Review: Doll Bones, by Holly Black

Release date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardover, 247 pages

Goodreads description
Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing... and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity...



The following review is based on a copy I got at the Holly Black signing at ALA Las Vegas last summer.

Why did I wait so long to read this book? A) it's middle grade, which isn't my go-to category B) It's about dolls. Dolls are CREEPY, never mind that I used to play with them. But it's a Holly Black book, so I knew I would read it sooner or later (I've loved her books for the past 10 years).

I'm so glad I decided to read Doll Bones now, and that I had the chance to have it signed last summer. It was, to an extent, like a trip down memory lane. The way Zach, Poppy and Alice played is so similar to the way I grew up playing with my friends. The stories they made up in their heads and somehow 'saw' happening around them... that's just how we played. And I'd forgotten about the rush I used to get from it, and what a wonderful feeling it is. How plastic figures or shells or folded-paper ships can become real to you. I would have SO gone on a quest like them! Actually, we sometimes did. We packed our stuff and went into the forest on the basis of a made-up story (to find a treasure or build a fort or look for fairies). So reading about their experience was magical for me on several different levels.

I really like the way Holly Black constructed this story, the episodes the kids had to go through, how the dynamics between them started to shift, how family life wasn't easy for any of them for various reasons. That grounded the story. The quest each kid was on meshed with their real life problems as well as something else, something maybe-supernatural, something outside of them. I liked the uncertainty - were they just making it all up like they did when they were playing, or was there really something else going on? Was the doll sinister and ill-intentioned, or did she just want to find rest?

I could say 'this is a book about growing up' but that isn't really true. It's a story about beginning to grow up. About being afraid to begin growing up, and changing, and a part of you dying. It's about dreams and quests and how adults often no longer have them - only bitterness. And about not wanting to become that way. It's about the stories we make up and tell about ourselves. That's why they go on a quest - to prove to themselves that they are interesting enough people to have quests, and that they finish them and don't quit halfway through.

Also, can I just say that I loved the inclusion of the library as a place they took shelter in when they were questing? I loved reading about the kids browsing, playing in the stacks, riding those book-wagons down the aisle and fawning over review copies of books they'd been waiting for for months. Also, the sailing episode. That was fantastic.

Overall, Doll Bones was a very refreshing read for me. There was a bit (okay, in some cases a lot) of creepy, which I always like. The characters were all complex and memorable and the relationships between them were interesting, also in the way they changed over time. The adventure plot and its pacing was great and I liked how it was at the same time a magical thing but still something that could happen in the real world, with real world problems (like creepy strangers on the bus or uncrossable rivers or lack of money) getting in the way. More and more, the magic/story/play world and the real world began to merge or at least co-exist, until something jarring happened and the gap became more noticeable again.

I think I have (or maybe had) this prejudice against middle grade books that they tend to be a bit heavy-handed because authors/adults think that kids won't understand what is being hinted at otherwise, and I find that patronizing. Kids are smart and often very good at reading other people. I'm happy to say that this was taken into account here. The writing is nuanced and there are no blatant 'lessons to be learned from this story' parts in Doll Bones. So, if anyone else has MG reads of this kind to recommend, feel free to mention them in the comments.

I don't really know what else to say without being spoilery and taking away from the experience of the story. All I know is that this is one I'm going to re-read every once in a while, to remind myself of things that are important and easily forgotten.

Have any of you read Doll Bones? What was your experience with it? Did you ever play these sorts of games as a kid? And can recommend other (maybe creepy?) MG reads to me?

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I wish would get their own book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


This is such a cool idea for a post! There are so many interesting side characters I'd like to know more about!

As always, my top ten are in no particular order.


Abby from Katie McGarry's Crash Into You
She's tough, I like her, and she definitely has a story to tell. I actually thought the fourth book in the series would be hers but so far it doesn't seem to be happening.


Gavriel from Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
I'd love to know more about his past before he met Tana! We do get some of his backstory but I'd like to hear it from his own point of view.


Sturmhond from the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
One of my favorite characters there! I'd love to hear more about his days as a pirate or when he served in the army. Or really just a glimpse into his mind.


