The Last Olympian

What up heroes,

It's happened. I finally finished the series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been concluded. And what a ride it's been. Let's get into the fun stuff.

The Last Olympian is about the final battle between demigods, gods, and titans. Specifically, the gods and demigods against the titans. The gods are fighting off monster titan Typhon while a little baby army of demigods must take on Kronos' army. It all starts with a mission on a boat and ends with a bang. Blah blah blah, vague suspense.

Book? Book was amazing. Though I was rereading it, I had forgotten basically all of it except the end so it was like reading an entirely new book. Every twist was awesome and the final unification of my ship was epic. I loved everything.

I honestly don't have much else to say, other than the book was lit. The series was lit. Rick is lit. See you next year!

Shipping: Percy and Annabeth 5eva

9.5/10
Series: 10/10
~Book Panda

Shade Me

*I actually finished this 12/26 but I had no internet access :(

*

Hello Rainbows,

Happy Hanukkah, merry Christmas, happy Kwanzaa. Got it all. Anyway, you know what I did. Or you would if people actually read these. LOL. I finished a book.

So Shade Me is about this girl named Nikki Kill who gets a phone call in the middle of the night from an unknown number. An hour later she gets a call from the hospital requesting she come identify a person. It's Peyton Hollis, daughter to big time producer Bill Hollis. But why was Nikki contacted and not Peyton's family? Why was Nikki's number the only one in Peyton's phone. Mysteries, wow!

Nikki has synesthesia, which is a phenomenon where colors bleed into her senses. So numbers, emotions, and words have colors associated with them. It's a cool concept, but it got confusing for me. I couldn't remember what color represented what, but it was all good. Well, not all good. This book was kind of a cringe fest. This chick disturbed all of the evidence. Literally. All of it. She broke and entered several times. Normally I'm cool with a little B&E but she got caught so many times. Almost everything she did got her caught, whether it was by the people after her or the detective. Like, gurl. Get yo sneaks together. Find some sneaks. And her decisions are just. . . no. And the conclusions she comes to? No. I so wanted to stop this book several times because it was very cringe and she was doing dumb things.

But what do I know about being a teen detective? I've only read all the books.

It wasn't a bad book, I just found it hard to read. I liked Nikki and Chris' character, but that's all.

Ship: Nikki and Chris, even though idk how old he is. She's 18, it's fine!

Hate: Rich people

5/10

~Book Panda

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Hello maze runners,

No, this is not a Maze Runner review. If you read the title, you'd know what this is. Not only have I finished finals, but I finished The Battle of the Labyrinth, the fourth Percy Jackson book.

In this one, Percy's just trying to go to freshman orientation when he's attacked by vampire cheerleaders. This takes him back to camp, where there is another new camp director dude. After Grover is given an ultimatum to find the wild god Pan, Annabeth and Percy fall into Daedalus' Labyrinth. They realize that camp is now vulnerable and go on a quest into the dangerous maze to try and find Pan and Luke's army.

Rick has once again outdone himself. The confusion of Percy with all the chicks gives me joy and a little frustration. Like, I want him to just kiss Annabeth already. But he's fourteen, going on fifteen. I guess normal people have their first kiss around that time, so whatever. Kiss already.

Any complaints? Nope. One more book until the last one. Then our/my journey will be complete.

Ship: Percy and Annabeth 5eva

10/10
~Book Panda

Frost Like Night

What up snowflakes,

Last night I finished the book Frost Like Night. Now, here's the thing. It's the third book in a trilogy, so I have three options: recounting events from the other two books that will most likely be wrong so the events of the third make sense, assume you're going to or have already read those two and just give a third book summary, or not give any sort of summary because that's a lot of work. Guess which one I'm picking?

Instead of that silliness, I'm just going to link book summaries

Here,

Here,

And here.

You're welcome! Now, for my vague commentary. Love the plot. Characters were amazing. Why would that person do something wrong? Feelings! Wow!

And ships: female and male, female and male, male and male
Sad about: dead people, sad people

8/10
Series: 8.5/10
~Book Panda

The Titan's Curse

Hey mortals,

Last night, I finished another installment of the Percy Jackson series. The Titan's Curse begins with Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia going to meet Grover, who has found sibling half-bloods. Next thing they know Annabeth is missing, Thalia and Grover gets to go on a quest that has nothing to do with Annabeth, and Percy has no say in any of it. Or does he? *suspense music*

So. This one. I dug it. I always do. Didn't dig it as much as the first two though. Probably because everyone was bashing on Percy and I don't have time for that. It's still good though. I need everyone to let Luke go. He's a dick. He had his chance and now needs to be destroyed. Or whatever.

Ummm. Yeah, I think that's all I have. Go Rick. Here's a summary of Witch's Pyre since the Blogger app decided not to save my work after I pressed save. Totally not salty about that anymore.

9/10
~Book Panda

Witch's Pyre

Alright, look. I wrote this entire post about this book. So many freaking words. Then it just disappears. Am I going to rewrite it? Absolutely not. Eat me.

