Book Review: The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy

                                                    The Dark Prophecy Review

The Dark Prophecy is the second book in The Trials of Apollo series and this one starts with Apollo along with Leo and Calypso arriving in Indianapolis in hopes of finding the next oracle before Nero or one of the other emperors do. Soon after arriving the group realize that an emperor named Commodus has already taken over the city and since Commodus is someone that Apollo has a history with he's even more unwilling to have to face him without his godly strength considering that he killed him.

Towards the beginning of the book the group is rescued by Hermithea who lives in a near by magical waystation with her lover Josephine who were both once hunters of Artemis but left the hunt after they fell in love with each other. The two women end up helping Apollo, Leo and Calypso but they also want them to help rescue their daughter Georgina and their griffins from Commodus's control. While rescuing the griffins Apollo reunites with Meg McCaffrey who has escaped from Nero's control and had decided to help Apollo out after seeing him at risk of being killed.

The last act of the book has Apollo and Meg getting ready to find the dark oracle and to get the next prophecy while the rest of the main characters of this book get ready to fight to protect the waystation from the attack that will certainly be coming from Commodus the next morning. Both of the missions the characters are taking are of course highly dangerous ones that don't quite go the way that the characters hoped they would.

Overall this was a good book, I think it had a good story to it and I continue to love the characters and I love that I get to learn more about them each book and to explore the world's mythology even more with each book I read in this world. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section below.

Book Review: The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

                                                    The Hidden Oracle Review

The Hidden Oracle is about how Apollo wakes up in a dumpster in New York City months after the war with Gaea to discover that Zeus has turned him into a mortal because Zeus has decided that Apollo is at fault for the war with Gaea and this is his punishment for that which is something that has happened multiple times to Apollo in the past. Apollo ends up having to serve a young demi-god named Meg who is a daughter of Demeter and has yet to go to Camp Half-blood, as part of his punishment. Once they get to the camp they discover that the prophecies still aren't working and that campers have been going missing Chiron wants Apollo's help on this matter but Apollo would rather they focus on his issues both because he's self centered and because he doesn't even know how to help without his godly powers. Apollo may not want to help the camp but Meg seems to think he should so since she's in charge of him she can order him to help out whether he likes it or not.

While at camp Apollo ends up spending time with his children who he know looks the same age as which is a bit weird for all of them but they are supportive of him which is something that causes Apollo to bond with them a bit more than he has in the past. It soon becomes clear to Apollo that the campers going missing and the Oracles not working any longer are connected to each other and once two of Apollo's children that he bonded with earlier in the book go missing Apollo decides to go on the quest to find the one oracle that couldn't be taken or controlled by the villains. Apollo and Meg go on the quest to save the missing campers and find the last oracle that they can possible use together.

Overall I really liked this book it was a bit strange to have a god as the main character of the book even if he isn't a god at the moment but he's a pretty entertaining narrator who gives an interesting perspective on the series. I really liked what we saw of Apollo's character arc so far with him learning to care about others, being able to see his own flaws and him becoming willing to actually work on improving himself by the end of the book. I enjoyed Apollo and Meg's relationship as well and I liked getting to know characters better that were mentioned in previous books but were never really focused on before. Please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comment section below.

Book Review: The Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire

                                                  The Throne of Fire Review

The Throne of Fire is the second book in the Kane Chronicles series and in this book Carter and Sadie have to find and awaken Ra the sun god in order to stop Apophis the serpent of chaos from devouring the sun and destroying the world. Carter and Sadie have only a few days to complete their task and neither of them full know what they're doing or if Ra really is their best chance at defeating Apophis since he is now old and frail.

The Kanes between this book and the last one have started training other young magicians in the old ways and this is something that upsets the house of life which causes a few more problems for Carter and Sadie along the way but it also gives them quite a few allies. In this book Sadie finds herself worrying about a recruit named Walt whose bloodline has been curse long ago which means that he is dying because of that and there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do to stop it. Throughout the book Carter is worried about whether or not he can save Zia who he sort of met but not really last book and now feels like he has to be the one to save her, this is something that causes him to become a bit distracted from their main mission.

Overall I thought that this book was pretty good, it had a good plot, good characters and relationship between those characters and there was a lot of interesting mythology in this series that you don't see often because there's not a whole lot of series about Egyptian mythology so that makes this series stand out. This book was a good read overall but I didn't feel myself being as invested or entertained as I was when I was reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or the Heroes of Olympus series and I'm unsure of why that is since this series and those series have a lot in common with each other. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section below.

