Hold Still
December 2017 Reading Wrap-Up
The Waterless Sea by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 2)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 11 – 12
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Chanters vs. Pirates from the beginning.
Least Favorite Thing: Ooomg so many sexist desert-dwellers!
I started to reread this series earlier in the year and then just totally got side-tracked, but I’m back now! (Also I think I completely blocked out the end….)
My Posts About The Waterless Sea
The Tenth Power by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 3)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 12
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: The reveal about Cal’s family 🙂
Least Favorite Thing: Um… Keela’s entire original personality?
Man I zipped through this one! I was so anxious because I couldn’t remember in detail how this book went so I just devoured it!
I definitely recommend the Chanters of Tremaris series to anyone who likes YA Magical Fantasy and those who, like me, love stories about nature magic.
My Posts About The Tenth Power
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: Kinda?
Reading Dates: December 12
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Lavena had me cackling!
Least Favorite Thing: Seriously why does her entire family have to be Like That?? I just wanted to climb into the novel and systematically throttle them all…
I was actually surprised by how little of this story I remembered from when I first read it years ago.
My Posts About The Swan Maiden
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
(Trials of Apollo, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 23 – December 13
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Actually dealt pretty well with the portrayal of a relationship between a child and their abusive parent.
Least Favorite Thing: Apollo is so fucking annoying. I miss Percy.
Seriously the only parts of the book I truly loved were the parts with Percy. I didn’t even realize he was my favorite, but he’s obviously my favorite. Lovably sarcastic dork….
My Posts About The Hidden Oracle
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
(Brian’s Saga, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 13
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: I love the way Brian thinks about things, like referring to the fire as his “new hungry friend”.
Least Favorite Thing: That moose was a dick. (Honestly, I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about the story/writing.)
I’m really glad I decided to try rereading this again. I wanted to see if I still liked it after all these years and I think I actually like it more now.
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
(Rise of the Empress, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: Yes
Reading Dates: December 15 – 18
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Had me totally rooting for someone I knew was technically a villain!
Least Favorite Thing: I really didn’t need the mental images of killing small animals… (To be clear, it’s not often and it’s not like gratuitous slaughter, it’s just the descriptive language Julie C. Dao is good at made things a little too vivid for me for that particular couple scenes.)
I was so excited to get my hands on this book and it didn’t disappoint! I feel like wandering around town yelling about this book like a street preacher. Seriously, I recommend it to everyone, especially if you like fairy tale retellings.
(I almost put that my favorite thing was that there was literally zero white people in this entire novel, but I thought that might be a little tactless…oops!)
My Posts About Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Mind Games by Kiersten White
(Mind Games, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: October 22 – December 23
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Fia being all small and kick-ass.
Least Favorite Thing: It just didn’t hold my attention very well…
I think it’s a pretty decent book, there was just something that made it hard to stay in the story. Still it ended on a minor cliffhanger so I guess I’ll be reading the sequel at some point!
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 23 – 26
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: The photography.
Least Favorite Thing: I’m surprised to find there isn’t really anything I didn’t like from this book. Everything felt very honest.
I was afraid this book would be really hard to read because of the subject matter, but it moved really well and was a very honest portrayal of grief and recovery.
In Progress
I’m not saying that it’s stupid to feel sad, just that it would be impossible to let everything get to you and still get some sleep at night.
– Nina LaCour, Hold Still, page 83
Version:
Paperback, 272 pages
Published October 5th 2010 by Speak
I almost expect to see the shoe box rising and falling with the journal’s breath.
– Nina LaCour, Hold Still, page 41
Version:
Paperback, 272 pages
Published October 5th 2010 by Speak
I know it makes me seem crazy, I know it won’t make anything change, but it’s better than crying, it’s better than screaming, it’s better than listening to what they’re telling me.
– Nina LaCour, Hold Still, page 5
Version:
Paperback, 272 pages
Published October 5th 2010 by Speak
Completed: Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Teaser Tuesday: December 26, 2017
They seem just as startled as I feel. Amanda looks like she’s trying not to cry. Davey stands completely still, like he’s in shock.
– Nina LaCour, Hold Still, page 152
Version:
Paperback, 272 pages
Published October 5th 2010 by Speak
Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.
Darkestwings Reads