Durzo Blint from the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
He is such a prominent character but a big enigma for a large part of the series. I'd like him to get his own novel. Or a prequel trilogy. I know there's a novella that looks into his life, but it's short and I haven't read it yet.


Noah from the Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin
He's such a great character! I think I could listen to what goes on in his head for hours. And well, it's implied that his life before he met Mara was already eventful. So there'd be no shortness of story to tell.

 
Walter C. Dornez from the Hellsing manga series by Hirano Kouta
That guy is so badass. I always loved his fighting scenes! I really wish the author would continue the Hellsing: The Dawn series about Walter and Alucard's adventures when he was younger, during WWII. So much sass.


Fear from Kelsey Sutton's Some Quiet Place
He was great. I know he features prominently in the novel but I'd like to know what it all looks like from where he's standing.


Morpheus from A.G. Howard's Splintered series
He's one of my favorite characters. You never know what he's playing at. His head would be a... madly interesting place.


Ivy from the Hollows series by Rachel Harrison
I'm sort of cheating here because I think the graphic novel adaption of the series (which I haven't read) is from Ivy's perspective. She's awesome. And I've read a short story from her POV but I'd like to see more. Maybe also of her past with Kisten and growing up under the eyes of Piscary.


Zero from the Vampire Knight manga series by Matsuri Hino
I admit it. I was a Kaname person for quite a while, but at some point I did a 180. And when I re-watched the anime and re-read part of the manga... oh Zero, my heart aches for you. Such a great character, so much undeserved pain. Seems to be a thing with side characters.


Despite thinking the topic is awesome, this was actually harder than I thought it would be. So many great characters have already gotten their own book / spin off series / novella! (Adrian from Vampire Academy, Space and Mencheres from the Night Huntress series, Mae from The Demon's Lexicon, Tod from the Soul Screamers series, Warner from Shatter Me...) Or else it's the mystery that makes them so interesting and so I am hesitant about wanting to read about it all.
What do you think of my picks, and how did you fare with your own?

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop! (INT)

Heys guys, it's October which means the leaves are turning red and gold and you wake up for your jobs and school in pre-dawn darkness (at least where I live). It also means Halloween is near! Unfortunately, we don't celebrate it here but that doesn't stop me from getting into the spirit and feeling like reading and watching creepy stuff (I'm looking at you, American Horror Story)
.
This is my third year participating in this hop and I hope it'll be fun this time around, too! The rules are simple and explained under 'Terms & Conditions' in the Rafflecopter. In short: the giveaway is open internationally wherever Book Depository ships, cheaters will be disqualified and all their entries deleted.
Since this is a themed hop, I've got some suggestions for you below (click to cover to get to goodreads). You can always choose another book in the same series (no preorders). If none of these appeal to you, you can pick one between 10-15$ (as seen from my location) as long as it's somehow creepy and/or Halloween related.




Note: the cover shown here may differ from the one of the edition I will eventually order for you if you win.

Okay, now fill out the Rafflecopter and have fun hopping around the other blogs! Go out and enjoy the spooky season, or curl up with a creepy book and a cup of whatever makes you happy :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacking the Shelves: Lovely, dark, and signed dancers under the bell jar

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase all the books we got in the past week. Those can be bought, won, gifted, for review, borrowed, print or ebooks... no matter, just share what you got :)


This is my first StS post since the end of January, so obviously I bought A LOT of books during that time. Listing them up here would be tedious for all of us, so I'm only showing you a small selection. I'm also planning on writing mini-reviews or a quick spotlight on some of the books I've read during my time away from blogging. So today I'm showing you...

The Classics

 The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

Les Fleurs du Mal, by Charles Baudelaire

Richard II, by William Shakespeare

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare

Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard

I picked up the Shakespeares and Arcadia from used books stores in New Orleans and San Francisco. I'm especially happy that I found Arcadia - my only copy was in my Norton Anthology of Literature, which weighs a ton and makes for a bothersome re-read. It's my favorite play (yes, I like it more than Shakespeare) and it's not that easy to get a hold of, unless you want to pay upwards of 40 bucks for a whole collection of Stoppard's plays.

