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Friday, January 20, 2017

Weekend Reads: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

TGIF!!! I just want to read and do nothing else this weekend but of course that will not be possible, my Sunday is already triple book :( But I will the most of it, for sure, trust me.

Here is the book that I'm starting to read just now and that I will be reading this weekend:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

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I watch Season 1 of the Show and I fell in love with it so of course I knew that I had to pick up the books and read it and I'm doing it.  Cannot wait to read and compare it to the show :)

What are you reading?

Have you are The Magicians?

XOXO,

Nelia

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Reading Challenges for 2017

I'm putting some big girl pants on and going to participate on some Reading Challenges this year, I read lots of books already and I'm usually all over the place.  But this year I want to really cut down my TBR, finish series and want to really just participate on some of the cool Reading Challenges that some amazing bloggers do.  I have picked six of them and I am SO WICKED SUPER EXCITED about it already, now let's just hope I keep up with all of them.

Another new thing that I started this year was a Bullet Journal and I really think that this new friend is going to really help me out with these challenges and keeping everything organized.

Let's take a look at all the challenges?

First up:


Challenge: Flights of Fantasy


Goal: No minimum of books to read, the reader is encouraged to set their own goal for how many fantasy books to read in 2017

Official Hashtag: #flightsoffantasy

More Info: Please click on the hosts names for more information on the challenge.  The full schedule for the year has been posted on their blogs, there will be giveaways and lots of more info.

My GOAL: 25-I'm not going to go too crazy, 25 seems a reasonable number, right? 2016 was the year that I really got into fantasy and this year I really want to read more and more of it.

Some books on my list already:

*Throne of Glass Series (it's about time to start this series and hopefully I will start and finish it)
*The Invasion of the Tearling (second book of The Queen of the Tearling and I'm hoping to get to the 3rd one too)
*Truthwitch (Yeah I've heard lots great things about this one and don't know why I haven't pick it up yet)
*The Grisha Trilogy (another trilogy that I have no clue why I haven't read it yet)
*Six of Crows (I have been wanting to start this one but will not do it until I read the one above first)
*Frost Like Night (about time to finish this one)
*The Magician's Trilogy (I watched The Magician's show and I'm hooked and need the books)

Next:



Challenge: Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge 2017

Hosts: Andi's ABC

Goal: There are different levels to chose from.

Official Hashtag: #ContRom2017

More Info:Click on the host's name and it will bring to her post about the challenge about monthly link-ups and giveaways!

My GOAL: 16-20 books HOME RUN- I love contemporary books and this will be a great excuse to read more :)

Some books on my list already:

*I'll Meet You There
*Magnlia
*Looking for Alaska
*My Life Next Door
*Forbidden
*After You
*Amy & Roger's Epic DeTour


And Next:




Challenge: 2017 New Release Challenge


Goal: Again, there are different levels to chose from. 

Official Hashtag: #2017NewReleaseChallenge

More Info: Click on the links above for more information, there will be monthly link-ups and giveaways!

My GOAL: 1-30 books-New Release Newbie

Some books on my list already:

*The Bone Witch-currently reading
*A Court of Wings and Ruin
*Caraval-I have been hearing so many great things about this book, I just want it now :)
*Always and Forever, Lara Jean
*Frost Blood
*Gilded Cage


Next up:


Challenge: 2017 Diverse Reads Book Challenge


Goal: Set your own goal (pick out of 1 category per month for a total of 12 books)

Official Hashtag: #DiverseReads2017

More Info: Click on their links for a lot of more information.

My GOAL: 12 books-1 each month

Diverse Books:

I'm actually referring back to the list that the hosts have on their blogs, every month for each categories they have a number of books to choose from and because this is the first time that I'm participating of a challenge like this I need all the help that I can get and the list is perfect.  Why?  Because I was reading the list and there are books there that I already owe or that I have been meaning to read and I never thought that it would be good for this challenge so...perfect!!!

Guess what? Next...





Challenge: Rock My TBR 2017 Reading Challenge


Goal: Read a minimum of 1 book per month that was previously published.

Official hashtag: #RockMyTBR

Info: If you click on the hosts blog post you can find out all about the Rock My TBR challenge.

My GOAL: 24-if I get to read 2 books a month that I already owe? I will be a very happy girl.

