My Opinions: Books of 2014

The winners of the Epic Reads book awards were announced. Here are my opinions of the winners:

I am quite annoyed that The One won best book and Kiera Cass won best author. The Selection series is, in my opinion, not that great. I voted for City of Heavenly Fire for best book, but I would have been happy if Cress or even Ignite Me won. I voted for Cassandra Clare as best author. Again, though, I would have been happy if Veronica Roth or Sarah J. Maas won. But not Kiera Cass. Ugh.

I'm not surprised that Mockingjay won best adaption. That was kind of obvious.

I am so, so very annoyed that America and Maxon won best ship. SERIOUSLY??? Does anyone actually read that series and love it? I don't understand. I mean, it wasn't the most terrible thing ever, but I really do not understand why the Selection series is so popular. I was really hoping Magnus and Alec would win.

One thing I am happy about is the best fantasy award. I voted for the Young Elites, but I love Heir of Fire too, so I'm happy that they tied.

It makes sense that The Mortal Instruments won best series end. Not surprised.

I'm slightly annoyed that Warner won best villain. I was hoping Levana would win (though I also love the Darkling). I haven't read Dorothy Must Die, but I want to.

I'm also slightly annoyed that Tobias won best main character. I was voting for Celaena (and before that, Adelina). I'm just glad America didn't win.

So, anyway, I've decided to tell the internet my opinions on the books that I've read that came out this year. Here is a complete list of the books I read.

1. The Young Elites
2. The Blood of Olympus
3. City of Heavenly Fire
4. Ruin and Rising
5. Blue Lily, Lily Blue
6. The Perilous Sea
7. The Iron Trial
8. Cress
9. Silver Shadows
10. Four: A Divergent Collection
11. Ignite Me
12. The Revenge of Seven
13. Heir of Fire
14. Clariel
15. The Bane Chronicles 
16. Gathering Darkness
17. The Infinite Sea 
18. Snow like Ashes 
19. Dreams of Gods and Monsters 
20. We Were Liars 
21. To all the Boys I've Loved Before 
22. The Winner's Curse 
23. In the Afterlight 
24. Illusions of Fate 
25. The Kiss of Deception
26. A Thousand Pieces of You 
27. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
28. The Retribution of Mara Dyer 
29. Afterworlds

Favourite Male Main Character:

• Callum from The Iron Trial
• Tobias from Four: A Divergent Collection
• Magnus from The Bane Chronicles 

Favourite Female Main Character:

• Celaena from Heir of Fire
• Blue from Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Adelina from The Young Elites
• Reyna from The Blood of Olympus
• Cassie from The Infinite Sea 
• Jessamin from Illusions of Fate

Favourite Side Character:

• Persephone from Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Zu from The Darkest Minds
• Rowan from Heir of Fire
• Ringer from The Infinite Sea 
• Zuzana from Dreams of Gods and Monsters 
• Eleanor from Illusions of Fate 
• Jamie from The Retribution of Mara Dyer

Favourite Villain:

• Sebastien from City of Heavenly Fire
• The Darkling from Ruin and Rising
• Clancy Gray from In the Afterlight
• Queen Levana from Cress

Favourite Relationship:

• Magnus and Alec from City of Heavenly Fire and The Bane Chronicles
• Blue and Gansey from Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Vida and Chubs from In the Afterlight 
• Kestrel and Arin from The Winner's Curse

Favourite Friendship:

• Adelina and Raphaele from The Young Elites
• Reyna and Nico from Blood of Olympus
• Blue, Gansey, Ronan and Adam from Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Ruby, Liam, Chubs, Zu and Vida from In the Afterlight 
• Eleanor and Jessamin from Illusions of Fate
• Celaena and Rowan from Heir of Fire

Best Plot:

• City of Heavenly Fire
• In the Afterlight
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• The Perilous Sea
• Heir of Fire

Best Writing Style:

• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• The Perilous Sea
• The Infinite Sea 
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters 
• Afterworlds

Best Setting/World-Building

• The Perilous Sea
• A Thousand Pieces of You
• Heir of Fire

Favourite Ending:

• City of Heavenly Fire
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• The Iron Trial
• Clariel 

Favourite Cover:

• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Heir of Fire
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters 
• A Thousand Pieces of You
• The Winner's Curse 
• Illusions of Fate