I've also wanted to read Les Fleurs du Mal for a very long time, but I'm always a bit wary of translations, especially when it comes to poetry. This edition has the French original and the English translation side by side, which is awesome because I know French, but not well enough to read Baudelaire without a crutch. I bought this edition and The Bell Jar at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco (they have a whole room just for poetry!) which was a special thing for me to do. I've wanted to go there ever since I first heard about it in class when we discussed the Beat poets. It's a wonderful place, and it made me wish I'd grown up in that city. Or maybe I'm just a bit morose because I finished The Bell Jar a few hours ago and it really left an impression on me. I wish I had already read when I was 18 or 19.

The Long-Awaited

 The Lovely and the Lost, by Page Morgan

Dancers at the End of Time, by Michael Morcock

Technically, only The Lovely and the Lost was long-awaited. I was writing my thesis when it came out so the release kind of went past me. I really loved The Beautiful and the Cursed though, so I hope I can read it soon.
I read a lot about Moorcock while I was writing my thesis (about Steampunk and it's 19th-century precursors) but I didn't feature any of his work in my thesis, so I was really happy to find this one at a bookstore in Amsterdam last Saturday! It contains three of his novels and it's all inspired by the fin-de-siècle and Wilde and the decadent movement ^^

The ARCs

The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black

Mortal Heart, by Robin LaFevers

I got both of these at ALA in Vegas and you can imagine my amount of inner (okay, and some outer) squeeee :D I've already read Darkest Part of the Forest and loved it! It's also signed ^^

I also got two ARCs from Edelweiss:

The Fall, by Bethany Griffin
The Cemetery Boys, by Heather Brewer
I've featured The Fall as this week's WoW post, and I'm very excited to finally have the opportunity to read something by Heather Brewer! This one is a standalone, so it's perfect. She also has two series, but somehow the number of books always daunted me a bit.

The Graphic Novels

The Good Neighbors series, by Holly Black

Coffin Hill: Forest of the Night, by Caitlin Kitteredge

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, by Alan Moore

The picture only shows book 2 and 3 of the Good Neighbors, but I have them all, and they're all signed :D I got them at Book of Wonders in New York. They had so many signed books! And that was before I actually met Holly Black, and I already thought things couldn't get better.

Coffin Hill was a spontaneous purchase at a comic store in the Castro district in San Francisco. I've heard about Kitteredge's other books, and the artwork looked cool. Also, I wanted something to remember the store by. As for the Extraordinary Gentlemen, I've wanted to read that one for a long time, so I had to have it.

The Signed

The Book of Life, by Deborah Harkness

Game, by Barry Lyga

The Shadow Society, by Marie Rutkoski

At this point, I need to thank Kelly from Effortlessly Reading again! She gifted me Game and The Shadow Society. Gifted! Signed books! Just like that o.O I was flabbergasted. And very, very happy! I'll tell you all about my Amsterdam trip to Deborah Harkness tomorrow, so I didn't take a picture of her signature, but here are the others:

The "Disturb the Universe" note makes me happy, because it's an important part of the book and also one of my favorite sections from my favorite poem ^^


Alright, that's it! Any comments on my haul? Does anyone even bother to read my accounts of how I got into possession of the books? Anyhow, I'm curious to see your own new shelf-pretties, so link me up :)

Waiting on Wednesay: The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight upcoming book releases that we're excited about.


This week's pick

Release date: January 13, 2015
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages

Goodreads description:
Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?


I have a confession to make: I got a signed copy of this at ALA when I met Holly Black, and I couldn't resist. I've already read it, and I'll probably read it again closer to release before I write my review. This much in advance: it's fantastic. It's both similar to and different from Holly's other faerie books. The writing and characters are just so wonderful. Holly knows the path to my secret hidden heart.
But what do you think? Do you like the sound of the synopsis? Have you read any of Holly's other books?

