Top Ten Tuesday #19 (1/6/2015)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and Bookish, and this week's Top Ten is Top Ten Most Anticipated Debut Novels For 2015.

Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Book Review

Author: Holly Black
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.
One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

Rating: êêêê

Review

It's official, I am a fan of Holly Black and most definitely will continue to read her work!

I was sucked into this story right away. Our main character, Tana, wakes up after a party surrounded by the corpses of her friends. I loved that the setting was Springfield, MA.

The world building was fabulous! I think we all know that vampire stories seemed to be the in thing for quite a while, and unfortunately many of those stories were repetitive and unoriginal. Holly Black's story is a breath of fresh air. She has created an interesting and unique take on vampires, with a believable human response, and she has developed an impressively authentic world.

I loved the characters. The two major characters were extremely well developed, while they are not perfect, they are likeable. Their back stories are amazingly detailed and are delivered at precisely the right moments. The supporting characters are also well developed and interesting. The villain is detestable.

The book moves at a good pace, there are quite a few unpredictable twists and turns that thicken the plot. There were a few places where the book was a bit overly descriptive for my taste, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment.

The only thing that truly bothered me was the ending. It was beautiful and perfect, but I am left with lack of completeness.

2015 Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Falling for YA. Basically the goal is to tackle your review books and get your feedback percentage up.

I participated in this challenge last year. My goal was 25 books and I completed 20 and my percentage is 100%. This year I am going to set my goal at 25 books and to maintain a percentage of 80% or better. I am also going to sign up at Edelweiss this year.

What challenges are you participating in this year?

If you're interested in a fun and easy book challenge, I am hosting a Book BINGO challenge this year.

The Glass Magician - Book Review

Author: Charlie N Holmberg
Series: The Paper Magician Series #2
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Summary from Goodreads: Three months after returning Magician Emery Thane’s heart to his body, Ceony Twill is well on her way to becoming a Folder. Unfortunately, not all of Ceony’s thoughts have been focused on paper magic. Though she was promised romance by a fortuity box, Ceony still hasn’t broken the teacher-student barrier with Emery, despite their growing closeness.
When a magician with a penchant for revenge believes that Ceony possesses a secret, he vows to discover it…even if it tears apart the very fabric of their magical world. After a series of attacks target Ceony and catch those she holds most dear in the crossfire, Ceony knows she must find the true limits of her powers…and keep her knowledge from falling into wayward hands.
The delightful sequel to Charlie N. Holmberg’s The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician will charm readers young and old alike.

Rating: êê

Review

This book is a mediocre continuation of the story from the first book in the series.

Unfortunately, our main characters do not really develop at all. Their relationship continues to be confusing and sort of takes over the first half of he book, in a somewhat annoying way.

While there is action in this book, the reason is unclear. Usually I do not complain about characters making poor decisions in order to move the action and the plot forward, however I really struggled with this because I really didn't understand what they were fighting against. The villains do not have a clear motive and lack character development to truly make them detestable.

The writing is ok, but similar to the first book the story drags in places. There was also a strange jerky transition where we switch POV for a chapter which felt unnatural, like it was a filler.

I am curious about what where the third book will lead and what will happen with the two main characters and the stories are quick enough to read in a day or two so it is likely that I will complete the series.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Squee! I finally had the opportunity to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

My sisters and I enjoyed a day at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It was an AMAZING experience. Unfortunately, we went during a school break and the park was extremely packed, but that didn't take away from our enjoyment. Here are the highlights!

We arrived at the park bright and early and headed straight back to Diagon Alley. It was magical.

Our first stop was Ollivander's where we were able to watch a wand choose the wizard and purchase wands. We chose to purchase interactive wands so that we could cast spells in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. I chose Hermoine's wand and one of my sisters chose Luna's. If you choose to purchase an interactive wand, it comes with a map that shows where you can cast spells, but keep your eyes open for the medallions on the ground because there are some secret places to cast spells.

We roamed around Diagon Alley, casting spells and window shopping for a bit. There are some great shops including Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and a dark alley where you can find Borgin and Burkes.

Next we boarded the Hogwarts Express and headed over to Hogsmeade. We enjoyed some Butterbeer (deliciously sweet!) and wondered around exploring.

Then we enjoyed Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for a bit. It was so packed that they were giving out admission tickets with time frames for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Later we went back and went through Hogwarts (amazing) and rode the ride, as well as The Escape from Gringotts (unreal).

All in all, it was an awesome day! I'm most definitely looking forward to returning during a less busy time of the year.

The Paper Magician - Book Review

Author: Charlie N Holmberg
Series: The Paper Magician Series #1
Publication Date: September 1, 2014
Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Summary from Goodreads: Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

Rating: êêê

Review

This book had so much promise. It started out great, I was quickly sucked into England in the early 1900s where magicians bond to certain man made materials. Unfortunately, the world building didn't quite hold up for the duration of the story.

I was intrigued by the two main characters, Emery more so than Ceony. Ceony is like able and reasonably developed. But Emery really caught my attention, he was quirky and mysterious and I really wanted to know his story.

At about the 45% mark, the story began to drag. This is clearly meant to be the part that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but it just felt monotonous to me.

Overall, the writing is decent but it felt like the author was trying to tell the story so quickly that he forgot to tell you everything and left several details out or brushed past things.

However, the last few chapters of the book were redeeming. The climax and resolution are clear and exciting. The ending is sweet and left me interested in the next book.

2015 Book Blog Bingo Challenge

Happy New Year! I'm sure many of you are setting your reading and blogging goals for 2015 and so I thought it would be fun to create a 2015 reading challenge.

It's a pretty straight forward challenge. Using the BINGO card below, your goal is to read books and mark off the corresponding squares on the card. You can get BINGO is any way you want: a traditional BINGO (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line), four corners, coverall, whatever you want!

The Details

• The challenge will run from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015.
• Create a sign up post and add your post to the link up below.
• Only books read in 2015 count
• At the beginning of every month, there will be a round up post for you to link and show your progress.
• There will be at least one mini-challenge sometime during the year for all participants, so check in every month and make sure you link up your progress!
• There will be a giveaway at the end of the challenge for all participants.
• To qualify for the challenge related giveaway(s), participants must be signed up via the link up on this post and must track their progress (either on your sign up post or in a separate post, its completely up to you).

My Goal

A Double BINGO (2 traditional BINGOs in any direction)