Look, book cover. Wow! Sass. My goodness! Confusion. Of course.

Ticked out of  ten.

~Annoyed Book Panda

The Sea of Monsters

Hello half-bloods,

You know. You know what I did. Lets get down to it.

In the second installment of the Percy Jackson series, The Sea of Monsters, Percy has completed school without any incidents, until one unfortunate dodgeball game that has him, Annabeth, and new friend Tyson, fleeing the school and taking an unconventional taxi back to Camp Half-Blood. The safest place on the planet for demigods is being runover with monsters though. The tree and it's protective force fields are dying, Chiron has been fired, and Grover is in trouble. As Tantalus, the new activities director, has a special hatred for Percy, he won't grant his request for a quest. So basically, everyone's doomed.

I'm not even going to go into what was wrong with the movie. It was just. . . so bad. I'm pretty sure I blocked it all out to protect myself, but I do know that nothing in the book jogged my memory of the movie. Nothing.

Second book wasn't as good as the first, but it's Percy Jackson, so it's still amazing.

10/10 would recommend
~Book Panda

The Problem with Forever

Hey mice,

So, I just finished a book by queen Jennifer L. Armentrout. It's new. NEW! It's called The Problem with Forever and it's absolutely amazing!

Painfully shy Mallory Dodge has decided to finish her senior year in public school after being home schooled for years. Of all the terrifying things that could happen at high school, she didn't think she would be reunited with her best friend from foster care. It was by no means a good foster home, and Rider protected her as best he could, but both of them still have scars from their time there.

Now, this is normally where I say all the things that I loved/stuff that aggravated me. But all of it was lovely. I loved the book. I love Jennifer. I love Mallory. I love Rider. I love Rider's friends/brothers. I love Ainsley and Keira. I love books. Well, Carl was annoying. I wanted to kick Carl in his twenty-million dollar hands, but whatever.

Go read this book and then all the other books by Jenn, because all of them are amazing. I mean, I haven't gotten to all of them yet, but I'm sure they're all amazing.

Now back to Percy Jackson.

8/10
~Book Panda

The Lightning Thief

Hey demi-gods,

Now, if people read this regularly, they'd be all, "Panda, didn't you just finish and/or blog about a book today?" My answer is yes, what's your point?

So I just finished The Lightning Thief and it was just as amazing as it was in intermediate school. If you've been living under a rock for the last eleven years or you're trash and only watched the disgusting production that was the movie, here's what the book is really about. So Percy Jackson is a troubled kid in a school with troubled kids. He's dyslexic and has ADHD, but his problems don't stop there. After a disastrous field trip, he's kicked out of yet another school. His mother, being the angel that she is, takes him on a trip, but since when does the protagonist ever get a break? The trip ends prematurely and awfully. Percy is thrust into a world of half-blood kids with the Greek gods for parents. Not only that, but they seem to be fighting over a lost article. When Percy is claimed by his father, he finds out that Zeus' master bolt has been stolen, and he's the number one suspect. He, his best friend Grover, who happens to be a satyr, and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, are sent on a quest to retrieve the bolt from Hades and set everything right before the summer solstice.

Now let's go to the atrocity that is the movie. I was willing to forgive the age difference, and overlook Annabeth's lack of blonde hair, and even that there was no Dionysus. But I knew the it was trash when freaking Hades attacks the camp and flaunts Percy's mom. Hades doesn't even show up until they actually go to the underworld. Like, bro. Then they sneak out of camp, no quest, no permission, they just leave. On a quest to find the lightning bolt, and pearls. Pearls that are just given to Percy by a water spirit. I was completely done when they had to fight the hydra. THE HYDRA DOESN'T SHOW UP UNTIL THE SECOND BOOK! Agh! It's just awful. Awful. I need to move on.

So, the book is amazing. I like how Percy and Annabeth have that love-hate relationship of being friends but ew, it's a girl. It's great. Grover is adorably scared of everything. I just like everything. It's so good.

Also, I probably won't read this series straight through as I have a bunch of other library books that are due back soon. I can only renew them so many times.

Shipping forever: Percy and Annabeth

10/10 would recommend
~Book Panda

Willowgrove

Those invisible people out there: stop judging. I didn't mean to.

Look. So you know how I was like, yo, Percy Jackson! But after I finish the Hemlock series?

Well I got impatient. So I was reading them simultaneously.

Leave me alone. It's so good! It just makes the movie that much worse and I'm totally okay with that.

But Willowgrove. So this book is basically about Mac and Company trying to figure out who was involved with the Willowgrove experiments and how everything was connected. While they're looking for proof, tensions about possible werewolves grows and no one feels safe. It's a struggle.

It was a good book, just don't read Percy Jackson books while you're reading it. There was mention about packs in the beginning and the consequences of not joining once you've pledged but then it was never mentioned again. I like that Jason is better about the werewolf thing now, because earlier he was annoying me. Hank? Molding bread. Sinclair? Dumpster. Ummm. . . . Go read it, it's good. Best in the series.