On traveling and adjusting to life when you return

So... hi? Is anyone still here? This is me, crawling out from under a rock. A rock I'm sorry I stayed under for so long. It's been almost three months since I last posted here, the night before I left for the US. And to my defense, my sister and I's time in America was amazing, but also exhausting at times and I could just never find the time to finalize my update-from-the-road posts, though I have quite a big draft and might tell you more about my travels in my 'Get to Know Me' posts that I used to do on Sundays.

Dear Americans, your country is HUGE. I travelled about twice the north-to-south length of my country every day, for 3 days, going basically all the way straight through lots of desert. I've never seen so much sand, or flat space without mountains. I can't even begin to count all the new things that I've seen during those 6 weeks I was abroad, but let me give you a short list. I have:

• met a fellow blogger - shout-out to Kelly from Effortlessly Reading! She is such a wonderful, generous person and you should check out her blog if you don't know it already. She showed us Strands Books and Books of Wonder in New York and contributed to the heaviness of my suitcase(s). Kelly, thank you again for everything, and I hope we can meet at BEA some day!
• ridden the Greyhound bus
• had my fortune told after going on a ghost and vampire tour in New Orleans. Then kept chatting with the fortune teller and her fiancé in Jackson Square until long after midnight. He could do an amazing impression of Jack Sparrow and the Joker from Batman.
• drove from New Orleans to Tucson in 2.5 days
• slept in a tent in the woods at Grand Canyon after stargazing through a telescope and seeing Saturn's rings.
• seen a show in Vegas
• WENT TO ALA IN VEGAS AND MET HOLLY BLACK OMG!!!
  
  Seriously, I had no clue it was in Vegas this year, and during the time we were there! We could only stay for 3 hours but it was awesome, I met Holly and Julie Kagawa and I got a ton of books and I wish we could've stayed longer, though I made a bit of a fool of myself in front of Holly because I was so excited. I've loved that woman's books for ten years and never in a million years thought I'd get the chance to talk to her.
•  met April White, author of Marking Time, an awesome novel that is currently free on Amazon and that I've reviewed here on the blog a while ago. She is one of the most generous and kindest people I have ever met! April, thank you again for everything you've done for us - you don't know how much it meant to me! Also, I owe you email and a review.
• saw July 4th fireworks at the beach
• went whale-watching and saw a pod of about 1000 dolphins! Dolphins used to be my favorite animals as a kid.
• drove up Highway 1 along the coast from San Diego to San Francisco
• biked across Golden Gate Bridge
• had an amazing hostel-organized tour of China Town during which we visited two temples, a factory where they still make fortune cookies by hand, and had a tea tasting with the best snarky host-lady ever
• was in Japan Town during a festival. Lots of cosplaying people! A store with awesome hats! A store with a whole floor of manga!

There were of course many many more things, big ones, smalls ones, fun ones, less fun ones (like the crack in our windshield), people met and left behind. I've never been away from home for so long. I've never seen so many places in such a short amount of time. There are so many cities I want to go back to. So many memories. At times over there, I even forgot I had a job. My old life seemed very far away.

So, coming back was harder than I thought it'd be. It was strange to be in the same place for so long and not live out of a suitcase. Everyone spoke Swiss German, which was weird at first. I had to go back from seeing new, exciting things every day to somehow trying to fit into the everyday-routine of life in Zurich. My city suddenly seems very small, even though it's the biggest one in the country. My life seems small and boring all of a sudden, though there were of course also perks to being back, like meeting friends, eating healthy food, having an Xbox again... Still, I miss being on the road. I kind of envy my sister, who after 3 weeks here is currently in Shanghai.

I haven't quite found my footing again yet, also because I'm in a very in-between kinda situation. I've finished my MA thesis and final exam at the end of may, but I will only get my diploma on September 24, so I can't apply for any jobs or internships yet. Still, after 6 years I'm done with university. I don't know what to do with that. I've been a student of some kind for almost 20 years, and I've never done a gap year or exchange program. And now I'm suddenly not part of the student population anymore, and it's weird.

