Worst Books of 2017!

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be talking about my least favorite books of 2017. As always, these are just my opinions, and if we differ, don't take it personally! I would love to hear why you loved a book I hated. :) At the time I am writing this, I have read 99 books, and am close to finishing three more. Without further ado, here are the books I rated two or less stars.

All of these links are to goodreads, and I'll leave my review (if I have one) right next to the goodreads link. 

1) Never Dare a Dragon by Ashlyn Chase
(my review)
2) Winter Kisses by Addison Moore
3) Plague Land by Alex Scarrow
(my review)
4) A Thousand Letters by Staci Hart
5) Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
(my discussion on why this was disappointing)
6) Recreated by Colleen Houck
(my review)
7) Unblemished by Sara Ella
(my review)
8) Better than Perfect by Simone Elkeles
(my review)
9) The Last Virgin Standing by Tiffany Huynh
10) Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller
(my review)

Looking at these books, most of of them I rated two stars. The only ones I rated one star was Winter Kisses and Never Dare a Dragon. Out of those two, my least favorite was Winter Kisses; the novella really wasn't for me and I got nothing out of it. If I were to recommend any book out of these, it would be Mask of Shadows. I was the odd man out with this one. A lot of people loved this, but the writing style just didn't mesh well with me. Also, Throne of Glass is so well loved, and I will eventually be contnuing on with the series. 

I think it's also notable that the majority of the books were traditionally published. By worst books generally weren't ones that were self-published, on wattpad, etc., so let's get rid of that stigma that books that aren't traditionally published are bad! The Last Virgin Standing (which honestly, why did I even read it?) was written on wattpad, with no editors, which is completely different than books that are self-published or traditionally published. So if you are hesitant about reading self-published books because you don't think they'll be good, don't! Most of the time, self-published books do not disappoint. 

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

Favorite 2017 Releases!

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! Today, I'll be looking back on 2017 and reflecting on all the books I read that were released in the last year. I read more new releases than ever in 2017, and it's largely because I became more active on Netgalley!

I read 32 books released in 2017, so they accounted for just under a third of my reading for the year! Here are some of my favorite books of those 32, in no particular order!

1) Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
2) Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3) Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
4) Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
5) Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
6) The Empress by SJ Kincaid
7) Run Away With Me by Mila Gray
8) When Dimple Me Rishi by Sandhya Menon
9) Hunger by Roxane Gay

Looking at these nine, all but two (Dear Ijeawele and Hunger) are fiction, which is no surprise to me, considering that's all I read. Of those that are fiction books, 6 are young adult, and one is new adult. Four of them are contemporary, two science fiction, and one fantasy! To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't love more 2017 fantasy releases. I am the most picky when it comes to fantasy though, since I read either fantasy or contemporary. I do have a soft spot for contemporary, and this year was no exception. It does seem like I should read more science fiction though, considering that The Empress and Nyxia were two of the three 2017 science fiction releases I read, and I loved them both.   

If you ask me to pick which one of these is my favorite, I wouldn't have an answer! Dear Ijeawele, Hunger, Breath of Fire, and Alex, Approximately are all up there. However, I would say that Run Away with Me and When Dimple Met Rishi are my least favorite, and yet they still got five stars! At the end of the day, I would recommend every single one of these. :)

Have you read any of these books above? What did you think? What are some of your favorite 2017 releases?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

Waiting on Wednesday #58!

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be participating in Waiting on Wednesday, and meme originally created by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. Jill hasn't been active for a while, so Tressa @ Wishful Endings has adopted it! If you see posts by the name of "Can't Wait Wednesday," it's the same thing!

The book I'm looking forward to this week is Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen!

Getting to Eden brought Emmett and his crewmates one step closer to their promised fortune. But surviving Eden may be the biggest reward of all. Discover book two in the trilogy Marie Lu called, “a high-octance thriller.”

Emmett Atwater thought Babel’s game sounded easy. Get points. Get paid. Go home. But it didn’t take long for him to learn that Babel’s competition was full of broken promises, none darker or more damaging than the last one.

Now Emmett and the rest of the Genesis survivors must rally and forge their own path through a new world. Their mission from Babel is simple: extract nyxia, the most valuable material in the universe, and play nice with the indigenous Adamite population.

But Emmett and the others quickly realize they are caught between two powerful forces—Babel and the Adamites—with clashing desires. Will the Genesis team make it out alive before it’s too late?

