What books gave me | This might get deep | Srishti

This post is a bit special, it will just be ranting but I hope you enjoy it. So sit comfortably, make yourself a snack, block every thoughts that might disturb you, and simply enjoy. 

AND THAT'S OKAY 

Srishti's pick #12

‹Quote #12›

I Am Malala 

I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare {Yomna's Review}

MY RATING: 4/5

This is my first Shakespeare play and I really enjoyed it. I am actually reading this because of my English class, I have an assignment to do about this play and I had to read it to do it. I know in my life I'm going to have to read at least one more piece of work by Shakespeare, and I'm glad I started with this one. It's really good. 

"Ay me! For aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth."

Comedy: there were some instances in this play where I felt things were supposed to be funny but they just weren't. Many elements of the comedy have survived time but many elements haven't. I felt that instead of the play being hilarious it just had this funny feel to it all the way through. I thought that made it much more fun to read. 

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L Armentrout {Yomna's Review}

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L Armentrout 

My rating: 5/5

WOW. I AM BLOWN AWAY. 

Thanks so much to Net Galley and Harlequin UK for allowing me to get a free advanced copy of this book. 

Emotional and captivating, Jennifer L Armentrout explores a world not too many of us wish to delve into, weaving it together with a beautiful love story of a girl and boy who believed they were simply too broken to fix. 

Beautiful beautiful read. 

Dark themes: This book has a lot of themes of child abuse, drugs, depression, and others. I loved it. JLA writes the story so masterfully. She understands that these issues are sensitive and must be dealt with that in mind. I never really thought about how lucky I was to have the things I have until after reading this book. It made me realise how grateful everyone should be for the little they have, because there are people out there who have much much less. It breaks my heart to read about children being mistreated so violently, and every time there was a flashback in the book, it just made me want to grab the characters and hug them. It makes me guilty that I wasn't aware of the extent of this problem. This is why books like these are important. 

Dorothy Must Die | Srishti

I LOVE IT! SO SO MUCH! I just started it about... *shamefully looks down* three weeks ago. But I can explain! I had a lot of stuff going on these past three weeks, like a school really tiring but fun five day field trip. Yay my sore body! Ha ha *crying*. Putting that besides I have 150 more pages to read and I am in love with it. I was supposed to write a review, well today, but I guess I didn't finish it in time. So instead here is my thoughts for the moment!

THE TWIST (the concept):
 I loved the twits to the story. Especially the wicked! If I had to be a character in any book I would love to be the villain but not a high school girl kind of villain but more like Amaratha from ACOTAR or a queen from Disney movies! The good is wicked and wicked is good thing made me oh so happy!

Yomna's Pick #11

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas {Yomna's Review}

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

My rating: 4.5/5

“And so, struggling and shaking, Celaena stood.”

Fhsifheisnfjmskfhdnfbwkrbsmnfm

Incredible, incredible read. Truly amazing. Where has this book been all my life?

I'm actually kind of disappointed in myself for not reading this sooner because it's such a great read and I love romantic fantasy so I should've read this book ages ago. I don't know why I just didn't like the cover. It just looked like one of those pointless reads with 16 books in a series that you read on the airport. Did anyone else get that vibe? 

Anyways, I'm probably not going to be the best critic in this review because of the amount of love I have for this book. 

Torn: so I'm rating this book 4.5/5 because I don't think it's deserving of a 5/5 since it didn't make me cry, but at the same time this book was pretty epic so I'm not sure. I know this is only the beginning of the series, and as SJM progresses it will probably get better, so I'm hoping this series will give me some 5/5s. 

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi {Yomna's Review}

My rating: 4.5/5
For all the fantasy lovers out there. This book will blow your mind. Imaginative, romantic and just lovely and fun to read. 

"I dropped my hand from his and the

 world broke between us."

Wow. Absolutely stunning read. Definitely recommend it. 

Amar: I love Amar. He's amazing. Definitely an incredibly written character. And the way he's written in the book where it's uncertain whether he's evil or good makes you love him so much more once you find out he's actually a good character. 

Srishti's Pick #10

The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins 

EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? 

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdeih {Yomna's Review}

MY REVIEW

My rating: 5/5

ONE WORD: PERFECTION 

This book captivates beginning to end and it left me so incredibly satisfied. Happy to say this is an immediate favorite. Everything in this book is perfection. After being disappointed by one of my absolute favorite series ending badly this yeah (*cough cough* The Crown) I feel quite confident that I could not be happier about this ending. This review will probably essentially be a love letter to Renée Ahdeih. 

Spoilers! 

When Dreams Come True by Rebecca Emin {Yomna's Review}

Thank you to Net Galley and Gingersnap Books for a free copy of this book!

So for this review I'm testing out a different style. Instead of writing the review when I'm done with the book, I will write down my thoughts for certain significant events as soon as I get to them, and in the end string them all together and summarize. Hopefully this will help me so I don't forget what I'm thinking. 

My rating: 4/5

In the beginning: so far, so good. We have a main character who's different from the people around her who thinks differently. I'm fairly certain I would never pick up this were it not for net galley. I'm more into fantasy and romance but I do like this story so far. 

Yomna's Pick #9

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdeih

I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.
In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

The Crown by Kiera Cass {Yomna's Review}

Twenty years have passed since the events of The One, and America and Maxon’s daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own. Princess Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you... and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.

The Selection series has sold more than 3 million copies and captured the hearts of fans around the world. This swoon-worthy final installment is the happily ever after they’ve all been waiting for.

The Crown By Kiera Cass

My rating: 3/5

Solace by Therin Knite | Time travelling and some family drama! {Srishti's Review}

Corina Marion has a father problem—namely that her Red Cross doctor of a dad has finally returned home from sixteen years of war...

...as a body in a box to be buried.

Her mother is devastated, her friends shocked and saddened, her hometown in mourning at the loss of its local hero. And Corina is trapped in the middle of an emotional onslaught she isn't prepared to handle.

But when a strange old man confronts Corina at her father's funeral, he offers her an impossible opportunity: the chance to know the late Luther Marion. And in a moment of uncertainty, Corina makes a choice with consequences she can barely fathom.

A choice that sends her twenty-five years into the past.

Right on the cusp of the harrowing events that will shape Luther Marion's life...and death.
And in order to return to her damaged home, supportive friends, and uncertain future, Corina will have to fight tooth and nail alongside the man she's resented her entire life. Because if she doesn't help fix the past she's inadvertently changed with her presence, Luther Marion may not live long enough to become a hero at all. 

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Srishti's pick #8

The Winners Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

Some kisses come at a price.

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?