I'm supposed to be an adult now, right? But what if I don't feel like one? What if I have no idea how to have a career, or if I want one, or what kind I want, or what I want to do and how to go about it?
This type of questions, combined with falling back into the routine of my part-time job, is one reason why I didn't start blogging again at the end of July. I also had a strange kind of fear and writer's block thing going on about blogging because I've been away from it for so long. I have no idea what everyone's been up to. I don't know which books are coming out. I don't know if anyone still remembers me.

But you know what? I missed blogging and the interactions that come with it. I miss talking about books, posting my new book purchases, reading Top Ten Tuesday and WoW posts, interacting with people in comments and reading reviews. And I hope that eventually, I can find my way back in and that there are still people interested in what I have to say.
Have any of you had similar experiences after travelling and/or not posting for a while? Do you ever feel insecure about having something worthwhile to say? What do you do about this strange fear of posting? I'd love to hear from you in the comments :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Worlds I would NEVER want to live in

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


Hey guys :) This week's top ten is about book world's we'd NEVER want to live in, no matter how much we liked the actual story. Or about character's whose shoes we'd never want to walk in. I'll give you 5 of each.


World's I prefer watching from the outside

Fever series - Karen Marie Moning
After the walls come down and the dark fey enter the world, most humans die. No power, little food, lots of baddies... I'd be toast.

Blood of Eden - Julie Kagawa
Either donate blood to your local vampire or live on scraps and be backstabbed or killed by rabids? Again, I'm not the most physically fit person. I wouldn't make it for too long. And it's a very bleak and hungry kind of life.

Wither - Lauren DeStefano
To be kidnapped on the street and sold to some old rich dude to bear his babies, then die at 18? Can't imagine anything much more horrible. Pregnant over and over, then death *shudders*

Any totalitarian regime that restricts knowledge and burns books
Book burning is one of the worst things ever, and one that makes me the angriest. Destruction of knowledge, of beauty... no. Think Fahrenheit 451. Definitely not a society I'd want to live in.

Coldtown - Holly Black
I'm actually divided on this one. Living in a Coldtown is very dangerous. You can never get out. Law is barely existent.You need connections, and you need your wits. Vampire slaying skills are advisable. And yet... I do feel the allure of the place. The never-ending parties. Immortal creatures. Desire. Passion. I admit, I feel torn. In the end I wouldn't make it though.



Characters I wouldn't want to trade places with

Cassel from the Curse Worker series by Holly Black
If you can't even trust your brothers or you mom, life is bleak. Loving the daughter of the biggest crime lord around, also not good. Having an ability everyone wants to use to strengthen their own position? Yeah, better make sure they never find out...
Seriously, ma heart ached for Cassel :(

Karou - Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
The things that girl is forced to do... and her position is even worse at the end of that book than it was at the beginning!

Juliet - Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Slandered, beaten, bullied, put away into asylums and detention centers, isolated, forced into electroshock therapy... there's pretty much nothing that girl hasn't been subjected to. And her touch kills. Everyone. Apart from maybe the son of her worst enemy, who used to hold her prisoner.
Yeah, being Juliet truly sucks, despite her incredible powers.

Kaylee - Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent
That girl never gets a moment of peace. Some hellion always wants her soul, or her loved one's souls, or is possessing innocent strangers... her love life isn't a piece of cake either. Though I sure wouldn't mind spending some time with Tod ;)

Matthew Swift - Urban Magic series by Kate Griffin
That dude. Always in over his head! Made Midnight Mayor against his will. Always some crazy sorcerer or fey queen or other strange personified part of the city to deal with. Not to mention the annoyingness and not quite trustworthiness of his own Aldermen. Let's not even talk about the women in his life. The guy doesn't stand a chance. I feel this strange affection for him though. Can't resist the scruffy reluctant hero type with awesome magic, I suppose.


This was actually harder than I thought! What do you think of my picks, and what/who made your list?

Top Ten of 2013: best books read in 2013

I already participated in the Top of 2012 last year, and it was a lot of fun! This year, the event is co-hosted by Rachel from Fiktshun, Jaime from Two Chicks on Books and Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads. 

