[Blog Tour + Giveaway] NICOLE'S REVIEW: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J.Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: May 5 2015

Publishing House:  Bloomsbury

ISBN: 1619634449

Source of Copy: Blog Tour

Summary:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled the world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamling  and his world - forever.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

A Court of Thorns and Roses took me by surprise. Truth be had, you guys, I wasn't Maas' biggest fan but thanks to this book I'm now a convert. I cannot wait to get my hands on an actual copy of this seriously rocking book. Seriously. Seriously.

It's winter and Feyre's family is running low on food. Times are hard so she heads deep into the forest to go hunting. She comes upon a wolf and, because she's totally desperate, she shoots it down with her arrows not knowing that the wolf was faerie. Soon this beast-like fae comes knocking on her door demanding restitution and sweeps her away to his castle in the woods. Okay maybe there was more of the threatening and the roaring as there was the sweeping and there wasn't much knocking either. Feyre soon realizes that an ancient evil is enroaching on fae territory and might, if not stopped, creep into human lands soon.

Can I just say that Feyre is the luckiest girl? I mean she has all these beautiful men to look at. There's Tamlin and Rhys and Lucien and ohmygosh how is a girl to choose? But hot men is not all this book has to offer, it's got Feyre who is a kickass heroine in her own right. She's fearless and bold and cares deeply. She's probably got a better heart than I do despite her rough exterior. 

I loved the relationships in the book. Feyre and her sisters, Tamlin and Lucien, and even Rhys. Maas has such interesting characters I just want to find out more about them, peel them back layer by layer so I can understand them and fall deeper into love with them. And the romance? It does not fail to titillate (it seemed appropriate) and I just want to smoosh Tamlin and Feyre together all the time. 

I do have a bone to pick with Amarantha, the villain, she seemed to be so textbook villainess for me. Doesn't mean she wasn't scary and slightly disturbing but she just felt a little one dimensional for me. Impossible challenges? A riddle to solve? I even felt a little cheated when Fayre had a little help with the tasks. But you know, I enjoyed myself so much so I'm not gonna complain. Much. And another thing, this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, yes? So why wasn't Tamlin more...beast-like? Oh sure he has a mask stuck to half of his face and he can shift into some sort of lupine creature but come on, I thought he would be more physically monstrous. 

ACOTAR is a retelling of beauty and the beast, a wonderful, fearless, fierce retelling of the classic with amazing imagery and world building. I might still be a little cautious of Maas' Throne of Glass series but this one is definitely on my favorites list. Definitely recommend this for people who're fans of fantasy. And NA! This is definitely NA I could get into. 

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

How pretty is the cover for A Court of Thorns and Roses? I couldn't resist doing nails. 

Not sure if you guys can tell but that's a wolf. On the middle finger. I had to make my own sheer black polish to tint my index and ring fingers. 

I think this is pretty obvious. Haha. 

You can check out more of my nail art over on instagram. Just search theunicolenicorn.

CLICK THIS FOR THE GIVEAWAY LINK

                        

MICHELLE'S REVIEW: The Mean Girl Apologies by Stephanie Monahan

Title: The Mean Girl Apologies
Author: Stephanie Monahan
Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: June 2, 2014

Publishing House: Entangled

ISBN: 9781633750210
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher via NetGalley

Summary:

You know that catchy song you keep hearing on the radio? It's about you.

Natalie Jamison has spent five years trying to forget the girl she was in high school: popular, pretty... and, okay, mean. Now in her twenties and living once again in her small town, she's right back where she was: following Queen Bee Amber and keeping secrets from her best friend, Sarah. 

Secrets like Jack Moreland. 

Everyone knows Jack Moreland - his new album, "Good Enough", is everywhere. He's famous. Impossibly handsome. Completely untouchable. But what none of Natalie's old clique knows is that in high school, Natalie and Jack fell in love. And their secret relationship was incredible, painful - and earth-shattering enough to inspire an entire album. Facing friends and enemies isn't easy, but Natalie will go to great lengths to prove she is good enough - to her friends, to herself, and most of all, to the small-town boy turned worldwide heartthrob she never forgot.

(Image, summary and information courtesy of Goodreads)

Review:

Never in Natalie Jamison's wildest dreams did she ever imagine she'd be going back to the tiny town she grew up in. And just when she thought she left high school behind, it seems that her old clique is still in town, and one of them in particular, is just as awful as she was back in the day. Jack Moreland, however, is on his way to the stars. But his heart? Just as shattered as Natalie left it. When a chance meeting reunites the two old flames, Natalie must decide whether she'll let other people's opinions trump her own feelings.

