After by Anna Todd

This is such a great book. 

Despite the fact that it's a published One Direction fanfiction with names changed. But let's ignore that for now.

After is well written and engaging. Anna Todd did so well with character development and plotline. I didn't want to put this book down! I can see why it got published. Todd is living proof that young authors shouldn't be judged by their age but by their talent. It's sometimes a leap to write a long book [500+ pages!] because a writer can get carried away in the story and end up having to scavenge for plot, but Todd did so well with putting just as much story into After as needed. 

And jeez, she had to end on a cliffhanger? Of course. 

Now to the mildly controversial side of it.

There are people saying that the relationship between Hardin and Tessa is a [verbally] abusive one. I won't lie, I can definitely see where people get that from. The yelling, the insulting, the withholding of information, et cetera. I will always hold that idea to heart in these books, and I'm not saying it's okay, but since I personally have never been in or known someone in an abusive dating relationship, I continue to read the After books. The relationship on the abusive turn is not anywhere near as bad at Fifty Shades or Twilight. There is no attempting to brainwash Tessa into staying in the relationship, Hardin never hits her, and always makes sure Tessa is okay with something sexual before doing it.

Lastly, the fanfiction aspect of this. I was looking online for fanworks, maybe fanart, of After when I came across the fact that these books are literally just Anna Todd's One Direction boy band fanfiction with the names changed [for legal reasons, I'm sure]. Now, I cringed at finding this fact out; I am not a fan of the band, nor am I a fan of fanfictions that are of real people. But, I loved the book so I continued to read it because it was so well written. I'm okay with looking over this little fact. It's not like it's the first fanfiction-gone-published book series. 

All in all I really loved this book and am ready to go on to book two [I convinced my dad to purchase it, along with two other books, for me since I'm virtually broke]. 

There is a lot of mature material in this book, so I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under the age of 17, but if you are 16 1/2 and think you're ready, then go for it. 

Now, I'm off to attempt to murder a fly that has been annoying me for the past few hours.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This is a newly published YA book but is already very popular. I've heard good and bad things about it, but mainly good. It was on my to-read list before it even released and I picked it up soon after it was. The average rating on GoodReads is currently 4.15 stars. I gave it 4.

This was very well written, but that's no surprise from someone who went to college for screenwriting. I like the idea of the story, it's original; status depending on the color of your blood. 

Silver-blood = Royal/noble, has super powers.

Red-blood = Lowly/peasant, powerless.

I really like the main protagonist, Mare Barrow. She's real in personality, and doesn't let royal status alter herself or her idea on the world. Her relationships are built, not instant. She keeps to her own ways, even when it seems impossible to do so. She's strong and finds out how to get through difficult situations.

As you may have heard, there is a twist at the end. Some people expect it, some don't. I kind of did, but more towards the end.

I really did like it, and the end makes leaves you begging for more. You really feel for the characters and want to hug them and bake them cookies.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

This book is fantastic!

Just absolutely fantastic! The beginning was a bit slow, but once the story really picked up, I was sucked into the world of The 5th Wave. The writing is very well done and you can really see the world around you with how Yancey describes it. I really enjoyed how he created the stages of the apocalypse and how they went about. The world he writes is a rainbow of wonderful [aside from the, you know, apocalyptic death]. 

 The characters are great and are also well written; they are honestly kids trying to be strong is a dystopian world. The characters aren't snore-worthy, too-teenagery people; they honestly make sense.  

The romance isn't insta-love.  Personally, I would have liked a little more growing in Cassie and Evan's relationship before love came about, but like I said, it isn't insta-love like a lot of YA books, so I won't complain. 

Definitely a worthwhile read if you like aliens and dystopian apocalypses. There just aren't enough alien books in the world. I just cannot wait to read what happens next. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

I passed this book on the shelves of bookstores multiple times and was very hesitant in buying and reading it. I read the synopsis a few times and put it back because it sounded so cliche to me.

Boy, was I wrong.

