Max's Most Anticipated | Mini Reviews with a Special Guest

Hi everyone, I’m Max, the guest blogger Tessa has mentioned, here to review some of my most highly-anticipated reads of this summer! Keep reading to figure out if they were just as great as I had hope they would be. In case you don’t know me, I used to post on this blog back in its early days, until I unfortunately just didn’t have the time to keep up with it. Thankfully, Tessa’s done and amazing job with it and I’m so proud of how it’s grown since back in the day.

Top Ten Creepy Books for Halloween

Max here! Right in time for Halloween, here are a couple of books to make your Halloween a little bit more fun (and by fun I mean scary). I'm not a big fan of horror books, so these books are more suspenseful or a little bit creepy than full on scary, but I still think they're capable of giving you the goosebumps.

Review | All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All The Bright Places

Author: Jennifer Niven
Release Date: January 6th, 2015
Pages: 388
Review By: Max

After her sister died in a tragic accident, Violet Markey attempts to return to her normal life. She soon realizes nothing can ever be the same, so Violet spends her time counting down the days until she can leave her small Indiana town and the haunting grief.

Theodore Finch (or Theodore Freak, as his classmates are known to call him) tries on different versions of himself in order to forget about the bullies and his troubled home life, but it's becoming harder and harder to stay awake.

One fateful school day, the two find themselves on the top of a bell tower, contemplating jumping. Even though the two have never spoken before, they manage to talk each other out of any sort of reckless decision, and despite their popularity differences, Violet and Finch slowly become friends. The friendship quickly becomes something more, and Violet and Finch discover who they are and what life can be when you're not focused on death. As they become more focused on life, however, Finch starts to lose the strength he needs to stay awake.

Disney Princess Tag

Hey everyone, it's Max with a very exciting post....







 









When Tessa asked me if I'd like to do this tag, I was like:

It's no secret that I am a giant Disney fan, so this is basically the perfect tag for me. I'm going to warn you now that this post is very gif-heavy! Let's get into it.

Bedtime Book Tag

Hey everyone, Max here! We were recently tagged to do the Bedtime Book Tag over at Reviews of a FearStreetZombie, so here's my go at it!

Review | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Release Date:  February 5th, 2012
Pages: 452
Review by: Max




Scarlet is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood that picks up where Cinder left off and includes the story of a new character, Scarlet, while continuing to tell Cinder's cyborg/alien tale.

If you're planning to read Cinder and haven't yet, I would avoid reading this review because of spoilers.

After the her complete disaster at the ball, Cinder has been incarcerated. Which makes it a bit difficult for her to convince Prince Kai she's not evil, stop the actually evil Queen Levana, and fulfill her role as secret alien princess.

Scarlet, Marissa Meyer's version of Little Red Riding Hood, fights her own set of problems in the novel involving aliens (of course) and her missing grandmother in France, with the help of another new character named Wolf. Together, Scarlet and Cinder tell the story of the Commonwealth and Earth in the future through their own separate tales.

BookBlogWriMo | Least Favorite Blogging Things

Whoo! Day 16 of BookBlogWriMo! This is Max, and today we're talking about something that's not exactly happy--my least favorite blogging things. Don't worry, I don't have too many.

1. The work. This is actually just me being lazy, but blogging takes quite a bit of time and effort, which of course I understand but am not always thrilled with.

2. Negativity. This isn't something we've personally experienced here, but it's the internet, so of course there are going to be people out there who are going to be rude online. While this stinks, it happens.

Thanks for reading!
Max

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

These Broken Stars

Authors: Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
Series: Starbound #1
Release Date: December 10, 2013
Pages: 374
Review by: Max

Lilac LaRoux, heiress extraordinaire, and Tarver Merendsen, war hero extraordinaire, run into a bit of a problem when their spaceship decides to stop working and drops them off on an abandoned planet with no other survivors.

With no means to communicate, no information about they planet they've been stranded on, and some creepy things happening on the aforementioned planet, the only hope Lilac and Tarver have lies in each other.

This book tells the complicated tale of their adventures on the planet and struggle to get home, get along with each other, and survive in a harsh, harsh world, and I only have good things to say about it.

Max's Countdown Survey Tag

Hiya guys! Max here with a super-fun tag! It's called the Countdown Tag, and was created over at Christy's Book Addiction. You can check out the original here. This tag was loads of fun to complete, and I hope you enjoy checking it out as much as I did filling it out!

