The Search For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

Page Count: 484

Published on: September 21, 2010

Published by: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers
Genre(s): Fantasy, Science Fiction, Middle Grade, YA, Adventure
Source: Print: Paperback

Age Rating: PG

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon  

Twitter: @TonyDiTerlizzi

My Rating: 4.75 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Eva Nine is a curious and sensitive twelve-year-old who has existed only in a subterranean home called Sanctuary, cared for by a robot named Muthr. Eva's great desire is to go aboveground, and her wish comes true, though not as she had imagined. On the surface, Eva goes in search of other humans--she has never met one--and soon meets both friend and foe.

~~~

Hey guys!

      I got this book with my aunt when we went out to a college campus. I saw this book and automatically thought of Regan from PeruseProject from YouTube. Regan has been raving about this series and Tony DiTerlizzi in general. Tony DiTerlizzi is the co-creator and the illustrator of the Spiderwick Chronicles. His awesome illustrations are all throughout the book, and they just add to the awesome vibe that the book gave me. 

      When I first started reading this book, I was kind of confused because I went into it blindly. The first few chapters were really cool, because they were a nice introduction to Eva and M.U.T.H.R. They are such a strong team and I'd love to read more about their life in the Sanctuary. At first I thought M.U.T.H.R. was way too uptight, and I really didn't understand her as a character. When I continued to read on, I realized that my whole perception of her character was totally wrong. Her whole purpose was to protect and teach Eva how to survive and live her life. She was doing what she was programmed to do. By the end of the book, I really loved Muthr and respected her a lot more. Eva was a very smart girl. She's fourteen (I think) and for a fourteen year old girl who's never been outside, she's actually really resourceful and once she gets the idea of what she's up against regarding the outside world, she's very cool. Don't get me wrong, she's still very flawed as a person, and she makes mistakes throughout the book, but it's normal. She's never been outside and she has no idea what she's up against, so I thought her mistakes were somewhat justified. 

      Tony DiTerlizzi's writing style, art style, and the characters and creatures that he creates are so unlike anything I've ever seen. His magical and fantastical world is so original and mysterious. The cliff hanger alone was so well done! I did not see that coming! My edition of the book had a little sneak peek of the first few pages of the sequel, so it just made me want to read the next book even more...haha. Overall, this book is so worth reading. It's kind of an Alice In Wonderland retelling, but vaguely...As I continue to think about it, I see more and more similarities between the two stories, but the book doesn't rely on the original story to drive the plot. I loved it! I gave this book 4.5 stars, because there was something missing for me, but I can't put my finger on what I felt was missing....

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this review! Happy reading!

Olivia
~LivTheBookNerd~
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The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram

Page Count: 464
Expected Published: February 9, 2015

Published by: HarperTeen

Genre(s): YA, Romance, Fantasy, Dystopia, Adventure, Science Fiction
Source: Hardback

Age Rating: PG-14

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Twitter: @kellyoram

My Rating: 4.75 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically. 

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.

~~~

Hey guys!

      I picked this book up on a whim, I figured that I needed something light, fluffy, and full of cheesy romance. I'm so glad that I picked this one up. The Avery Shaw Experiment follows Avery Shaw. Avery's best friend has just broken up with her, and her heart is broken. With her best friend's jerky older brother, Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her science fair project. Grayson, the older brother, doesn't even want to help...but he needs the extra credit so he helps Avery out. Grayson thinks he can help Avery get over her heartbreak by living. He knows that she doesn't need to grieve, she needs to move on and live. 

     This was such a funny and romantic book, though I found the relationship to be a bit insta-lovey and cheese-y, it was still very cute and gave me all of the feels. I really enjoyed the whole aspect of the science experiment, and the relationships that Avery develops with her new friends are really cute. Avery is such a dynamic and cool character. I love that she is able to get through most of her problems, and her friends are so supportive and I just really love that. Grayson is such a real guy character. He's totally dreamy. I loved reading the chapters that were in his perspective. His change of character was really cute to read/watch. I also really liked Avery's friends. I really shipped her friend Libby with Grayson's friend Garrett. In fact, the second book in the series, The Libby Garrett Intervention, is all about them, and I plan on reading it soon. 

