Character Chat - Top Five Book Boyfriends of 2014

As it is February, the month of love, and the Book Blogger Love-A-Thon that recently happened included a love letter to your book boyfriend, I thought it appropriate to introduce this new segment to the blog. Character Chat is going to be my discussions about various wonderful characters I've encountered through the books. Also, this feature will be talking about books I've read this year, so that way it can be a continual feature that I revisit in the coming years. So, there will be a chat on book boyfriends for 2014, 2015, etc. Now, I know it's very early in the year, but I want to do this and start the series, so without further ado...

no. 5 - Raffe from Angelfall by Susan Ee

Raffe is hilarious, strong, and surprisingly tender throughout Angelfall. He has some really adorable moments, but he is also a tough warrior with a very sarcastic side. The banter between him and Penryn is probably one of my favorite aspects of this novel, and I would love to travel around with Raffe and trade wit. He's also got a soft side, and there are glimpses of that throughout the book that made me want to hug him. So, I think that Raffe would definitely have to be one of my book boyfriend picks thus far in 2014.

no. 4 - Sam from Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Sam is completely adorable. He is so sweet, kind, and gentle! Also, he's very musical, and any scene involving him and an instrument was beautiful. Sam's a great character because he's amazing and understanding, but also flawed. He has his doubts and fears, but he is a strong person anyways, and his character is really admirable. Numerous times throughout this book, I have wanted to just give Sam a hug. 

no. 3 - Captain Thorne from Cress by Marissa Meyer

Ah, another hilarious and sarcastic one with a sweet side. Yes, Thorne made himself my favorite character in this book. He's got a very dry wit, yet also is capable of gentleness and compassion. Thorne is a character that I love because he's very funny and snarky, but also because he's more than what many people think of him. He's brave and intelligent, very resourceful, and even if he isn't the best at something he's determined to try. Thorne radiates charisma and charm, but beneath all the fluff he's also got a lot of strong qualities. I can't wait to read more about him in Winter!

no. 2 - Warner from Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ok, so I'm reading this book now, and I'm only just over 50 pages in. But, Warner has been a favorite of mine since Shatter Me. Before Destroy Me even came out I wanted to know more about Warner because who Juliet thought he was didn't seem to match with some of what Warner said and did. He is passionate and complicated, but he's also got a sensitivity and understanding to him that makes him an even more amazing character. And yes, I'm loving him so far in this book and will continue to do so. Warner is a fantastic book boyfriend! Also, thus far in Ignite Me, he has stolen every scene he is in and definitely remained my favorite character in this series- Warner is absolutely wonderful!

no. 1 - Morpheus from Unhinged by A.G. Howard

Look who is number one on the book boyfriend list. Morpheus, you aren't even surprised, are you? If you look in some other blog posts, you'll see constant mentions of Splintered, Unhinged, The Moth in the Mirror, and general Morpheus love. I've even written a love letter to him as a challenge for the Love-A-Thon. Morpheus is witty, dark, mysterious, and yet is loving and loyal. One can never guess what Morpheus will do, but he has certainly swept me off my feet. He will probably be my number one book boyfriend for a long time to come, so Morpheus will certainly be staying around the blog and fluttering through more posts! Also, this cover features Morpheus!

There is the beginning of the character chat saga! Now, I want to hear from you. Have you read these books? Loved these guys? Who are your book boyfriends? Let me know!

From the paper world,

V

Reading Review - Angelfall by Susan Ee

Welcome back! Today's review is going to be on a book I read during the Bout of Books. That is Angelfall, by Susan Ee. I think that this was her debut novel, so even though I deviated from my set TBR, I did stay with the theme. I read this book with Kerrie, and it was a lot of fun and the book is wonderful. Initially, we had thought to read about six chapters a day, but we both wanted to read on, and suddenly six became twelve which became random six chapter sprints throughout the day as we wanted to know more about the novel. Here's the cover and official Goodreads synopsis -


It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Recommended for ages 16 and up.