10--Books already released on your wishlist

• What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
• The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
• World After by Susan Ee
• Four (A Divergent Collection) by Veronica Roth
• Where She Went by Gayle Forman
• Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
• The Program by Suzanne Young
• Crewel by Jennifer Albin
• Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
• Looking for Alaska by John Green

9--Favorite Covers

8-Not yet released books that you can't wait for

• In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken
• The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
• Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead
• Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
• Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
• The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
• Winter by Marissa Meyer

7-Auto-buy authors

• Sarah Dessen
• John Green
• Rick Riordan
• Cassandra Clare
• Jennifer E. Smith
• Stephanie Perkins
• Richelle Mead

6-Book boyfriends

• Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
• Noah Shaw from the Mara Dyer series by Michelle Hodkin
• Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Daemon from the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Liam from The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
• Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordian

5-Books you recommend most

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• The Archived by Victoria Schwab
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

4-Books you thought you'd like but didn't

• Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner
• Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3-Books that made you cry

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

2-Books you never plan on reading

• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
• Fallen by Lauren Kate

1-Favorite genre of the moment

• Contemporary

Thanks for reading!
-Max

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Alienated

Author: Melissa Landers
Series: Alienated #1
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Pages: 344
Review by: Max

Cara Sweeney is more than a little surprised when she hears the biggest news of her life, the kind of news that will give her a free ride to the college she's always dreamed of, the kind of news that could launch her journalism career.

The news? That's she's been chosen out of all of the US's valedictorians to host the first participant in the L'eihr exchange student program. It seems a little crazy hosting an exchange student would be this big of a deal, doesn't it? Not when the exchange student is an alien from outer space.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Heist Society


Author: Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #1
Release Date: February 9, 2010
Pages: 287
Review by: Max

Katarina Bishop is not your average private school girl--she's kind of sort of a thief. But Katarina Bishop is also not your average thief--she's one of the best.

At least, she had been, and she had been hoping things would stay that way (a.k.a. normal) until her (ex) co-conspirator shows up to bring her back into the world she had been trying so hard to forget.

And Kat finds out it's her father that's in danger from something he didn't do, she has no choice. She has to attempt the biggest, riskiest job the world has ever seen to save him, something that's never been done before, in two weeks and with a teenage crew. All the while, dealing with family and boy problems.

Huh. Maybe she is just a teenager after all.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Rebel Belle

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Rebel Belle #1
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Pages: 352
Review by: Max

Southern belle Harper is prepared for a lot--for every meeting she's required to have as president of every club/organization physically possible, dates with her perfect boyfriend, and most importantly, becoming homecoming queen.

What she's not prepared for is becoming the 'Paladin' guardian to her arch-nemesis David Stark, a job that comes with some crazy and  dangerous responsibilities.

Max by James Patterson (Maximum Ride series)

Max

Author: James Patterson
Series: Maximum Ride series #5
Release Date: March 16, 2009
Pages: 309
Review by: Max

Warning! This is the FIFTH book in a mostly-great series, so if you haven't read the first four books and are interested in reading the series, I highly recommend you don't read this review and start the series from the beginning! Thanks!

In this installment in the attention-grabbing, thrill-filled Maximum Ride series by James Patterson, the Flock explores the circumstances around a catastrophe involving---you guessed it--millions of fish dying somewhere near Hawaii, relationships strengthen and evolve between two specific characters (insert winks and nudges here), and Max learns some lessons about adults and working with them.

Does it sound like your kind of book yet? Me, neither.

Maximum Ride: The Final Warning

The Final Warning
Author: James Patterson
Series: Maximum Ride #4
Release Date: March 17, 2008
Pages: 256
Review by: Max

WARNING ALERT! This is the fourth book in a series! You probably shouldn't read this review or the book being reviewed if you haven't read the previous books in the series! Thanks. END OF WARNING!

As everyone who's read any of my reviews on this here blog might know, I am a big fan of the Max Ride books-at least, the first few.
I adore all of the characters, all of the action in the first few books make me extremely happy, and the humor of these books is just wonderful.
But I suppose all good things must come to an end, sadly, and this book (in my opinion) is where the greatness of the Max Ride series ends.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind

Author: Neal Shusterman
Series: Unwind Dystology #1
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Pages: 335
Review by: Max

“You can't change laws without first changing human nature.”

“You can't change human nature without first changing the law.”