This book, along with the following books in the series, is my favorite of all time. Maas does an excellent job of writing and creating a story-line and characters. If you are looking to avoid a Mary Sue type protagonist, you don't have to look any more; Throne of Glass's female protagonist is anything but a Mary Sue, which I think is so hard to find in books nowadays. Each character has a different personality that isn't too perfect or too imperfect and everyone fits into the story in some way or another; there are no characters that just sit there and make you wonder why they're there. The story in this book is well thought out and isn't too slow or fast, as some books are; it keeps you wanting more, and finishing it is just torturous. 

This book, as well as its following books, are quite accepting and has proper equality while addressing the obvious problems [such as sexism] that occur in every day life.

Celaena herself is a strong female character, but not disbelievingly strong; she has her faults and weaknesses and accepts them while embracing them. She basically spits in misogyny's face.

I rarely ever give a book a full 5 stars, at most I usually give 4, 3 stars being my usual rating, just because I am so picky about the books I read, so it's hard to impress me. Throne of Glass has just blown me away and I have no idea how Maas managed it, but she did. She's a genius in writing! Young or old, I highly recommend this book [though, maybe not to little kids, ha ha]. You will not be disappointed, and if you are, you may want to go to a book doctor. ;)

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

It took me a little bit to finish this book and I probably didn't internalize a lot of the content because of the way it was written. My rating skipped around, but I've finally settled on 2 1/2 stars.

Now let me start off by saying that I did enjoy this book. It was a much more original aspect to vampires and showed the pain behind being a vampire for so long. Maizel did a good job with creating this story, but I really think she could have and should have done much more with it. The story felt just a little bit rushed. The climax of the story didn't last very long at all. There was little action to the book. The main character, Lenah, was the most detailed, albeit she is the main character. I felt like her person was way more detailed than the rest of the characters. Of course, you want to put focus on the main character, but I felt like Maizel could and should have put a lot more into the rest of the characters. 

Now let's move on to the romance aspect of the book.

I couldn't get into the romance whatsoever. It seemed rushed to me, too much like insta-love and not enough building to a relationship. I didn't feel like Lenah and Justin grew to each other, more of, "Oh, you're pretty, I love you. I barely know you, but I know I love you." I couldn't grow on the pair just because there wasn't enough between them at all. I honestly saw more potential of a romance between Lenah and Troy because there was more growing of a relationship with them. Troy had much more character to him. Sorry, but Justin was still more high-schoolish. [Yeah, the book is set in a high school, but come on].

But, all in all, Maizel did a decent job of writing this book. I like the aspect of it and the originality-ness to her vampires. Holy water and crosses don't work because "...vampires were before Christ." That actually makes a lot of sense.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

So this is basically your classic love it or hate it kind of book.

There are so many reviewers raving on about how this is a rape/abuse book and are comparing it to Fifty Shades. Oh god, please do not listen to those reviews. I will not lie, there is attempted/rape, but it is absolutely nothing like the hating reviews say. Plus, what do you expect? No rape in the 1700's? Honestly, it was probably worse than the 2000's. Now there is one scene that irritates me a bit between Jamie and Claire, but that's about it and won't make me hate the book. Plus, the rape scenes are more attempted than anything else. All "rape scenes" are only attempted.

Along with that, yes, Claire is a married woman who falls for another man. Does that make her horrible? No. Do you know how common that is? Why is someone supposed to forever be in love with one single person?

Outlander is nothing like Fifty Shades. NOTHING. Just don't compare them. Jamie will forever treat Claire much better than Christian Grey would ever treat Ana. 

What's wrong with a man reminiscing about his past? Can he not have feelings? And how dare he [minor spoiler here] how dare he be a 23 year old male virgin? Wow. He should have gone out as soon as he hit 16 and did the first girl he found just so he wouldn't be a male virgin. [I really hope people realize that as sarcasm]. 

Honestly, the book is wonderful in my opinion. Gabaldon does so well with the historical aspect of the story and her characters are wonderfully set up. I find it interesting and love reading Outlander.

Please, I beg you, if you want to read Outlander, don't let the reviews sway your opinion of it before you read. Let yourself choose whether you like it or not. :)