Best First Book in a Series:

• The Young Elites
• The Iron Trial

Best Installment in a Series:

• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Cress
• Heir of Fire
• Gathering Darkness
• The Infinite Sea

Best Final Book in a Series:

• City of Heavenly Fire
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters
• Ruin and Rising
• In the Afterlight

Best Standalone Book:

• We Were Liars
• Afterworlds
• Illusions of Fate

Best Fantasy:

• The Young Elites
• City of Heavenly Fire
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Heir of Fire
• Gathering Darkness
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters

Best Science Fiction:

• Four: A Divergent Collection
• The Revenge of Seven
• A Thousand Pieces of You
• In the Afterlight
• The Infinite Sea

Best Realistic: 

• We Were Liars
• To all the Boys I've Loved Before 
• Afterworlds

Best Diverse Book

• The Young Elites
• City of Heavenly Fire
• Afterworlds
• Illusions of Fate
• The Bane Chronicles

Most Anticipated Book of 2015:

• Winter
• The Copper Gauntlet
• Queen of Shadows
• Frozen Tides
• The Rose Society
• Shadow Scale

Best Adaption:

• Mockingjay Part 1
• The Fault in our Stars
• Divergent
• The Maze Runner
• The Giver 
• If I Stay

Worst Book:

• The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
• Snow like Ashes

Best Book:

• The Young Elites
• City of Heavenly Fire
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• Heir of Fire
• The Infinite Sea 
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters 
• In the Afterlight

The Best Book Endings of All Time

NOTE: I will most likely update this list as I read more books.

Best Sad Endings:

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Champion by Marie Lu
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
• City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
• The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore

Best WTF Endings (You won't understand unless you read the books):

• Lord Sunday by Garth Nix
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie tiefvater
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
• City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore
• Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Best Plot Twist Endings (Kind of spoilers):

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
• Clariel by Garth Nix
• The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Best Final Battles:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
• Abhorsen by Garth Nix
• Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Best Cliffhangers:

• Superior Saturday by Garth Nix
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
• The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
• Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Overall Best Endings:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
• Lord Sunday by Garth Nix
• Abhorsen by Garth Nix
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Male Character Edits

Female Version

Top Ten Male Characters:

Top Six M/M Ships/Friendships:

Top Six Male Characters who are Unfairly Hated

Top Six Male Antagonists:

Top Eight Male Characters with the Best Character Growth:

Top Four Father Characters:

Top Six Warriors:

Top Six Non-Warriors:

Top Six Male Hufflepuffs:

Top Six Male Slytherins:

Top Six Male Ravenclaws:

Top Six Male Gryffindors:

Top Eight Main Male Characters:

Top Eight Supporting Male Characters:

Top Six Non-White Male Characters:

Top Six Queer Male Characters (Canon and not Canon):

TBR

I have a problem. That problem is my TBR list. (TBR means "To be read" in case you didn't know.) The problem is that it keeps growing. Whenever anyone recommends a book or I notice a book on Goodreads that interests me, I add it to my TBR list. This caused my TBR list to become quite long. It had, at one point, over 300 books on it. I recently narrowed it down to 131. This might not seem like that much of a problem to you, and it wouldn't be, if I was a different person. But I am, in fact, not a different person. I am me.

It annoys me when things are not well-organized. Actually, "annoyed" isn't the right word. It drives me crazy when things aren't well-organized. I spend hours organizing things. My room, files on my computer, drawings I did when I was 3. Organizing things makes me happy and makes me feel less stressed. So, it annoys me that my TBR list is not organized. My current project right now is organizing it, and it's turning out to be much more difficult than I originally thought. Do I organize it by genre? In order of how interesting they sound? In alphabetical order? While I decide how to organize the list, I am adding a short description of each book based on what I read about them on goodreads. This will help me decide which books to read in a more efficient way. Here are some examples of my short descriptions:

Matched: Love Triangle Dystopian thing
Across the Universe: Space and stuff?
Artemis Fowl: Millionaire, Genius, criminal mastermind. Also fairies.
Game of Thrones: The book my mother really does not want me to read.

I think I should probably organize the books by genre. That will make it easier to find a book I'm in the mood for.

