it's magical and atmospheric. I really enjoyed her writing style, it was actually refreshing.

The plot is very slow. It develops slowly, and you can see that the resolution of an essentially simple plot won't come until the last book. It seems almost stretched out. But this is a very character driven story. It's not action packed, but the characters and their chemistry make up for it all. I personally didn't care for the plot. It wasn't uninteresting by any means, it's clever and unusual, but honestly I just wanted to read the interaction between these characters. They are so fleshed out, and you really care about them and their destinies. 

I am currently reading The Dream Thieves and it's even better! So I definitely recommend this series if you're looking for amazing characters and writing.

Rating:✯✯✯✯ 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I have read Gone Girl a while ago and I just adored that book. I thought it was really clever and shocking, with an amazing story and on top of all that - ingenious writing.

Naturally, I decided to pick another one of her novels, and I ended up choosing - Dark Places.

This is a story about Libby Day, whose family (mother and two sisters) was killed back when she was seven years old. Her own testimony put her brother, Ben, behind bars. After 24 years, Libby is sort of mindlessly wandering through life and just basically living off of the money she got from donations. After she starts running out, she starts meeting with this sort of weird "club", composed of people who are fascinated with murder mysteries. They sort of get her questioning everything that happened throughout that night.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Flynn's writing is so atmospheric and eerie, and you are transported into this story, instantly, from the first page, It's gripping and holds your attention throughout. You just want to keep reading, and you don't want to put the book down until you know what is going on. The story is told both from the present day perspective in which we see how Libby is dealing with everything, but also we see the events of the night of the murders. And that day, back in 1985, we see from the perspective of her older brother Ben and her mother Patty. This is a very clever way to tell this story. Because both (or all three) perspectives lead to the culmination and "the reveal". They all sort of intertwine together and it just works perfectly.

Gillian Flynn has a very strong sense of the human nature. She is able to write such flawed characters. I think that this book doesn't really have any really likeable characters. But Flynn is still able to make you feel interested in these characters and care for their destinies. And even if you don't you still want to know what happens.

The only down side to the book was that for me, personally, the "mystery solution" got kind of, sort of obvious about half way into the book. But that didn't ruin the book for me. I still think it was pretty brilliant.

Definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a thriller mystery and above anything, to anyone who enjoys really good writing.

Rating: ✯✯✯✯ 

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

This was a total impulse buy from me. I have seen this book go around ages before, but I didn't really look into it much, and there were a lot of mixed reviews, so I haven't given it much thought.

But recently, I saw it on Book Depository and there was this edition that was really cheap so I bought it. And a couple of days ago I picked it up.

And it was amazing. Truly great. I had no idea what this book was about. And if you decide to read it, I suggest you do the same and just dive into it head on, without any information about its plot. I feel that this book has a much stronger impact like that. 

However, this will be a spoilery review. So maybe don't read this anymore if you're planning on reading this. (And I strongly advise that you do!)

I found this book to be rather intelligent. I think it was meticulously thought out and executed. The big thing about this book, the major spoiler - this book is about a girl who was a part of a family that decide to bring up a chimpanzee. Now, back in the day when behaviourism was so big, there were a lot of experiments like this. Chimpanzees were brought into human families, and they were raised as human children, mostly for looking into how this would affect their language and communication. One such experiment was the one which was done with a chimpanzee called Nim. (There's a movie about it, that's really good and sincerely kind of ridiculous.)

Fowler starts from this, and builds on it. This is a story told from the perspective of Rosemary Cooke, whose parents were psychologists and who decided to take a chimp into there home and raise it as their own. Fowler doesn't tell us this until about 100 pages into the book. Which was really smart. Rosemary describes to us Fern, her absent sister, who was taken one day from their home under, to us unknown, circumstances. So the whole time you're thinking that Fern is in fact human. And what this manages to do is to make you see what Fern was to Rosemary and to her whole family. She really thought of her as a sister. 

The whole book is really beautifully written. It follows many different chronological story lines, it's all over the place. But the thing is... it works. Perfectly and seamlessly. 

Rosemary isn't necessarily a character you can relate to. I believe the whole experience wasn't good for her. As you might expect. But you feel for her. You really do. I think Fowler manages to make you feel appalled by the situation and at the same time really understanding of it.

I can understand the mixed reviews of this book. The topic is really controversial and not for everybody. But I personally think it was really masterfully done and unbelievably fascinating. I am studying psychology, so my fascination with this book might stem from it. But I personally believe that the psychological undertones of this book go way beyond its experiment and reveal deep truths about family and human nature.

This book is at its core - a story about a family. And a really great one at that.

I really do recommend this one, especially if psychology even remotely interests you. If you do end up reading it, please let me know how you feel about it!

Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Okay, I'm back!

So, I haven't posted in a long time, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. I have a lot more time on my hands, and I just really want to start posting reviews and stuff here again!