Top 10 Book Series I Want to Start Reading

1. Embassy Row: This series is by Ally Carter and since I loved both the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series I figure that this will be another series that I would enjoy.
2. Vampire Academy: I've recently seen the movie of this series and I liked quite a bit and everyone says the books are better than the movie which means that I'll probably end up loving this series.
3. The Trials of Apollo: This another series by Rick Riordan and this one comes after the Heroes of Olympus series which I am almost finished reading so since I love all the other books I read in this universe this one is bound to be another series I enjoyed.
4. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Once again I love series written by Rick Riordan and although this series follows different type of gods I'm sure that this series will end having good adventure and characters that I'll end up loving.
5. Study series: This series is one that sounded really interested to me when I first read about it and I still find it interesting so it's on my to be read list still.
6. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy: This series is one that sounds interesting to me and I have heard good things about this series so I would like to check it out for myself some time in the future.
7. Thorne of Glass series: This is a series that sounds like it could be good and a lot of people seemed to like it so I hope that I will enjoy it as well.
8. Touch of Power series: This is another series that I recall sounding interesting to me and it's one that I already own the first book of so this is one that I could start reading fairly soon.
9. His Fair Assassin Trilogy: This is a series with an uncommon set up that I think could be an interesting read.
10. Darkness Rising: This series is set in the same universe as The Darkest Powers series and since I loved that series I'm interested in reading this one as well.

Book Review: Heroes of Olympus: House of Hades

                                      Heroes of Olympus: House of Hades Review

This book starts shortly after the last one ended with Percy and Annabeth falling through the Tartarus and with Jason, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank and Nico heading towards the doors of death in hopes that Percy and Annabeth will survive the Tartarus and that they will be able to close the doors. Since the Tartatus is the place where monsters are reformed it is a place that no mortal should be able to survive so through out the book Percy and Annabeth must do their best survive a place that was not meant for their kind and one where the monsters can't really die. The situation that Percy and Annabeth faced is one that often felt hopeless to them and without their determination to see the other survive they very easily could have given up on any hopes of making it through.

The rest of the group are having trouble getting to the doors of death because of the usually monsters trying to kill them and such things and I felt like although that group had a clear goal they're wasn't just one or two clear plot lines we followed but rather a lot of smaller ones. One of the plots is that Hazel must learn to manipulate the mist in order to defeat someone who is guarding the doors of death, another plot is Frank having to fully embrace that he is a son of Mars in order to protect his friends, there's also Piper having to use her wits in order to defeat Khione and the Boreads all by herself, Leo getting sent to Calypso island and promising that he will one day come back for her, Jason finally deciding whether he feels like he belongs more with the Roman or the Greek camp and we even learn more about how Nico really thinks about Percy.

Overall I thought that this was a great book with great characters and felt like all of the characters learned something along the way of completing their adventures which is always a good thing when it comes to storytelling. I continue to love pretty much everything about this series, I love the way it's written, the stories that are being told, the characters and the relationships that they have with each other. Please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comments.

Book Review: Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena

                                   Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena Review

The Mark of Athena starts off pretty much where the last book ended with Annabeth, Jason, Piper and Leo arriving at Camp Jupiter in their warship with the Romans being ready to attack it. The group from Camp Half Blood are met with suspicion but it looks like an alliance could be formed between the two groups. It's agreed that Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Leo and Frank will be the seven who go on the quest to Rome in order to defeat the giants and keep Gaea from raising. Leo ends up becoming possessed and then fires on Camp Jupiter which leads to Camp Jupiter declaring war on the seven and Camp Half Blood.

The book mainly deals with the journey to Rome with there being a whole of monsters to defeat along the way and there is a team being formed along the way since not everyone knows each other all that well at this point. It is revealed fairly early on that Nico Di Angelo who is Hazel's brother has been captured by twin giants and only has a few days left to live which is something that gives an even bigger sense of urgency when it comes to getting to Rome quickly.

 It's revealed that Annabeth will have to go on a quest of her own to save the mark of Athena once she gets to Rome and that her succeeding will lead to the Romans and the Greeks being able to work together but her failing will lead to her death. It's also made clear from pretty early on that Annabeth must go through with this quest alone.

Also in the book there is a subplot about how Leo looks just like his grandfather Sammy who Hazel was very close to in her first life and this leads to the two of them bonding a bit and a bit of tension between Leo and Frank. There's also plenty of romantic moments between Piper and Jason as well as Percy and Annabeth throughout the book that still fit with the overall plot rather than taking away from it.

Overall I loved this book I found it just as fun and action packed as the other books in this series. I found the characters to be enjoyable as always and I found many parts of the book to be funny as well. Please tell me your thoughts on this book or the series as a whole in the comment section below.

