The Siren book review

This week I am here with another book- review and hopefully it will will be more expressive than my previous one. This is a spoiler-free review, so you don't have to worry about being spoiled. As you could already see from the title, the book I am going to talk about today is going to be The Siren by Kiera Cass.

What the book is about:

Love is a risk worth taking. 

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. Love is a risk worth taking. 

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. And though she can’t talk to him, they soon forge a connection neither of them can deny…and Kahlen doesn’t want to.

Falling in love with a human breaks all the Ocean’s rules, and if the Ocean discovers Kahlen’s feelings, she’ll be forced to leave Akinli for good. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

My thoughts:

Since I want to keep this review honest, I had really high hopes for this book, because after The Crown I wasn't really happy and I hoped, this book will make me love Kiera Cass-books again. Don't get me wrong I still love the first three books in the Selection- series, but the last two books weren't my favorites. And I was so disappointed, because this book just didn't live up to my expectations. I still enjoyed it, but it won't make it to my favorites-shelf. The story was really slow in my opinion and at the same time everything happened out of nowhere. The relationship between Kahlen and Akinli was just there after they'd only met like, three times, Kahlen was head-over heels for him and Akinli seemed to feel the same. I just don't like instal-love in books, because some romantic books are already a little unrealistic in my opinion and this makes it more unrealistic. But at the same time I loved them when they were together, they were really cute. I just couldn't see where it's coming from.

Kahlen was a likable character at the beginning, but she became more and more miserable with every single page. I get it, it's not easy to live as a siren serving the Ocean, killing people, but the other sirens could figure out how to cope with it. She had the longest time to get used to it and she couldn't. Miaka and Elisabeth were far more interesting characters and their background-story was also more interesting to me. Or at least what we get to know about their background. But my favorite character was definitely Aisling. She had the most unique story and I think her life as a siren would've been more worthy of telling than Kahlen's, but that's just my opinion.

Last, but not least, let's talk about the Ocean. In this book the Ocean uses sirens to kill people, because she needs them in order to stay alive. I already don't like the ocean and knowing that it can hear my thoughts, when I am in it or it can eat me any time makes it harder to even give it a chance. Although, I gotta say it's an interesting idea to think of the ocean as something alive, but it still scares me.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, it was a good summer read and although I was disappointed, I didn't regret picking it up. In my review I pointed out a lot of things, I have to point it out as well, that this was the first book Kiera Cass has written. And for a first book, it is really good and I know how good the Selection-series was, so I cannot wait to see her next book, hopefully soon. Have you read this book? If you did, what is your opinion about it? Make sure to tell me in the comment section.

Until next time,
Bianka

Illuminae by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff book review

Hello Everyone, in this post we are going to review Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I am going to be honest, I didn't plan on writing a review about this one, but at the end I loved it so much, I just had to.

What the book is about:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes. 

My thoughts and review:

I remember the hype around this book, when it came out last year and I wanted to read this book, but as I said in a lot of posts before, overhyped books almost always leave me disappointed. But his book lived up to my already high expectations. This book was genius. I seriously cannot believe how two people can come up with such an interesting format for a book and at the same time make the story so complex. Yes, at the beginning I was afraid that the characters will stay flat and two-dimensional, but this was not the case at all. It surprised me, how the story came  together and how easily I could get to know the characters jut from their messages, e-mails and diaries. Kady was a strong female character and I really liked her sarcasm. I wish we could have seen more from Ezra, somehow I feel I got to know Kady so much better, than him throughout the book. My favorite character was AIDAN, although he wasn't even a real character, since he is a computer. I know that's strange, but it was interesting to see how a computer thinks and how at the end it can mimic human feelings. The drawings of the spaceships really helped to imagine the story and really follow up with the characters. The other thing that made me enjoy this book a lot were the scenes with the captains and leaders.

And I don't want to spoil any of the plot twists, but there were so many and they weren't the ones you could predict. Definitely one of those books, where you won't be bored.

And another thing: This book has an audiobook, that will blow your mind. I am not a big fan of audiobooks, but this one was like a movie without the screen. It made the story so much more enjoyable and a lot more realistic.
If you haven't read this book you definitely should, because it's amazing, plus the sequel Gemina is coming out this October, so you don't have to wait a lot for next installment in the series. Have you read this book? Did you like it?
Until next time,
Bianka

A peek inside my head...

