Talented by Sophie Davis

Cover:

Rating: 2.5 (and that's stretching it)

Plot: Block it out. Impossible for Talia Lyons. When you’re a Mind Manipulator, it’s hard enough to block the thoughts of others, let alone your own.

Block it out. The pounding, siren-ready world Talia inhabits as she trains with her fellow Hunters, the country's top-secret covert operatives. The physical demands. The emotional toll.

Block it out. The secrets that Talia’s boyfriend is hiding. Talia’s unbidden feelings of frustration and annoyance toward her teammate, the Casanova of the compound. The wondering why she cares what he thinks.

Block him out. Ian Crane. The man behind the bloodshed marring Talia’s memories of her murdered parents. The man she’s determined to kill.

Block it all out. Focus.

Talented is an emotionally raw Dystopian Romance, about the life of a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, and what happens when a heart is torn between love and rage.

(from Goodreads)

My Opinion: My hopes were high for this book. I started it and quickly became bored. I put it down several times and didn't pick it back up for days. In honesty, I can't pinpoint what went wrong for me. One thing that put a damper on things for me was how we would randomly switch scenes without any sort of notice. One second we are talking to someone, next we are in training. I swear I had whiplash. But a lot of authors make this mistake so I can overlook it but I can't overlook that it took me over two weeks to finish this book. A long time for us book lovers. Maybe I will go back and try again so I can finish the series but I can tell you I won't be doing it anytime soon. The relationships also killed me because of how unusual the characters are and I'm not talking about their 'Talents".

Characters: Talia is so so so so special. Really special. No one like her special, guys. Let me say it 10 more times. Talia is special. In case you didn't get it, Talia is special. That's all we hear about the whole book but we never actually have it explained. You see, they explain her powers which sound awesome but  they never go anywhere with it. Dead end street. Talia, who is so special (there's that word again) and amazing is so utterly not. She whines, makes terrible decisions, and is always in some sort of stupid situation. Her personality is nonexistent. This book was supposed to be about assassins not stupid boys or her hair or how she needs revenge but does nothing to get it. This is a romance novel lovelies not a cool kickass book about killing stuff. But don't get me wrong I wouldn't have minded (because I love me some romance and hot guys) except the romance was predictable and stupid. I just wanted Talia to shut up about how she wants to be normal. Well, honey, you are. So are so very normal and boring. Mission achieved.

Donovan: Hmph. Got what he deserved and then like an asshole got out of it. Oh and his part of the story is so predictable that I guessed within the first few chapters what was going on. That's all I'm going to say.

Erik: Blehhhhhh. That's all.

Ending: The ending really picked up for me, We started to see the plot come out from behind the romance and boy was it good. And then bad. Nothing happened. It was very anti-climatic to me, I was like finally its over!! The story could have been great and it did have some great moments. The idea was great and fun. The missions were interesting but everything else just clouded how good it was. The bad outweighed the good by a lot, And that breaks my heart. Maybe I'll try again in a few months and pick up the second book but until then we'll just have to settle for mediocre book that could've been an amazing book. 

~Cat

Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi

Cover: (First Book)

Rating: 5 stars...if I could I would do more stars it is just that great.

Plot: The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. 

This story has to be one of the only stories, besides Jennifer L Armentrout series and Richelle Mead series, that truly made me breathless and excited. This story makes you laugh, cry, and all those other great emotional things. This book changes you. The lines are so poetic and unique and true that you just never want to stop reading and keeping reading these paragraphs over and over again.

You will be screaming for the next one. 

Characters: So Juliette. She is truly one of the best female leads I have ever read because she is so true and honest and relate-able. I loved her because all these heroine's we read they are strong and amazing and everything is always easy. We never see them cry, mope, break-up! I love when charcters break-up because that makes them real. I'm sorry but how many first relationships ever work out? Not many. And Tahereh shows us a real true girl who has emotions and is afraid. I have a girl crush on Juliette. Seriously. 

(Exactly how I pictured her which is scary.)

Adam is the first male lead and I have to admit, I wasn't sold with him and not to spoil much but she ends up with the guy she was supposed to.

Warner...the other guy and swoon. Bad boy. Like really bad boy. But then you peal layers back and underneath...mmmm. I love him. No lie.

There is NO love triangle in this series. You will understand when you finish because there isn't a triangle but there are two love interests. 