Truth: I can't really concentrate because. . . you know. You know.

I have a problem. Sorry, not sorry.

Shipping: Mac and Kyle, Jason and Serena
Wanted to see more of: Tess
Kick in the face: People, because they can't just love everyone

8/10
Series: 7.85/10
~Book Panda

Thornhill

Happy Teen Wolf Tuesday!

For those of you who watched last week, I know and I understand your pain. I cried. For those of you who are confused, you can leave.

Anyway, in honor of Teen Wolf Tuesday, I finished the second book about the werewolves. Disclaimer, people said this series was like Teen Wolf. I'm here to tell you that they are not only wrong, but they're liars.

But yeah, so this book is called Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock, second to Hemlock. Kyle ran off like a little girl so Jason and Mac have gone off to go find him. And they find him. Then they get captured by freaking Trappers and are sent to a camp that's supposed not supposed to be open yet.

That's kind of all I can say without retelling the entire book for you. So I have a few things I need to happen after reading this book. I need Jason and Serena to be a thing. I need Kyle to stop acting like everything is his fault. I also need Kyle to stop telling Mac that everything isn't her fault, because it is. I need a certain someone to have a heart-to-heart with someone else so awkwardness can leave. I need Mac to stop hallucinating about Amy.

The book was good though. I liked it more than Hemlock. I didn't like when the characters did dumb things, but it's part of the plot. So maybe I don't like plot? LOL, no. That would mean I don't like books. I love books. More than people.

Shipping: Kyle and Mac, Jason and Serena
Want death for: Sinclair
Shady af: Curtis

8/10
~Book Panda

Hemlock

Hello werewolves,

Get excited. Get turnt. Because it's Thanksgiving break, baby! NO SCHOOL! ALL THE HAM! I'm so excited about ham, you have no idea. And sleep! I haven't had a restful sleep in weeks. Gah! I'm so happy! And I finished a book! And I just received the Percy Jackson series! That isn't what I finished today though. I'm going to finish this series then read Percy Jack
son. But anyway. . .

So today I finished a book called Hemlock. I actually read this earlier this year, but when I went to get the others I had no idea what happened so I was like, what the hey. Let's read it again. This book begins after the murder of Mac's best friend. Of course, this is me, and we don't read normal murder mysteries.That would be boring and mundane. No, Amy was murdered by a werewolf. Ever since the government admitted that there werewolves existed, the public has been wary. After the governors granddaughter dies because of one of "the infected" a radical group of werewolf hunters is brought to Hemlock. Mac is losing friends because of the group, so she decides to try and find out what happened on her own.

I like this book, I just shouldn't have read it again. I mean, I had to for memory purposes, but this wasn't a reread it book for me. This isn't like The Mortal Instruments and I can just reread it five times and it's amazing every time. You should defintely read it though. It's good. Mac tries to fix of everybody, which is adorable. Kyle's a sweetheart, as is Trey. It's a good time. Go read and be grateful about it.

Shipping: Mac and Kyle
Rooting for: Trey, Tess
Meh: Jason

7.5/10
~Book Panda

Sweet Temptation

Hey guys,

So I finished Sweet Temptation today by our recent friend Wendy Higgins. This is a companion novel to the Sweet Trilogy. It's from bae-Kaidan's perspective in all three books. I love how we see Kaidan's thoughts and feelings for Anna when she believes he hates her or is indifferent to her. I don't always read companion novels, but if it's the same story with a different perspective I will. I just love seeing things from the males viewpoint. It makes me happy.

I really don't have much to say about this book tbh, it was just good. First book has angry, distrusting Kaidan. Second book has pissed, self-hating Kaidan then lovey Kaidan. Third book has worried, lovey, self-doubting Kaidan. Epilogue is wonderful. I love it. It's all great. If you read the first three, you'll love this one. If you haven't, you might be a little confused but it all works out.

Shipping: Anna and Kaidan forever

8/10
~Book Panda

Sweet Reckoning

Hey Luvs,

This will be relatively quick since I'm about to drive to Chicago and I'm leaving my beloved laptop behind. So, today I finished Sweet Reckoning, the final book to the Sweet Trilogy. It was so sweet. So sweet.

So Anna returns from L.A. after all the jazz that went down there. Hiding from Dukes and trying to keep their rebellion a secret and whatnot. Kaidan and Anna have agreed to stop pretending they don't
love each other and all that jazz. The Dukes are becoming suspicious of the Neph's though, Anna in particular. Basically everything is leading up to a big boss battle.

Some high points that I enjoyed that may be a bit spoiler-y are

• Patti getting to nurture a big family
• Kaidan being horny af
• The marriage
• John/Belial possessing a famous rapper
• When Anna got piss drunk
• Kaidan
• The epilogue

So yeah. I enjoyed the book a lot. It gave me a lot of joy. The series as a whole was also pretty good. Not I'd-read-it-again good, but not why-did-I-pick this-up bad. So yeah. Take that with a pinch of salf or however the poop that saying goes.

