Well...

So, it's been a while. Again. I don't know if anyone is actually going to see this post at this point. Worth a try!

I really don't have any excuses for not keeping up with this blog; I just got lazy the last half of 2015. However, I have been newly inspired to begin posting again! Huzzah! The one thing I do keep up with is my Goodreads, so everything on there is up-to-date.

I've already read a decent chunk of books this year so far, but I'm not quite sure if I want to write reviews for any of them. Possibly Isla and the Happily Ever After and/or Attachments, but that's probably it. I would really like to do some sort of favorites of 2015 post. I might do an award-style thing like the one that Kayla from BOOKadoodles created.

If anyone is reading this and has any suggestions for posts, I would very much love to hear from you. Leave a comment, tweet @littlelitlass, email me at mollytlove1@gmail.com, or message me on Goodreads!

Top Ten Tuesday: Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession

Finally doing another one! These are the last ten books that I have acquired. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish. I have not read any of these books, but I am looking forward to getting to them soon (especially The Heart of Betrayal).

1. Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen

2. City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

3. The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

4. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

5. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

6. Entwined by Heather Dixon

7. Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

8. The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason

9. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

10. A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes

July TBR

I know it's a little late in the month to post a TBR, but here it is! Surprisingly, I've already read five books this month. I'll be leaving those out of this list and just include the other books I want to get to. I've been wanting to do a read-a-thon for SO STINKING LONG, and I thought I was going to be able to do the Booktube-a-Thon, but it got moved to a week when I'll be on vacation.

So much disappointment.

BUT! The TBR Takedown 2.0 read-a-thon is going to be happening during the week Booktube-a-thon was originally planned for, so I will be participating in that! It's happening July 25th-31st. I'll be joining in on the tweeting, so look out for that. Here's the link to the video if you're interested: #TBRTakedown 2.0. I'm super excited!

Here are the challenges for the read-a-thon:

1. Read the first book in a series.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

2. Read a sequel.

This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

3. Read a book that's out of your comfort zone.

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith

4. Read a book that's been on your shelf at least one year.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

5. Read a book from your most recent haul.

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Besides those/before the read-a-thon, I would also like to get to:

1. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

2. The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

3. The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore

4. The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore

June Wrap-Up

June felt like it dragged, but I did read some really great books! I never made a TBR, so I focused on reading some sequels in order to catch up on various series. I'm not going to post my March-May wrap-ups because it would honestly take way too long. If you're curious as to what I read during those months, check out my Goodreads page! Anyway, here's June!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

4.5/5 Stars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

4/5 Stars

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

3.5/5 Stars

Of Triton by Anna Banks

3/5 Stars

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

5/5 Stars

Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

3.5/5 Stars

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

4/5 Stars

Blue Lily, Lily Blue  by Maggie Stiefvater

5/5 Stars

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

The hiatus is over! Time to post! What better way to get back into blogging than by doing a negative tag, am I right? Let's face it, us book lovers like talking about books we hate, too. It's a fact of life. Why not have fun with it? This tag was created by The Book Archer. Please don't take any offense if I didn't like your favorite book or series; I promise it isn't personal.

1. What is a popular book or series that you didn't like?

I don't know how popular they are, but I didn't like the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr or the Immortals series by Alyson Noel. As for popular books, I'm not a fan of The Giver by Lois Lowry, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Landline by Rainbow Rowell, or An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. Sorry!

2. What is a popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love?
I have a few for this one. The Gone series by Michael Grant and the Lorien Legacies series by Pittacus Lore are two of my favorite sci-fi series. I don't hear too much about them from other people, but when I do, it's typically negative. I don't love it, but I didn't hate the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick as much as other people did. I also didn't have any problems with Allegiant or Mockingjay. (Please don't hate me!)

3. What is a love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you didn't want them to end up with or an OTP (one true pairing) that you don't like?
For the love triangle, definitely The Hunger Games. I was not a fan of the end result. Maybe the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo as well, but that one I'm on the fence about. Disliking an OTP kind of goes against the meaning of the phrase, but I'll play along: Jace and Clary from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and Percy and Annabeth from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Not a fan of those couples.

4. What is a popular book genre that you hardly reach for?
Paranormal and historical fiction. It's not that I dislike those genres, they just don't top my list.

5. Who is a popular or beloved character that you don't like?
Definitely Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, too. I wasn't a huge fan of June from the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu, either.

6. What/who is a popular book or author that you can't seem to get into?
I've tried almost all of David Levithan's books, but I can't get into his writing. I really, really dislike Ellen Hopkins, though. 

7. What is a popular book trope that you're tired of seeing?
I think I'm getting tired of betrayal. I love a good plot twist, but I think I've just read too many books lately that have someone betraying the main character and ruining everything. It's getting predictable.

8. What is a popular series that you have no interest in reading?
The Fallen series by Lauren Kate, the Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner, and the Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles.

9. What movie or TV adaptation do you prefer more than the book?
I definitely like the Warm Bodies movie much more than the book. I could not finish the book; it was just so boring. I wasn't a big fan of The Fault in Our Stars, but I really enjoyed the movie. That's all I can think of!

Book Review: Cruel Beauty

Author: Rosamund Hodge
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2014, Balzer + Bray
Rating: 2/5 Stars

Nyx is promised to marry Ignifex, the evil, deal-making ruler of demons. Her father is the one who is sending her to this fate, but he has trained Nyx her entire life to kill Ignifex. When Nyx turns 17, she marries him. Her plan is to destroy him and his castle, which will in turn release the kingdom from Ignifex's curse. However, Ignifex isn't what Nyx expected. As she learns more about this mysterious man and uncovers his secrets, Nyx must make a choice that will either save or destroy the kingdom.

Cruel Beauty is marketed as a "Beauty and the Best" retelling. That's pretty much what drew me to the book, and I found myself very disappointed at the lack of parallels. I gave this book 2 stars because I did enjoy some parts of it, but I didn't really like it overall.

Let's discuss the issues. First off, Nyx was a terrible main character. She was SO ANNOYING. She had very few redeeming qualities, if any. I might have said this before: I can get over an irritating main character if I really enjoy the story, but alas, that was not the case this time.

How I felt about Nyx.

I love "Beauty and the Beast," but Cruel Beauty felt pretty far removed from that story. Some of the names were so weird that they felt weird just for the sake of being weird, you know? That's not the most important thing in a book to me, but it was odd.

My other big issue with the book was the lack of world building. It was so freaking confusing. Hodge throws around all sorts of terms relating to the world, but then they're never explained. The Greek gods were still worshiped, which is super interesting, but she never did anything with it. I was confused about a lot of stuff. I didn't know why the kingdom was cursed or what exactly the curse was. Ignifex was just a confusing character altogether. The ending of the book was unclear and rushed; so many things could have been better. It seemed like Hodge started writing a dark, magical world but never fully developed it. 

I don't think I can recommend this book to anyone unless you don't mind underdeveloped, confusing stories. I'm pretty disappointed. The writing was repetitive and choppy and I'm not about that. It was just weird.

March TBR

I have a lot of books I want to read this month. A lot of them are series that everyone has been loving, and I really want to be in on it! I have a week off for spring break, so hopefully I can finish at least the majority of these books. I'll be doing a review for Cruel Beauty once I finish it (hopefully tonight) and for most of my TBR books as well.

1. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
2. A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson
3. The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
4. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
5. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
6. Cress by Marissa Meyer
7. Legend by Marie Lu
8. Prodigy by Marie Lu
9. Champion by Marie Lu
10. The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
11. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
12. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
13. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
14. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
15. Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
16. In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken
17. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
18. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
19. Saga Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples