Top 6 books or series I want to read this summer

University is pretty stressful, especially at the moment as it's finals week, and so I do not get enough time to read during the semester. During the summer holidays, however, I plan to read a lot though, so I thought I’d come up with a list of books I definitely want to read this summer. 

1.   Harry Potter

Yes, I have not finished the Harry Potter series yet. Shame on me. I read the first four books in the series, but I somehow didn’t get to the rest yet. This summer, however, I want to finish it for real! This is such a wonderful world, such a wonderful series, and I need to complete these books as soon as I can! I honestly can’t wait to go back to Hogwarts! 

2.   The Mortal Instruments (re-read)

Two of my best friends and I decided to re-read this series, along with the TID series; so basically we wanted to re-read all Cassandra Clare books. However, the last few months have been pretty stressful for all of us, so we decided to pause the re-read. During the summer holidays we want to pick these books up again though, and go on some demon-hunts with our favorite Shadowhunters again! 

3.   Percy Jackson

Another popular series I have not finished yet. I did read the first two books, and I did enjoy them, but somehow I just didn’t have the motivation to pick up the rest of the series. Since the third book in the series is already on my shelf, I will attempt to finish this series this summer. After all, is there any better season than summer to read Percy Jackson? I don’t think so.

4.   A Court of Thorns and Roses

A friend of mine is obsessed with this series, along with the rest of BookTube. Needless to say, I need to get on the Sarah J. Maas train ASAP. The plot sounds interesting, but mainly I want to know what all the fuss is about. I am really looking forward to this one!

5.   Dreams of Gods and Monsters

This is the last book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, and it has been on my shelf for over a year now. The book is massive, and thus a little intimidating for me, but during the holidays I have a lot of time to read, so I hope to finally get to this one! I am definitely excited to see how the series comes to a close.

6.   The Dream Thieves

This is the second book in a series (The Raven Boys); I really tried to get into this book several times, but I just couldn’t do it. I know that the first book in the series got better after the first 200 pages, so I need time and dedication to read this book, which is only possible during the holidays. We will see how it goes!

So there you go, these were 6 books or series I want to read this summer. Do you have a summer reading-list? If so, which books are on there?

Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

“Tell me that and we’ll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that’s how you want your story to go and we’ll write it straight across the sand.”

Synopsis:

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

My opinion:

To be honest, I had so many issues with this book that I don't even know where to start, but at the same time I had a great time reading it. The idea of kind of like a Western set in an Arabian type of setting was so cool and so refreshing. I loved the whole setting and world building in general. Also, the characters were great (well most of them, but we will get into that a little later), especially Ahmed. He is the type of guy everyone would want as a ruler: kind, but relentless. I overall had a good time with this book, but some things just didn't feel right to me.

First of all, the protagonist. There were parts where she surprised me, but most of the time I was just annoyed by her. HOW in the world could you leave a friend to die just like that? How selfish can you be? I know that things are kind of explained later on, but it annoyed me anyway. And that didn't happen only once. Overall her decisions felt much too ... convenient? Like she didn't even try to safe anyone else than herself, although she "wanted to"? The problem solving felt much too easy, like everything else that happened.
There was no struggle in their quests, everything added up too perfectly for my taste. Everything just solved itself. The reveal that happened towards the end of the book concerning her “powers” (which you know about if you've read the book) was also kind of underwhelming. I don't know what I expected, but it was definitely something ... well, more.
Another thing that was confusing were the names. Not so much the characters' names, I loved all of these, but the names of the places. I got the cities confused every time any city was mentioned, just because they were so similar and not described enough for me to actually remember what they were talking about or which place they describe. Does that make any sense? I hope it does. All the places just fell like a huge blurr to me, and to be honest I can’t even remember one single city this book took place in, let alone their names!
Furthermore, some scenes were kept a little short in my opinion. The action scenes were almost done in the blink of an eye, which was unfortunate, because I love action scenes, and again it just felt too convenient. I don't know how else I should describe it.

Conclusion:

Anyway, this all might sound bad and all, but don't get me wrong, I did like the book and I will continue on with this series, especially because of the characters. But somehow I maybe expected too much? We will see what the next book will have install for us!