Btw: there's another book. It says it's the fourth one, but it's from Kaidan-bae's perspective so it's actually like 1.5 or something. Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who looked it up and was like yo, why is it a trilogy with four books. Alright, bye.

Ship: Anna and Kaidan, Kopano and Zania, Jay and Marna, Ginger and Blake, Belial and Patti

8/10

Series: 7.8/10

~Book Panda

Sweet Peril

Hey Neph's,

How's life? Did you have a nice day? Good. Today, on an uneasy day for America, I finished a book. I would have been finished yesterday, but I had a thing.

So, I finished a book called Sweet Peril today. It's the second in the Sweet trilogy. This one, dang. So good. So good. After Miss Anna Whitt swears to herself that she won't tempt others towards substance abuse, she becomes the ultimate party girl. Though it's been almost a year, Kaidan still haunts her memories, even though he was and still is kind of a douche to her. John the good Duke sends her and Kopano on trips to persuade other Nephilim to join their cause. Because Anna is the one that's pure of heart. She can damn all the demons and redeem those that see error in their ways. She can give the Neph's a chance.

I enjoyed this one more than the first one. The first one seemed kind of amature to me after reading this one. It has more angst and love triangle and stuff, but sometimes I like that. At first I wanted Anna and Kopano to just be together because, like I said, Kai was being a douche. Then I remembered that there was a white guy on the cover of all of these books so that wasn't happening. I like that Anna comes out her shell more. Despite the fact that she had to adopt the party girl facade, she stayed herself and I liked that as well. Kaidan became a sweetheart, so that's always good. I hate that sweet moments were ruined by demons but it meant something to the plot, so meh.

Sweet Peril was a good book overall. I got to see new sides of characters and met a few new ones along the way. It seems that Wendy got the hang of it in this book.

Shipping: Kaidan and Anna (duh), Kopano and Zania
Love: Blake, John, Patti, Marna
Should be shot: Dukes

8/10
~Book Panda

Sweet Evil

Hello Nephilim,

Hows life? Are you enjoying your weekend? I am, as I finished a book.

A book? Like, a book? You exclaim. You? How! It's only been three days. Have you been out of school, Book Panda? No. I just didn't do homework.

Anyway, today I read I finished Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins. We're back in fantasy land, people and won't be leaving anytime soon. Sweet Evil is about a girl named Anna Whitt who's a perpetual good girl. She doesn't swear, she doesn't do drugs, she's nice as potato pie. Anna also has the nifty ability to see and feel the emotions of others. She thinks she's just weird until she meets drummer Kaidan Rowe who's anything but nice. There encounters leave her changed forever. . . . that was so cliche I think I threw up a little. I'm so sorry.

By the way, I picked up this series because it was referenced in The Lux series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I read everything and anything she writes and she practically told me to read it, so I listened. If you're into aliens or demigods or half gargoyle/demons or contemporary stuff then she has something for you. Go find it.

Anyway, I really liked this book. Anna's innocence and naivete made me cringe so much, but it got better. Jay, her best friend, was awesome, and Kaidan made me want to kill and love him simultaneously. When she finally met her dad I was skeptical but I ended up loving him. He's so precious. Some events in the book I felt could have been avoided, but then the book wouldn't be interesting so I'm conflicted. You invisible readers should go read it. I enjoyed it.

Shipping: Anna and Kaidan, Jay and Veronica, Blake and Ginger

Love: John, Marna, Kaidan, Patti
Hate: Dukes

7.5/10
~Book Panda

Still Alice

Hey butterflies!

Wow! Three in two days! This won't happen again until the week of Thanksgiving when I'll be reading Percy Jackson, so enjoy.

Alright, so I finished a book called Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It's about a well known Harvard professor named Alice Howland getting diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease and the degeneration of her condition as the year goes on. It was quite sad though I didn't cry for once, which is quite shocking. The fact that she couldn't recognize her family was heartbreaking and how she couldn't remember what she liked and didn't like.

It wasn't my normal choice of book, but my teacher recommended it to me so I thought, what the hey. It's at the library, pick it up. It wasn't like my favorite, but I liked it. It was a good book. I've already decided I can't watch the movie because she doesn't even work at Harvard. I hate when they do that. Was it so hard to choose the correct setting? Also, Kristen Stuart. . . yeah no.

7/10
~Book Panda

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hello Pear Blossoms,

So, I finished a book for school and felt obligated to tell you about it as I'm not done with my current book yet. I mean, it hasn't been that long, but you know. It's a book. This is a book blog. Gotta do the thing.