While Natalie never always approved of Amber's mean girl antics, she nevertheless was part of the popular girl clique. And Natalie knows that if you want to stay in, you have to act in. Jack Moreland? Definitely not in the clique, but definitely in her heart. But Natalie's insecurities always end up pushing Jack further and further away, until all that's left is their relationship in tatters.

While I did like the concept of two old sweethearts reuniting and realizing that the spark was very much still alive, I didn't feel as giddy as I expect I would when Natalie and Jack were together. Sometimes, there are chance novels that make you just want to smoosh the romantic characters together because all they need is a proper snogging to make them realize their true feelings because they obviously are very adorable and go together as soundly as bread and butter. But Jack and Natalie didn't have the kind of electrifying chemistry that I liked in my romance, which was kind of a bummer.

I did like how Jack was a bit wary about where this new, older version of their relationship would go, seeming as he was always the one fighting for the both of them back when they were younger. It then left things up to Natalie to face on her insecurities and slaying her own dragons (read: Amber, that evil, nasty little two-faced troll). 

The Mean Girl Apologies is okay, but not as magnetic as I made it out to be in my head. Truthfully, I have read about five or six books in between reading this one, just to shake things up a bit. 

Rating:

             

[Blog Tour] More than Music by Elizabeth Briggs

Title: More than Music
Author: Elizabeth Briggs
Format Acquired: ePub

Publication Date: June 17 2014

Publishing House: Elizabeth Briggs Books

ISBN: 9781499607994
Source of Copy: Blog Tour

Summary:

Music major Maddie Taylor just finished her junior year of college and has a summer internship lined up with the LA Philharmonic, yet every night she practices guitar and secretly dreams of a louder life. But geeky girls like her don't get to be rock stars. That is, until tattooed singer Jared Cross catches her playing guitar and invites her to join his band on The Sound, a reality TV show competition.

Once on the show, Maddie discovers there's more to Jared than his flirty smile and bad boy reputation - and that he's just as big a geek as she is. With each performance their attraction becomes impossible to ignore, but when the show pressures them to stay single they're forced to keep their relationship secret.

As the competition heats up, Jared will do whatever it takes for his band to win, and Maddie must decide if following her dream is worth losing her heart.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Link to the giveway on the sidebar!

Review:

I'm going to start off this review by saying that this was better than expected. My forays into the New Adult genre have always flopped and that made me afraid to give this book a go. But I believe in  second chances, and thirds and fourths and so I joined the tour. This book gets an instant 3 stars for the mention of Anberlin and all the music references. I love them so much so forgive me for being a little biased. Heh.

Maddie Taylor's about to take up an internship with the LA Philharmonic despite the fact that she secretly plays guitar and has rock star aspirations. As fate would have it, Jared Cross, lead singer and guitarist of Villain Complex catches her rocking out and invites her to join the band because they badly need her so they can join The Sound, reminiscent of The Voice, a reality TV battle of the bands kind of thing. Of course, once on set Maddie realizes that Jared isn't all about flirting and girls and doing the nasty. He's actually kind of a geek and kind of an okay guy. How is Maddie supposed to resist? 

Truthfully? I was never fond of rockstar romances but this book made it okay, less cringe-worthy. Maddie is multi-talented; she plays guitar, piano, sings a little and does a little clarinet. She's a decent character, a little shy, a little relatable, a little annoying with how she put Jared so high up on a pedestal. 

Jared on the other hand is typical of YA/NA. The tortured artist, the guy who leaves behind a trail of broken hearts, the one all the girls pine over. I mean he's a geek and I suppose that added a bit to his charm but still, as sexy as he is I don't know if I want to touch that with a ten-foot pole. He has big issues and out of control hormones but that's not to say that he wasn't a decent character. He was. He's just...typical of the genre.

So basically this book is like The Voice except it's The Sound and instead of singers they feature bands. It's like one of those reality TV shows except in text format but probably way more entertaining. It's got drama, romance, music and kissy scenes that lead to more kissy scenes if you know what I mean. 

If you're looking for a romance that features hot musicians and fluff then this one's for you. A quick read that will definitely satisfy and this book gives me hope for NA. (Or maybe it's just really my bad luck that all the NA I've ever tried was just....no.) So thank you Elizabeth Briggs. I'm looking forward to the Hector Novella set in Comic-Con.

Rating: