Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick  

Publisher:  Simon and Schuster      

Publication date: October 7th 2014
My rating: 3.5 stars

Sometimes danger is hard to see... until it’s too late. 
Britt Pfeiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn't prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage. 
In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there... and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target. 
But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally? 
BLACK ICE is New York Times bestselling author Becca Fitzpatrick’s riveting romantic thriller set against the treacherous backdrop of the mountains of Wyoming. Falling in love should never be this dangerous…

Well, color me surprised! I did not see that coming! I did see the twist coming from a mile away but I didn't think I'd enjoy this book so much. Good job, Becca Fitzpatrick! 

Britt and her friend, errr, I forgot her name decided to backpack the Teton Range during their spring brake. What the didn't count on is the storm which leaves them half frozen and stranded. They find a cabin with two guys already there. They're criminals but Britt and her annoying, bratty friend don't know about this until it's too late. They end up kidnapped and Britt is forced to take them off the mountain while they leave the annoying, bratty friend to die in the cabin. Hah! I don't even feel bad about the possibility of this girl starving and freezing to death because she was such a little princess.  She was 'poking the bear' and I was waiting for the moment one of the criminals would snap. While they were with these criminals, the brother of the annoying bratty friend who's also Britt's ex, was trying to find them. He happens to be an expert at backpacking and other outdoorsy stuff. 

Britt's nothing like Fitzpatick's previous main character, Nora. Britt is resourceful, smart and brave. Sure, she has some problems with confidence because she grew up surrounded by men her whole life and they did most of the heavy lifting. But she's not afraid to help her friends even if it meant putting her life in danger. 

 I wasn't the biggest fan of the annoying, bratty friend and her brother. Britt's ex was a horrible boyfriend. Sure, his father only cared about the annoying, bratty princess and punished his son but that didn't give him the excuse to treat Britt badly. 

Romance was a bit cheesy but all in all, it wasn't so bad. The love interest was the dark , silent type with a lot of secrets and such an improvement from Patch. 

After the first couple of rocky chapters I couldn't put the book down. It was a constant roller-coaster ride. A true thriller. There aren't a lot of YA thrillers and most prefer romance, paranormal or dystopian stories. 

I'm glad I decided to give this book a try. I was pleasantly surprised, mostly about the main character and her growth throughout the novel. Hope Becca continues to write thrillers because this one checked all the boxes, at least in my case. 

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater  

Publisher:  Scholastic Press      

Publication date: October 21st 2014
My rating: 5 stars

The third installment in the mesmerizing series from the irrepressible, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.
There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.
The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.
Friends can betray.Mothers can disappear.Visions can mislead.Certainties can unravel.

She did it again. I never thought anything compare to The Dream Thieves or Sinner which are her best work yet, in my opinion. But she did it. 

The story picks up where it left off. Boys are starting school again and Blue's mother is still missing. They're still trying to find Glendower, the long lost king. Gray Man's employed is in Henrietta looking for a payback. Now, I don't want to reveal anything else about the plot cause even the blurb is rather vague. 

What I want to talk about are the characters. It seems Adam is the main one this time. Others all had their chapters but I feel as if he was in all of them a lot more. He's my favorite Raven Boy, like I mentioned a hundred times already. He's still hardworking as ever. Honorable, honest and proud. He's also spending more time with Ronan, if you know what I mean. *wink, wink* 

Then there's Ronan. *sigh* This guy! I mean, he's like a feral cat you want to bring home but are scared it's going to ruin your sofa. You never know what to expect from him. He's unpredictable, wild, but at the same time extremely loyal to his family and friends. There is still so much we don't know about him. 

Gansey is still a mystery to me. At times I think he has no personality and he's just there in every chapter. I know he's suppose to be the King of the gang but I don't see it. :/ Everybody likes him-boys in school, new people he meets and even Adam let go of his jealousy. He's helpful in a way a human can help a paranormal creature-basically not. I guess I'm the only one who doesn't care about his character. 

Blue's trying to find her missing mother and is dealing with her feelings towards Gansey at the same time. She was focused and determined throughout the whole book. She might even discover some hidden power deep inside her. 

If you're expecting kisses in this book, like me,  you'll just going to have to wait for the 4th installment. Even though the book was focused towards the character development, romance was pushed even further out back. There were some progress and Pynch shippers will be happy to hear it. I can't wait for the next book because I feel that's when Pynch is going to happen. 