Alright, so for school they had us read Their Eyes Were Watching God. Why? Who knows. What educational value does this give us besides actually reading something written by a black person for once? Not much. But whatever, I do what I'm supposed to. So this book follows the story of Janie Crawford. She lives in like the 1930s I believe and is swiftly married off after just a kiss with a boy named Johnny Taylor at the age of sixteen. It was her first kiss. The novel goes through an account of her life with three husbands, two who tried to hold her back and one who just wanted to love her but was super shady. It wasn't a romance novel so much as a feminist novel. It wasn't a book so much about racial oppression as much as gender oppression.

Many people in my class didn't like the book as they found it hard to read and thought it had a bunch of miscellaneous stuff in it. I didn't find it that hard to be honest. It shifts from eloquent writing to black southern dialect in the dialogue. I transitioned between the two pretty well so I didn't find it very difficult. And I thought that the miscellaneous stuff was mostly to show an example what everyday life was like in that setting. What's this mean for me? Probably that I read too much and that my ability to translate and make assumptions about books is too advanced for my peers. Do I care? Not really.

I didn't hate the book. For a school book, I thought it was alright. Would I ever pick it up voluntarily? No. But of all the books I was forced to read against my will, this was the best one.

6/10
~Book Panda

Empire of Storms

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Hey, sorry for the long wait, but I did finish a book. I'm not gonna go too into it because I'm going to reread this series when the final book comes out, but just know that you should all go read it because the series is amazing.

Today, I finished Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. The whole backstory is way too long to summarize, there being four giant books previous to this one, but just know that it's legend. You know, now that I think about it, I shouldn't be telling you anything. Go read a book!

Basically, there's a queen, she's trying to take back her territory or whatever. There's an old dick who won't let her. She tries to save it anyway. Summary.

Response: AGHGGGHGHHHHHHH! I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY AND FOR ALL THE SHIPS TO SAIL.

Alright, good? Good. If that confused you enough to go read the book, awesome! Do it, it's awesome. So good. So good.

Ships; ???????????
Rooting for: the ships

9/10
~Emotional Book Panda

Stalling. . .

So you've probably wondered where I've been. Or you would if people read these regularly.

Since the 8th, I've been trying to read The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson. It's the third in the Remnant Chronicles trilogy. I don't know why, but I couldn't read it. Not willingly. Like, I loved the other two books, they were amazing, but I didn't want it to end, and I think something is going to happen at the end that I really don't want to happen because I love the other guy. I also couldn't remember some of the characters and events from the other books. Because of this I'm stalling. I'll probably reread the entire series through in like March or something like that. I think I'll be better prepared for it to all end and I'll want to know what happens more.

If that doesn't make sense, it doesn't really matter. You invisible readers understand. I won't give you like summaries and stuff, because it probably won't be accurate or it will only skim the surface and then we'll all be confused.

This next book should have a better outcome then the 600+ page beauty I had to set aside.

Apologies,
~Book Panda

The Edge of the Light

(Sorry about this post, it was finished on October 8th but I didn't publish it. It took me 24 days.)

Islanders,

This isn't okay.

This ending is trash, and apparently this is the last book. The first on said four years, she's only been there for two! I hate reporters and stepdads and aahhhhhhhhh!

Sorry. You're confused. Let me start at the beginning. Once upon a time there was a girl named Hannah. She had weird telepathic but not powers and her maybe seventh stepdad found out. He used her for his exploition of old people. Then Hannah thought that whatever his name was going to kill her or his partner. She told her mom and they ran away. Her mother, Laurel, left her at Whidbey Island so she could go set up their lives in Canada or somewhere. So Hannah became Becca. The woman she was supposed to be staying with who knew about her died literally that night. So then Becca has to like navigate an island and a life alone without her mom while trying to keep her secrets. That's a rough summary of The Edge of  Nowhere. So in this book, she meets like four people who stick with her throughout. Derrick later becomes bae, Seth is best friend, Jenn is at first antagonist, then best friend, and I think there's a kid with a meat name that's kind of her friend. Anyway, it's whatever.

The other two books have weird overall stories, but the internal stuff leads to this book. In The Edge of the Light, Seth's grandfather has had a stroke and his aunt, his grandfather's daughter, is trying to take his pride and joy from him so she can make bank because she's trash. Seth's girlfriend claims her drug problem isn't a problem but we all know it is. Derric has found his sister, but he never told her that he is her brother so she now has a serious crush on him even though he's like five years older than her. Jenn is just now realizing she's a lesbian even though I figured that out in like the second, third book. And an awful, disgusting, trash reporter is looking for Becca. And she's never failed before. So yeah, awful summary, but whatever I'm angry.

So first, Becca keeps preaching about telling the truth, but doesn't even tell Derric about her real identity. Like I said, I knew Jenn was gay when she was checking out Becca when they were scuba diving. And Seth is so blindly in love that he just lets Prynne get away with doing hard drugs like they're Pixie Stixs. Ugh.

I really liked the book, though it took me a bit it was the same with the others. It's a change of pace and I like it. But apparently it just ends like this, and it isn't okay. Like some things are resolved but everything else is just like well, it is what it is. Figure it out. Elizabeth, you don't do that! I need closure, dang it!

