Top Ten Tuesday: Best/Worst Series Enders

This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week bloggers share a list of books for the prompt given. So hopefully I'll have a new list to share with you all each week!

This Week's Topic: Top Ten Best/Worst Series Enders

Oh boy. This is going to be a hard one to answer. You see, this actually requires me to have finished a series to judge how it ended. To tell you the truth, I am THE WORST at finishing series. It's so hard waiting for  the new book to come out that, by the time it comes, I'm already reading something else and it simply slips my mind. But of the series I have finished, here are the best and the worst...

Best

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

Gosh were there so many emotions in this final book. And that epilogue! What a way to end such an amazing series. 

2. The End by Lemony Snicket

It has been FOREVER since I've read this series (like, middle school forever), but I remember absolutely loving this series. And I'm pretty sure the ending was awesome! 

3. The Mediator: Twilight by Meg Cabot

I was in love with The Mediator series, and Meg could not have written a better ending to the series! I was sad it had to stop, but it was a great ending with Jesse and Suze. 

4. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

I read this right when it came out, so it's been over three years since I finished this series. That being said, my memory of the final book is a bit hazy, but I remember it was a pretty great ending for the series! Especially dealing with all the drama that happened with Rose and Dmitri in the couple of books before the end. 

5. Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

It's not your typical series following the same main characters, but this is still a series I seriously love, so it counts. I don't know how Simone does it, but she hasn't written a novel that I haven't fallen in love with. 

Worst

1. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyers

As much as I actually really like the first books in this series, Stephanie Meyer just had to wrap it up all in a nice, neat bow. Seriously, no one died? And the guy who had been in love with the mom for the past three books ends up with her daughter?!? Yeah, I wish it had ended a bit differently...

2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I loved the Hunger Games series, but I wasn't a big fan of the final book. There was something about the way things ended up happening that I wished had turned out differently. 

3. We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Oh my gosh, I was SO mad after I read this book. Jenny Han had completely changed my favorite character's whole personality and made him the bad guy once they moved away to college. I was absolutely crushed and couldn't believe that the entire series ended the way that it did. 

And those are the only bad ones I can think of! Haha, it's because every series I start I just can't get myself to finish. It's a horrible habit that needs to break ASAP!

Weekly Roundup [10/1-10/6]

This weekend could not have been more perfect! I got ahead on a ton of homework, spent Saturday with my amazing parents, and then spent Sunday reading the new Nicholas Sparks novel! My parents brought me the copy I had ordered from Barnes & Noble, and boy is it good. Seriously, Nicholas Sparks knows how to create one dreamy cowboy! While I've been lost in the world of The Longest Ride, here's what happened on the blog...

Book Reviews

S.E.C.R.E.T. by L Marie Adeline

The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman

Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman

Memes

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Turn-Offs

Waiting On Wednesday (111)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (105)

Stacking the Shelves (69)

Book Review: Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman

Kindness for Weakness

By Shawn Goodman

Release Date: May 14, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets Catcher in the Rye.

A fifteen-year-old boy from an abusive home desperately seeking his older brother's love and approval starts pushing drugs for him and suffers the consequences.
Review: This is not normally the kind of book I read. At all. But there was just something so intriguing about "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets Catcher in the Rye," that I couldn't resist picking it up. 

James is used to taking care of himself. Since his mom got together with her abusive boyfriend and his brother left, James can only find solace in his books and conversations over a cold glass of root beer with his English teacher. But when James gets into trouble helping out his brother, he finds himself in juvie, a world where a 15-year-old boy like him does not belong. James has to learn to toughen up in a place where it's every man for himself. 

Hm, I'm not really sure what to think right now. James goes through some serious stuff throughout this book. He comes from an awful home, and then winds up in juvie where you can't even count on the guards keeping you safe. And James is such a good kid! I feel so bad for him as he arrives at juvie scared out of his mind and he has to change who he is in order to survive such a rough place. 

My favorite part of this book, big surprise, is James' relationship with his English teacher. His teacher is constantly giving him books to read and those books really make James think about life. Not only that, but he connects those books to what he's going through as he's locked up. It's pretty cool how he can tie everything together. 

The ending kind of confused me, though. Okay, it really confused me. I'm not sure if I really liked/understood how things were left, but that's just me. Overall, this was a really striking read with some pretty real and deep emotions. If you're up for a more serious book that gets into the head of a troubled teenage boy, then I'd definitely say that this is the book for you.

Stacking the Shelves (69)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what they got throughout the week!

From the library

One of my friends said that this was her favorite book of all time, so I decided I should check out a copy for myself! It sounds like a really fascinating book, so I can't wait for the chance to read it. 