Books that I really should get to it:

*City of Heavenly Fire-let's not talk about it, okay?
*Lady Midnight
*Assassin's Heart
*A Torch Against the Night
*Hollow City
*Wonder


AND FINALLY:


Challenge: 2017 Prequel & Sequel Challenge


Goal: Read prequels, sequels and novellas to catch up on series.  And start and finish whole series.

Info: Click on the hosts posts to learn ALL about it.

My GOAL: 51-75 points-Advanced.  I really want to read lots of novellas and sequels and most of all start and finish series this year.

PreQuels/ Sequels and Series that I want to get to:

*The Orphan Queen
*Throne of Glass
*The Queen of the Tearling


And that's all the reading challenges that I want to participate...are you participating on any?

XOXO,

Nelia

Friday, January 13, 2017

Weekend Reads: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Happy Friday the 13th!!! This has been a very long weekend and I cannot wait for the weekend to just read, relax and maybe catch a movie too.  What are you plans for this weekend?

Here is the book that I'm currently reading but that I will probably finish either today or tomorrow OR Sunday, because this book is killing, breaking my heart that's for sure.  I feel like I start every new year with a book that makes with cry but I'm not really complaining because these books make it to my favorites list too.  Anyways...here is the book:

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


I'm more than half way but I currently stopping so much because my heart can't take so much pain...but hopefully I will suck it up and finish it soon, HOPEFULLY.


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And once I'm done with it, I'm going to grab this next novella and finish The Orphan Queen series, YEAH!!!

The Black Knife by Jodi Meadows

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What are you currently reading?  Have you read The Kite Runner?  I totally recommend if you have yet.

XOXO,

Nelia

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Book Review: Graphic Novels and Novellas

With all the 2016 books reviewed it's time to finish up the 2016 Graphic Novels and Novellas reviews too, so time for a bundle review post.  Let's do this:


1. Alex and Ada by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn: 4 Stars

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This is a sci-fi set in the near future (or a very long future???).  Alex lives alone and he doesn't mind at all, but his grandmother doesn't think the same so she sends him an X5, the latest in realistic androids.  At first he doesn't want anything to do with Ada, but after a while, Alex realizes that Ada is just more than a robot.

I may continue with this series, if I need a quick break and something quick to read.

2. Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol: 4.5 Stars

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When Anya falls down the bottom of an old well, finding a new friend was the least of things she expected to find.  Especially a dead one, one that has been dead for a century.  When Anya gets rescued, her new ghost friend comes along with her and she may be what Anya really needs at this time in her life.  She is self-conscious about her body, she is giving up fitting at her school and she is embarrassed by her family.

But as the days go by and her ghost friend a little more than she expected she may have to do some fixing before her ghost friend destroys everything that she loves.


3. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons: 3.5 Stars

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This GN was recommend to me and holly smokes, there was so much going on, and you pretty much spend the entire novel trying to figure out who is behind the mystery.  Dr. Manhattan was my favorite for sure, but Rorschach?  He is a character for sure.  Totally recommend it.


4. Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard: Overall 3 stars (individually stars below)

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I had heard lots of mixed reviews about this novella and I ended listening to it instead of reading and I ended liking this way better, because if I read I would probably have giving up or taken forever to finish it.  We got two novellas in Cruel Crown:

Queen Song was the backstory of Queen Coriane, the mother of Prince Cal and I really enjoyed to get to know her and what let to her death.  She was such a sweet girl and a sweet Queen too.  4 Stars

Steel Scars, it was bits and pieces of Farley's adventures.  But nothing new, most of the things we already knew.  So, did we need this story?  Probably not. 2.5 Stars


And that's it for the remaining 2016 reads.  Done.  Time to start my 2017 book reviews.  YEAH!!!

XOXO,

Nelia


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

2017 Reading Challenge, Goals and More

2016 is over, 2017 is here and it's time to talk about reading challenge and goals for this year.

My 2017 reading goal is to read 100 books again, I know that for the last two years I have read over 100 books but in the back of my mind I'm afraid that if I increase my reading goal I will totally fail, so...I will keep it at 100, it's a good number, right?