How annoyed/mad am I about this book?: 8/10
Ship: Derric and Becca, Jenn and Cynthia
Needs to separate immediately: Seth and Prynne
Needs to burn forever: reporter trash, aunt trash, aunt's husband trash

7/10
~Annoyed Book Panda

Lion Heart

Hello Lions,

Today, or tonight, marks the end of the Scarlet trilogy. It was a journey. A journey on horseback. Lion Heart begins with Scarlet in prison. She's been there for several months but endures on thinking of Robin. Then John lets on a little secret before she escapes. With a loyal guard and Allan the storyteller (I forgot to mention him last time being as I was sick, but he's great) Scarlet tries to figure out her next move without endangering anyone. They meet up with the queen, Winchester, and some other fool named Essex. In the end, it should be obvious that she goes back to Robin, but if it isn't. . . . spoiler alert.

I liked how Much is more confident in his abilities, though he still doesn't see his full potential, but do any of us? Scarlet gets female friends, and I think that's good for her. It made me happy. John. . . John's still a prick. The nobles that we meet aren't all like de Clare and Gisbourne so that's a relief. I was ready to go on an anti-rich people campaign. Scarlet kind of accepts her place in nobility. I feel iffy about that. That comes next, just wait. David, he's the knight, and Allan have this weird hatred of each other. The rabid fangirl in me believes that they have a thing going on. You know the type. They act like they hate each other horrifically in public but behind closed doors there's love. Or interest or whatever. Robin's great, per usual.

Though I liked this book, I didn't dig it as much as the first two. I guess there was too much happiness for me? I don't know. I'm weird. I mean, I did dig it. Lion Heart was dug. There was just something about it that wasn't as enjoyable as the first couple. Maybe it's because Scarlet lost a bit of her surliness. That's a part of her character development, from commoner to kind-of-noble, but I don't like it. Also I would have liked to meet Richard. We hear all these awesome anecdotes about him and it's disappointing how the series ends without Scarlet and us meeting her dad. Eleanor also kind of bothered me. Though she meant well, she's very manipulative. She uses people's feelings against them. Maybe that's how being queen works, I wouldn't know, but it's quite rude. If Queen Elizabeth ever reads this, could you enlighten me and my nonexistent readers? Thanks, poppet.

Overall, I really liked the series. I have never read a Robin Hood retelling, so it set the standard. Scarlet was an awesome character and her band spread from just four. If you're reading this and any of this sounds interesting, go out and read it, it's really good.

Next I'll be reading three books I've been waiting for to come out, so it's going to be pretty epic.

Shipping: Robin and Scarlet, Margaret and Winchester, Much and Bess, David and Allan, Isabel and Essex, Missy and Will
Hate Forever: Prince John, Gisbourne, de Clare

8/10
Series: 8/10
~Book Panda

Lady Thief

Hello Shiny Knives,

Just a note, and I can do this because no one reads these, but I'm pretty sick. So we'll see how sick Book Panda writes. Probably poorly.

Anyway, What's up? How's life? That's great. This book? This book I have in my lap, awesome but makes me want to scream. You know the type. You know.

Today I finished the second book in the Scarlet trilogy, Lady Thief. After  rescuing Robin from torture and marrying freaking Gisbourne, the band is hiding out in a monastery for the winter. Robin has those awful PTSD nightmares that end in Scarlet getting hurt more often than not. Scarlet is determined to help him through this until Gisbourne comes back talking about annulment, which is an old-timey word for divorce. Though Robin is completely opposed to this, seeing as Gisbourne is a giant bag of douche, Scarlet agrees. I mean, she wants to marry Robin. Robin is great. Scarlet then has to try and act like a proper court lady to appease Gisbourne. But this is Scarlet we're talking about. It ain't gonna be that easy.

So, what did I enjoy in this book? That Robin actually has the feelings throughout the book. In Lady Thief you can actually tell that he loves her, instead of his hot and cold spiel in the first book. I also like the overall story, though the ending ticked me off. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST BE HAPPY, DANG IT! I was afraid that A. C. was going to make me feel sympathy for Gisbourne, but all I felt was hatred and disgust. Prince John is also trash. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be trash since my Disney Robin Hood days are so far in the past, but I hate him. He's like that teenage boy that's throwing a tantrum because his Prius is blue instead of black.

I have more feelings about this book, but the sickness is telling me to go to sleep.

Shipping: Robin and Scarlet
I Dig: Much, Winchester
Pissed About: John (he just wanted to be happy)

8.5/10
~Book Panda

Scarlet

Hello Merry Readers,

Dang. I got a book for you. The historical fiction thing worked out pretty well! This week I read a book called Scarlet by an A. C. Gaughen. Sorry to those of you who thought by the title that I meant Scarlet from the Lunar Chronicles series.