Top 10 Books on my Fall 2014 to be read list

1. Sinner: This book is the sort of fourth book of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and it deals with wrapping up Cole and Isabel's story and since I love that series and both of these characters I'm very excited to read this book.
2. Crank: I love Ellen Hopkins books and this is her most well known one so I think that it would be for the best if I read it.
3. The Mark of Athena: I loved the first two books of the Heroes of Olympus series and I'm sure I'll love this one as well and I've been meaning to read it for awhile anyways.
4. Paper Towns: I've read three books I've read by John Green so far and I have no reason to believe that I wouldn't love this one as well.
5. Dime Store Magic: I love Kelly Armstrong's The Darkest Powers series and this book sounds interesting as well and I hope that I love it just as much.
6. Also Known As: I hear that this book is sort of similar to the Gallagher Girls series which I love and I will be finished with fairly soon so I think this will help fill the void.
7. Triangles: Another Ellen Hopkins novel and this one is related to the book Tilt which I loved.
8. Splintered: This book sounds like an interesting retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story and since I already own this book I think that this is a good book to read soon.
9. The Scorch Trails: I liked the first book of the Maze Runner series and I think that I'll like this one as well.
10. The Sound and the Fury: So on a blog that I visited someone said that a character whom I love life is like a fanfiction of The Sound and the Fury, my first thought was that's bond to be a depressing book and my second thought was I have no idea what that is so I have to look that up and I did. Anyways the reference sort of makes sense to me now and I really really want to read this book because it sounds super interesting as well as very challenging so this book is on this list but I also know that I won't actually read this book this fall.

Top 5 Authors Who I Own Most of Their Books

1. Rick Riordan: I own 9 books buy him because I love his series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and The Kane Chronicles although I obviously don't own all of the books in these series expect Percy Jackson I plan to one day and I have loved every book of his that I have read and always look forward to reading more of his books in the future.
2. Ellen Hopkins: I own 7 books by Ellen Hopkins and I have read five of them and I have loved them all because of how she uses easy to understand poetry to tell her stories which always seem to cover heavy topics in ways that don't feel preachy. I loved all of her books that I have read but if I was to put them in order it would be Impulse, Perfect, Tricks, Tilt(mostly because of Shane), and Identical, I loved all these books and if anyone would like me to expand on my reasoning for the order I'd love to write about it because I would love to be able to talk about her books at length.
3. Ally Carter: I own 8 books by her because of my love for the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series these are both fun series about young girls that are filled with action-adventure, friendship, humor and romance which I love all of these things and there just great fun to read.
4.Natsuki Takaya: I own 25 books by her because my favorite work of fiction of all time is the Fruits Basket manga which she has written and that happens to be 23 volumes long and I would recommend that series to everyone whether they think manga is there thing or not because it has the best story, character development and writing that I have ever encountered and I feel that everyone should read this series because of this. I also feel that everyone should read Fruits Basket because it's a series where characters have to overcome a lot of things but they are shown to be able to overcome those things even when it feels impossible and they have to overcome those things by putting in a lot of effort which I think helps to inspire people to improve themselves. Also if anyone who reads this is a fan of Fruits Basket I would love to discuss the series with you.
5. Clamp: I own 67 books by Clamp but that is no where near close to most of the books that they have written since they have tons of series that they have been writing together for the past twenty years and I have loved everything that I have read of their's so far even though some of their series are very strange. I love Cardcaptor Sakura which is a very happy story that is about love in all it's forms as well as a young girl having to capture and control magic cards, I loved Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle which is about a group of misfits who travel across dimensions together and form a make shift family and then things get dark and sad then confusing to the point that nothing makes sense anymore. I love Tokyo Babylon even though for quite sometime it feels not much happens but when things start happening I felt like my heart was ripped out trampled on thrown through a woodchopper and then shoved back in my chest in summary the ending is completely heartbreaking in the best way possible. I love Magic Knight Rayearth which is about three young girls that have to save another world and become very close friends very quickly things don't turn out the way the expected it would. There's quite a few other series by Clamp I love but these four are my favorites and if list all their series it would take far too long but I definitely recommend their stuff if you're looking for something different.