Some of the goals that I have for this year is to read more different genres, I have moved out of Dystopian a little and I was afraid that I would not enjoy the other genres as much but I surprised myself.  I have read more fantasy last year and I loved it.  This year I want to continue to read more fantasy books but also explore other genres as well, I read a couple mystery books and I want to read more of that too, I also want to get to science fiction genre more and another one that I want to read more is historical fiction.  Okay, that's plenty of different genres and that means lots of books to read.

Another goal for me this year to complete a lot of the series that I have started and haven't finish it yet.  And I have a lot of them to finish it, I had a list and scared the crap out of myself lol.  I also have a few series that I have been meaning to start and that are completed already or the last book is getting published this year so it's about time I get to it.

And my final goal is to read books that are on my shelves or in my kindle first before buying new ones...let's hope it works :)

And finally, I haven't done a January TBR but I have read a couple books yet and here is a couple more that I'm planning to read:

Wild by Cheryl Strayed: read

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Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco: read

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The Hidden Prince by Jodi Meadows: read

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The Glowing Knight by Jodi Meadows: read

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The Burning Hand by Jodi Meadows 

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The Black Knife by Jodi Meadows

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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: currently Reading

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Amulet: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi

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Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

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That's all I can think of right now, we will see how the rest of the month goes and what else I get to read.  I'm happy if I get to read the 2 Graphic Novels because I want to read more GN this year too and by reading the 4 novellas above I will truly complete the The Orphan Queen series.

What are your reading goals for this year?  And what are you reading to start the year with?

XOXO,

Nelia 



Tuesday, January 10, 2017

2016 Reading Survey

With 2016 behind us, I wanted to do a quick wrap up of it and I have been watching YouTube channels and one video that keeps popping up is this reading survey so I wrote down the questions and decided to do it here.  One of my BookTubers that I watched frequently did it and I really enjoy her channel and if you love to watch BookTubers and are looking for more channels check her out: this will bring you to the video of her doing this tag: Bookables 

Let's do this:

2016 Reading Survey

Questions:

1. How many books did you read? Did you meet your goal?
I read 105 books last year and my goal was of 100, so YEEPEE I totally surpassed my goal.

2. Most read genre?
I read a lot of variety of books this past year which I am so happy about it, I don't think I read more of one genre than the other, there were lots of contemporary, but also lots of fantasy so maybe those two were my top two?

3. Longest and shortest books you read.
My longest book was A Court of Mist and Fury with 626 pages and my shortest one was The Other One with 32 pages.  Yeah, big huge difference. lol

4. Favorite book published in 2016?
Published in 2016 it would have to be A Court of Mist and Fury.

5. Favorite debut book in 2016?
I actually just finished a 2016 debut book but it's 2017 so unfortunately I didn't end up reading any :(

6. Favorite book not published this year?
Not a surprise if you have been reading my reviews, Ruby Red...I LOVE this book and trilogy.

7. A book that lived up to the hype.
The Book Thief, I was really afraid to read that book and it's one of my favorites now and I read it at the very beginning of the year.

8. A book that did NOT live up to the hype.
People will probably kill me, but I did not fall in love with Illuminae, sorry.


9. Book that felt like the biggest accomplishment?
I'm going to say more like a trilogy than a book, the Infernal Devices, I really wanted to get to it this year and I did and I loved it.

10. Favorite character.
Will from The Infernal Devices, he is my favorite this year!!!  My quote on GoodReads it's from him, that's how much I love Will!


11. Least favorite character.
Count Saint-Germain from Ruby Red trilogy, I freaking hate that guy, I hated him from the beginning.

12. Most shocking book/moment.
The end of The Traitor Baru Cormorant, if you haven't read this book yet, trust me you need to read it.  High fantasy, science fiction and need something with political intrigue? This is the book for you and you will NEVER guess the end until you are there and you will hate it and then read that last page over and over again. 

13. Favorite couple/OTP.
One, do I just pick one?  Will and Tessa for sure, one more at least; Feyre and Rhys.

14. The best written book you read this year.
Salt to the Sea.  I loved the story line but the writing?  Amazing!

15. Book that you pushed the most people to read in 2016.
The Book Thief and A Monster Calls, both amazing books with amazing stories.

16. Favorite book cover of the year.
If this doesn't scream summer, and who doesn't love dogs and ice cream?  It's just beautiful.

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17. Favorite adaptation.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I loved it.  Yes, they changed a few things but somehow I still loved it.

