2014 Recap

(for some reason the spaces between pictures and words and stuff is wack so sometimes there are huge gaps between stuff. sorry.)

So, 2014...

It was okay, I guess.

First off, I completed my challenge! 71 of 60. Some of my favorite reads were...

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

Reviewed: here

Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Reviewed: here

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.










Of course, I loved more than just three out of what I read. But these really stuck out to me (plus I only rated maybe two others five stars and one of them was the second Mara Dyer book that just didn't hit me as hard as the third).

What else did I do in 2014?

GOT ADDICTED TO TV SHOWS OF COURSE.

The 100:

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Of course, the only solution to that is to send 100 of their delinquents to the ground, mainly because they're "expendable." Ahem. Actually, the reason why they send the 100 is to buy more time for the rest of the civilization back on the Ark. With less people, they'll need less oxygen. But they're still running out of time.

Fortunately for the 100, they got stuck with two very good leader-peoples. 

Bellamy Blake, who's a gigantic pain in the butt at first, but, thanks to his sister (Octavia) and Clarke, becomes a waaay better person. (Takes him some time, though). Along with being the best shot the 100 have, he's also a great motivational speaker (which comes in handy when you want to keep a big group of reckless kids in order). Plus, when it comes right down to it, they're scared of him. Like, really scared.

Clarke Griffin, who earns the kids' respect by being BOSS. Okay, sorry. By a) being their only medical assistance, b) trying to see the good in people while also c) setting goals and not backing down until she reaches them. Also, she's smart as heck and not scared of Bellamy at all.



I'll tell you how the leadership works. Bellamy tells the kids what to do and Clarke tells Bellamy what to do. Bellamy sees things from a very.. well... WE WILL FIGHT ANYTHING THAT MESSES WITH US sort of way, while Clarke sees things in more of a WE WILL FIGHT ANYTHING THAT MESSES WITH US but-only-if-we-have-enough-weapons-and-support-and-we-have-a-good-chance-of-winning sort of way. Also, she avidly seeks peace above ALL ELSE. Bellamy agrees that peace would be good, but doubts that it's possible at that point.

Also, Honorable Mentions:

Octavia, Bellamy's sister.
Monty, the nicest dude ever while also being the voice of reason when neither Clarke or Bellamy aren't there.
Raven, who's just BOSS. Everyone would be dead without her.
Wick, who's sense of humor is much needed and appreciated amongst all the dead and destruction.


Okay, I'll be honest. I was addicted to Teen Wolf before 2014. Oops.

Scott McCall (a.k.a real actual puppy) and his best friend Stiles (a.k.a real actual idiot with sarcasm) hear about one half of a dead body being out in the woods, and--because what else do you do when hear about this sort of thing-- head out to find it. Of course, it all goes down from there, and Scott finds himself in the midst of werewolves and werewolf hunters, and all the supernatural things. Such as Allison Argent's beauty. But have no fear! Derek is here!

Just kidding, still have fear. Derek is sort of helpful but mostly just roars in Scott's face and throws him around while supplying healthy doses of you're-an-idiot and why-am-I-even-here.

But that's just season 1. By the time you hit season 4, everything is different and much, much darker. Occasionally you get some of the old humor and general ridiculous-ness, but let's face it-- there's a lot more blood and gore than humor.

Anywho. I also watched a bit more than those two (I watched some Reign, The Secret Circle, and The Vampire Diaries) but nothing stuck out as much as these two.

But, do tell.

What were some of your favorite reads of 2014? And TV shows? 

Reviewing: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.


How do I review this book without flailing everywhere? Oh, that's right. I DON'T. *flails everywhere*

Let's just start with the main character, Nyx. Okay, so I didn't love her. I knew why she was doing the things she was doing and even though I didn't always agree with that, I did understand where she was coming from. She was tough. Strong. And a little bit cruel. But she ached for love. To be honest, I didn't really see a lot of Belle (seeing as this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling...) in her. But that's okay! In fact, I'm glad Nyx wasn't entirely like Belle. She probably would have died within the first ten pages if she was. 

Ignifex and Shade, well...

I'm not entirely sure what I can say that won't be spoilery considering these two, but I'll try my best. And basically what it comes down to is IGNIFEX. I am pretty much a goner around villains that act like villains while simultaneously being sarcastic and just really sort of weird. I'm not sure if "weird" is the right word (I almost want to use adorable instead), but just to tell you why I chose weird-- he is constantly poking Nyx in the forehead and on her nose and he basically uses her as a pillow 24/7. He is like a cat.

I spent most of the book mad at Shade. Well, okay, not most. More like... half. He felt sort of bland to me at first. But WAIT. After a little bit he becomes anything but bland. NO ONE IS BLAND IN THIS BOOK. But everyone is also a little bit (or a lot) evil.

Which brings me to Nyx's little sister, Astraia. She was supposed to be the nice one. I was supposed to like her, and feel bad for her. And I did, at first. But then... THE INCIDENT. She almost felt more cruel and manipulative than Nyx and I was just staring at the book with a repulsed expression on my face thinking about how much I really wished Nyx would walk away from her very bad, very mean family forever.

The world was absolutely brilliant. A sky made out parchment paper?? YES PLEASE. Also, I absolutely love Greek mythology. Maybe it's because I've studied it and written essays on it and read an abundance of stuff about it (all of that, not counting the essays, for pleasure) but I never really got confused about who was who and all the ranks and all the mythical places. But my brain almost died when the complexity of how the house worked was brought up.

And let me just take a moment to talk about the ending. Talk about heartbreak. I'm pretty sure I was sitting there in a bubble of depression for hours after I finished the book.

Spoiler (highlight to read): [And let's not even get started on how much I missed Ignifex after him and Shade came together as the two halves of the former prince. That being said-- I totally had thought that Ignifex had possessed Shade's body or something and that Shade was the actual prince while Ignifex had nothing to do with all that except for the itty-bitty detail of him being the demon prince.]

All in all, I absolutely loved this book. There are hints of Beauty & the Beast everywhere, but unless you're paying close attention you'll definitely miss a couple of them. They weren't at all obvious, and this book is, well... nothing like the Disney movie except for the those small details. But I absolutely loved how much Rosamund Hodge twisted the fairytale into this awesome-ness.