Top 10 Sequels

1. Linger: This is a book that spoke to me in a way that I don't think most think of this series as being capable of doing this probably one of my all time favorite books now in fact if you look at my Top 10 Book Moments list you'll see it appears a lot. Most people right this book off as another paranormal romance when the main characters obsess about their love for one another and while that does happen a bit I think if that's all you get out of the book your missing out on a really great story. When I think of this book the first thing I think of is how it's kind of set after happily ever after with how Sam adjust to the idea that he now gets to always stay in his human skin and I really love that we got to see him process his feelings about this and I also love that we saw more of his past as well because the young odd fragile Sam is probably my favorite Sam. I also really loved the character Cole St.Clair who's is that asshole bad boy who is really hot but in the end isn't worth the tears you cry over him and I love that Cole hates himself for being that guy but doesn't seem to be able to stop so he's just became a self-destructive mess in order to escape himself. I really enjoy the relationship that Sam and Cole have in this book because they're so different in personality and life views that they don't really get along although Sam always tries to be polite which only serves to make Cole more eager to get under his skin. I also really love the relationship Cole and Isabel have where Isabel is looking for a way to self-destructive since she feels guilty for the role she played in her brother's death and Cole couldn't be a more destructive force and I kind of love the unhealthiness of their relationship with how she actually resents him for starting to pull himself together before she could. Overall I love this book for really all the little characters moments.
2. The Battle of the Labyrinth: This is my favorite book of the series I just love seeing all of the characters we met over the course of the series storylines coming together within the labyrinth. This is also the book that made the threat of Kronos something that couldn't be prevented anymore which in turn made the series have a bit of a dark feel to it. I just really loved all the interconnected storylines with the quest, the thing with Nico, Grover finally finding Pan and of course Kronos finally becoming a real threat rather than just a prophecy. I also loved just seeing all the characters and their relationships.
3. The Awakening: This book is one that I loved because the action never really felt like it stopped and when it did it was about developing characters or abilities so I was never bored with the book. I felt like this book moved fast and that a lot happen and that really worked for me.
4. The Son of Neptune: I just really loved all three of our narrators and I loved learning Hazel and Frank's backstories and I liked seeing a relationship develop between them as well. I also really loved seeing Percy as well considering he's one of my all time favorite characters and I just really loved the whole story.
5. Perfect Scoundrels: I really love this book because of how well it handled Kat and Hale's relationship I loved how this book gave them relationship problems that came completely from them with how the conflict was that they come from two different worlds and while Hale is part of Kat's now that doesn't mean that he'll always want to be a part of it. I also love how this story also gives us a lot of background information on Hale as well.
6. Only the Good Spy Young: This book is one that had a lot of plot twist that both shocked me but at the same time made sense and learning about them I felt the same way in which the characters did which is always a good thing because you never want to be frustrated by a characters stupidity.
7.Cross my Heart Hope to Spy: This book is the one that I think really made the series have more of an ongoing storyline to it with introducing the mysterious Blackthrone boys and the start of Cammie and Zach's relationship. This book I would say was slightly darker than the first but still pretty light and fun also there was an espionage ball which is my favorite thing this series ever done.
8. The Titan's Curse: I really loved this book because I enjoyed the overall story of it and I really love the character of Zoe Nightshade who only appeared in this book but made a big impression on me. I also liked getting to know Thalia better and this is the book that introduced two of my favorite characters of the whole series Nico Di Angelo and Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Overall I just really loved this book.
9. A Clash of Kings: This one probably should be higher up on the list since it's great but I've been reading it for over a year now, I'm stuck on a Jon and Theon chapters right in a row and I'm not really a big fan of reading their point of views so I read other things instead. I feel I should mention I am update with the show which I'm also loving and I still do intend to read all the books it's just going to take me awhile to finish this one. I really love the book because well Sansa point of view chapters are my favorite because she's a favorite character of mine and her journey is more of an internal one since she can't speak her true opinion it works better in book form and it seems like quite a bit of her story was cut out of the show. I'm also really loving Bran's storyline in the book and I'm pretty sure they cut a ton out of his storyline in the show since Jojen and Meera Reed arrive much earlier and there's much more about important people staying in Winterfell.
10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: It's been a long time since I've read this book but I remember loving it and I remember being mad that the movie didn't follow the book closer although I still enjoyed the movie.

Top 6 Authors on by Auto-buy list

1. Clamp: I have read about 9 series by Clamp and I've loved all of those series so therefore I always get excited when I hear about something new from them coming out. There's still a lot of their older stuff that want to read as well but that's a lot harder to find in stores.
2. Ally Carter: I love the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series so much and I have every reason to believe that everything she writes should be just as good as these two series.
3. Ellen Hopkins: I love the way Ellen Hopkins write it's so beautiful and different form everything else I read and her stories are filled with so much depth. I haven't read all her books yet but I plan to.
4. Rick Riordan: I loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and The Kane Chronicles series so I have every reason to believe that I'll love everything else he writes as well.
5. Tachibana Higuchi: I love Gakuen Alice and M&N series and I would love to read anything else that is written by her.
6. Arina Tanemura: I loved Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, KamiKaze Kaito Jeanne and A Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura so I feel like I would love her other series as well.

Book Review: Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune

                              Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune Review

The second book of the Heroes of Olympus series deals with the camp of Roman half-bloods that was mentioned in the first book and it has been about eight months since the first book. At the beginning of this book we learn that Percy Jackson has lost all of his memories and he then enters the Roman camp, Camp Jupiter. Soon after arriving at Camp Jupiter Percy along with Hazel Levesque daughter of Pluto(Roman version of Hades) and Frank Zhang son of Mars(Roman version of Ares) to set free death from the chains he's tied down to in Alaska, which is the land beyond the gods, and defeat the giant Alcyoneus.

Percy is my favorite character in both the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series and the Heroes of Olympus series and has been since The Lightening Thief. In this book Percy has lost all of his memories except a little bit about Annabeth which I thought was very sweet and romantic that the little that he could remember was of her. Percy is still the brave, sarcastic and all around good friend that I remembered from the first series. I loved the friendships he develops with Hazel and Frank through out their quest and I liked all of the small reference to the first series that come up once he starts remembering things. I find it interesting that Reyna, a praetor of the Twelfth Legion at Camp Jupiter and her sister Hylla, Queen of the Amazons, have sort of met Percy during The Sea of Monsters. I'm a bit worried about Percy during the rest of this series because his fatal flaw of not being to not save his love ones has come up again and since he survived the first series without this being a problem I doubt he'll be lucky enough to survive this one as well.

