Tag Archives: mary e. pearson

Favorite Books of 2014

Favorite Books 1 Comment

I can’t believe another year has gone by! So much has happened this past year, and even with everything going on in my life I have managed to read 80 books this year! It is so hard to narrow them down to my favorites, but I did my best. Here are my favorite books from 2014:

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra ClareCity of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

This has to be one of my favorite series of all time. I loved the first three books and when I found out that Cassandra Clare had decided to write another three books I was so excited! This is the final book in The Mortal Instruments series and it was slightly daunting at a whopping 725 pages but the book is so good that you don’t even realize the length. I will miss this characters terribly but look forward to the spinoff series that Clare is writing!

 

Release date: May 27, 2014

 

 

 

 

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFeversMortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

Another series finale, Mortal Heart started off a bit slow but picked up in the middle and turned out to be a fantastic final book in the His Fair Assassin series. I loved reading about Annith, a character who has intrigued me since book one, and her story had even more twists and turns than the previous two. Review to come soon!

 

 

Release date: November 4, 2014

 

 

 

IMG_1847Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

This is another one of my absolute favorite series, and it seems like each book gets better and better. This is the third but not final book in the series, and will just leave you desperate for the next book to be released!

 

 

Release date: October 21, 2014

 

 

 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. MaasHeir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

I will probably read anything that Sarah J. Maas writes because her writing is so phenomenal. This is the third book in this series and I am still just as interested if not more interested than I was after the first book. Each of these books is amazing and I am so glad I waited hours on line to get an ARC of this one at BEA.

 

 

Release date: September 2, 2014

 

 

 

The Jewel by Amy EwingThe Jewel by Amy Ewing

This book had amazing world building and an eerie plot about pregnancy and surrogacy. While the romance in the book was a bit of a flop, the book didn’t center around it but rather focused on the messed up world of the Jewel and it’s backstabbing royals. I’m anxious to read more about this world so I look forward to the next book.

 

 

Release date: September 2, 2014

 

 

 

The One by Kiera CassThe One by Kiera Cass

I loved the first two books in this trilogy and I couldn’t wait to see how it would end. I literally read this book in less than a day because I couldn’t wait to find out how everything would be wrapped up. I’m so excited that Cass decided to write another book, The Heir, due out next spring!

 

 

Release date: May 6, 2014

 

 

 

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. PearsonThe Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

What I really loved about this book was the narration–it is told from three separate points of view, with a slight twist near the end that totally got me. Great start to a new series!

 

 

Release date: July 8, 2014

 

 

 

The Winner's Curse by Marie RutkoskiThe Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Loved this book!! Beautiful world building and an incredible story. I couldn’t put this one down and after the ending I am anxiously awaiting the next book!

 

 

Release date: March 4, 2014

 

 

 

Cress by Marissa MeyerCress by Marissa Meyer

This is another series that gets better with each book. This book introduced Cress, whose story is a retelling of Rapunzel. I loved her story and how it intertwined with Cinder’s and Scarlet’s stories.

 

 

Release date: February 4, 2014

 

 

 

Ignite Me by Tahereh MafiIgnite Me by Tahereh Mafi

I just actually read this entire trilogy this year and I can’t believe I waited so long before reading it. Mafi’s writing is gorgeous, and this book was SO GOOD!! I love the main character and how she became so strong from the first book to the final book. This is a series I could read over and over again!

 

 

Release date: February 4, 2014

 

 

 

What were some of your favorite books from this year? Anything you missed that you wished you had read this year?

Happy New Year everyone!!

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Book Reviews 2 Comments

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. PearsonPrincess Lia is being forced to marry against her will. Her parents have secured her a marriage to a prince of another land–a prince she has never even met. As a First Daughter, she is supposed to have the gift of sight, which makes her valuable. However, Lia knows that she does not have the gift and that her parents are lying in order to form an alliance with a different kingdom. Lia refuses to be a political pawn and instead runs away on her wedding day, hiding in a far off village while pretending to be a waitress in an inn. When two mysterious men arrive and appear interested in her, she finds herself torn between the two, not realizing that one is the prince she ran away from and the other an assassin sent to murder her.

This was such a great read! Lia is a smart girl who isn’t the typical princess–she hates doing the normal “girly” princess tasks and instead loves to run around with her brothers. When she finds out that she is expected to marry a stranger and move to a nearby kingdom that she has never been to, she is extremely unhappy. She is not the type to sit and be a docile wife but rather she loves to talk back to her father’s advisers and keeps herself educated. Lia, along with her maid and best friend, Pauline, flees the kingdom, leading her father’s men on many false trails and managing to hide herself away in a distant village.

What was really incredible about this book was the narration style. The majority of the book is told from Lia’s point of view, but every few chapters we get a short chapter told from the prince’s point of view and then from the assassin’s. This enables the reader to get a better idea of the other character’s motives and how they are conflicted once faced with Lia. The prince chases after her to see what kind of girl was bold enough to jilt him at his wedding and nearly cause a war between two kingdoms, and the assassin was sent by his employer from a distant land to kill Lia. However, once he meets her, he finds this more and more difficult to accomplish.

Lia is a very humble character for a princess–she gets a job in an inn and is willing to learn and pull her own weight in order to make her way. She doesn’t expect to be handed anything simply because of who she is and she treats her former maid Pauline as an equal. After spending some time away from home and then hearing from her brother about the war that is brewing, she realizes that running away did not only stop the wedding, but may have started more than she intended. Though she is enjoying her new life, she realizes that she may have to consider returning and facing her responsibilities before it is too late. It grows increasingly difficult to leave, however, because she finds herself gaining the attention of both the prince and the assassin, both of whom are torn between their feelings for her and their own responsibilities.

Overall, The Kiss of Deception was an exciting fantasy read that kept me turning pages. The narration style really made the story, especially with a twist I wasn’t expecting, and I look forward to reading the sequel!

The Kiss of Deception will be released on July 15, 2014 and is the first book in The Remnant Chronicles.