If you haven't signed up yet and would like to participate, I think you can still do so as long as you post today! Just click one of the links above and enter the linky.

Today's topic is about the best books we've read in 2013, no matter whether they were released this year or not.

You guys, this is so hard >.< I was very lucky with my reading this year, though I'm embarrassed by how few reviews of those amazing books I've posted *sinks through floor in shame*

Alright, I had to make three lists. One for YA paranormal/fantasy, one for contemporary, and one for adult books. All books are listed in no particular order

YA paranormal/fantasy/dystopian

Divergent - Veronica Roth
Better late than never, right? I started the series in January and I was blown away!! The wait till October was very long... but also very much worth it! Still, I think Divergent remains my favorite of the trilogy. I felt so... alive, while I was reading it.

The Replacement - Brenna Yovanoff
This has been part of a ton of my Top Ten Tuesday posts this year! But I loved it soooo much. It's got sticky notes all over it. It was so sad, it made me ache. And cry. I just felt with Mackie so much. I'm definitely re-reading this one in 2014!

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Holly Black
I already loved the short story with the same title, and when I heard there'd be a book, I was beyond excited! I just love Holly Black's prose, and she delivered once more. So many fantastic passages, as well as one of my favorite kisses of the year. I find the entangling of desire and disgust, fear and longing, debauchery and decay that I see in all of her books incedibly alluring.



The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
I gave this to a friend for her birhtday, and after she read it, she demanded I do, too. There was a part that was a bit slow, but overall I was blown away and my love for epic fantasy is rekindled. I've got the second one on my shelf and I'm so glad book 3 will be released next year! You can read my review here.

The Pledge - Kimberly Derting
This one was a total surprise! I didn't expect to love it quite so much, I was mostly drawn in by the combination of dystopia and different languages for every class in that society (me being a Lit student and all). It was sooo good though! I had so many characters pegged wrong, and I loved it.

Crown of Midnight - Sarah J. Maas
I read Throne of Glass in January, but that book had some flaws for me. All the little bits I had thought weak were gone in Crown of Midnight. I loved the world building, the twists, the character development, the overall plot. It was simply fantastic.



The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
I had put this one of for forever! Why?? I read it in one day! And it's got over 500 pages. Mara is one of my favorite heroines, and I love her with Noah. Also, it was so interesting to be in the mind of a somewhat unreliable character - made the whole thing really creepy. Book 3 needs to come out already! How am I supposed to wait another 6 months?!

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
Another one I started late. But the world building, again - fantastic. And the Darkling? One of my favorite and most fascinating characters of the year. Siege & Storm needs to be out in the right edition for me to add to my collection already!

In the Shadow of Blackbirds - Cat Winters
Such a beautiful combination of historical and paranormal! It's sad and creepy, with heart-warming parts. The writing is incredibly beautiful, and I love that there are pictures of photographs taken around that time in there - photography being such an important theme. I'm very curious to see what Cat Winters will publish next!


Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare
Oh, Will and Tessa. I was both anticipating and dreading the conclusion to the Infernal Devices, since I like them better than the Mortal Instruments. I really loved the book - apart from the epilogue. I still can't decide whether I like that or not. Overall, I expected to hurt more than I did. I mean, I did cry... but Clockwork Prince had me prepared for more pain. I think my series-favorite here is book 2.

I'm surprised that they're rather well-balanced! 4 2013 releases, 6 from earlier. To be fair, 10 just isn't enough. There were a lot of fantastic new releases that just couldn't make the list.  Embarrassingly though, only one of these I actually reviewed. If I love a book that much, reviewing seems such a daunting thing :/

Here are some runners-up: Grave Mercy, Marking Time (see review and author interview here), The Book of Blood and Shadow, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Shatter Me, Splintered, Dance of the Red Death (my review).

Contemporary

For Real - Chelsea M. Cameron
I got this one on a whim and it was so worth it! It was loads of fun, the characters were fantastic and for once, I really loved the way the romance and the depiction of college life were done! I think there will be more books, but it can also stand on its own.