Angelfall on Goodreads      Visit Susan Ee's Website

 Angelfall is a post apocolyptic novel about Earth after angels have come into the world. The main character is a survivor of the ensuing chaos, and she, along with her family, are struggling to survive in a world now overrun by violence and destruction. Penryn, the protagonist, is a determined, loyal character who is trying to save her family and find some hope for a life. In the midst of all this, Penryn's younger sister is abducted by some of the angels. Now, Penryn is allied with another, injured angel in order to rescue her sister. Raffe, the angel, is sarcastic and enigmatic, but also endearing and a really interesting character to read about. Together, these two have a great dynamic. They were entertaining, but also had good character development and their characteristics and personalities complemented the other's well. The supporting characters in this book were also very well written. For example, Penryn's mother is very different from any YA character I've read, and whenever she was involved, the entire scene could be different depending on what she did. The characters in this book were very well done. They were interesting, dynamic, and worked well together.

Overall the pacing of the book was good as well. It was difficult to stop reading, and I was really interested in what was going on, and how the world building and story went well together, neither overshadowing the other. However, I did have a problem with the ending. I'm going to keep it spoiler free, but at the very end, things seemed a little unlikely in the turn of events. It felt like some of the practical qualities that had been included in the world and character building were lost. That did affect the way the story ended, but it wasn't something that drastically hurt an otherwise fantastic novel.

I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. Again, my problem was with the execution of the ending. Regardless, it obviously didn't hurt the overall quality of the book too much, with such a high rating, and this is definitely a series I'm looking forward to continuing. The sequel, World After, is already published, and so Kerrie and I have plans to pick that up soon. I'm very excited to continue on with the series and I would recommend it!

From the paper world,
V

Bout of Books 9.0 - Update for Day no. 3

I am writing this just after a Bout of Books chat which was so fun and a great way to meet people! Speaking of, welcome back to another Bout of Books update! Let's get straight to the quick facts, shall we?

Books Read - Shadows by Amanda Sun
Currently Reading - Angelfall by Susan Ee, Unhinged by A.G. Howard
Total Books Completed - 1
Pages Read Today - 170 pages
Total Page Count - 443 pages
Challenges - Reading Tactics by Sarah Says Read (this was yesterday's)

Thoughts - 
I did a bit more reading, but honestly, I'm not worried about page count. It's a very relaxed and positive readathon. I partially participated in a Twitter chat today, which was a lot of fun. Also, Kerrie and I are reading through Angelfall, and we're almost done (5 little chapters left!) and every time we stop it's a major cliffhanger. I'm looking forward to finishing this book tomorrow. Unhinged I'm not reading as quickly as I thought I would because we've been sprinting thorugh Angelfall, so I'll be able to give it some more attention soon. How are you liking your books?

From the paper world,
V

Bout of Books 9.0 - Daily Update no. 2

Welcome back to another Bout of Books Update! Today was a pretty good reading day- busy, but I still found some time to devote to my wonderful reads. I also finished my first book today. Shadows by Amanda Sun, which is the prequel to Ink, was a novella I was about 55% through, and finished today. I also read more into my other two current reads. So, without further ado, let's get to the basic statistics.

Books Read - Shadows by Amanda Sun
Currently Reading - Angelfall by Susan Ee, Unhinged by A.G. Howard
Total Books Completed - 1
Pages Read Today - 109 pages
Total Page Count - 273 pages
Challenges - Reading Tactics by Sarah Says Read

I'm hoping to read some more tomorrow, and I think I'll have some more free time. If you're participating in Bout of Books, let me know how you're doing. I hope you guys are having a lot of fun too, and let me know what you're reading and what you think of it! I'm really loving Unhinged and Angelfall still- it's been so much fun to talk to Kerrie (@KerrieSalsac on Twitter) about Angelfall! Hope you all are having a good time in the readathon!

From the paper world,
V

Bout of Books 9.0 - Day no. 1 Update

It is Bout of Books time, and today I have an update for you guys. I'm not done reading for the day, but I have gotten some done so I thought I would share with you guys. Today, I had the enormous good fortune to get my copy of Unhinged early so, as you can imagine, I've been finding that one hard to put down. I have, however, set it down at points to start Angelfall by Susan Ee. I'm reading this over with Kerrie and so far I'm loving both of these books. I'm really happy about that, and I can't wait to read some more tonight. But for now, let's have a quick update...

Books Read - None completed yet
Currently Reading Book (s) - Angelfall by Susan Ee and Unhinged by A.G. Howard
Total Books Completed - None completed yet
Pages Read Today - 164
Total Page Count - 164

So, it's a decent start to the readathon, and I still have some more time to finish up more. Let me know how your reading's going!

From the paper world,
V