Hazel is the daughter of Pluto and because of this and a wish her mother made long ago, she is cursed with the ability to bring up precious metals and gems from the earth but if anyone other than her picks up these metals and gems they will be cursed with bad lucky. Hazel is also unlucky enough to have died back in 1942 when after she was tricked into raising the giant Alcyoneus she than dies while insuring that Alcyoneus won't be able to rise for many years to come. Hazel has recently been brought back to life after death had gone missing and her half brother Nico Di Angelo(another one of my favorite characters from the first series) rescues her from the underworld when he couldn't find his sister Bianca. I feel bad for Hazel through out most of the book because she's constantly worrying that once they rescue Death that she might be sent back to the underworld and that she feels guilty for helping build Alcyonues and that she couldn't save her mother from Gaea's influences. I really love Hazel she's a very sweet character with sad past, an unfortunate curse and a love for horses such as Arion, who is the fastest horse in the world and was kept by the Amazons for years and it was said that only a great warrior could tame Arion and Hazel is that great warrior.

Frank is a guy that is rather clumsy and doesn't really feel comfortable in his own skin at the beginning of this book and he was not happy that his father is the god of war since Frank dislikes wars since his mother was killed fighting in one. I liked how Frank is different from what one would think a child of Mars should be like that he doesn't want to fight but he will because it's his duty and he has to do his part in protecting the people and things he cares about. I also love that one of his talents is to be able to think tactical because planning and tactics are often just as important if not even more important than the actual battles in a war. I also find his family gift of being able to turn himself into any kind of animal to be very interesting and useful. I thought that it was strange and scary for Frank to have his life be controlled by a piece of driftwood. I loved Frank as a character because he had a good heart, was a bit awkward and he develops into a good hero as the quest goes on.

I really loved seeing how different the Roman camp was to the Greek one, with the Roman one seeming more military like than camp like and it seemed that people were generally more serious. I really loved the relationship that developed between Frank and Hazel through out the book, I think there very sweet together. I really loved the character Ella the Harpy with how she seemed a bit crazy and also very knowledgeable about a lot of things.

I overall loved this book and I can't wait to read the next book in the series because it will have all of the characters from the first two books working together in that one. Please tell me your thoughts about this book or the series in general.

Top 10 Books I read in 2012

1. Game of Thrones: I love this book because of the world that it creates and I love how real and detailed that world is. I love that there are so many narrators in the book and that they all bring something different to the story, my favorite characters are Daenerys, Sansa and Tyrion. I love the plot with all the medieval politics which is a deadly game that almost every character is a part of whether they want to be or not.
2. Perfect: I love this book because it deals with four teenagers different ideas of what it means to be perfect and than shows how willing they are to achieve this perfection. I also love that it's a companion novel to Impulse one of my all time favorite books and I love the verse that Ellen Hopkins tells this story in. I love that this book was told from four different characters point of view as well.
3. Tokyo Babylon volume 7: I love this book because it pretty much broke my heart the entire time I was reading this book and for quite sometime afterwards as well, I just love it when a book can give me this strong of an emotional reactions. I love this series and all three of the main characters so it made me really sad to loose one and have another one be completely broken at the end of the series but I think this whole volume was brilliantly written and this was how the series had to end.
4.The Son of Neptune: I love this book because it's another adventure story by Rick Riordan that deals with demigods and I love that Percy Jackson(one of my favorite book characters of all time) is back in this book and once again a narrator. I love seeing how different the Roman camp was from the Greek one and I loved meeting new characters and go on a new adventure, I also love how the humor is still a big part of the book.
5. Tricks: Another lovely book by Ellen Hopkins this time it has to do with a bunch of different young people who end up selling themselves in order to survive. I love this book because it had a wide variety of characters who all made different choices but ended up in similar situations which I found to be very interesting. I loved reading about this characters even though they've all make huge mistakes through out the book they're still very interesting characters to read about.
6. Thirteen Reasons Why: I love this book because of how it explains why Hannah would commit suicide but at the same time it also shows how someone's suicide effects the people the person left behind deals with the aftermath. I also find it sad and interesting that it wasn't one big thing but a bunch of little things that led to Hannah's decision.
7. The Lost Hero: I love this book because it has an interesting plot, I love all three of these new main characters and I loved seeing some of my old favorite characters from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series as well. I loved learning more about the mythology of this world, learning more about the new prophecy and I was really invested in the relationship between Jason and Piper as well.
8. The Awakening: The second book in the Darkest Powers series is much better than the first in my opinion because I feel like the book had a good pace this time I found that the plot moved pretty fast at the beginning and the end of the book and I loved that when the plot slowed down in the middle of the book it was in order to develop characters, relationships or powers.
9. Linger:I really loved this book because I loved all of the characters and I loved their different stories they had in this book. I also love that this book introduced the character Cole who is extremely interesting and a great contrast to Sam who is still my favorite character. I also loved that Isabel was a narrator in this book because I always found her character interesting but now I love her even more. I also love the new developments in the mythology of the series as well.
10. Hex Hall: I love this fun tale of a witch at boarding school and I love all the twists that happen towards the end of the book. I also love Sophie's friendship with Jenna and Sophie relationship with Archer as well.