Some Girls Are - Courtney Summers
One of the most psychologically punch-packing books I've read this year. I had a hard time identifying with the protagonist at first, but when her torment started... no one deserves that. And I wanted her to stand up and destroy her enemies. The romance-y parts were also very complex, and it deals with a lot of teen (and adult) issues like bullying, rape, suicide.

Crash Into You - Katie McGarry
I wanted Isaiah's story ever since we got to meet him in Pushing the Limits! Really loved reading from his point of view and getting a glimpse at his head. I won't say much more here because my review is still forthcoming.


Looking For Alaska - John Green
My first John Green book. Lovely, lovey prose! Unusual characters. The pranks were awesome. I kind of already knew what would happen, but it still hit me like a surprise, as if I didn't. Definitely reading more John Green in the future.

Easy - Tammara Webber
One of my favorite NA books I've read this year. It's hard to write a romance that I can really get behind, but I did with this one! Again, lots of important issues tackled - this one is definitely more than just a piece of fluff. I hear there's a book from Lucas' POV coming, and I'm very curious about that!

Losing It - Cora Carmack
I laughed until I cried. Seriously, this was so much fun! The embarrassing parts were so that I could still get through them without too much... pain (I have a hard time reading/watching embarrassing things. It feels awful. But here it was still funny, too).


The Sea of Tranquility - Katja Millay
Another heavy book, but with beautiful writing and a wonderful story. I can't put this into words here, but I did (or at least tried) in my review.

Just One Day - Gayle Forman
Another one that made me cry, but it also made me very happy and determined to travel more. After reading that, I dove right into If I Stay, and then I bought Where She Went the next day and read the whole thing. That's how good Gayle Forman is.

If I Stay- Gayle Forman
See above. Also, one of the best book-families I've read! Which makes what happens all the sadder.


Perks of Being a Wallflower - by Stephen Chbosky
I saw the movie first, and I think it's perfect. But the book provided a lot more details that were sort of glossed over in the movie, and I think that in the movie, you don't really understand just how bad Charlie is really off, emotionally.

Runners-up: Emancipating Andie, Confessions of an Almost Girlfriend, Rule

Adult

Fever Series - Karen Marie Moning
At first, Mac was not my kinda heroine. But the whole Barrons thing and the Dublin setting and the fae kept me intrigued. Then, from book 3 onwards, it's pure awesomeness! I read them all pretty consecutively. Don't know how people survived the wait between books.

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness
My friend bugged me to read it for a year before I gave in - fantastic book! I loved the academic setting and the history. The romance didn't hurt, either.


Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks
This whole thing is more than 1500 pages fat. And I read it in one week. That should tell you how utterly fantastic, cruel, beautiful, harrowing, well-written and... everything it is. Seriously, if you read one epic fantasy in 2014 - read this one.


Blood Rights - Kristen Painter 
I thought vampires had 'been done', but Kristen Painter makes it new! The world buidling and the whole vampire and commarré society in these books are amazing! I really need to get the third one.
 

Debt Collector - Susan Kaye Quinn
This one is a self-published serial, and it's a mixture of science fiction and noir. It's very addictive! Very dark, too. And gritty. Needless to say, I just gobbled it up... I read about 5 of those stories in one day because I just couldn't stop.


Graceling - Kristin Cashore
Another one I'm late to the party for. Not sure if this could be YA, but it felt more adult to me. The plot was a bit predictable sometimes, but I loved the characters and the way the romance developed. Katsa is one of my favorite heroines of the year.

Blackbirds - Chuck Wendig
Dark and disturbing. It's been a while since I've read a good horror novel, and Chuck Wendig defnitely made me appreciate them again! I love me some good cussing, too - and there's plenty of that in this book. I still have many questions though, so I'll need to get the next one soon.

No runners-up here, because a) I didn't read that many adult books this year, and b) I kind of cheated and put in whole serieses instead of singular books. But since I read the entire series in 2013, and I think that still counts.


This was soooo hard! Have you read any of your picks? Did you like them? Also, if you're participating in the event, please leave a link so I can check out your post :)