Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Book: Ask Again Later
Author: Liz Czukas
# of Pages: 188 (ebook)
Challenge: 2014 Ebook Challenge
Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Despite what her name might suggest, Heart has zero interest in complicated romance. So when her brilliant plan to go to prom with a group of friends is disrupted by two surprise invites, Heart knows there's only one drama-free solution: flip a coin.

Heads: The jock. He might spend all night staring at his ex or throw up in the limo, but how bad can her brother's best friend really be?

Tails: The theater geek...with a secret. What could be better than a guy who shares all Heart's interests--even if he wants to share all his feelings?

Heart's simple coin flip has somehow given her the chance to live out both dates. But where her prom night ends up might be the most surprising thing of all...

My Thoughts

I did not even know about this book until I saw it on another blog. The synopsis sounded pretty interesting, so I decided to give it a chance.

Heart is a member of the drama club, hates her name, and has a some really good friends. She also has two potential dates to the prom.

I really liked how this book was set up so that we could see both scenarios played out. In both situations, some awkward, surprising, and unpleasant things happen to Heart. The one thing that is the same in both is that her friends are there for her when she needed them. But, my favorite part was how the book ended.

There were a couple of times during the story when I forgot which date Heart was supposed to be with, but for the most part, it was easy to keep track. I did like Heart's friends, but other than Cassidy and Chase, I had a hard time telling the rest apart from each other. I wanted to know more about them, how long they had been friends, what plays they had been in together. Since they played a big role in the story, I would have thought more details would have been revealed about them.

Overall, Ask Again Later is a cute, fun, quick read. And I look forward to reading more of Czukas's works.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Book: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2)
Author: Cassandra Clare
# of Pages: 453 (Paperback)
Challenge: 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed City of Bones, so I had high expectations for City of Ashes and it did not disappoint.

City of Ashes picks up a few days after City of Bones ends. In this book, Clary and Jace struggle to figure out who they are and where they belong. And all kinds of chaos is happening in the Shadowhunter world. 

Also, Clary and Jace are told that they have special "talents", but we do not learn exactly what they are. Hopefully, there will be more info about them in the next book.

I felt that Clary was pretty strong throughout the story despite all the stress and pressure she had to deal with. Though the character that impressed me most was Alec. In the first book he was so angry and jealous that I found it very hard to like him. In this book, however, we see just how clever and brave and thoughtful he can be. I really liked getting to see this side of him.

Overall, City of Ashes was full of action, mystery, and romance. And even though I did like City of Bones a bit more, I thought this was a very enjoyable read.

Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR Pile

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Pivot Point by Kasie West
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
The Beginnin of Everything by Robin Schneider
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Breakable by Tammara Webber
The Taking by Kimberly Derting

What books are you planning to read this spring?

February TBR Pile

Books:

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Pivot Point by Kasie West

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

What books will you be reading this month?

Crushed by Sara Shepard

Book: Crshed (Pretty Little Liars #13)
Author: Sara Shepard
# of Pages: 338 (Hardcover)
Challenge: 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 4.5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
It's springtime in suburban Rosewood, which means iced soy lattes, fresh manicures in shimmering pastels—and prom. But while everyone else is flipping through the racks at Saks in search of the perfect dress, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria are on a different kind of hunt: They're looking for A. . . .

Hanna puts her campaign for prom queen on the back burner to volunteer at the burn clinic, where one of A's victims is recovering. Emily digs into Ali's past at the mental hospital with some very crazy consequences. Spencer contacts a private eye to help her stalk her stalker. But when their sessions get a little too private, they may forget to keep their eyes on A. . . . And Aria's worried that A is even closer than she thought. When her dark secret from Iceland finally comes to light, she discovers that maybe, just maybe, the one person she's been trying to hide the truth from has known all along.

The liars are finally taking the fight to A. But no matter what they do, A's always one step ahead, ready to crush the girls completely.

My Thoughts:

To be perfectly honest, I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. Since book eight, the original final book in the PLL series, I have not found any of the following books particularly gripping or attention-holding. Thankfully, Crushed exceeded my expectations and fulfilled both of these qualities.

This installment of the PLL series was full of unexpected twists and turns. The series is definitely taking on a darker, scarier feel. A's threats are becoming more serious. Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily are frantically  trying to discover A's identity to stop all the madness once and for all. And the ending…whoa, so shocking.

Overall, Crushed was a great read. Though there were a couple predictable things that happened, it was a major step up from the last couple books in the series. 

2014 Dystopia Reading Challenge

The 2014 Dystopia Reading Challenge is hosted by Blog of Erised. I love dystopian novels, but I didn't read as many as I wanted to. So I'm going to make up for that this year.

Level 3: Revolutionist 13-18 books

Books:

Through the Ever Night and Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

Prodigy and Champion by Marie Lu

Plague, Fear, and Light by Michael Grant

Taken by Erin Bowman

Matched series by Ally Condie

Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi

Partials by Dan Wells

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

2014 Releases I Can't Wait to Get My Hands On

Oblivion (Nevermore #3)
by Kelly Creagh

Release Date: August 28
Unfortunately, this doesn't have a synopsis yet.

It feels like forever since Enshadowed was released. I can't wait to see how this series ends. Hopefully the release date won't change again.

Breakable by Tammara Webber
Release Date: May 6
Goodreads

I LOVED Easy, so I was absolutely thrilled when I found out Tammara Webber was coming out with a story from Lucas's perspective.

The Taking by Kimberly Derting
Release Date: April 29
Goodreads

I loved Kimberly Derting's Body Finder series. I still need to read the Pledge series. But The Taking sounds like it's going to be AMAZING!

Conversion by Katherine Howe
Release Date: July 1
Goodreads

I really enjoyed Katherine Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. So I'm very happy that she is releasing a YA novel.

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne
Release Date: July 8
Goodreads

I read and really liked the prequel, Poison Dance. It gives some insight into the world of Midnight Thief and Blackburne's writing, which is amazing.

The Murder Complex
by Lindsay Cummings
Release Date: June 10
Goodreads

This sounds like it's going to be really good.

Gasp (Visions #3) by Lisa McMann
Release Date: June 3
Goodreads

Lisa McMann is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved her Wake series, and the Visions series is proving to be just as good.

Sunrise (Ashfall #3) by Mike Mullin
Release Date: April 15
Goodreads

Ashfall is a fantastic book. I haven't read its sequel, Ashen Winter, yet, but I can't wait for Sunrise to be released. So I'll read Ashen WInter and Sunrise back to back.

What 2014 releases are you looking forward to reading?