It's after the Second Civil war and a heck of a lot has changed.

Unwinding: A completely LEGAL procedure targeting thirteen to eighteen year-olds that basically takes out all of their organs and spreads them out to people who 'need' them.
Storking: Leaving your baby on someone else's front steps. Completely legal as long as the house owner doesn't catch you.

In case you can't tell, Neal Shusterman's future is Fudged. Up.

At least, Connor, Risa, and Lev think so.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Lock and Key

Author: Sarah Dessen
Series: N/A
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Pages: 422
Review by: Max

"Ruby, where is your Mother?"

Ruby has dreaded these words for as long as she can remember. Okay, not really. But ever since her mom left her, she's been on her own and as long as no one finds out she'll be fine.
She'll turn eighteen, live in the rented yellow house, and everything will be okay.

Unless she hears those words.

Guess what? She does.

Review | Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #1
Release Date: April 3, 2012
Pages: 549
Review by: Max

"Why be the sheep when you can be the wolf?"

Basically, this book is Brittany, France plus assassin nun spies plus medieval court life.
Really....what more could you want?

Ismae's only seventeen, but in seventeen years, a lot can happen. For instance, you can be abused by your father AND your husband, join a convent, and fall in love with someone you're assigned to kill.

All in less than two decades. Pretty good, huh?

Anyway, it all started when Ismae (does anyone know how to pronounce this, by the way? I go with Is-may) was born. Since her father is Death, you can safely assume that this was the start of her problems.

After an unsuccessful wedding, Ismae is carted away to a convent that she knows nothing about. She's just grateful to get away.
However, it turns out that she's not at some ordinary convent; she's at a convent of St. Mortain, the patron saint of Death. And the nuns there? They're Death's handmaidens, and they do whatever he wants them to.

I loved basically everything about this book.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green
Series: N/A
Release Date: January 10, 2012
Pages: 318
Review by: Max

Okay.
Reading the beginning of this review, you're probably (No guarantees here. I'm definitely not a mind reader.) thinking one of three things. You could A: be excited because TFiOS is one of your favorite books or you're dying to hear someone's opinions on it B: Roll your eyes and stop reading approximately...here because you think this book is over-hyped or it's too mainstream for you or maybe you're just a little skeptical about reading it or C: Have no idea who the heck John Green and you've never heard of TFiOS.

This review is directed towards all of you.

Review | The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived

Author: Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #1
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Pages: 328
Review by: Max

"Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books."

Mackenzie Bishop is stuck.
Both her Da (her grandfather, not her dad) and her little brother Ben have died recently, and frankly, it sucks.
To cope, her mom has picked up her family, or, well, what's left of it, and they've moved to a new home, an old hotel now sold as apartments, so Mac's stuck there, without her best friend or anyone she knows.
Mackenzie is also stuck with a job. A scary one.
Really, her was her Da's job, but he had to pass it on to someone. And that someone is Mackenzie.
Her Da would tell her stories, all about the world that wasn't theirs. Where Histories, the dead who hold the stories of the lives they've led, sleep in the Archive, where only Librarians can read them and the Keepers can hear them.

But sometimes, these Histories wake up and try to escape. And that's where Mackenzie comes in.
Her job as a Keeper is simple (well, as simple as it gets when one's dealing with a  secret world filled with rogue dead people that are kind of like ghosts). She finds the Histories that have woken up, and sends them back to the Archive, where they belong. Simple enough, right?
Wrong.

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
A Maximum Ride Adventure
By: James Patterson
Review by: Max

Hey guys! Max here, with a review from the very series I was named after!

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
Warning: This book is the third in a series! You could probably get by with reading this book alone, but really, guys, it takes away from the whole experience.

This book was when the Maximum Ride series started going downhill. After this one, the rest just kind of...stunk.

Once again, this book is a series, and this book picks up where School's Out-Forever left off. The Flock (Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel) has a mission; save the world from the evil company, Itex. While Max strives to complete her life goal, basically, to save the world, Fang her 'advisor' in a way, wants to just step back, live on some tropical island, and let somebody else do all of the work.

As you might be able to guess, that doesn't exactly go over well.
This book tells the tale of the Flock's struggle to stay together, Max and Fang's relationship struggles, and  the Flock's struggle to keep the evil company Itex from 're-populating'
the world.
And if they fail the last one, they'll have a hard time fixing the other two.

This book sounds good, doesn't it?