Rating:

3.5 / 5 ★

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (re-read)

“Declarations of love amuse me. Especially when unrequited.”

“Where there is love, there is often also hate. They can exist side by side.”

 

Synopsis

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

My Opinion

*Spoilers ahead for the TMI and TID books*

I read this book almost four years ago for the first time, and since then a lot has happened in the series, and in general the whole Shadowhunter world. My original rating was 3 stars for this book, just because I felt that some aspects were missing. Re-reading it now, after reading all the books that are currently out, it definitely was a 5 star read for me. Let me give you a list of things/scenes I absolutely loved:

"Alec, is that you?"
This quote made me fangirl so hard, just right at the start of the book. Not because its such an amazing quote, but because we know this quote from someone else: When Tessa meets Jem for the first time, and he is playing his violin in his room, he asks "Will, is that you?" This quote just gave me so many feels all at once: the Jalec feels, the Heronstairs feels, just all of them.

Church
I feel so bad for saying this, but for a short amount of time, I forgot that church existed. (OMG, I know, what even) Seeing him now in CoB, the cute little fluff-ball he is, just made me smile and made my heart grow with love for him. I love cats, but this cat ESPECIALLY will always have a place in my heart.

Clary punching Jace, just because she can
I am not entirely sure if this happened in the movie or the TV-show, but I missed that scene so much. Yes, most of the time I feel like that Clary is slightly annoying and not self-confident enough, but that scene shows that she can also act differently, which I love. Also: sometimes Jace just deserves a punch in the face, doesn't he? OMG

"Nobody wants soup."
That might sound completely stupid, but Isabelle's terrible cooking skills kind of made me feel like home. This small detail kind of goes on until the last book, and it really made me feel like I am there with the characters again. Such a small detail, but really important for me.

"This place is for the living."
Ohhhh oh oh oh do I see some foreshadowing there? This quote is from the dream Clary has, where they are in Idris and she is dancing with Jace (abt page 160) When I first read the book I didn't understand what Cassie meant by that, but OH BOY, now I do. And it was just such a fantastic hint towards the upcomming events.

MALEC action
Right when Magnus asked if Alec would call him any time soon, I died a little inside. Call him? Oh oh, we want more than just calling. And OH BOY more will follow. After knowing what's going to happen I just really look forward to see how their relationship is developing from the start. My ultimate OTP and I cannot wait. (Hamilton reference)

RAPHAEL
Reading this book the first time I didn't really like Raphael that much, but since I know his story now and the END to his story, I fangirled so hard just seeing him. He is so cute and he doesn't deserve what happened. Also: since I watched all the episodes in the TV-show I must say, they take my Raphael to a whole new level, let me tell you guys.

Simon x Jace scenes
I am not going to lie, I kind of, sort of ship these two. Simon and his quirky, nerdy comments, and Jace with his sarcasm, they would be perfect together. And there are some scenes in this book with these two which really made me happy. I am excited to see some more Jimon (?) action in the next books.

Jace only loving himself
I love this quote so much. And yet, when Jace said that I was just like "Ohhh honey, if only you knew". This was my favorite quote in the movie and in the book probably too. This quote just shows Jace's character so well, and I love it.

Luke as the BEST DAD EVER
Because I was so into the show for the past months, and also into show Luke, I forgot what an amazing, perfect, lovely character Luke was in the books. His flanel shirts, his book store, how he cares about Jocelyn and Clary, he is just so lovely, and honestly, the best dad award definitely goes to him. Not one other specific person *cough*

Alec trying to be funny
I totally forgot about the great scene in the Epilog with Clary and Alec. He makes a joke (???) and is so nice to Clary, I just loved it! It really surprised me, and it was the best ending to the book I could've imagined. Alec is so smol, I love him.

Conclusion

If you can't tell by this list, I LOVED the book the second time around much more than reading it the first time. If you have read the series a long time ago I HIGHLY suggest that you re-read it. Reading it a second time is a totally different experience, and it definitely is the most rewarding thing ever. Onto City of Ashes!

Rating

5/5 ★