You know those books that retell stories in a magical, better way? This was one of those. Scarlet is a spin on the Robin Hood legend. Scarlet is a member of Robin's band of merry men, expect Scarlet is a chick. Few know this, but the band does. The story is some of your typical Robin Hood adventures, stealing from nobles to hand out money to the commoners, but Scarlet brings about a new perspective. Scarlet is the knife throwing thief of the group. She has a shady past and doesn't let anyone near her. She avoids some topics and thinks she isn't good enough for much. For some reason I love these types of characters. I like to pretend I know them and mentally send them comfort so they don't feel bad anymore. I don't know. I'm weird. Anyway, Scarlet has a secret, and it might disrupt the band. *gasp*

But here's what you all were looking for: the love interests. So there's John Little, the flirt of the group. He's the more obvious of the loves. To be honest, I was rooting for him throughout some of the book. I liked his personality better and how he actually showed his feelings. I was team John. I mean, I didn't like how he flirted with other girls, but I liked him. Then there's Robin. As in Robin Hood. This guy was so hot and cold. Like Katy Perry's love interest. Like one second he's freaking the heck out because he thinks she got hurt, but the next he's saying if she puts them in danger she's out the band. I was like, dude. Make up your mind or John will make it for you. When I realized he wasn't just being a dick, I kind of liked him. Then I really liked him.

Overall, this was an awesome book. I don't know much about the Robin Hood legend besides what the Disney version told me, but I liked it. I'd recommend if you like awesome, kick-butt, female protagonists, the retellings of other stories, and "historical fiction". (I don't know if Robin Hood was actually real).


Shipping: Robin and Scarlet
Rooting For: Much

8.5/10
~Book Panda

Reckoning

The end is nigh!

This is the last book of the Strange Angels series, and let me tell you. It was a book.

Reckoning starts off with Dru, Ash, and Graves on the run from everybody. The vamps, because they're three types of crazy, and the Order, because their protection is pretty crappy. The trio is pretty safe for a while until a series of events cause them to be found. Again. Chris comes back (did we really expect him not too?) and all seems well. Then we realize who's fault it is, and hearts are broken. . . . bad word choice, sorry.

Anyway, we see the other species of Real World, some kickbutt fighting scenes, and love declarations. No heavy make outs, unfortunately. Ash still speaks like a baby who only knows four words, but he's still adorable. I liked the book, but I wasn't fond of the ending. Dru is still being pulled around regardless of her feelings and I hate that. It hits too close to home. Also, I'm sad I didn't see if my ship sailed. Or the other ship that was possible but not the one I really wanted. There was no ship closure. I guess this is why people read and write fanfiction. So their ships can sail. The end of this series didn't leave me with the idea that Dru's life would be a happy one. It gave me bad vibe. Like Nat the shifty werwulf, who apparently was okay.

Besides the ending, I enjoyed the book. The entire series was good as a whole too. It wasn't a read-five-times series like The Mortal Instruments, but it was definitely a you-should-read this series. I recommend to those of you who like Supernatural like books.

8.5/10

To my imaginary readers: I know that I said I'd try and not do spoilers, but I realize that whatever I really like or don't like about the book is some sort of spoiler. And that's what this is about. So oops. Maybe you shouldn't read these until you've read the book. Next I'm reading a series that my library labelled Historical Fiction, so we'll see.

~Book Panda

Defiance

*spoilers be present*

Alright, so. . . .

AghhhhgGGHHHghhhh!

Just so you know, that wasn't a bad scream. It was like a yay! No! I knew it! Agh! Why?! Scream. There were a lot of things that happened. A lot of things.

Alright. Summary. Defiance is a post Anna Schola where Dru's main goal is to save Graves. Will the Council let her? No. Is she angry about it? Absolutely. The Council is also smothering her with guards and everyone is still weary about Ash. They're trying to train her, but they won't let her in on the action of outside. It's too dangerous, they say. You're precious, they say. From my perspective it's just as dangerous inside the Schola, but what do I know about safety and assassination attempts?

Well, don't ya know Dru don't play that mess? So, we have this new werwulf chick, Nathalie. She was shifty to me the entire time. I mean, Dru dug her but I there was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way. She was too perfect for me. Christophe. . . things get intense with him. I don't like it. Ash though! He does it! It makes me happy. Lili described him exactly how I pictured him besides the stripe, and that made me happy. I also like how he speaks monosyllabic for the most part. Ahh, Ash. I started to trust Christophe, then I was like, "This guy's shady." Then my suspicions were confirmed. Then I was like agh! Now I just don't trust anyone. Except Ash. And Dibs. And Shanks. And Graves of course. . . . yup. No one.

Shipping: Graves and Dru?

Rooting For: Ash

Confused About: Dru's feelings

8.5/10

~Book Panda

Jealousy

What's up?