      Overall, this was a really cute and fluffy romance novel. I really enjoyed the characters and their stories, and I really enjoyed the character development throughout. The science-y aspects were kind of unrealistic, and the solution towards the end was really unrealistic. I felt like the main relationship was really insta-love-y. Even though the attraction is kind of instant, the love seemed really genuine and real. Their relationship was really sweet and really adorable. I can't wait to read more of Kelly Oram's work.

My Favorite Characters: Avery & Grayson & Libby
My Least Favorite Characters: Aiden 

Happy Reading!

Olivia
~livthebooknerd~

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March 2016 Wrap Up

Hey guys!

      So I've read 9 books this month! I'd call that a satisfying reading month 😊 not all are shown in the picture though. I have 2 lent out, 1 was borrowed from a friend, 1 was from my school's library, 1 is an ebook, and one is at school. 😊 Here are the books that I read during March!

• Scott Pilgrim Vol. 6 by Brian Lee O'Malley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• An Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Half Bad by Sally Green
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️& 3/4
• Play The Part by Jen Turano
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Dealing With Dragons by Patricia Wrede
⭐️⭐️⭐️ & 1/2
• When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Lali of the Lill: Two by Adi Mandal
⭐️⭐️ & 1/2
• The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ & 3/4
• The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ & 3/4

Unfortunately there weren't any books this month that had me fangirling uncontrollably. I think I might be getting a bit slumpy... Hopefully #DorothyMustDie by Danielle Paige will get me out of my slump. I'm currently a little over 200 pages in, and I'm totally loving it. It's so new and original. I'm definitely going to read the whole series 😻

Happy reading!
Olivia
~LivTheBookNerd~
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Dealing With Dragons (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1) by Patricia C. Wrede

Page Count: 212
Published on: November 1, 2002

Published by: Books For Young Readers

Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Children's, Middle Grade, Humor
Source: Hardback

Age Rating: PG

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart - and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon - and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.

~~~

Hey guys!

     My friend Donovan lent me a bind up of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles a couple weeks ago, and I pretty much went into it blindly. This book is about a princess who doesn't want to be a princess. She runs away to live with a dragon, and in the process she tries to discourage the knights from "rescuing" her. This is a really funny middle grade fantasy story. The characters were super cute, and and I really liked the way the series was going. Even though the story was really short and definitely written for a younger audience. 
   
      Cimorene was a very engaging and modern character. Her constant goal of being more that she's made out to be was such an admirable trait in a heroine. She was so sassy and hardworking, I really loved her as a character. What really irritated me was how stupid the other human characters were. I didn't like how blindly they followed what everyone else did, but I guess that's just apart of the story. 

      The beginning of the story sucked me in really quickly, but as I got into the middle of the book, I got really frustrated. There wasn't any sense of peril, and the characters were never in any real danger. The magic, world building, and character building was all there, but there wasn't anything dangerous about it that made me rush to find out what happened next. Usually a 200 page book takes me a couple hours, but this book had me going for a couple days. The middle was just very bland, and it didn't hook me much at all. I had to force myself to finish the last 75 pages. The last 25 pages were really gripping, and I really liked how it was ended, but for some reason I had to force myself to finish the middle part. I feel like Wrede could have expanded more on her whole world, and I saw a lot of potential with a larger story. 

     This wasn't a 5 star book for me, but I feel like a 10 year old me would love it. It was pretty entertaining, and the characters were really cute. I don't know if I'll pick up the next three books, I may just ask my friend what happens. I also don't it was what I needed at the moment. I didn't read it because I wanted to at that time. I read it because I felt guilty for not reading my friend's book sooner. I don't like to keep books to long, when people lend them to me. That's not that relevant to the review, but there's my reasoning. 

My Favorite Character: Cimorene
My Least Favorite Character(s): Cimorene's parents and the knights

Happy Reading,
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~

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Playing the Part by Jen Turano

Page Count: 352
Published on: March 1, 2016

Published by: Bethany House

Genre(s): Romance, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction
Source: Provided by Bethany House- Paperback

Age Rating: PG-14

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

      Lucetta Plum is an actress on the rise in New York City, but is forced to abandon her starring role when a fan's interest turns threatening. Lucinda's widowed friend, Abigail Hart, is delighted at the opportunity to meddle in Lucetta's life and promptly whisks her away to her grandson's estate to hide out.

      Bram Haverstein may appear to simply be a somewhat eccentric gentleman of means, but a mysterious career and a secret fascination with a certain actress mean there's much more to him than society knows.

      Lucetta, who has no interest in Abigail's matchmaking machinations, has the best intentions of remaining cordial but coolly distant to Bram. But when she can't ignore the strange and mysterious things going on in his house, it'll take more than good intentions to keep her from trying to discover who Bram is behind the part he plays.

