SIEGE AND STORM

By: Leigh Bardugo

Plot: Picks up where the first book left off. Alina and Mal are in hiding from the Darkling, but of course that can't last for long.

My thoughts: It had been a really long time (4 years almost) since I read the first book. I could remember bits and pieces of it but I found a pretty good synopsis online that filled in the blanks. I remembered I liked it too, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to keep going with the series. I was really in the mood to just read a young adult book and this hit the spot.

The beginning of the book started off pretty good. It was easy to get engrossed back into the world. I immediately liked "Sturmhold" even though that is the dumbest name. There were a lot of new characters too, which was good because I could hardly remember any old ones. Then in the middle it just slowed wayyy down. I remember thinking that nothing is really happening, but I was still enjoying the book, so that was kind of weird.

I'm so sick of the drama between Alina and Mal. She honestly didn't seem to care about him that much and cared more about leading her army. I really could see that relationship going either way, and I'm not invested enough to care. Also the fact that she kissed two other guys in the book did not bode well. Here's hoping Mal finds someone better for him in the last book.

It did definitely pick up there at the end and I was happy with how it ended. Middle books in a trilogy are usually the worst. The story has already been setup and you know the hero isn't going to be defeating the villain just yet, so they are usually just full of filler. The fact that I still liked the book even though it dragged so much speaks to the writing I think.

Rating: 3.5 Like I said, I enjoyed it, but nothing groundbreaking here. And I love the covers!

CRAZY RICH ASIANS

 By: Kevin Kwan

Plot: About some crazy rich Asians of course! Rachel goes to Singapore with her boyfriend of two years, Nicholas, to meet his family for the first time. They are insanely rich and snobbish.

My Thoughts: Now this is the summer read I was looking for. Nothing too heavy, a fast easy read, and from the plot description alone you can probably perfectly predict how the entire book is going to go. Girl meets boy's family, family is mean to girl, girl leaves boy, boy chooses girl over family, the end. Predictable as it was, I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked that it was told from the perspective of so many different people. It's not really fast paced, but I never really felt like the story was dragging.

 I was almost more interested in Astrid's story line than the main plot. I was waiting for more of her story. I also liked the story arc of Rachel's dad. I know it was a way to get them back together, but it also was part of the book that wasn't so predictable. Unfortunately, I feel like I'll forget about the book in a couple months or so, but it was still fun while it lasted. I would definitely pick up the next two.

Rating: 3.5 This isn't great literature for sure, but it's pretty entertaining. Now do I risk watching the movie?

THE INFINITE SEA

By: Rick Yancey

Plot: This is the second book in The 5th Wave Series. The story revolves mainly around Cassie, Ringer, Evan and Ben, with the main sections in each of their points of view.

My Thoughts: I thought this was a solid follow up to the 5th wave. I'm so happy that the author didn't feel the need to make this book longer than the first one and include a ton of unnecessary crap to do so. (Unlike almost every other Young Adult author.) I really enjoyed this book just as much as the first one. Usually I really enjoy the first book in a YA series and then it just goes downhill from there. This is one of those rare exceptions.

This book was pretty dark! I don't know that I would even classify it as a young adult book. There were multiple parts that were pretty disturbing to read. The ending was especially crazy and I did not see it coming. I'm glad I didn't read a whole lot about this book before reading it because if I had heard there was a twist I would have spend the whole book trying to figure it out. I also felt like there were answers! I didn't finish the book with even more infuriating questions.

With all the multiple points of view it can feel like not a lot is actually happening in the book. I can see how some readers might be expecting more action but I thought it was perfect. I really enjoyed the different points of view and reading the backstories to certain characters. I thought it had a good amount of action and character development.

Rating: 4/5 I really enjoyed it! Can't wait for the concluding book.

NEVER FADE

By: Alexandra Bracken

Plot Summary: Second book in the Darkest Minds trilogy. Picks up a little bit after the first book left off with Ruby well established in the Children's League.

My Thoughts: I think I waited too long after reading the first book in the series to get to this one. I'm not sure if it was the writing or just me but the beginning seemed so jumbled and confusing. The dialogue was weird and I was confused about what was even going on at times. This time around the story just didn't feel believable.

Getting through this book was like trudging through mud. It was way too much work. The book was so long and it just drug on and on and on. I felt like so many things were pointless and should have been left out and it would have been much better. For example I found the whole Rob situation completely pointless, and wish his character would have been left out of the story entirely.

A huge problem I had with this book was the main character. Ruby was all over the place. One second she is crying her eyes out and the next she's acting all tough. So she's either a baby or a bad a**. Just pick one Alexander Bracken! She's not believable as both. And enough with the constant whining about everything being her fault. A meteor could hit the earth and she would think it was her fault. It drove me up the wall! And she kept making the dumbest decisions and the whole thing was just way too predictable.

Finally, FINALLY, at the end it started to pick up. And by the end I mean the last thirty pages or so. The obvious character dies (Ruby's fault, of course) and it suckered me in enough to want to read the final book and see how this whole mess ends.

Rating: 2/5 Definitely a disappointing sequel to a good book.