ANYWAY, the reason I made this post was to give you some links. If you, like me, want to add some interesting books to your TBR list, you might want to check out some of these links. Here is a link to a list of science fiction books organized by theme. Here is a list of historical fiction organized by when the book takes place if you like that kind of thing. Here is a list that can tell you the 100 best ever teen novels, apparently. Here are some books to read if you liked Game of Thrones. Here are books with lesbian/bi girls as protagonists and here are books with gay/bi boys as main characters. Here are 30 books that will change your view of the world. And finally, here is a picture of a cat.

Mockingjay Part 1 Review Plus Other Updates

By the way, there aren't any major spoilers for Mockingjay Part 1 in this blog post. I don't really even need to say that because 1. No one reads this blog and 2. Even if you are reading this, you have probably either seen Mockingjay or read the book.

Anyway, I saw The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 yesterday. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but that's not the point. It was an incredible movie, maybe my favourite Hunger Games movie so far. As always, this review is going to be short because I dislike writing reviews. I will say that Jennifer Lawrence was amazing in this film, as always, and the movie made me cry. I was worried that this movie would not be as good as the first two. Mockingjay was my least favourite book in the trilogy because the middle of the book dragged on a bit. I was really worried when I heard that they were going to be splitting the last book in two. Now that I've seen Mockingjay Part 1, I'm not as worried. It actually works quite well to have it split in two. The pacing felt right to me, but I've heard that some people disagree. I actually felt that the first two movies were too short. So, anyway, I'm excited for the final film. I'm hoping they don't ruin it. I'm not too worried, though.

As for other things, I am now caught up with Elementary. I finished the second series and have watched all episodes of the third series that are out so far. I also finished watching How to Get Away with Murder. THAT ENDING, THOUGH. I still can't get over it.

As for books, I finished reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue. After finishing it, it occurred to me that the Raven Cycle is so underrated. By me. It had never really occurred to me before how much I love it. I knew that I liked it, but I didn't really realize that it's actually one of the best young adult series I have ever read. I realized that it has very few flaws, and in my opinion, no large flaws at all. I often have problems with certain books. It's usually the characters (too boring, too good, too evil) or the plot (too slow, too fast, too normal) or the writing style (too short, too long, too confusing). But there isn't anything that really annoys me about the Raven Cycle. I sincerely apologize to the Raven Cycle and to Maggie Stiefvater for under-appreciating this series. I need to read the Scorpio Races.

I also read Clariel by Garth Nix which as the prequel to the Old Kingdom series, AKA, the best epic fantasy series ever. I liked the book, up until the very end when I started to love it. I've decided that Garth Nix is good at endings. Sometimes the endings of books leave me feeling unsatisfied *cough* Blood of Olympus *cough*. But Garth Nix never does this (unless of course the book ends on a cliffhanger, like the sixth book in the Keys to the Kingdom series). The ending of Clariel and the ending of Lord Sunday are two of my favourite endings of all time. They both kind of left me sitting there in shock with my mouth open. Maybe I should do a blog post on my favourite book endings.

Fandom Crush Quiz 2

A while ago I took the fandom crush quiz on thefandom.net. I decided to take it again. Here are my results.

Boys:

Girls:

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #10

I've written nine "Top 25 Favourite Characters" lists before, as it changes often. Here are the links to my first nine:

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Book Characters

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Book Characters #2

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Book Characters #3

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #4

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #5

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #6

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #7

 My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #8

My Opinion: The Top 25 Awesomest Characters #9

25. Tris Prior from Divergent
24. Blue Sargent from The Raven Cycle
23. Clariel from The Old Kingdom Series
22. Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano from The Heroes of Olympus
21. Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter
20. Liesiel from The Book Thief
19. Sabriel from The Old Kingdom Series
18. Katsa from Graceling
17. Guinevere from BBC Merlin
16. Donna Noble from Doctor Who
15. Martha Jones from Doctor Who
14. Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices
13. Annabeth Chase from The Heroes of Olympus
12. Amy Pond from Doctor Who
11. Adelina from The Young Elites
10. Sherlock Holmes from Elementary
9. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games
8. Rose Tyler from Doctor Who
7. Joan Watson from Elementary
6. Merlin from BBC Merlin
5. Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter
4. Clara Oswald from Doctor Who
3. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter
2. Sherlock Holmes from BBC Sherlock
1. The Doctor from Doctor Who