I'm just going to start with a little rant. So, whoever had this book in the past decided that it would be a good idea to WRITE IN PEN in the library book. Not only did they write in it in 25 concurrent pages, but it's in a spot that you can't miss. If you're out there and you're reading this, Book Defacer, you are the reason we don't have nice things. There are three reading pet peeves I have. Writing in books, particularly library books, dog-earring books, and people spoiling the ending for me. All three have happened to me through library books and scum in my school who don't want me to have happiness and it makes me want to lay on the ground and contemplate the existence of these heathens. *sigh*

But Jealousy though.

Jealousy takes place in yet another Schola. The right Schola. Dru should feel safe, but can't help feeling paranoid, seeing as how wulfen, vampires, and dreamstealers have been trying to kill her since her dad turned zombie. Now she's stuck in another blue room, with another group of boys that won't talk to her, and the feeling that someone wants to do her harm. Ship with bae-Graves moves forward but is really weird. He acts more like her affectionate older cousin than her lover in the night, but whatever. It was progress. We see less of Dibs, but I still love him. Ash is seen more, even if he is just doing the equivalent of a puppy crying at night. Towards the end he kicks booty though. Anna. . . more like wanna punch her in her red dyed head. And her throat. I want to punch that too. She was shifty from the beginning to me. I kind of hate her more than Serje, the vampire trying to kill Dru, because I know the type. She's that pretty, popular girl that picks on those beneath her for no reason other than to amuse herself. Ugh.

Anyway. This one was probably the best one of the three I've read. I felt like the pacing of this one was much better. It kept me interested the whole way through and the ending. AGHHHH! I had a feeling! Sorry. Good book. You should read it.

Shipping: Graves and Dru
Rooting For: Ash

8/10
~Book Panda

Betrayals

Hey again,

Yesterday I finished a book called Betrayals by Lili St. Crow. This is the second book in a series called Strange Angels. I read the first one over the summer and finally found all the rest of them.

The first book, Strange Angels, has absolutely nothing to do with angels. The main character, Dru, and her dad travel the country hunting things that go bump in the night. Much like Sam and Dean in Supernatural without the Impala and the beautiful Jensen Ackles. After a few days, Dru's dad doesn't come back from a hunt. Until he does. And not in the Supernatural way. By herself, she realizes that whoever did that to her dad will be coming after her. A half-goth boy and someone she'd normally hunt try to keep her safe, even though she can do that just fine by herself.

*IF YOU HAVEN'T READ STRANGE ANGELS, GO AWAY AND READ IT, BECAUSE OF THE SPOILERS*

Betrayals takes place while Dru and Graves are at the Schola, a supposedly safe place for teenage werewolves, half-werewolves, and half-vampires. It should be like normal school with the addition of combat training, except Dru is the only girl. And that's only the beginning of her struggles.

This book was a combination of slow and frustrating in the beginning. For me. Then as I realized what was happening, it got faster and infuriating. How dare they try and shelter the most powerful whatever-she-is! At least I think she's most powerful. . . when she comes into her powers . . . ? I don't remember. Anyway, yeah! I liked it. Besides when she was all sad and the people were being annoying, I enjoyed this book. I think in the third book, or somewhere before the end of the series, Dru's going to fix Ash, and Ash is going to be awesome. Dibs is literally the most adorable person ever. I used to want Shanks to go eat dirt, but he's cool now.

Shipping: Dru and Graves; Dru and Christophe
Rooting for: Ash
Disclaimer: There are three other books in this series and I'm reading them in order, so the next few posts will probably be written assuming you've read  the others.

7.5/10
~Book Panda

The Last Star

Hey Internet!

So I finished a book last night called, The Last Star by Rick Yancey. This is the final book to The 5th Wave trilogy and to be honest, I don't know how I feel about it.

If you haven't read The 5th Wave, it's a sci-fi book about aliens systematically killing off the entire human population in a series of waves. The main character is Cassie, who is trying to find her brother, but the story of Zombie is also followed. Zombie has been taken to a military base to be trained as a soldier. To those of you who are like, "I watched the movie so I'll just read the second one," that movie was trash, and you are also trash. READ THE BOOK!

But The Last Star though. The beginning was slow--so slow--but the ending was alright. I didn't hate it, but there was a lot of sighing on my end. Bae never got a chance, not really. *sigh* There were also a lot of scenes in the book that I thought could have been avoided if they just followed The 5th Wave world rule: trust no one. I totally saw majority of the bad things coming. Out of 10 I'd give this book a 5. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. The first book was definitely best out of the entire series.

5/10
See you when I finish my next book!
~Book Panda

Hi!

Hi all!

I'm the Book Panda, and I've come to give you all the power of book reviews. Hopefully I will make someone want to read these books I review. Will there be spoilers? I'll try not to. Will there be gushing and minor fangirling? I can almost guarantee it. And will I post everyday? No, because I don't finish all books in a single day. I don't expect people to actually read any of these, but I'm doing it anyway because none of my friends read so I can't freak out with them. Now, you may be wondering I decided to be a book panda instead of a book worm. My response to that would be worms are gross. Pandas are cuddly. Need I say more?

That's all for now. I'll be posting my first review shortly, so stay tuned!

~The Book Panda