18. What book made you cry the most?
That's a tough one, there were a few books that made me cry a lot this year and for different reasons too.  The Book Thief was the first one, then Me Before You at the beginning of the year and then I went months without crying until I read Second Chance Summer, a contemporary mind you.  Yeah a great year to cry with books. 

19. What book made you laugh the most?
Ruby Red, even though Gwen had to go through some serious stuff she still could crack me up.  

20. A new favorite author you discovered this year.
Ruta Sepetys

21. Guilty pleasure read of the year.
The Royals trilogy...yeah for sure.

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First book of the trilogy

22. Favorite book you re-read this year.
The Giver, I read when I was in high and couldn't remember nothing for the life of me so it was the right time to re-read it.

23. Were you happy with your reading year? What will you do different in 2017?
I was extremely happy with my reading year, I loved that I read so many different genres this year and I'm planning to continue doing the same this year.  I started to read more Graphic Novels this year and I really want to read a lot more of them in 2017, I just need to remember to put at least 2 of them each month on my TBR.

And we are done!!!

XOXO,

Nelia


Friday, January 6, 2017

Favorite Books of 2016

I read over 100 books in 2016 and I loved lots of them but I figured that I would pick 16 of them for this list, because there was no way that I could only pick 10 of them.  I had a really great reading year, not a great personal/healthy year but reading year?  Oh yeah, I read lots of amazing books lol.

 Let's get to this list:


1.  The Book Thief: Do I even need to explain myself?  But if you haven't read this one yet, trust me you are missing out so go and read it.

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2. Me Before You: If a book makes you cry then it makes it into your favorite list and this makes book number two after The Book Thief.  

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3. Eve: This trilogy got better book after book and I couldn't believe how long it had taken me to read it.  Totally recommend it.

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4. The Book of Ivy: I didn't read lots of dystopian books this year but Oh Man this one?  It was so freaking amazing and it made me realize that yes I still love me some dystopian books and there are some real beauties still out there.  And it was only a duology.

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5. Clockwork Angel: Picking the first book of this trilogy because it was the one that made me fall in love with it.  This trilogy is one of my favorites of all time.

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6. Anna and the French Kiss: Ah, one of the best contemporaries out there for sure.  I love, love this book and their companions too.

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7. The Traitor Baru Cormorant: This book was totally out of my comfort zone but man did I love it, so many twist and the end?  I still cannot get the end of this book out of my head.  Seth Dickinson you killed me.

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8. Ink and Bone: Sometimes I request books out of NetGalley because they sound so interesting and then I forget all about them and then when I read them I fall all over it.  And Ink and Bone is one of them.  I actually have read the two books out and cannot, cannot wait for the third book coming out this year. YEAH!!!

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9. A Court of Mist and Fury: I'm sure you have heard so many people talking about this book so I'm only going to say that yes they are right, this book is amazing and that you should start this series if you haven't already.

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10. Broken Prince: This is the second book of a trilogy, I did like the first book and it ended on such a cliffhanger that I had to get this one right away but I loved this one even more.  Great young adult contemporary, very sexy too.

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11. The Wrath and the Dawn: I freaking loved everything about this book, the setting, the characters, the side characters, I mean EVERYTHING.  This is a book that I see myself rereading again and again.  Did I say how much I love this book yet?  

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12. It Ends With Us: New Colleen Hoover book and I new I was going to love it but the meaning behind this book?  It was even better and made me love it even more.  Read it guys, read it.

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13. Ruby Red: Favorite series this year? This one right here, I read books 1-3 and I just couldn't contain myself while reading it, I loved it so, so, so much :)

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14. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: Loved the book and I gotta say, even though they changed a few main things in the movie, it was one of my favorite book to movie adaptions.  

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15.The Giver: Totally enjoyed it, another dystopian and another winner.  And most importantly, I read it while my son was reading it for son and it was so great to be able to help him out and discuss the same book!!! Winner.

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16. Salt to the Sea: I finished this book and it was in my head for days and days, that's how much I loved it.  And how I recommend it.  I want a movie out of it, please???