Top 10 authors in X genre

Manga
1. Clamp: Is my favorite mangakas because of the wide varity of stories, worlds and characters they create. I love that they can create sweet romances such as Cardcaptor Sakura or Chobits, bittersweet adventure stories such as Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle or Magic Knight Rayearth, and depressing stories that are a romance at heart such as Tokyo Babylon or X/1999. I also love their art because it is gorgeous.
2. Natsuki Takaya: I love Natsuki Takaya because she created Fruits Basket which is my favorite series of all time and I find the way she developed all the characters to be brilliant. I also love that she was able foreshadow everything pretty much perfectly which makes rereading the series so much better.
3. Arina Tanemura: I love Arina Tanemura for creating the series Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, Gentleman's Alliance + and Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura, all of these series of interesting plots as well as a strong main character.
4. Tachibana Higuchi: I just really love Tachibana Higuchi series Gakuen Alice and M and N because there are interesting concepts and characters through out both series.
5. Matsuri Hino: I love Matsuri Hino's series Vampire Knight, Captive Hearts and Meru Peru because they're all very enjoyable stories with nice artwork.

Fantasy
1. George R.R. Martin: I just love the way that he's able to create worlds, plots and characters in such a beautiful way through out A Song of Ice and Fire series.
2. Rick Riordan: I love every book of his I've ever read and I love that he's able to mix plots, characters, mythology in the modern world and humor through out his stories.
3. Maggie Stiefvater:I love the beautiful way she describes things through out the Wolves of Mercy series and I love the stories and characters she creates as well.

Contemporary YA
1. Ellen Hopkins:I love how her books are told in verse and I love that she tackles series issues but from an individuals point of view and it's often very emotional journey for the characters and reader. I love her books Impulse, Perfect, Tricks and Identical.
2. Ally Carter:  I love her stories about the adventure of young girls and how the characters in her stories value friendships. I love the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series.

My Top 10 Writers

I changed the topic a bit because I'm far too shy to be able to actually talk to one of my favorite writers or bloggers in person.

1. Ellen Hopkins: I love Ellen Hopkins for the way she's able to write poetry that's both easy to understand and insightful to the characters inner most thoughts. I also love that she writes about tough issues without sounding judgemental and I love that the characters are always given depth. I also love that she often writes in multiple viewpoints.My favorite books of her's are Impulse, Perfect, Tricks and Identical.
2. Natsuki Takaya: I love Natsuki Takaya because she created Fruits Basket my favorite series of all time and I find this series to have the best character development of anything I've ever encountered. i also love that there were lots of foreshadowing through out the series which makes rereading the series much more enjoyable. I just loved pretty much everything about the series and I also loved Songs to Make You Smile which is a collection of oneshots she wrote which were all delightful.
3. Rick Riordan: I love his work because it's fun and adventurous but still has depth to it and the characters he write are always a joy to read about. I also love how he's able to blend mythology with the modern world so seamlessly. My favorite series by him are Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus and The Kane Chronicles.
4. Clamp: I love Clamp because they always come up with such interesting stories and I love that they are able to write many different genres. I also love how they almost always have magic in their series of some form and I love that the rules for magic tend to be the same throughout all their series. I love that they are able to come up with so many lovable characters and I love the way they treat love in their stories. I also love that some of their series are really happy and some of their series are really depressing I find it interesting that they can write so many different tones. My favorite series by them are Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Babylon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Xxxholic, Kobato and Clover.
5. Joss Whedon: I love Joss Whedon because he created four of my favorite tv shows, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love that he creates such interesting worlds and wonderful characters to inhabit said world. I also love that he's willing to hurt and/or kill off said characters because for some reason loosing beloved characters just makes me more emotionally invested in the show. I also love that he often pairs the supernatural or scifi elements with real life emotional problems. My favorite episodes written by him are Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Becoming Part 1&2, Innocence, Graduation Day Part 1&2,and Restless. Firefly: Serenity. Dollhouse: Unaired Pilot(Echo) and Vows.
6. Ally Carter: I love Ally Carter's writing because it's light and fun. I also love that she's able to write about teenage girls doing incredible things and having close friendships and I love that while there's romance in her series it never overwhelms the plot. My favorite series of hers are Heist Society and Gallagher Girls.
7. Bryan Fuller: I love Bryan Fuller because he creates such interesting worlds with characters that are quirky and completely lovable. I also just really that all his series seem to have a uniquic visual look to them. I love that he created Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me(although I still have to finish that series) and I look forward to watching Wonderfalls sometime in the future.
8. Maurissa Tancharon and Jed Whedon: I love these two because they wrote some of the best episodes of Dollhouse these episodes are Belonging, The Attic and Epitaph One & Two.
9. Steven Moffat: I love Steven Moffat because he wrote some of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who as well as the BBC Sherlock series. I love that he's able to write such complicated plots but still have them make some kind of sense. My favorite episodes he wrote are from Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, The Eleventh Hour, A Good Man Goes to War, The Girl in the Fireplace, In the Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone  and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.
10. Arina Tanemura: I love that she creates series which I always find interesting and I love the characters she creates. My favorite series of her's are Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, Kami Kaze Kaitou Jeanne and Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura.