From Barnes & Noble

OH MY GOSH I WILL FINALLY HAVE MY COPY AT 10:30AM TODAY. My parents are coming to visit me for Parent's Weekend and this book has been sitting at my house for the past THREE WEEKS. I pre-ordered it from Barnes & Noble, but I sent it home because I didn't want it to be sent to my apartment on campus and sit outside for someone to steal. But that means I've been absolutely dying to read this one for the past three weeks. I'm finally getting my copy today, and that means I'll be spending my entire Sunday curled up with this baby :)

From Publisher

Along with my Nicholas Sparks book, my parents are bringing me my copy of Never Desire a Duke by Lily Dalton. I've got a review of it schedule for later this week, so I'm super happy they're bringing this one along with them as well. Not only is this a historical romance, but it also takes place around Christmastime. And you can never go wrong with Christmas!

That's it for me! What'd you all add to your shelves this week? 

Follow My Book Blog Friday (105)

This is a meme hosted every Friday by Parajunkee, where book bloggers answer a question each week and check out how others answered it. It's a cool way for bloggers and viewers to connect and learn more about each other!

Question: What book have you not read that seemingly everyone else has? 

Answer: Oh wow, where to start? I feel like there are tons of books on my TBR list that it seems like everyone has read but I just haven't had the time to. Here are a few...

These are all books that I've been dying to read, but just haven't had the time. And it seems like EVERYONE has read them! Not only that, but they all loved these books, so now I only want to read them even more. I own the first three, so hopefully I can get around to reading them sometime this year!

Book Review: The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman

The Waking Dark

By Robin Wasserman

Release Date: September 10, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand . . . except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn't even know why she killed—or whether she'll do it again.

Something is waking in the sleepy town of Oleander's, Kansas—something dark and hungry that lives in the flat earth and the open sky, in the vengeful hearts of upstanding citizens. As the town begins its descent into blood and madness, five survivors of the killing day are the only ones who can stop Oleander from destroying itself. Jule, the outsider at war with the world; West, the golden boy at war with himself; Daniel, desperate for a different life; Cass, who's not sure she deserves a life at all; and Ellie, who believes in sacrifice, fate, and in evil. Ellie, who always goes too far. They have nothing in common. They have nothing left to lose. And they have no way out. Which means they have no choice but to stand and fight, to face the darkness in their town—and in themselves.

Review: I saw A LOT of hype about this book before I even thought about reading it. Reviewers described Robin Wasserman as the George RR Martin of YA. Yeah, you could say that had me intrigued. So I had no idea what to really expect going into this one, but I knew I was going to like it. 

Oleander, Kansas was your typical quiet town with your typical small town people. Until Killing Day came. 12 people died with no explanation, simply murders that were far too coincidental. But Oleander pushed that under the rug, and continued their quiet-town lives. But Killing Day was just the beginning. There's something lurking underneath and as Oleander slowly starts to spin out of control, 5 teens are the only ones who seem sane enough to try and save the town from itself. Can they save a town, though, that doesn't seem to want to be saved? 

Wow. Just, wow. I'm not really sure what to say right now. I can definitely tell you that I've never read a book like this one. Ever. People die left and right, and you have absolutely no idea what's going on. Which makes this book actually pretty cool. You follow the lives of 5 people in the town, and they all seem like they have nothing to do with each other. But as the book progresses, their lives slowly move together until they all collide in a huge way. It was pretty cool how the characters all intertwined by the end. 

The writing style of this book is really interesting, and pretty much perfect for this kind of book. There's a ton of unknown, so it's basically all the current emotions and thoughts of the characters. Things are raw and there are events that happen that literally left my jaw hanging wide open as I read them. Did that really just happen? Yup, pretty sure it did...

Because of all of the mystery, some parts of the story tended to be a bit confusing while other parts seemed to just drag on (it's a 452 page book). I can't say much without entirely spoiling the book, but it was still really fun and engaging to read. I was definitely kept on the edge of my seat with this one, and the characters were all so different yet had to deal with the same trauma and emotions. How they dealt with what they went through, leaving behind their stereotypes and who they were in high school, was pretty cool and I liked how they all ended up at the end of the story. 

Very rarely are books able to super surprise me, but Robin Wasserman pulled no punches when it came to the world in The Waking Dark. I had no idea what would come next and was always shocked with pretty much every flip of the page. Like I said, things were kind of drawn out in this one, and the ending was a little rushed for my taste, but in the end the surprises and unique storyline really made this book as good as it was. If you want something that's completely unlike everything you've read and throws something new at you around every corner, then I'd recommend picking up a copy of The Waking Dark. 

Waiting On Wednesday (111)

This is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where every Wednesday bloggers highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating the release of!

Pointe

By Brandy Colbert

Release Date: April 10, 2014

Summary: Theo is better now.

She's eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn't talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn't do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she's been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

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One look at this cover and I knew I had to read it. Just look at how gorgeous it is! And it's about ballet? Do you have to say anything more? I wonder what Theo had gone through before that she's bounced back so successfully from. And what's Donovan's story? How was he abducted? There's so much to this story that I want to know everything, right now! Guess I'll just have to wait until April finally rolls around...