Top Ten Tuesday (#3): Books I Was Surprised I Liked/Didn't Like

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly (super fun) book blog meme hosted by the awesome folks at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is a REWIND, so I decided to do one I missed from an earlier TTT topic.

TOP TEN BOOKS I WAS SURPRISED I LIKED/DIDN'T LIKE

1. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

I adore Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series so naturally I figured I'd love her newer vampire apocalypse series. Well.... It's really good and I like it, but I didn't feel like Kagawa brought her A-game in this book. The characters were not as interesting as the Iron Fey characters and the story spent a lot of time with certain uninteresting characters while ignoring the only truly interesting one in the entire story. Oh well... Can't win 'em all.

2. Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Before I read this book, I had it sitting on my shelf for several months. I figured it was a book I'd like, but until I read it, I didn't know just HOW much. I LOVE this book and the next two something fierce! It really surprised me, even though I had a good feeling I would like it beforehand. The characters are amazing and it's just so hilarious.

3. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

This YA steampunk fantasy is set in a Japan-like world with all the good stuff I've come to love from anime. I figured this book was a shoe-in for an all-time fave. Nuh-uh. Once I cracked it open, I felt like I had to slog through mud up to my ears just to get anywhere with this story. Slowest book I've ever read, ever. Too much description of everything and very boring, unrealistic characters. I was very disappointed (and kinda mad) at this book, as it felt amateurish at best. 

4. The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

 
Let's face it. Sometimes authors can do better, right? I really thought I'd love this book to pieces. I loved the free ebook prequel, so why not the first actual novel? No. I just couldn't get into it. All the characters were superficially designed and felt like they barely stuck to the pages. The story had no purpose and it was just an unoriginal mess. The premise had potential, but the execution was lacking.

5. Flash Gold by Lindsay Buroker

I read this e-novella a couple of years ago because I happened to get it for free (it's still free) and decided to give it a shot. I didn't expect anything to stand out for me, but... Wow! This book was really awesome and the characters were so fun and hilarious together. I liked how the main character, Kali and the bounty hunter, Cedar got along. Very surprisingly interesting stuff here. (Lindsay, if you're reading this, you NEED to continue this series!)

6. The Collector by Victoria Scott

I was so excited and hyped about this book before it came out recently, so I preordered my copy back in January. I loved how the main character seemed to be cool and funny, reminding me of a favorite character from a video game series I love. I totally devoured the first half of this book, but the steam just dissipated after that. I realized I just didn't like this character all that much. The book ends very deus ex machina-like, depriving the protagonist a chance at "saving the day" himself. He was a bad boy going through major reformation, but I didn't end up believing it. Disappointing.

7. The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan

I didn't have any expectations going into this YA faerie novel, but it ended up being so flippin' great! I had started out reading the free Part 1 ebook version and was totally hooked after that. I loved the character Oryn, who is the protagonist, Violet's, sort of faerie rival. As you can see, I'm big on characters and this book delivered surprisingly well. 

8. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

 
Everyone was going nuts over this book just after it came out and I figured I'd like it, too. I'd heard about the villain character being particularly interesting and I love me some great villains. But, when I read it, it was all about insta-love and an overly emotionally drawn out heroine who didn't seem very heroic to me. It was too shallow. 

9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

This one is really low on my list because it's not like I hated this book, or anything. I really liked it, actually. It's a book that has so much charisma going for it that even though I didn't love it, I knew it was special, nonetheless. I have a ton of respect for this book and I will read the remaining six sequels, but having heard so much hype for so many years prior to reading it, I expected to be blown away. I wasn't so much. It's awesome, but I suspect it's because I can't fully appreciate Middle Grade fiction, and it hampered my ability to completely love this very popular book. Don't kill me!

10. The Emerald Atlas by John Stevens

I suppose this book deserves to be on my list, too, because it was being touted as "the next Harry Potter" before it came out. I expected it to be phenomenal, but it was lukewarm at best. It's a nice enough book, but it's nowhere near as charming as Harry Potter. Again, I have trouble loving Middle Grade fiction, but even I could tell this book was never going to become another HP. 


Which books let you down or totally left you blown away unexpectedly? Read any of these books and feel the same as me? 

             

Celebrate the Small Things! (#1)

"Celebrate the Small Things" is a blog meme hosted by VikLit at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author

I'm a little late with this, but I'm doing it anyway. 

I've actually been wanting to participate in this blog meme for a long time now, but I guess I've been having trouble seeing my small accomplishments as worthy of an entire blog post. But, that is what this whole meme is about, so insignificance, be as insignificant as you want! You are getting your day in the sun today....


Now that March is over, I can look back and see that I did accomplish something pretty great for me, personally, last month. I am a book buying addict and need serious therapy, so I've been trying to place book buying caps on each month since this year started. I have SO, SO, SO many books to read and cannot possibly read them all in the next three decades, so this nonsense needs to stop!

January was a super bad month due to Christmas gift cards (although, I always love them! I just shouldn't use them for books so much). February was on track with only 2 book purchases because that is what I've decided on as my limit each month. But, last month I did even better and bought only ONE book the entire month.......... O_O (Am I even me anymore?)

This book was one I wasn't even going to buy at all because I know I won't be reading it any time soon, but I knew I would buy it one day. It was a copy I found from a small indie bookstore online and much cheaper than any new versions of the book I'd seen anywhere else. I had to take advantage and I don't regret it at all. I one-upped myself and proved I can control my book buying habits, after all.

Besides this, I've been churning out some word counts for a new Young Adult sci-fi/apocalypse novel I decided to impromptu-start last week. Somehow, this makes me feel accomplished, even though it meant putting my YA fantasy novel on ice for now. But, that's just my way. Out with the old and in with the new!


Join the "Celebrate the Small Things" Blog Hop Every Friday! 

The rules are simple: you post something small you'd like to celebrate - tidying that cupboard, finally getting to the gym. You join the linky list. You hop around other people's blogs and say YAY and CONGRATS and join in the happy feelings.  

Cover Reveal: The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan

Hey, peeps! Last year I discovered this amazingly cool self-published YA fantasy novel called The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan. It's about a faerie girl named Violet who is training to become a fully-fledged faerie guardian and all the funny and interesting antics that ensue. I highly recommend reading it if you haven't already. 

The great news today is that author Rachel Morgan is gearing up to release Book 2 in the Creepy Hollow series, The Faerie Prince and I've got the gorgeous cover to reveal to you all! 

Whoa... Nice, eh? Another beautiful cover to add to collection. Now on to the deets about this here new book....


Book Description:

Guardian trainee Violet Fairdale is just weeks away from one of the most important occasions of her life: graduation. After messing up big time by bringing a human into the fae realm, Vi needs to step up her game and forget about Nate if she hopes to graduate as the top guardian of her year. Everything would be fine if she wasn’t forced to partner with Ryn, her ex-friend, ex-enemy, current ‘sort of friend’. They might be trying to patch up their relationship, but does she really want to spend a week undercover with him for their final assignment? On top of that, the possibly-insane Unseelie Prince is still on the loose, free to ‘collect’ as many specially talented faeries as he can find—and Vi is still at the top of his list. Add in faerie queens, enchanted storms, complicated not-just-friends feelings, and a murder within the Guild itself, and graduation is about to become the least of Vi’s problems.

Add THE FAERIE PRINCE to your to-read list on Goodreads.
If you haven't yet read the first book in the Creepy Hollow series, THE FAERIE GUARDIAN, you can find it at the following places:

Amazon, B&N, Apple iBookstore, Smashwords

To connect with the author, visit Rachel Morgan's blog.