(Hot guys for your viewing pleasure. Neither are exactly what i picture but they are pretty close.)

Ending: Wow. Just wow. All three books will have you grasping out through tears and laughing so hard you pee a little. Kenji makes the book and I will stop myself there because I will just on about Kenji forever. (Notice i didn't mention him in characters because he is just so awesome it would be longer than the whole review if I added him). The ending of the series is satisfying and done well unlike so many books these days. I seriously suggest you guys go get this because it is so epic it deserves a moment of silence everyday. No, seriously. So start reading with no interruptions.

And when you finish you will be like:

Because you can't believe its over and how good it was.

But in all seriousness without my love of gifs READ THIS SERIES OR YOU WILL REGRET IT!

That is all.

Cat

Undone by Shannon Richard

I am not going to deep into detail for this because I wasn't a huge fan of it. I read it months ago and forgot to blog about it due to my crazy college schedule. This story portrays the discrimination towards women and men so well. Because a girl wears short shorts it means she is a ho or if a boy sleeps around he is a stud but if a girl does she is a ho. This story is cute in its romance. Definitely for 16+ due to sexual situations and sex scenes. I definitely think if you are looking for a quick read then this is for you.

3 stars.

Cat's Guide to Survive Bullying: 'Why Me?'

Cat's Guide to Survive Bullying: 'Sticks and Stones'

Autumn by Sierra Dean

This story was exceptionally short so my review won't be as long.
Cover:

Rating: 3stars

Plot:  The plot was fun and interesting. I found that it was a bit like Shiver but with coyotes, It still was good but lacked originality. I will pick up the second one because of the massive cliff hanger. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. I felt it was very short and was glad I got an ARC because of how short it was would have been a waste of my money. Try combining them to make one big book? I don't know. All I do know is I would have been pissed to have bought it and it been that short.

Characters: They characters were good a bit boring and predictable but still good people. There was insta love but for a book that short it was necessary. I didn't get too emotionally involved with the charterers because we don't learn enough about them to feel anything deep. In the beginning I really didn't like Lou. She was summed up a list of the three worst things:

"If Eloise (Lou) Whittaker had to narrow down the worst things ever in her life to a list, the top three would go as follows:

3) Uncooked chicken. When it's all, like, pink in the middle? Gross.

2) Her father dying. Which was really tied for number one with . . . 

1) Moving because her dad died."

To me that seems shallow and I wasn't the only one who felt that way. I agree, though, that after the first chapter things got sooo much better. It still wont make my all time favorite reads shelf but it is still good enough to pick up the sequel.

Ending: The ending was a huge WTF moment. I felt like I was asleep and in the huh moment.

DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN!?
Why yes, yes it did.
So yeah cliffhanger that was a bit hmm cliche but meh I can deal.

Good book, good writing, good enough to pick up the sequel.

Arc provided in exchange for an honest review.

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~Cat

Selling Scarlet by Ella James

Cover: 

The cover is beautiful and probably one of the reasons I requested an ARC.  I will have no gifs because I am completely serious in this review and feel as if the book wasn't good enough for my time.

Quotes:

“I'd gotten my first glimpse of Elizabeth DeVille. She'd had her hair in a pony-tail that stuck up off the side of her head, and she'd been wearing short red shorts and a light blue tank top with a whale on it. “You like whales?” I'd asked her when I finished with the car. Her face had gone all soft and pretty, making me feel more like one-hundred-and-three than the twenty-three I was, and she'd shrugged. “Yeah, but not a lot more than any other animal. I just like saving things.” 
― Ella James, Selling Scarlett

“I can see the exact moment he realizes what I've been doing. His torso stiffens as his hands, pressed against the mattress, curl into big fists. He makes a low, approving sound and speaks in a voice that sounds like molten lava. "That’s so sexy.” 
― Ella James, Selling Scarlett

Rating: 1 star

Plot: I really wanted to like this book and I really tried to but I couldn't. I'll put up the synopsis. 

Elizabeth DeVille doesn't belong at a party like this - one where the gowns cost more than her Camry and cigars run higher than her grad school utility bills. Dragged out of seclusion by her best friend Suri, Elizabeth is merely playing dress-up, rubbing elbows with a crowd that banished her troubled family years ago.

Hunter West is tired. Tired of parties, tired of pretending, and tired of trying to right a wrong that haunts him every day. Bourbon heir and professional poker player by day, by night Hunter is gambling with his life in a high-stakes game of crime and blackmail. 