Hey Everyone, how are you doing? Today's post is not going to be a book related one, because I just wanted to do a bit more personal one. I love writing about books, but sometimes I feel like talking about different kind of things, that happen in life. So, today I am going to talk about this year, kind of. As you could read in my wrap-up post (click here to read it) I got accepted to university and although I am really happy, thoughts just come to my head. I am a person, who is not a big fan of big changes. And although sometimes changes are good for you and are inevitable, it's still hard and scary. And this year so far has been the year of big changes. So many things happened in such a sort time and I feel a little bit lost amongst them. Leaving high school was a big change. Although I wasn't the biggest fan of it, it is still a big milestone in your life and it's a big deal. After that you're definitely not a kid. You're an adult. At the time I honestly felt like I don't even know how to be a teenager, let alone an adult. I was always an athlete. And that leads to the other big change: leaving figure skating. And there we are: I am not an athlete anymore. And it doesn't affect my everyday life so much as it affects my identity. It's just weird, because it was such a basic thing in my life, it was like my name or my birth date. Sounds awkward and silly, but think about it: How would you feel like, if you couldn't introduce yourself with your name anymore?! Now, I am laughing at myself for writing such things down. But really, I am still trying to figure out, who I have grown to be besides an athlete. Besides the girl, who loves to write and read books and watch TV-shows. I wasn't a very social-person until this point, but I was always tired, so that explains it. But what if I am a very social person? I am thinking about this so hard, I even questioned my love for my favorite things at one point. I am just trying to get to know this person I am now. Am I an young adult or am I still a teenager? I feel like this summer I finally got to be a real teenager and now I have to be an adult, because that'S everyone says a university student is, right?! Some people have years to be teenagers, I had two months. But at the same time I definitely feel like I am doing great, although I overthink it a little bit and I am doing right know what I want to do. Although it's hard sometimes and I am going to be honest, scary, I wouldn't change anything in my life back to how it was before. Even if I missed out on being a full-on teenager, I never for one second regret it. Because I had the most amazing "childhood" ever. and now it's time to grow up and see how I can use whatever I learned on the ice.
Now I definitely think, that I am overreacting this whole growing up, but this is how I feel. And I am sure I am not alone these feelings or I hope I am not alone... I hope you enjoyed this post and you could relate to it.
See you next time,
Bianka

July Wrap-Up

Yes, it's already the end of another month. It's crazy. This year is going by so fast, I cannot even keep up. So, today I am going to do a wrap-up post and later this week I am going to upload another post, so keep an eye on my twitter or my instagram, because I will notify you whenever it's up. From now on in my wrap-up I am going to tell you about all the books I read in the month, like usually and also I am going to tell you my favorite memory or thing in the month. I think it's a great way, to make these wrap-ups a little bit more exciting and personal.
Books I read in July:
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jody Meadows: I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this one. It was a perfect summer read. I gave it 3.5 stars on Goodreads, because the plot was little bit slow at some points, but overall I think its a very enjoyable read. A review is up on the blog, just click here, if you want to read it.
Én vagy senki by Dorka Mészáros: This was a Hungarian YA book, it's not available in English. If I want to translate the title, it's Me or no one. It was meant to be a thriller, mystery book, but I think it was really flat and unrealistic. It seemed very promising and I don't find hungarian YA books promising often, but this in my opinion was not a good book and I honestly wouldn't recommend it. But it's only my opinion, don't hate me, if you loved it.
Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover: For me Colleen Hoopvers books were always a little bit too dramatic, but in this one I truly fell in love with Colleen Hoovers writing. I think in this book the characters behaved a lot more mature than in other NA romances. It was a very enjoyable read, I am going to be honest, I think its my favorite out of her books. I liked that it had music written to it, like actual music, how cool is that?!
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff : I am technically just reading it, but I am almost done with it, so it counts right?! This book surprised me in so many ways. I am going to admit at the beginning it was a little bit confusing, but later on I started to listen to the audiobook and after that I understood everything. I know I said in my 25 bookish facts about me post, that I cannot listen to audiobooks (you can read the post, if you click here), but this one is pretty much like a movie without the screen. And I love it.
Best moment of the month:
I GOT ACCEPTED TO UNIVERSITY!!!!! I cannot believe I am basically a university student now and I am honestly so proud of myself, because all the hard work is just paying off and that feels amazing.
July has been very relaxing and at the same time a really eventful month and I cannot wait to see what adventures are waiting for me in August. How was your July? Please tell me in the comments, because I am curious as always.
Until next time,
Bianka