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17. And adding one more because I can't leave this one one: Saven Denial part of the Saven series which I'm loving it.  Do you love some alien books?  Then the Saven series is for you, I ended up picking up Saven Denial as one of my favorite so far because it explains so much and yes it's a novella, but a MUST read novella because you cannot continue the series without reading this one.  Now, I need to go and read the next book...

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What were your favorite books of 2016?  Anything from this list?

Did you reach your 2016 reading challenge goal?  I don't think I even mention but I did, I wanted to read 100 and I ended up reading 105.

XOXO,

Nelia

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Book Review: Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

I have talked about this trilogy way too much and I don't think I have to tell you how much I love these books, individually or all together as a trilogy.  So, I'm going to review the third and final book...let's go:

Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

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Gwen has a destiny to fulfill, but she still doesn't know what it is as no one will tell her.  She doesn't trust the found of the Circle, Count Saint-German, but nobody will believe her.  And Gideon, can she trust him or not?

This book picks up right after where Sapphire Blue left out and OMG, action? Check.  Romance? Check and Check again.  Time Traveling? Lots and lots of it and I love it.  Mystery?  Yes and holy molly it was good.  What else am I missing?  Probably more important things, but just trust me this book will not disappoint you at all, it has everything you want on a final book and more.  I couldn't put it down once I started reading and those are the kind of books that I love.

The mystery was solved but it took just the right amount of time to keep you on the edge of your seat.  But I loved that this book didn't forget the main thing, the time traveling and we still got to see it and ah, I love when those two go back in time and Gwen got to travel a lot more this time and it was so good.

The end?  I kind of knew who was at fault but I never would have thought how everything was going to come down and it wrapped it up really well.  Ah, I'm just going to say that it was all so amazingly done and that you really need to read this trilogy because you are really going to love it.

5 out of 5 stars!!!!

XOXO,

Nelia

Book Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

I knew I had to read this book in 2016 and I'm so glad that I did and I even watched the movie too.  And with only 180 pages it was an easy and quick read...let's get to review?  Yes, let's do it.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

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Jonas lives in a community where everyone has chosen sameness.  What is sameness?  Sameness is a world of colorless, conformity and contentment.  You don't get to choose your family, job, pretty much nothing, everything is chosen for you and you are just happy that way.  Jonas is happy too, that is until he is given his life assignment, the job of Receiver of Memory.  There is only one in the community and while getting training by the Giver (the previous Receiver), Jonas begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his community.  And he wants more...

This book was the kind of book that I was craving and I was content and happy when I ended it.  Jonas character development was amazing, Lois Lowry did an amazing job with character development as well as world building.  One of the things with a Receiver of Memory is describing a memory and a memory can be a feeling or a thing and it was described amazingly well.

5 out of 5 stars and I totally recommend this book to anyone from middle Grade to whatever age you are right now.

XOXO,

Nelia

Monday, January 2, 2017

Book Review: Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins

Happy New Year!!!! It's 2017 People, new year, new adventures, new beginnings, new everything, right?  Today I'm just going to start easy by doing just a book review and tomorrow we will stalk about wrap ups and goals and more fun stuff so...

Today's book review completes another trilogy, HIGH FIVE YEAH!!!

I feel like my ratings for this trilogy went down as the books progressed, they had potential, did really did, but I wanted more and didn't get.  Let's just review it.


Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins

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Final book of Rebel Belle and Harper is living away from David as he has fled Pine Grove and now he is turning teenage girls into Paladins and the worst is that those girls are coming after Harper thinking that she is David's enemy and that he needs protecting from her.  What???  Yeah, Harper is not buying that, something is totally wrong and first she wants to find David and then figure out what is wrong with him and fix it.

And let's not talk about how her powers are starting to fading away from being away from David for far too long.  So, Harper, her best friend and someone from the past, someone that she totally didn't see getting help from, set out on a road trip to find David and help him with whatever is wrong with him.

While on the quest to find David, the girls end up finding more new Paladins that David send out their way, but they end up finding out what is wrong with David and what to do to save him, but time is ticking and they need to hurry up and find him sooner rather than later.

This book was small and it was so quick to finish it, even though there was some action I wanted more action.  David?  There wasn't enough of him in this book, there should have been more, more of him because whatever there was of him it was good.

Overall it ended really well and it was a cute ending, but it was a quick ending.  4 out of 5 stars.  I'm just glad I finished another trilogy.

XOXO,

Nelia