Top 10 Books I want to read this fall

1. Hex Hall: I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now and since I now own this book I plan to read it as soon as possible.
2. A Touch of Power:I've been wanting to read this book since I saw it's cover and I also want to read because the plot sounds interesting plus I now own this book.
3. Only the Good Spy Young: I love the first three books in the Gallagher Girls series so there's no reason for me to doubt that I'll love the fourth book as well. This is another book I own so I'll probably actually read it this fall.
4. A Clash of Kings: I love this first book in the series so I see no reason why I won't love this one and I own the book already.
5. The Mark of Athena: I'm loving the Heroes of Olympus series and I can't wait to read the third book of the series that comes out in October.
6.Entwined: I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now and since I own I thought fall would be a good time to do so.
7. Will Grayson: I own this book and I've heard great things about this book and the authors so I'm looking forward to reading it this fall.
8.Dash and Lilly's Book of Dares: I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now and since I now own this book I think fall would be a good time to read this book.
9. Wither:I've heard great things about this book also the plot looks interesting and I love the cover.
10. The Fault in our Stars:I've heard only great things about this book and it's characters so I would love to read it this fall but I don't think I'll be able to since I don't own it already.

30 Days of Books Challenge: Day 4: Favorite book of your favorite series

Day 4: Favorite book of your favorite series:The Battle of the Labyrinth

While I love every book in this series this one has been favorite since I first read it. I love this book because it had almost every major character of the whole series involved in the main plot of this book. I loved that there was more than just the quest being important to the main plot there was also Nico trying to bring Bianca back from the dead and Percy trying to find him and take him back to camp, Grover is still looking for Pan, and of course Luke becoming one with Krones. I also loved this book most because it featured both Nico and Rachel Elizabeth Dare quite a bit and since they're my second and third favorite characters this makes me extremely happy. I also just found the Labyrinth to be very interesting and I liked how much the overall plot of the series moved forward in this book.

Book Review: The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero

                                      The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero Review

The Lost Hero is the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series which is a sequel/spin-off series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians and is written by Rick Riordan. This book has three main characters Jason, Piper and Leo who narrated the book. The basic plot of the book is that Hera was kidnapped  and that Gaea is starting to awaken along with giants that were designed to kill the gods. Jason, Piper and Leo are of course given a quest to save Hera.

Jason is the first character that narrators the book and he starts to book out with having no memories of who he is. Jason was told that he and Piper were dating and he and Leo were best friends while Jason doesn't really have anything against either of these things becoming true someday he has a feeling that it's not true yet which turns out to be right. Jason seems to know things about monsters and demigods and that world even though he has no memories but he speaks about them in Roman terms instead of Greek terms. Jason turns out to be a son of Jupiter(although I first everyone believes he's the son of Zeus) and is a natural leader and a good fighter,he can fight with either a sword or spear, uses lightening and as an ability that allows him to control air current in a way that makes it seem as though he can fly. Jason also turns out to be the younger brother of Thalia Grace(who also appeared in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series) who thought he had been dead for years. I overall really enjoy Jason as a character and I look forward to learning more about him in future books especially now that he's starting to get his memories back.

Piper our second narrator is the daughter of Aphrodite and her father is a movie star who happen to have gotten kidnapped by giant sometime before the first book started. Gaea is using Piper's father as bait so Piper will lead her friends to the giant in order to save her father, through out most of the book Piper worries about whether she should save her father or to avoid Gaea trap and keep her friends safe. Luckily for Piper both Jason and Leo have no problem with helping her save her dad even after Piper told them it was a trap. Piper is also having trouble adjusting to finding out that her relationship she had with Jason was actually just the mist plying with her memories although by the end of the book Piper decides that she's going to go after Jason anyways since she still feels the same way about him. Piper has the power of charmspeak(which basically makes people agree with her depending on how much will power she puts into her voice) and she has a dagger (that was originally owned by Helen of Troy) that allows her to see visions. I overall really like Piper it took me a little while to warm up to her but by the end I loved her, I especially enjoyed the new found confidence she had after her quest.

Leo is our last narrator as well as my favorite, he's the son of Hephaestus and he's mechanically gifted which is why he was able to repair the mechanical dragon Festus which is used as their way to get around of the quest. Leo is also gifted or cursed with the rare ability of fire which is something he doesn't like to use because he fears that he caused his mother's death when he was a lot younger after he first encounter Gaea. Leo is good with machines but admits to not always knowing how to deal with people but that doesn't keep him from being a good friend. I overall love Leo as a character because he has both depth and a certain sarcastic wit that I love.