The pacing was perfect and every chapter ended on a cliffhanger which made me scream. The book was unputdownable. And the writing is poetic. At times I had to go back and re-read parts because I thought there was something between the lines. How Maggie does this every time, I don't know. She'll always be on my auto-buy list. 

Cover is beautiful. I love the colors but I'm not sure who's on it. Blue? It could be her. 

The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard  

Publisher: Harper Teen      

Publication date: February 10th 2015
My rating: 5 stars

Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?
Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood--those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.
To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard--a growing Red rebellion--even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Wow! I did not expect much from this book when I first got it, even though I've been excited to read it. Does that even make sense? I've been burned before with over-hyped books so I tried to stay calm while I was reading Red Queen. I ended up freaking out either way. 

Mare lives in a world divided between red and silver bloods. Those with red blood, Mare included, live in terrible condition with little to no electricity while the silver bloods have special powers and  live in luxury . One night while out stealing she meets a strange young man. The next day her life changes completely because she gets a job in the royal palace. She discovers she has a power of her own by accident. To keep her red blood a secret, royals present her as the long lost daughter of a war her who died a long time ago and. Not only her skin is painted white every morning but she's also engaged to a prince. 

The main character, Mare is a tough chick. She's a street rat. She knows how to survive and adapt well to anything. Her powers are still new to her and she's trying to decide who to trust while she's living among people who want nothing to do with her kind. Still, with the help of old and some new friends, she's ready to make a difference and start a rebellion. 

I really liked the secondary characters. They all had their own personalities and were equally important as Mare. I especially liked someone who'll remain unnamed because of spoilers. The twist regarding this person was unexpected. I didn't see it coming. Wish the change in character wasn't so drastic because it didn't seem realistic to me. The character did a 180 so I wasn't so happy about it. 

The romance was so-so. Sure, I saw the connection these characters shared but it wasn't the reason I was enjoying the book so much. 

The pacing was a bit slow at times but only because it was used to describe the whole world of reds & silvers. Like I said, sometimes, it was slow but I liked reading about different settlements, the royal houses and especially, powers. 

Red Queen is a strange mix of The Legend of Korra, The Grisha Trilogy, Spartacus, The Selection and Throne of Glass. If you like any of those things, I'm sure you'll find Red Queen interesting as well.  

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Book: Ugly Love
Author: Colleen Hoover
File type: Kindle edition
Releasing Date: August 5th 2014
Publisher: Atria Books
My ratings: four out of five

synopsis:
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.
Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.
Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.


If only you all could see my face when I finally finished the book.

It wasn't one which screamed ecstasy.
It wasn't a face which resounded heartbreak.
It was nothing but mind-boggling, ground-shaking, wind-blowing utter shock and surprise. 

This is a novel about a girl and boy who meet each other, are sexually and physically attracted to each other and decide that they're going to stick with a friends with benefits arrangement because they have no time for love.

We all know how that ends.

But. This. was. actually. quite. surprising. 
There I was, ready to be not so impressed because I've always been presumptuous and judgemental but then suddenly I realised that I'm actually quite into it and that I don't...hate it.
How nice.

This is divided into sections which give you a backstory and simultaneously show you what's going on in the real world. So it's a gradual succession, until you reach a point where you finally get to know what the entire fuss is about. the fuss being the question and its answer to why Miles doesn't want to give into a future with Tate. 
Honestly, such situations annoy the crap out of me. The characters may understand what they're doing but I certainly don't. Also, such situations make donkeys and potatoes of even the best characters. 
But here's me re-establishing my point. I was surprised.

Individually, I don't mind the characters. They may have had stupid reasons for carrying on with their 'arrangement' even if both of them were aware about its obvious consequences, but what can I say? They were horny. Case closed. 

Otherwise, I loved the balance created by the author. Miles past brings into the fore another character and his relationship with that character and even THAT was pretty appealing to me. IF the present got too weird, it was soon followed by the past which countered its weirdness and vice versa. 

I was listening to this while reading the book and it may or may not have influenced my opinion. It's a fantastic song either way. 
Overall, a nice, entertaining novel which keeps you engrossed, and like me, even happy.