Top Ten Villains

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Villains.

1. Various Characters from A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R R Martin - I'm not sure there is anyone who does villains that are more complex that GRRM.
2. Voldemort from Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
3. King of Hybern from A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas
4. Levana from Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
5. Various Characters from Red Rising by Pierce Brown (to name them would lead to spoilers)
6. President Snow from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
7. Warren from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi - Because he's not a villain at all but he plays one oh so well.
8. Strigoi from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
9. David from Push by Claire Wallis - Because you can't help but root for him.
10. The Dent Family Jasper Dent by Barry Lyga - Because those folks are CRAZY!

Who are your favorite villains? Let me know!

Top Twelve Red/White/Blue Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Red/White/Blue Book Covers.

1. A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, # 2) by Sarah J Maas
2. Sadie by Courtney Summers (review coming soon)
3. All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire
4. Long Way Home (Thunder Road, # 3) by Katie McGarry
5. Shadowcaster (Shattered Realms, # 2) by Cinda Williams Chima
6. If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L Armentrout
7. Winter (Lunar Chronicles, # 4) by Marissa Meyer
8. Without Merit by Colleen Hoover
9. The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
10. A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, # 1) by Sarah J Maas
11. One Small Thing by Erin Watt
12. Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, # 4) by Sarah J Maas

Which books are your top red/white/blue book covers (or whatever your country colors are)? Let me know!

Top Ten Character Names for a Pet

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Character Names for a Pet.

1. Kestrel from The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski
2. Darrow from Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown
3. Sevro from Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown
4. Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
5. Dimitri from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
6. Oz from Thunder Road from Katie McGarry
7. Rhaegar from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin
8. Blue from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
9. Jasper from Jasper Dent by Barry Lyga
10. Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

I'm very picky about kids' names. While I love books and book characters, I just can't see naming one of my children after a book character. I really want my kids' names to have specific meanings. Nothing's wrong with naming your kids after book characters, but that's just not my jam. However, I think naming pets after book characters is a great idea. And you can bit a bit more fun and funky with pet names as well. What are your top character names? Let me know!

Update: It was brought to my attention by Holly that perhaps I should offer some clarification here. I interpreted the topic of naming a child AFTER a character as just that...naming a child based on a character...not just taking the name of a character and leaving the character behind. In actuality, I first saw the name "Ever" in a book. It wasn't a particularly good book in my opinion and the character was neither particularly spectacular nor particularly bad either. Regardless, I liked the name and kept it in my back pocket. When the time came, "Ever" became the first name of my daughter. But that was because her first name is paired with the middle name "Lael" which means "belonging to God" in Hebrew. Her name together (Ever Lael) means "always belonging to God". So while in some ways I did name my child BECAUSE of a character in a book, I didn't name her AFTER a character in a book because the book was so far removed from me and the reason why I loved the name and chose it for my daughter.

All Things Halloween Review - Winter

Winter (Lunar Chronicles, # 4)

By: Marissa Meyer

Publication: November 10th 2015 by Feiwel and Friends

800 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Source: Personal Library (Christmas present from my mom)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Here is the stunning conclusion to the national bestselling Lunar Chronicles, inspired by Snow White.

When Princess Winter was thirteen, the rumor around the Lunar court was that her glamour would soon be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. In a fit of jealousy, Levana disfigured Winter. Four years later, Winter has sworn off the use of her glamour altogether. Despite her scars, Winter’s natural beauty, her grace, and her gentleness are winning admiration from the Lunar people that no amount of mind-control could achieve.

Winter despises her stepmother, but has never dreamed of standing up to her. That is, until she realizes that she may be the only one with the power to confront the queen.

Can Cinder, Prince Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, Princess Winter, and the palace guard Jacin find their happily ever afters? Fans will LOVE this amazing conclusion to the series.

The Lunar Chronicles has been one of my favorite series for a while. Starting with Cinder, I've actually felt like each new book in the series was better than the one before. And that set Winter up for some pretty high expectations. I received Winter for Christmas last year--which was shortly after it released. However, the 800 pages of this hefty book kept me from picking it up sooner. Well that and my life changes really. And honestly, I have to say that even though Winter didn't exactly feel slow to me, it did feel LONG. I understand why it was released as one book, but for length's sake, I really wished it had been more like two or even three separate books. I don't think the story told within would have made as much sense had it been broken out though.