Goodreads

Music Monday #4

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni and today I'll be participating in my second Music Monday post! Music Monday is hosted by  Lauren @ Always Me. Earlier in the year I said I would participate in this more frequently, and I completely failed! However, I normally don't have a set post every week besides Waiting on Wednesday, and I thought that this fit in well!
 

Here are the rules:

Every Monday share one or two of songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s).

By now, you've probably heard that Taylor Swift released a new album. While I've been obsessing over it, one of my favorite songs from the album is "I Did Something Bad."

Down below is the original that Taylor Swift released, and then a BEAUTIFUL cover of the song that just reignited my love!

Which version of the song did you enjoy more?I can't decide which one I like more. The harmonies in the cover as well as the instrumentals are amazing, so I'm leaning towards that! If you have listened to Taylor's new album, which is your favorite? The only song that I don't like that much is "This is Why we Can't Have Nice Things."

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

                                                 Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

Waiting on Wednesday #57

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be participating in Waiting on Wednesday, and meme originally created by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. Jill hasn't been active for a while, so Tressa @ Wishful Endings has adopted it! If you see posts by the name of "Can't Wait Wednesday," it's the same thing!

The book I'm looking forward to this week is MunMun by Jesse Andrews!

In an alternate reality a lot like our world, every person’s physical size is directly proportional to their wealth. The poorest of the poor are the size of rats, and billionaires are the size of skyscrapers.

Warner and his sister Prayer are destitute—and tiny. Their size is not just demeaning, but dangerous: day and night they face mortal dangers that bigger richer people don’t ever have to think about, from being mauled by cats to their house getting stepped on. There are no cars or phones built small enough for them, or schools or hospitals, for that matter—there’s no point, when no one that little has any purchasing power, and when salaried doctors and teachers would never fit in buildings so small. Warner and Prayer know their only hope is to scale up, but how can two littlepoors survive in a world built against them?

A brilliant, warm, funny trip, unlike anything else out there, and a social novel for our time in the tradition of 1984 or Invisible Man. Inequality is made intensely visceral by an adventure and tragedy both hilarious and heartbreaking.

Goodreads

November Wrap Up!

Hey everyone and happy December! I hope everyone had a great November, and will have an even better December! I'm personally very excited (on the 15th, I am done with my first semester of college), but I do have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks. I'm taking all (6!!) of my finals in the next two weeks, so don't be surprised if you don't see a lot of me! (A week has passed since I wrote this, so I only have a week left!)

In November, I read 10 books, and one short story. I'm in the middle of several books right now, and once I finish those, I will only be 2 books away from completing by goodreads goal of 100 books!

Without further ado, here are the 10 books I read this November, in order of date read!

1) Kindred by Octavia Butler
This was one of my favorite books this month. I actually had four 5/4.5-star books this month, and this for sure made the cut. I read this for one of my classes, and I'm so glad it was on the syllabus. The plot is hard to explain, so I urge you just to click that link and go to the goodreads page! Kindred was so spectacularly done, and I can't wait to read more from Butler.

2) Love and First Sight by John Sundquist
Love and First Sight was my only audiobook this month! It's been quite some time since I've picked one up, and I miss it! Though this book was fun, I didn't like the narration that much and sometimes the book was so frustrating. There was this weird mix of mature and juvenile in all the characters, and I didn't really like anyone. But I did end up liking this book!

3) The First Kiss Hypothesis by Christina Mandelski
I was given The First Kiss Hypothesis in exchange for an honest review from Entangled:Crush. You can check out my review of this here! I thought this book was really cute, but it won't make a lasting impact on me. If you like pies and sweet romances, then I would recommend this. Also, the book was great if you want to read something fast and get your mind of all of your responsibilities!

4) Run Away With Me by Mila Gray

Run Away With Me was another five star read for me! It is the third book in a companion series, and the second book I've read my Mila Gray. I had really high expectations because I loved the first book in this series, Come Back to Me, and this didn't disappoint. The romance was so well done, and Gray deals with trauma very respectively as well. Check out my review here!

5) Talk to Me by Clare James
6) A Thousand Letters by Staci Hart
7) If You Were Mine by Melanie Harlow
So as you can tell, I didn't leave thoughts for Talk to Me and A Thousand Letters. To be honest, those two books and If You Were Mine all bleed together. They were all fine, but they didn't have enough originality to stick out. However, they were super quick reads and de-stressed me, which I very much appreciated! 

