Champion by Marie Lu- Review

Book- Champion

Author- Marie Lu

Genre- Distopian, young adult, romance.

Series- Legend

My rating- 4.5 STARS

So, this book is Champion by Marie Lu. It is the third and final book in the Legend trilogy, Legend, Prodigy, Champion. If you have not yet read this book or the first two, don't worry, I will talk a bit about the trilogy and this book before I start with the spoiler section (I will warn you when the spoiler section comes up, do not fear)

Anyway, I really love this trilogy, it is action packed and awesome... I seriously recommend it. If you would like to find out more about it read on!

So Legend, the first book in this trilogy, is written from two perspectives, Day and June. This book takes us far into the future with Day, the most wanted criminal in his society and June, the society's prodigy. When June's brother Metias is killed, she seeks revenge for his killer. The problem is, Day killed him. And June will do almost anything to avenge her brother's death.

So, if you have not yet read this series, you should go and read it now! I love it so much and recommend it highly. It is action packed and grips you immediately, the characters are well built up and the world is epic. These books are so gripping and if you are a fan of books set in the future then you need to read it! 

I gave this book 4.5 stars for the main reason that I had a few problems with it... But other than that I really did love it. 4.5 stars means that I still loved it, but I had a minor problem with it. But other than those small problems I found the book thrilling and completely awesome.

The trilogy has definitely left me wanting more but I am so glad I decided to pick Legend up. If I hadn't then I wouldn't have been able to experience Marie Lu's amazing writing style.

So that is the end of my non-spoiler section. If you have not yet read Champion then I strongly advise you to stop reading as I do not want to spoil you! You have been warned!

Okay, now onto Champion!

I really did like this book. Prodigy is definitely my favourite of the trilogy, but I still love the other two. Because I really enjoyed this book, I may ramble a bit... So I hope you don't mind, but if you love these books as much as I do then you will understand why!

Can we first talk about the ending... Because I still have not fully recovered from it. I want more! I thought it was a very good ending... But I also disliked it because I really want to know more! That epilogue... It left a lot to our imaginations, which I liked and didn't at the same time. Now I am so curious as to what happened with Day and June and whether they got back together or not... Does he remember her?! That was a major issue for me that Day forgot June. Because it makes me so sad after everything the characters have been through. You just want to hand them the previous books so they can see that they were in love with the other character! Does that make sense? 

June annoyed me very much when she did not tell Day who she was, why wouldn't she?! TELL HIM! It broke my poor, fangirl heart that he forgot her. 

I keep remembering things that happened at the end now, like the fact that it was implied that Ollie, June's dog, died! I really loved that dog and it upsets me when any animals die in books. 

Before I go on about the ending too much, I will stop myself and talk about the whole book itself...

The action in this trilogy is something that makes me love it so very much. Legend, Prodigy and Champion all had this action which Marie Lu writes so well. I was holding my breath when June was trying to shoot Commander Jameson and ran out of bullets... It was like I was watching a film. When Day got shot I was just shouting, NO, NO, NO! It killed me when I thought that he might just die. I genuinely was about to cry when he saw his Mother and oh my... I thought he was gone. I have to say, I get really attached to these characters.

Obviously, the whole book, we thought Day was going to die. Which gave the book a bit of a hopeless feel to it... We thought that the Colonies would win the war... That was one of my main issues with it, the feel of a book is very important. The way it was written made me think that nothing would be sorted... But I kind of guessed that Day would not die... 

Champion made me so happy in the middle and the crushed me at the end... Day and June's relationship was so up and down, like... yes! No! Yes! No! And the end was just shock and I NEED MORE. I just wanted to know what happened in the end, there were so many possibilities after the epilogue. I think we need a short story or something just so we know what everything turns out like.

Some of the characters seemed to annoy me in the other books, but in this one I was okay with them.

Thomas. Okay, so he creeped me out in the first two books quite a bit... But when he died I was actually a bit sad because he just seemed naive and at the point he was telling June about how Metias died, I was just hoping that Metias could come back to life and Thomas and Metias could fall in love! I just- 

Ofcourse that would never happen. But Thomas just served the Republic at all costs, he never thought what he was doing was wrong. Even his death was for the Republic, his death was definitely a good one. (That sounds really horrible)

Tess. In Prodigy Tess got on my nerves so much, she was just there getting in the way. But in Champion I started to like her, especially at the end when I realised that June and Tess were obviously friends... It was really cute. Tess is like Day's little sister almost, so it was nice that she got a happy ending. 

Oh! Oh! New Antarctica! That was so awesome, I loved how the technology was and how people's points went up when they did something good! I cannot explain how awesome I found that. Everyone should just go and live in New Antarctica... That sounds so cool.