~~~

Hey guys!

      Play the Part was sent to me by Bethany House for an honest review. I've been kind of wary to read this book, because just I wasn't sure if it was apart of a series. It just so happens to be the third book in the A Class Of Their Own trilogy. On the bright side, it's a companion trilogy, so all three books are separate stories, but they all connect at the end of the trilogy. I don't think missed much, which is great.

     I really liked this book. The plot was nicely done, the characters were hilarious. Each of the characters were really well thought out, their stories were all really intriguing and their diverse backgrounds are really cool and fun. I really enjoyed Lucetta as a character. She was really strong and independent. She was such a real character, and she was so calm. She wasn't a hysterical or spazzy character, she was such a cool young woman. Bram was such a sweet and chivalrous character. He is definitely one of my favorite book boyfriends. Lucetta and Bram's relationship wasn't love at first sight, but it developed kind of quickly..but it wasn't insta-love... I really did like their relationship, Lucetta was such an independent soul, and her reluctance to admit her budding attraction was really funny to watch. Their encounters were really cute and they made me majorly fangirl. There were so many potential ships in this book, and each one of them was really different, and seeing them fall for each other was really amazing. 

     I WANT TO SEE BRAM'S CASTLE! His castle's description was so spooky and gothic. I just really want to visit his castle and see all that his staff has done to it. It sounded so cool.

      The two things that I was kinda if-y about was that I saw the plot twist coming, and there wasn't nearly enough spiritual content in my opinion. I really wanted a good spiritual lesson, and He was rarely mentioned in this book, and when he was mentioned, it was very brief. It was just not what I expected.

My Ships: Abigail x Archibald, Bram x Lucetta, & Mr. Skulkman x Ruby
My Favorite Character: Bram or Lucetta or Ruby
My Least Favorite Character: Silas

I hope you enjoyed this review!
Happy Reading!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~

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An Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Page Count: 464
Expected Published: February 9, 2015

Published by: HarperTeen

Genre(s): YA, Romance, Fantasy, Dystopia, Adventure, Science Fiction
Source: Hardback

Age Rating: PG-14

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Twitter: @sabaatahir

My Rating: 4.75 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Laia is a slave.
Elias is a soldier.
Neither is free.

     Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

      It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

     But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

      There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself. 

~~~

Hey guys!

      An Ember In The Ashes has been on my TBR list for about 2 months now. My lovely grandma bought me this book for Christmas, and I was so excited to read it. I had heard so much about it on BookTube, and the average rating on Goodreads was really high. I was at first skeptical of reading this book, because it was at first marketed as a standalone, and I am usually wary of fantasy standalones because they are usually done badly. I then learned that Sabaa Tahir planned on releasing a sequel! I was so excited, so that just made me even more excited to read the book.

      The plot of this book was really really intriguing and the whole structure of it was phenomenal. The characters were really well rounded, really different, and really mysterious. You are constantly learning more and more about them as a person, and more about their backstories, and it was just really...amazing! It kept you on your toes, you don't know what's going to happen next. That's the whole mystery of it. The whole idea of the book is really brutal and intense, and the whole world is really unforgiving and raw. 

      I loved the alternative perspectives between Laia and Elias, Elias's perspective was my favorite to read just because he was such a strong character, but he was blatantly flawed. He was a young man who struggled with morals and love and his identity. He wanted freedom, and acceptance. I just loved him as a character. Don't think that I didn't like Laia as a character, but I did prefer Elias. Sometimes I felt like Laia's chapters were kind of slow, but they were still very interesting and compelling. Whenever Elias and Laia interacted with each other, their chemistry was undeniable. I don't know if I would say that I would ship them, because there's kind of a love-square going on throughout the book, but I think that I could maybe decide on a ship when I read the sequel. ;) 

      Sabaa Tahir's writing all throughout the novel was stunningly beautiful. Her overall tone was very raw, yet flowing, and I adored it. The story was addicting, and powerful and I cannot wait to read the sequel, A Torch Against The Night. 

My Favorite Character: Elias
My Least Favorite Character: The Commander

Happy Reading,
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~

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The Siren by Kiera Cass

Page Count: 327
Expected Published: January 26, 2016

Published by: HarperTeen

Genre(s): YA, Romance, Fantasy (Mythology), Supernatural, Mermaids
Source: Hardback

Age Rating: PG-13

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Twitter: @kieracass

My Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again. 

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude...until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

~~~

Hey guys!

       If you've been following my blog for a while, then you know that I am a major fan of Kiera Cass's Selection series. When I found out that her stand alone, The Siren, was being rereleased and reedited, I was absolutely ecstatic. I had been planning to read The Siren for a while, but her big news just made me even more excited for her book. Kiera wrote her first book when she was 17, and she published it herself. I think Kiera Cass is such an amazing writer, and The Siren does not disappoint!

      This book was such a beautifully done piece of art. It was hauntingly beautiful, yet addicting and page-turning. It was light, yet deep; and the characters were so wonderfully written. The Siren follows Kahlen, a young girl who was spared from perishing in a ship wreck by The Ocean. In exchange for her life, Kahlen works for the Ocean. Kahlen has to become a siren and lure ships to sinking and causing hundreds of people to die. As Kahlen lives her life as a siren, she has to come to terms with all of the innocent lives that she must claim to feed the Ocean's appetite. She dreams of the day that she gets released from her 100 year sentence. She longs to fall in love, and have a normal life. One day, she meets Akilini, a sweet and caring boy. Kahlen and Akilini's love cannot be, her voice only brings death, and if he ever hears her voice he would die. 

      This book is more than a love story. It is full of friendship, motherly love, and true love. The original and unique form of mythology that Kiera Cass is so fascinating and addicting. Her subtle world building, and Kahlen's siren sisters make this story a beautiful story about friendship and sisterhood. The Ocean's possessive and aggressive character is really interesting, and left me desiring her back story. Kahlen's siren sisters all had deep and relatable back stories that made them essential to the story. All of them were quirky and their interactions with the Ocean and the humans around them were really interesting, and it made me want to read more. 

      The only thing that left me curious were Kiera Cass's choices for the character's names. They're so unique and strange for the time period and the setting. Kahlen was also from the 20's to 50's period so the name seems to be pretty modern as well.

      I really wish that there was at least a novella that told about what happened after the end of The Siren. I cannot wait for May when The Crown comes out...it's what's driving me to get to finals ;)...

I hope you enjoyed this review! I plan on doing a video on it soon!

Happy Reading,
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~

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