Winter has so much to cover too. It's not just about Cinder and Kai, or Scarlet and Wolf, or Cress and Thorne, or Winter and Jacin. (Or Iko.) They're all in. They're all present. They're all narrated from at different points. Marissa Meyer does a great job being able to write from so many characters within one book. It feels cohesive while also distinct. I never once got confused with who was narrating and with so many characters that is really impressive. Of course because all of these characters have such distinct roles to play within the plot of the story, we didn't get to spend as much one on one time with Winter and Jacin as we have with the other couples in prior books. I still liked these characters a lot, but I wasn't as attached to them as I am to Scarlet and Wolf or Cress and Thorne.

As always, I absolutely loved the way that Marissa Meyer worked in the details of the fairytale that she's retelling. In the case of Winter, we're looking at Snow White. (Cinder = Cinderella; Scarlet = Little Red Riding Hood; Cress = Rapunzel) It is always obvious when she's mimicking the main storylines from the fairytales, but I never really know how she's going to work those details in. Of course, my favorite aspect of this retelling is probably her take on the dwarves.

Of course, it isn't just Snow White that we're dealing with here. Marissa Meyer has to wrap up the series arc as well. Will Levana finally get what's coming to her? Will Cinder, aka Princess Selene, finally get what's rightfully hers? Will everyone end up in a happily ever after--especially considering that each character finds themselves in mortal peril at some point or other? Will everyone survive? I do have to say that I was happy with all of the answers to these questions. There was one aspect at the very very end of the book that felt entirely hasty and really not my favorite decision for Marissa Meyer to have made. It very much reminded me of The Crown by Kiera Cass.

All in all, I'm giving Winter 4 Stars. It was probably my least favorite of the series, despite being the ending point of all of these well-loved characters. Truthfully that only can be said based on how much I loved the prior books in the series. While I still liked Winter a lot, she was also my least favorite heroine. And even though I wouldn't classify Winter as slow like I feared it would be, it is still LONG. Nevertheless, Winter was a good end to an excellent series. Other than that one little thing at the very end that annoyed me I had no real complaints. Have you read Winter? What did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

Top Ten Book Villains

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Villains.

This post is all about those characters we love to hate. I had to cull through some of the books and series where the enemy was a group of people or the government so that I could choose the books that truly had individual characters as villains.

1. Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter by JK Rowling
2. Queen Levana from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
3. Jackal & Octavia from Red Rising by Pierce Brown
4. Cersei Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin
5. Sebastian from The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
6. Jonathan from The Breathing Series by Rebecca Donovan (not your typical villain, but man I hated that guy!)
7. Billy Dent from Jasper Dent by Barry Lyga
8. President Snow from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
9. The Darkling from The Grisha by Leigh Bardugo (note, I still haven't finished Ruin and Rising)
10. Sauron from The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien

There were so many villains to choose from. The hardest part was limiting myself and not including groups of people. Who made your list of top villains? Let me know!

Top Ten Series I Have Yet to Finish

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Series I Have Yet to Finish.

As if hosting the 2015 Series Enders Reading Challenge isn’t enough motivation for me to finish all of these series that I’ve gotten started! But it’s just almost impossible. I love a good series. I’ve got roughly 65ish series started and not finished. I know. I keep up with it in a spreadsheet because I’m a nerd. Some of these are series where not all of the books have been published so I physically can’t finish them just yet. But some of them have been published for way too long. I’m going to focus on the series where I only have one book left to read in order to complete them.

1. Age of X by Richelle Mead – The Eyes of Andromeda (not pictured)
2. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater – The Raven King (not pictured)
3. The Grisha by Leigh Bardugo – Ruin & Rising
4. Partials by Dan Wells - Ruins
5. The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey – The Last Star (not pictured)
6. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - Winter
7. Lux by Jennifer L Armentrout - Opposition
8. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - Finale
9. Starbound by Meagan Spooner & Aime Kaufman – Their Fractured Light
10. Pivot Point by Kasie West – Split Second
11. Beautifully Broken by Courtney Cole – Until We Fly
12. Penryn & the End of Days by Susan Ee – End of Days

There are actually more I’m sure. Which series have you just not finished yet? Consider signing up for the 2015 Series Enders Reading Challenge as extra motivation to knock them out. Each series ender read and reviewed in 2015 gets you an entry into a monthly and yearly giveaway. Let me know!