And on that note, I am going to finish this review. I still cannot believe the trilogy is over because I could certainly read more of Marie Lu's writing about these characters. Thankyou for reading.
-Darcy

Holiday Book Haul

Hello! This is my Christmas and New Year book haul!
 I would like to say before I start, that I am not posting this to brag in any way, I simply want to share with people the books that I have got over the Christmas and New Year break. I hope you enjoy seeing the books that I have received and bought! 
I have got quite alot of books... I am so bad at showing restraint when book buying. But because it was Christmas and my Birthday I am going to let myself off.
So I will start with a picture of all the books that I got, then I will go into more detail about which books they are. 

All the books I have got!

So, as you can see there are 11 books... Which isn't TOO bad for some people, but I am the kind of person who buys a few books at a time. But I am really happy with every book I have!
Now I am going to say which books I have and a few things about them.

 Okay, so here we have 'Doctor Who, The Collection 2014.'
So, I am obsessed with Doctor Who, always have been, always will be. So when I saw this little box set on offer for a ridiculously good price, I had to have it. There are three little books in this set,
-Touched By an Angel by Jonathon Morris. 
-Paradox Lost by George Mann
-Borrowed Time by Naomi A. Alderman
I am so excited to read them because of my obsession with the TV show and also because I own some of the other Doctor Who books which I love!
These books are quite small and shouldn't take too long to read, so I will definitely pick them up when I have some time to do so.

Next I have Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas.
I asked for this book for Christmas because I have wanted to read it for SO long.
If you do not know, Crown of Midnight is the sequel to Throne of Glass. I fell in love with Throne of Glass, so I needed the second one obviously! I am in love with the writing style and the characters in this series. I am halfway through this book already and am planning on finishing it as soon as possible.
It is about Celaena, an amazing main character who is an assassin! I highly recommend this series if you are looking for an action packed adventure which is highly enjoyable. I am so excited to see where this series goes. Definitely check out the first book Throne of Glass, if you haven't already, these books are beyond awesome.

Now, before I say anything, I will tell you I HAVE READ THESE ALREADY. Actually, they are some of my favourite books ever!
Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare.
Now, I bought these over the holidays because I did not own them in book form! Which is a crime because I love them to pieces. When I found them for a great price I needed to get them there and then. Now I can re-read them over and over! Yay! 
If you did not know already, these books are the second and third books in The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare. If you haven't read them yet, you really should, they are amazing. They are fantasy novels that spin off from The Mortal Instruments, another one of my favourite series!

FINALLY!
I shall be able to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. 
I am so excited to read this, I don't know what it is about which makes me more excited! 
All I know is it is about Charlie who is a wall flower... That is all... So as you can see, I really don't know that much about this book! I will be able to see soon what goes on in this book!
It isn't very long from what I see, which is quite appealing. I am not in the mood at the moment to pick up a huge book that will take me forever, so this is perfect!
So many people have said how good it is, so I am going to read it and see for myself! Expect a review soon...


This next book is Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake.
I must admit I am scared to read this as I know it is a frightening book. I have read reviews that say it will give you nightmares...
But. I am going to brave it out and read it anyway, eventhough I haven't really read anything like this before. I am not entirely sure on what level of scary this book is going to be, but I guess I will have to see.
It looks very good and I am in love with the cover, it looks spooky but very pretty at the same time... If that makes sense?
I bought this one on the day of my Birthday and had seen people talking about it... So hopefully it will be scary in a good way!

Next is... Champion by Marie Lu! Yay!
I have waited SO unbelievably long for this book. But before now I have not had the money to get it!
I LOVE THE LEGEND TRILOGY.
This is the third and final book in the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu, which I love! It is a distopian book, which is a genre that I love reading.
As soon as I bought this the other day, I dove straight into it. I am so excited to finish it, which should be happening tonight! If you want me to recommend the Legend trilogy- then here you go, I recommend it 100%.


Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.
If you have seen my review on this book, then you will see how much I love it! I posted the review the other day, so if you are interested then you should definitely check it out.
I bought this book after it being recommended to me quite a few times, I had also seen alot of good things surrounding this book. I am so glad that I bought it because I loved it so very much.
You should definitely read this book. Like, now.
I have now also ordered Lola and the Boy Next Door, which should come in the post very soon! Woop!

So finally, I have Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.
I got this book for Christmas which is perfect because everyone talks about this book! I really want to see what it is like.
The cover to me is very simple and I really like it, just thought I would mention that.
I can't really tell you about it because I don't know much, but I know that it is about Tally, who lives in a world where when you turn 16 you are transformed from an 'Ugly' into a 'Pretty'.
The whole concept of this book is very interesting and I am excited to read it. I don't know why I haven't read it before, as I know many people have and have loved it. But I am reading it now and am looking forward to doing so!

So that brings me to the end of my book haul. I really enjoyed talking about these books and it has made me a little too excited about reading them in the near future...
Got to go and read now! I hope you enjoyed hearing about the books I have got and I will have a new post up soon! Thank you for reading.
-Darcy

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- review.

Book- Anna and the French Kiss

Author- Stephanie Perkins

Genre- Romance, young adult, contemporary.

