January 2014 Wrap-Up

Yay the first Wrap-Up for this blog. So excit! Made it through one month of reading and reviewing and I hope everyone has enjoyed it so far.

Books Read:
(Links to GoodReads Pages)

1.  Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo  ( The Grisha #1)
2. Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #2)
3. Branded by Keary Taylor (Fall of Angels #1)
4. The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #0.5)
5. The Tailor by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #1.5)
6. The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha (2.5)
7. Demon Deathchase by Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D #3)
8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
9. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting (The Pledge #1)
10. Glitches by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #0.5)
11. The Queen's Army by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #1.5)
12. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
13. The Girl and the Raven by Pauline Gruber
14. Nordic Fairies by Saga Berg (Nordic Fairies #1)
15. Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (Masque of the Red Death #1)
16. Glitter and Doom by Bethany Griffin (Masque of the Red Death #1.5)
17. Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (Masque of the Red Death #2)

Reviews Finished :
(Links to the Reviews)

1. Archon by Sabrina Benulis (Book of Raziel #1)
2. Branded by Keary Taylor (Fall of Angels #1)
3. The Girl and the Raven by Pauline Gruber
4. Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton ( Gods and Monsters #1)
5. The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #0.5)
6. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #1)
7. The Tailor by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #1.5)
8. Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha #2)
9. The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo ( The Grisha #2.5)
10. Glitches by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #0.5)
11. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
12. The Queen's Army by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #1.5)
13. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
14. Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (Masque of the Red Death #1) 
15. Glitter and Doom by Bethany Griffin (Masque of the Red Death #1.5)
16. Nordic Fairies by Saga Berg (Nordic Fairies #1)
17. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting (The Pledge #1)
18. Demon Deathchase by Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D #3)

What the Bats Dragged In... (2)

I wanted this to be a weekly update on books that I got through out the week. Either it was bought or for review or what I found for free. I thought it would be nice to share what I got this week! Feel free to comment below on what you'd like to see as an upcoming review. (You can click on the pictures for links to their GoodReads Pages.)

Books Bought:

Got for Review from NetGalley:

Found for Free from Amazon:

What the Bats Dragged In... (1)

I wanted this to be a weekly update on books that I got through out the week. Either it was bought or for review or what I found for free. I thought it would be nice to share what I got this week!
First up I didn't buy any books this week. But I did get two for review! (You can click on the pictures for links to their GoodReads Pages.)

For Review from NetGalley:

Downloaded for Free from Amazon:

Review: Branded by Keary Taylor

Branded
(Fall of Angels #1)
by Keary Taylor
 Format: Kindle (376 pgs)
 Published February 23rd 2010 by K&T Publishing
Source: Amazon 

 Jessica's had the nightmares for as long as she can remember. Nightmares of being judged for people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she's a crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.

But when two men she can't ignore enter her life everything changes, including the nightmares. The two of them couldn't be more different. She will do anything to be with one of them. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck. But one of the two has set events into motion what will pull her toward her own judgment and turn her into the object of her greatest fear.

Review:
(Although I got to read this book for free my review is still 100% honest)

When I jumped into this book I believed it was going to be an angel/demon book. As I continued reading it was more of just an angel book. The concept behind the angels was interesting at most. There was good "exalted " angels and bad "condemned" angels. While condemned angels were suppose to be like demons they were still just angels but sinned. This made me bored of them as I figured this out while reading the book.

The Story takes place in Washington. In a tiny town off a  Lake a couple hours from Seattle. The setting of this story mostly took place at Jessica's place though. Every once in awhile shed run to the store or something and that is all you really get to read about the town, besides the woods.

The main character Jessica I found to be very intriguing. She is 20 years old and a hermit she watched after Sal, a neighbor, who she house sitted for. I thought her character developed well through the story.

There was kind of a love triangle through out this book. Jessica and Alex kind of happened rather fast developing feelings for each other. They were also to perfect being together, but at least over a span what I think was month they said "I love you" which is better then saying it five days after meeting. I have to say though I did enjoy reading about the two of them.

Then there was Jessica and Cole. When Cole first arrived in the story I knew something was creepy about him. I didn't enjoy him from the beginning with how possessive he acted toward Jessica. He diffidently made the story-line more amusing though. I was surprised how evil Cole could really be. If I had to choose I would say I'm on Team Alex for sure.

I mostly enjoyed this book because of Jessica's dreams she had about Angels. She would have to stand at trail for the recently deceased, having to go down into hell or up to heaven. These sections of the book where repetitive until things started to change within them eventually.

All in all I would say this book was predictable at certain points, but I liked that it took Jessica a little while to figure it out, it didn't come easy for her. Also certain parts were repetitive like I said before. I mostly kept reading to find out what would happen between Alex and Jessica. Also to find out what would happen next in the book. I wouldn't say this wasn't a bad read and I'm kind of interested to read the next book in the series.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 bats.

January Random Read (1): Branded by Keary Taylor

I wanted to start doing this random read meme hosted by I'm Loving Books. It is were you pick a random book from your Goodreads to-read list, using random.org, to read within the month.

A problem I have is not reading any of the kindle books that I have gotten over the years that were free or on sale at the time. So I decided to use this meme to help me read at least one of the kindle books I have been putting off. So I created a kindle read list and it consists of 36 books.

well here goes nothing:

#36 Branded By Keary Taylor (on list since Mar. 31, 2012)

Synopsis:

 Jessica had the nightmares for as long as she can remember. Nightmares of being judged by people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she's crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.

But when two men she can't ignore enter her life everything changes, including the nightmares. The two of them couldn't be more different. She will do anything to be with one of them. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck. But one of the two has set events into motion that will pull her toward her own judgment and turn her into the object of her greatest fear.



I don't remember how I found out about this book I think I was randomly searching for books one day. Anyways I'm looking forward to reading this book this month.