Top 5 Wednesday: Best Character Arcs/Development

Okay, so another Wednesday is upon us, so it's time for another Top 5 Wednesday!

As I've mentioned in the previous post, this series was created by Lainey (check out her Goodreads page). There is a group on Goodreads, which anyone can join and begin participating. Also, here is a list of all people who are a part of this series.

Alright, this week's topic is Best Character Arcs/Development, and I had trouble composing this list, I just couldn't think of 5 at the top of my head, but here it goes:

5. Leo from the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

I think Leo is an amazing character, funny and sarcastic and such a smart-ass and I love him. But also, I love how his character develops, how he comes to terms with his demons and becomes so confident and determined.

4. Percy from the Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

I think these books are generally great when it comes to character arcs, but Percy is the obvious one. He drastically changes from the first book, he becomes such a strong character, but also more realistic and observant and aware of the world he lives in and how it works. Especially after spending time in Tartarus. I guess it's game changing to spend time down there. Go figure.

3. Tris from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth

Tris grows so much as a character. She begins as this girl who is scared, and doesn't know who she is, and becomes this character who is confident, and doesn't even need to define herself, because she is who she is. No need for labels. And by the end of Allegiant, she is determined and brave and capable of making hard choices. 

2.Ari from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I think character arcs are more difficult in stand alone novels, since there isn't much space for it. Still, Ari is an amazing character. He starts out being this angry kid, mad at his mom, dad, brother and mostly himself. He doesn't know who he is or what he is doing. But by the end of the book, he kind of overcomes his demons and comes to terms with his true self.

1. Clary from the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Clary is one of my favorite female characters. I usually tend to dislike female youngish characters in series, but I really like her. She grows so much, becomes strong and independent and comes to terms with her powers, stops being afraid of them and embraces them. I think her development through the books is massive and really well written.

Top 5 Wednesday: Friend Groups You Want To Be Part Of

Okay, so another Wednesday is upon us, so it's time for another Top 5 Wednesday!

As I've mentioned in the previous post, this series was created by Lainey (check out her Goodreads page). There is a group on Goodreads, which anyone can join and begin participating. Also, here is a list of all people who are a part of this series.

Alright, this week's topic is Friend Groups You Want to be Part Of, so here it goes:

5. Harry, Ron and Hermione from the Harry Potter Series

This one is really obvious, so I am putting it at the bottom, but honestly, who doesn't want to be a wizard and who doesn't want to hang out with these three? That's right, no one.

4.Charlie, Sam, Patrick etc. from the Perks of Being a Wallflower

Again, some of my favorite characters who I would adore being friends with.

3.Marauders from the Harry Potter series

Roaming the school grounds with these four would be epic. Also, the prequel about them NEEDS to happen.

2.Seven Demigods from the Heroes of Olympus series

Every one of them is awesome, and they are all great friends, but the motivation behind this one is obviously Leo. Because he is amazing.

1. Auden and her friends from Along For the Ride

I love Sarah Dessen's books, and I haven't seen many people talk about this one, but it's one of my absolute favorite books ever. There' s just something about small town dynamics that does it for me, and I fall for the characters and the story every time.

Top 5 Wednesday: Futuristic Books

Okay, so another Wednesday is upon us, so it's time for another Top 5 Wednesday!

As I've mentioned in the previous post, this series was created by Lainey (check out her Goodreads page). There is a group on Goodreads, which anyone can join and begin participating. Also, here is a list of all people who are a part of this series.

So this week's topic is Futuristic books, and let's get right into it, shall we?

5. 1984 by George Orwell

This is actually one of the first futuristic book I've read and I loved it. I felt eerie everytime I read this book and I just think it has really strong writing, which sucks you in and makes you think

4. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

This was one of my favorite books of 2014, so that goes to show that I loved it. After reading The Hunger Games and Divergent I had a lot of trouble finding a futuristic/dystopian book that I loved as much, and I've tried many well-loved books and just disliked them. Until I read this one, and fell in love with it. The story is fast paced, griping, exciting and unpredictable. And the characters were awesome.

3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Again, a book I read a long time ago and it was flipping amazing. It was funny and witty and insightful. I just loved the characters, the setting, the whole concept was just spot on.

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth

I am kind of chucking all three books together, and cheating a bit, but I want to point out the story, not necessarily a particular book. I loved how Divergent started out to be one thing and kind of progressed through out the series, and just threw away everything that was believed in at the start. I loved the characters, the story, the writing, but what really did it for me was the whole progression of the plot line.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

First dystopian YA book that I read and my favorite of the bunch. Great concept of a futuristic world, vividly depicted and so well written and imagined. The characters were amazing, the plot was great, and even though I really didn't like Mockingjay, it still was way better than some other dystopian books I read. So yeah, amazing.