A Game of Thrones

Title: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire- Book One)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Edition: Paperback (694 pages)
Date Read: January, 2013 - February, 2013

Rating: 10

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.

Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
- Goodreads

My Review:

Let me just get this out of my system now: OH MY GOODNESS!!!

(A really good friend of mine just showed me these GIF things....Couldn't resist adding them!)
I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this Book!!! I could totally sit here and be all screaming, swooning fan-girl for hours, but that just won't do so I'll spare you're eyes.

Because I can't tell you how much I loved this book without giving you all these spoilers, Here is a too the point, quick, why this is different and you'll love it list:
- Amazing Characters -hands down, the best, ever
- No set Villain
- Magic doesn't overwhelm the characters roles - there is magic in the world of Westeros but it's not major part of the story which is a lovely change
- Multiple Points of View - each chapter is a different character's perspective which lets you see what is happening on their side of the fence
- Several Stories going on at once - this can be a bit confusing, especially with the hundreds of characters but I found that was what made it so real and breathtaking, because just like in real life its not just one character making choices that change things, its an entire world of people.
- Strong Male and Female Characters
- Seamless, Flawless, Breathtakingly Beautiful Writing - George R.R. Martin is probably my new favorite writer, he is just aw-inspiringly amazing.
- Surprises EVERYWHERE - This is not a story that you see coming, its all about deceit and lies, literally Politics of ancient times but in the most amazing storyline.

Only warning:
     Rated R - lots and lots of sex, cursing and death. Not for the meek or young.
     Enormous Series - Each book is over 600 pages and so far there have been 5 released, though there is to be at least another 2 to be published in the future.

If you enjoy these kinds of things or are willing to put that aside, I can assure you it is well worth the effort. These books are magnificent, and you will simply fall in love with them.

 ***Spoiler Review***

Legend

Title: Legend (Legend - Book one)
Author: Marie Lu
Edition: Kindle
Date read: February, 2013
Genre: Dystopia, Fantasy, YA

Rating: 8

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
- Goodreads

My Review:
I had been looking at Legend for a few months now, but wasn't all sure if I really wanted to spend the 10$ to download it on my kindle and between homework and life I haven't had much time to read anything for fun in months anyhow. So this weekend when I finally came across some downtime I decided to try this book out and I am so glad that I did! It was just a lot of fun to read and full to the brim with action.

Legend is set in a future United States in the West, now know as the Republic, where they're warring against the colonies in the East. At fifteen, Day and June represent the lowest and the highest points of their society -- the most wanted criminal and the government's best soldier. In my own weird way I was kind of reminded of this Robin Hood/ Aladdin story. Day steals from the rich government to help the poor while June is the very top of society. After the death of her brother, Metias, the government uses June's anger and hunger for revenge to track down Day and bring him to 'justice', or so they tell her. June soon finds however that the perfect cause she was brought up to fight for may not be all it appears.

I had this love-wish-there-was-just-a-bit-more relationship with the characters. June was such a strong heroine for the story, even though there were moments when I found myself getting so frustrated with her narrow-mindedness though I completely see how it fit with the story. Day was wonderful and, unlike some other reviews I had read, I found his  voice in the story to be quite realistic and masculine. He's ridiculously kind and in touch with the hardships of life as the poor of the Republic, though at times he tried to be more stoic than he really was though multiple of the scenes where he was trying to provide for his family did pull at my heartstrings. Tess was an awesome character, though she ended up being much more minor than I had thought she'd be. I also kind of felt hanging on if she really did have a crush on Day or not. At first I was actually feeling quite bad that Day didn't like her more than a little sister figure, though I do think Day and June are great together. Metias sort of bothered me at first though as the background information fell more into place I found myself liking him more and more even though he did die so early on in the story. I really wish Day's family would have been more in-depth however. I felt like there could have been more to their story than just a way of getting Day to cooperate,though I was shocked and quite taken by his mother's fate and his brother John's sacrifice, which I think was one of the points that made the novel so compelling to read. I itching to get my hands on the next novel in the series so I can find out what happened to his younger brother.

I was a little taken aback with Day and June's characters though, just because they were so young and yet so important to the government in their own ways. I'm not really sure I minded their "super-power" likeness and being so unstoppable in a sense, though I do see how it put a bit of a scratch in the story. I did however keep finding myself seeing them as being older than 15, especially because their thoughts sounded so much older and their relationship seemed so much older. I was also a bit unsure of how I felt with June being such a rule breaker in the very beginning and yet held so strongly to being unwaveringly loyal, though I did like the tension of the "Will she believe him? Will she help him?" part of the plot.
The romance part of the plot was rather muted, which I really thought worked well when considering Day and June's personalities. I did however, again, find myself having an issue with their ages and did wish they were older. I just feel like that would have helped the whole story out. I'm also not so sure I liked their instant love attraction with each other, I was really reminded of the whole Romeo and Juliet storyline, though I do admit I was routing for the Soul-mate factor the entire time so I can forgive the rushing into a relationship. I suppose I was just hoping for a novel where they have to become friends first and then maybe in the second installment they could be all proclaiming love....maybe I'm just old-fashioned like that though.