When Elizabeth stumbles into Hunter's den of vices, she's a light in the darkness, a flame in the void. And, just like everything he touches, Hunter mars her in a record time. To rectify the damage done, Elizabeth needs money she doesn't have, and she's come up with a foolproof way to get it.

Follow Elizabeth - code-named Scarlett - to the lush Nevada brothel where she'll auction her virginity and risk the only thing that's not for sale: her heart. The highest bidder is a familiar face, with wicked hands and the devil's mouth. And a secret so dark that it could cost her life.

So completely disregard that because it isnt really what the book is about...well it is but it makes no sense, is disturbing, and is boring. The plotlines were confusing and some completely unnecessary. We meet random characters who never had anything to do with much and could've just been left out. The insta love was terrible and the love interest disturbing. He is scary and unbalanced and so is the MC. They have back stories we never learn about both have severe mommy issues which never get solved. The whole time I was reading I kept getting bored and paid more attention to finding spelling errors. We also NEVER see anything. Its sooo much telling and NO showing. This story had me severely disappointed because it could have been so good but the was it was executed and written flopped. The author brings up so many controversial issues and never goes anywhere with it. Uhhh, okay. Honestly I kinda skimmed most of the book as soon as I found out a college student decided the smartest thing to do to get money was to sell her virginity. Is that even legal? We are talking about the United States in Las Vegas. The have brothels, prostitution, and some other severely illegal things going on. And no cops are snooping around and even interview some of the prostitutes that live in a R rated playboy mansion. No one is suspicious? No goes hmm this seems wrong or off?? Completely  lacking realistic scenes. Terrible read and as mentioned before highly disturbing.

Characters: The MC "Libby" whose real name is Elizabeth is poor even though she has her own bottled water company? Uhhh to be heiress of bottled water in an adult book? Okay, I guess. So apparently she was fat and then lost weight? I'm not sure. Honestly I can't even tell you anything about her because we learn nothing about her except maybe she is a creepy stalker and has twisted logic. Her decisions are all over the place and so are her emotions. I can't understand why she wants Hunter because that guy is a sicko. Hunter is whipped in the book has random sex with people, and has mommy issues because that's apparently why he is having sex with this porn star. His logic seriously makes no sense.  

Someone on good reads put this up saying this is what she understood and honestly I have to agree.

1. Hunter got framed for something and was having nasty sex with the woman who framed him.
2. Elizabeth has a fight with her friend and he runs off and gets into an 'accident', but his parents don't want to pay for his care so she comes up with the idea of selling her v-card to pay for it.
3. While Elizabeth is 'training' at the brothel, Hunter continues to have the nasty sex with the woman while investigating what's going on.
4. Hunter buys Elizabeth's v-card for $10 million (*rolls eyes*), but doesn't cash it in right away (*facepalm*).
5. After he does cash it in Elizabeth is captured and held hostage.

And she is right. I had no clue whatsoever what was happening who was blackmailing who and why. It all was just a pile of unexplained crap. 

We meet her best friend Cross who I liked probably because he was in a coma the while book and didn't speak.  We also meet her other best friend Sari? Sara? something with an S who apparently has money but doesn't use it because Libby says she wants to sell her V-card. WTF. Who wants to do that. She says she is sick of being a virgin. But at the end of the book when she is taken hostage the one dude says how much she will sell for and is making it out to be a lot because she's hot. But at the beginning she says she is fat or was fat...Look, heavy curvy women are beautiful but if she is so sexy wouldn't she have men up her but left and right? No? I just don't get the authors logic. At all. 

I also wish i knew this was erotica because it was mentioned no where but even still it wasn't all to bad except for the nasty sex scenes. No way were they even hot. They actually turned my stomach and I skipped them when I saw that that's what we were on. 

Writing/Syntax: Terribly annoying, so many mistakes. Made no sense. There were whole paragraphs that I wondered why they were even in there because they had nothing to do with anything.

Romance: Sucked. I already explained it up top so I'm just going to go with, nauseating.

Ending: It was stupid and relieving because at least it ended. I hated this whole book and the best part was the acknowledgement page. 

If you still want to read this after this review then I strongly recommend it for  18+. But I wouldn't waste my time. 

Arc provided in exchange for an honest review.

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~Cat