8) The Empress by SJ Kincaid
Okay guys, this book might be my favorite of all the five stars. I mean....it was SO freaking good. I really enjoyed The Diabolic (review here!) but The Empress blew it out of the water. The Empress subverts YA tropes, and I honestly don't know what will happen next. The characters feel so real, and the plot always takes turns I never see coming. Stop sleeping on this series, and go read it! 

9) Winter Kisses by Addison More
Once again, I barely remember anything from this, except that it was my least favorite of the NA romances I read in November. It was another quick and easy read, but lacked depth and personality.

10) This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada
And last, but certainly not least, is This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada!! I just reviewed this on my blog (once again, here is my review), so check out the review for more detailed thoughts. This Mortal Coil does have some tropes, but Suvada takes them and makes them her own. I thought This Mortal Coil is one of the best debut books I have read this eyar, and I cannot wait until the sequel! My only main issue was that I predicted the twist; if you read a lot of YA, you might be able to pick up on it!

As of right now, I am currently reading Watchmen by Alan Moore, The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody, and Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare!

What are you reading? Have you read any of the books I mentioned above?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

BOOK REVIEW |The Empress by SJ Kincaid

Title: The Empress
Author: S.J. Kincaid
Series? Yes, a trilogy (originally was going to be a standalone)
Publication Date: October 31, 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Source: I received a copy of The Empress via Netgalley. Thank you to Simon & Schuster! All thoughts and opinions are my own. :)

It’s a new day in the Empire. Tyrus has ascended to the throne with Nemesis by his side and now they can find a new way forward—one where they don’t have to hide or scheme or kill. One where creatures like Nemesis will be given worth and recognition, where science and information can be shared with everyone and not just the elite.

But having power isn’t the same thing as keeping it, and change isn’t always welcome. The ruling class, the Grandiloquy, has held control over planets and systems for centuries—and they are plotting to stop this teenage Emperor and Nemesis, who is considered nothing more than a creature and certainly not worthy of being Empress.

Nemesis will protect Tyrus at any cost. He is the love of her life, and they are partners in this new beginning. But she cannot protect him by being the killing machine she once was. She will have to prove the humanity that she’s found inside herself to the whole Empire—or she and Tyrus may lose more than just the throne. But if proving her humanity means that she and Tyrus must do inhuman things, is the fight worth the cost of winning it?

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday #56

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be participating in Waiting on Wednesday, and meme originally created by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. Jill hasn't been active for a while, so Tressa @ Wishful Endings has adopted it! If you see posts by the name of "Can't Wait Wednesday," it's the same thing!

The book I'm looking forward to this week is Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsey Cummings!

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her glass starship, Marauder, however, she's just Andi, their friend and fearless leader.

But when a routine mission goes awry, the Marauder's all-girl crew is tested as they find themselves in a treacherous situation and at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter from Andi's past.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.

Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their shipor just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only certainty is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

 Goodreads

BOOK REVIEW | This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Title: This Mortal Coil
Author: Emily Suvada
Series? Yes, a trilogy!
Pages: 432
Publication Date: November 7, 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse (imprint of Simon & Schuster)
Source:I received a copy of This Mortal Coil via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. :)

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?

Goodreads

BOOK REVIEW | Run Away With Me by Mila Gray

Title: Run Away With Me
Author: Mila Gray
Pages: 352
Series? Yes, the third book in a trilogy of companion novels
Publication Date: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse (imprint of Simon & Schuster)
Source: I received a copy of Run Away with Me via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Emerson Lowe and popular ice-hockey player Jake McCallister have been best friends since third grade but just as their friendship starts to morph into something more, a terrible event occurs that heralds the end of innocence for both of them. Within a week, Jake’s living on the other side of the country and Emerson is left alone to pick up the pieces of her life in a small town determined to paint her as a liar.

Seven years on and Emerson is still living on the beautiful Pacific West island of Bainbridge, helping her family run their outdoor adventure company. The last thing she needs is Jake turning up, bringing with him old memories and opening up old wounds. But Jake—even better looking than Emerson remembered and on the cusp of a bright sporting future—seems determined to revive their friendship no matter how much Emerson tries to push him away and soon they’re in the midst of a passionate summer romance that neither of them wants to end.

But if they’re to have any kind of future, they’re first going to need to confront the past, a past that most people want to stay buried.

Goodreads