My rating- 5 STARS

I would like to start by saying how much I loved this book! I definitely give it 5 stars, if I could give it more then I would. This is my first review, so the way I am going to do it is a bit about the book and if I recommend it, then I am going to have a spoiler section. The spoiler section is where I will go into more depth about what happens in the book, I would not advise reading it if you have not yet read the book! But first I will tell you a little about the book.

This book is about Anna, who is happy in Atlanta, her home. Things are great for her, she has her best friend, Bridgette, her crush, Toph (which might finally be going somewhere) and everything is planned out. Until her Father decides to send her to Paris for a year, all by herself. Anna doesn't speak any French and doesn't want to be there in the first place.
But then she starts to make friends at her boarding school, one of which is the gorgeous Etienne St Clair, who Anna gets on with immediately, but he has a girlfriend and Anna is still waiting until she can see Toph again. With many conflicting emotions, will Anna get her long awaited French Kiss?

So, if you want to know if I recommend it, then I am telling you... I most definitely do. People who like romance, Paris and heart warming 'things' NEED to pick this book up. I want to go and live in Paris now, seriously.
The book is so cute and made me giggle out loud on various occasions, as well as this, I read it super quickly. I would not stop reading, COULD not stop reading because it was just that good. Anna is such a likable character, as well a Etienne who I fell in love with immediately. 
The characters are all amazing, but the character development for the main characters is very good. Everything is extremely believable and I enjoyed learning about the different aspects and themes of the book.
Stephanie Perkins wrote it all so well, in a way that you got to know Anna, you see the way that she sees things. Sometimes I read books where the main character is very dull and you don't learn much about them, but not in Anna and the French Kiss.
People may disagree with me on this one, but I think that the book was great in the fact that the romance was not the only thing about this book. There were other things going on which I enjoyed reading about on top of the romance. It dealt with different issues through out the book, which I really liked.

You may already know, but this book intertwines with Lola and the Boy next Door,  the next book. There is also a book coming out this year called Isla and the Happily Ever After, the third one, which will do the same and draw it all to a conclusion. The characters are destined to come together. I love this idea and am extremely excited to see what happens.
As soon as I finished Anna and the French Kiss, I needed Lola and the Boy Next door, so I ordered it online and it should be coming in the post very soon!

Now I need to wait patiently, but in the mean time, if you have not yet read this book, you need to.  If you like any of the genres to do with this book you should definitely pick it up. I recommend it highly, 5 stars has been awarded to it by me for a reason!

This is going to be the end of my non-spoiler-bit. I seriously do recommend this! I enjoyed it so very much, if you are looking for a book to warm your heart, this is the one. 

--Spoilers! You have been warned.--

Oh wow. This book.
There was just so much that happened! I want to re-read it, there was just so much going on. Etienne... Oh my, he is mighty fine. I loved the way he and Anna got to know each other, how you see them falling for each other. One of my favourite parts of the book was when Anna was in Atlanta for Christmas and she was emailing Etienne, those emails were just so very cute! 
Anna is one of those characters that you believe, you believe that they are upset about things, that they are happy about things. She is not boring or dull which you can find in some books. Her development was perfect, it wasn't rushed, you didn't find out everything about her in the first couple of pages, you find out more about her character as the book goes on which I really liked. This is the same with Etienne, his character develops in a way I love. Also, the way Anna and Etienne act with each other and there relationship develops is something I loved to read about. 
Some of my favourite bits were the little conversations that Anna and Etienne had, very cute. I loved that he went to see the films with her and took her out into Paris. At times I wanted to scream at the two, tell them that they NEEDED to get together NOW, you could see them falling for each other and it was so romantic. 
Talking about romantic... Paris! I think Paris is one of my favourite settings for books, especially this kind of story. France itself is one of my favourite places, I am learning French because I love it so much! So I appreciated that it was set there, it made it even more romantic and cute...
One thing about Anna that annoyed me a tiny bit, was how she reacted to a few things through out the book. It was a tad frustrating to see the way she dealt with some of the situations, however every character has an annoying quality about them. Otherwise Anna and I, we got on considerably well.

I adored it when Etienne gave Anna love poetry, that was so unbelievably sweet! It is one of those books that makes you feel all fuzzy, especially when Anna and Etienne are together... I don't think I can use these words enough, CUTE, romantic, sweet, CUTE.
When Etienne is drunk and tells Anna he likes her... Well, I just love that bit. Especially Anna's reaction. 
Can I just say 'the ending'? Oh how much I loved the ending, I have re-read that ending quite a few times already... Yup. I just cannot wait to read more of Stephanie Perkins' writing.
And to finish off this review...
I loved 'Banana Elephant', everything about it. I don't know why, but I just love that. Ha! 

Any way! Tell me what you thought about this book if you have read it. I for one, really loved it, if you could not tell. I am extremely excited to read Lola and the Boy Next Door, hopefully I will like it as much as Anna and the French Kiss! And I leave you with that, thankyou for reading and I will have a new post up soon!
-Darcy