This book also included many references as well as appearance from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I especially loved seeing Rachel who was one of my favorite characters from the original series and I liked seeing Annabeth as well and I like that those two seem to be friends now. I also liked seeing that the camp had changed quite a bit since the last book in order to included more cabins for the minor gods children. I also found the whole Percy being missing thing worrisome but I'm not quite as worried now that I'm reading The Son of Neptune. I also liked that it was explained towards the end of the book that there's a camp for the Roman's demigods as well and that the gods have two forms.

I overall loved this book and I loved the plot, the new prophecy and the new characters. I also loved the references to the original series. Please tell me your thoughts about the book and the series in general.

Top 9 book Settings

1. A Song of Ice and Fire series: The world in this series is brilliantly crafted and wonderfully detailed with not only vivid descriptions and maps but also histories of the houses and words, segils, and banner men listed for all of the houses as well.
2. Harry Potter series: The world of Harry Potter is magical while still seeming plausible. I especially love Hogwarts a school in a castle with moving staircases and talking pictures.
3. The Looking Glass Wars series: I love the setting here because it's a magic kingdom that makes sense of all that was told to be wonderland in the Alice in Wonderland books.
4. Anna and the French Kiss: This book is kind of a love letter to Paris with how it's described in such a way that makes everyone who reads this book want to go to Paris as soon as they can.
5. Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus:I love how the famous landmarks of America are mixed together with Greek mythology.
6. Uglies series: It's a vividly described futuristic world that seems entirely possible while reading about it's world.
7. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: There's a lot of dimension hoping in this series so I find it really impress that all the worlds are different not just in looks but also in culture, time period and how present magic or technology is there. I also love how the clothing styles change as well in fact one of my favorite parts of them going to new worlds was to see what the clothes would look like in that world. One of my favorite parts of all the worlds was the Recort library which was extremely large.

8. Tokyo Babylon: I really love the setting of this story not because of how it looked exactly but how it effected the characters that lived in it and that it showed both the good and the bad parts about living in Tokyo.
9. Wolves of Mercy series: I just thought that the world was pretty well described because sometimes when reading this book I would feel cold even though it was the middle of summer.

Top 10 books that have distracted me from school work

1. The Lying Game series: Since I first started reading the first book and it hasn't stopped entertaining me yet and I'm always dying to figure out each of the mysterious. Also I read each of the books in a week or less.
2. Heist Society series: I just love all the characters, the heists and cons that go on in this series. I love the world that has been created for this series and so I have trouble pulling myself away from these books.
3. Perks of Being a Wallflower: I love the way that Charlie thinks and I could read his thoughts forever.
4. The Secret Circle series: I'm not exactly sure why I'm so addicted to these books but I enjoyed the characters, plot and I found myself unable to put the book down until I finished The Power.
5. Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: I love Percy as a narrator and I found the plot to be always interesting, so I've always had trouble putting these books down.
6. Perfect: I love the way Ellen Hopkins write and I love three out of the four narrators and I always felt the need to know what happens next.
7. Tricks: Once again I love Ellen Hopkins writing style. I was invested in all of the characters story lines and I felt sympathy for all of the main characters.
8.Thirteen Reasons Why: This book has an extremely interesting concept and by the end of the book you're just far too emotionally invested to even think of stopping for even a second.
9. The Book Thief: This book tells a good story but it's the way it's told that really makes it impossible for me to put down.
10. The Summoning: Unlike the other books on my list this one started out rather slow, so slow in fact I considered quitting this book but I'm glad I didn't. The last hundred pages or so make it impossible to put this book down or to wait patiently to read the next book, let's just say there's plenty of plot twist towards the end of this book.

Top 6 Authors I want to write another book

1. Ellen Hopkins: Although I haven't read every book she's written so far I still would love for her to write another book since she has such a great writing style and her characters always have so much depth. I've loved her books Impulse,Identical and Perfect.
2. Ally Carter:I love both the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series and I can't wait to read more books by her because I love the stories she tells the characters from those stories and the way she tells them. I especially want to read the next Heist Society book.
3. Rick Riordan: I loved the Percy Jackson and the Olypmians series as well as the Kane Chronicles series and I can't wait to read the rest of the books he already has out but I would love for him to write a bunch of new books as well because I love the worlds he tells his stories in and I love the characters he tells them through.
4.Stephen Chbosky: He wrote my favorite book Perks of Being a Wallflower and I would love for him to write another book because I thought that book was as close to perfect as a book could get.
5. Clamp: My favorite manga creators I loved everything of their's I've read so far and I really wish they were able to finish their unfinished series such as X/1999 and Clover at last.
6. Natsuki Takaya: She wrote Fruits Basket my favorite series of all time and I would love for her to continue writing things I love.