I really did enjoy this book though. It was a lovely, quick read that let me escape into this fun, fast-paced, action filled world where I didn't have to analyze what the author was trying to tell me or what strategies they were using and how I could write an essay on what rhetorical strategies the author was using...(can you tell I'm tired of AP. Eng. Comp. yet?)
I would definetly recommend this to anyone, and can't wait to read the second book, Prodigy, in the near future!

Favorite Quotes:

“Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.”          

About

I am a quirky OCR (obsessive compulsive reader) and am rarely ever without atleast one book in progress. I'm currently an AP Honors student in my Junior year of high school and am hoping (fingers and toes crossed!) to grow up and become a writer. My main line of proffession has yet to be nailed down and currently jumps around like a bunny on a sugar high. I have a deep love for animals and all things nature, but have a special fondness of Cats and Forests. I don't watch much Television, with the exception of a few favorite shows that I watch dutifully each week, but ofen watch movies with my family and gaggle of pets, especially Disney Movies which I can recite most lines and songs like a pro! I also have a strange and unsaturable love for quotes, and will constantly put some on here for everyone to enjoy as much as I do :)
Book-wise i'm not at all picky and find favorites in most genres, thought I do have a fondness for Fantasy Novels!
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Literary Meme answered by yours truly:

What Literary Character do you Identify with Most?
- Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter Series
- Tris Prior from the Divergent Series
- Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice 

Who is your Biggest Fictional Crush?
- Harry Potter
- Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss
(can I have a mix of both??)

If you could travel to any place in any era, what would it be?
- Victorian Era London or Paris
- Medieval Europe

If you could spend the day with any fictional character, who would it be and what would you do?
- hmmmmmm.... probably Sherlock Holmes, solving mysteries of course, or
- Eragon from the Inheritance Cylce, learning how to sword fight!!

Who is your favorite protagonist of all time?
- oh, this is hard.......probably Harry Potter

Who is your favorite villain or love-to-hate character?
- This one is difficult too.....probably Professor Snape or Draco Malfoy (I know Snape and Malfoy are not really villians, but we all did love to hate them for most of the series)

Who is the most annoying character in any book you’ve ever read?
- Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga

What is your favorite classic (British or American)
- Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur C. Doyle (British)
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (American)
- To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee (American)
- Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R. Tolkien (British)

What is your least favorite classic or classic that you could just NOT get into no matter how hard you tried?
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

What’s the first book you remember really loving?
- Harry Potter (started reading when I was about 7)
- The Little House books by Laura Ingles Wilder
- Dear America Books 

What is the longest book you have ever read?
- hmmmmmm....probably A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Favorite quote:
"Laughter is timeless, Imagination has no age, and Dreams are forever" - Walt Disney

" You'll fall into place with his hand if the fit is right" - Cheyenne Drews

" And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it"
- Roald Dahl

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn the light on"
- Albus Dumbledore

"Never say good-bye because good-bye means going away, and going away means forgetting"
- Peter Pan


E-reader or Hard Copies?
- Both. I love my Kindle Fire, but nothing will ever compare to the feel of a paper book in your hands

Frost

Title: Frost (The Frost Chronicles - Book One)

Author: Kate Avery Ellison

Edition: Kindle

Date Read: October, 2012
Genre: Dystopia, Fantasy, YA

Rating: 7

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest—a young stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.
She saves his life.
 - Goodreads

My Review:
 Lovely, lovely little novel.
Ms. Ellison created this beautiful but deadly world of the Frost. I was so intrigued by the setting, I just loved how this little town was tucked away in the harshest winter forest and was able to survive and thrive. I wish we knew a little more about that aspect though, like the quotas and such, I felt it was a little bit untouched when it had some more potential.
Lia and Gabe were lovely, I really enjoyed their romantic interests but at the same time wished it was drawn out just a tad bit more, to me it just felt a little rushed.  I respected Lia's determination to keep her family going and I loved that part of the story, that drive to hope the family was going to be okay. Gabe was a lovely character and he balanced out Lia's personality really nice, but again, I really do wish he and Lia would have interacted a bit more during the story.
Lia's siblings were good supporting characters, I think they provided the correct amount of input to the story, but I did feel like some of the other characters were lacking something, though some did start showing potential near the end. (I'm holding out for the second book that all those loose ends with the characters will be tied all nicely for me)
The ending was rather quick, and I wished we would have had a more in depth view of the Watchers, who are the monsters that the villagers fear, but I did really like that we got some history on them and why and what they are watching, though it did seem slightly rushed as the end of the book neared. The situation with Gabe and Lia at the end left me rather unsatisfied, though I was really touched by the letter he left her for when she got home. It definitely made me go "awwwwwwwwwwwwww" out loud!
Over all it was lovely, and I did really like it. I can't wait to read the second book, and I really am hoping its going to answer a lot of my questions that were left kinda dangling.

Favorite Quotes:
 - “Love is a perilous dance too, you see. And if we stop dancing, we'll die. Don't ever stop dancing.”

 - “I’d allowed myself to feel love –yes, love– for another person in a way I’d once sworn to myself I never would. I’d become completely vulnerable, and now I’d been torn apart with hurt and catapulted onto a path I might never have taken otherwise. I’d risked my life for an outsider. For a stranger. Worse, I had a feeling I was going to do it again.”