Review: Omega Enslaved by Zoe Perdita

Omega Enslaved (Lost Wolves, #4)
by Zoe Perdita
Published by Eccentric Erotica
Ebook (purchased)
Adult, LGBT, paranormal, romance

Felix Underwood is an omega, a con man and a (sometimes) assassin enacting revenge for the wrongs that plague his past. However, all that ends when he's captured by Interpol. Imprisoned for months, his only shot at freedom is a dangerous mission to gather information on the infamous alpha wolf, Lucien the Bloody King of Wallachia. When the mission goes south, Felix ends up as a spy in Lucien's clutches. In order to save himself, Felix needs to bring Lucien to his human handlers, but Felix’s heart (and cock) tells him Lucien is his mate.

His heart sucks. Especially since Felix is straight. 

Lucien Mircea fought long and hard to become the ruthless alpha king he is today, but Felix challenges all of that. The mysterious omega wolf riles up Lucien’s alpha instincts and sets his blood on fire in more ways than one. Lucien swore he’d never fall for a measly omega, yet the thread of destiny (and lust) intertwines them.

Hundreds of miles from home and dogged by hunters, Lucien and Felix must work together if they want to survive. Can the alpha and omega overcome betrayal and learn to trust the mate bond that connects them?

Alpha king who has enemies on every side of his kingdom's borders. Omega con man who's been captivated by Interpol and forced to do their bidding to save his sister - this time to capture the notorious alpha king. There were outrunning of enemies, daring and dangerous missions, and lots of bonding between Lucien and Felix. This time there weren't assassins but a king and a con man were enough to make things really interesting.

Plus one of my favourite thing, which was an appearance of Zev and Simeon from the second installment of this series.

4 of 5 stars.

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Review: The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being A Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
Published by Simon and Schuster
Paperback (purchased)
YA, contemporary, realistic fiction

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

I saw the movie years before I read the book, so I was familiar with the storyline even if I didn't remember all the details. Still, the story sucked me in and I felt everything as the main character, Charlie, did. Charlie was my favourite, hands down. I felt for him and loved him a lot. There were other brilliant characters like Charlie's family members and Patrick, as well as some I didn't warm up for - mainly Sam and Mary Elizabeth. The point is that every character were well fleshed and impeccably written.

I liked the feel of the story. For an American coming-of-age story, it was gritty with the topics of sex, drugs, violence, homosexuality, and rape. In a way it felt like I was reading a Nordic novel because of how melancholy it felt and how it did not shy of the heavier topics and the life of a teenager (I'm not saying every teenager are involved with drugs and violence etc. but more often than not American young adult novels tend to gloss over these topics even if they are part of a lots of teenagers life, directly or indirectly). And I loved how bluntly the things were told - reader won't be left to wonder what really happened. I do like bluntness a lot in stories. Anyway, Chbosky did justice for the characters and the heavy topics, and made it all enjoyable story that made me cry at times. It was brilliant. Good story, brilliant novel, and fabulous movie - I loved them all.

I highly recommend this if you can stomach some heavier topics and bluntness. For me, this is a modern classic because of how brilliant it is in every way.

5 of 5 stars.

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Waiting on Wednesday #42

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's cannot-wait book is:

At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson!

At the Edge of the Universe

by Shaun David Hutchinson

Published by Simon Pulse

Expected publication: February 7th, 2017

YA, LGBT

Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town—and then Tommy vanished.

More accurately, he ceased to exist, erased from the minds and memories of everyone who knew him. Everyone excerpt Ozzie.

Ozzie doesn’t know how to navigate life without Tommy, and soon suspects that something else is going on: that the universe is shrinking.

When Ozzie is paired up with new student Calvin on a physics project, he begins to wonder if Calvin could somehow be involved. But the more time they spend together, the harder it is for him to deny the feelings developing between them, even if he still loves Tommy.

But Ozzie knows there isn’t much time left to find Tommy–that once the door closes, it can’t be opened again. And he’s determined to keep it open as long as possible.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Excited For In 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week participating bloggers can create lists of topic given by the host, and share them with others!

Because I simply didn't have enough 2017 debuts in my lists, I decided to go with books that will be published in 2017 that I'm excited for. So, in no particular order, here's some of the books I'm excited for:

 

 

 

Bookish Goals for 2017

Last year was the first time than I posted about my bookish goals for the new year, and I liked the idea a lot (even if I didn't manage to meet all my goals) so I thought to do it again this year.

First of all, I want to read at least 60 books.

I had the same goal last year and I managed to meet it by reading 61 books in 2016. I'd love to be ambitious and set the goal for 70 books but I know now how I tend to read less when the university gets busy. So I set the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 60 books, just like last year.

I also want to read more classics.

Yes, this is too a repeat from last year's goals but that's because I only managed to read few Penguin Little Black Classics. There's still a lot I want to read, and I'll try to read Jane Eyre, Fahrenheit 451, The Iliad, and more Jane Austen. Those would be a good way to start if I manage to read all of them.

For this blog, I'll try to be more active and learn to schedule posts better.

Especially when university and life overall gets busy, then there might be months when I'm really inactive here. I should learn to schedule posts so that I could have at least something in the weeks when I simply don't have time to devote for the blog.

My next goal is to go YALC in July, which is held in London.

Last summer was the very first time I attended to YALC in London, and I fell in love. Three days of books, authors, fellow bloggers and booknerds. It was one of the highlights of the last year. So this year I'm going again, and even bringing a friend!

Lastly, I want to re-read old favourites.

Like I said last year,: I'm bad at re-reading. It's because I feel bad of re-reading when I have a pile of unread books. Again, I failed at this last year as I only re-read one and half books. This year I hope to finish re-reading Wuthering Heights, and then other possibilities on my re-read list which are: The Song of Achilles, original Percy Jackson series, first five Harry Potter books, Captive Prince trilogy, and Vicious.

That's all of my bookish goals for 2017. Do you have any bookish goals for the next year?

Wrapping the Month: December

What's greater way to start new month than taking a look at previous one?

I'm pretty happy with my blogging in December. I wrote total of nine reviews, and especially at the beginning of the month, I had a steady pace of one post per day. Of course there were few hitch, the longest when I travelled and arrived to Finland and wanted to spend some time with family and friends - I simply didn't have time to blog (and yes, I'm still bad at scheduling posts). Anyway, I'm happy of how I finished the year, both blogging and reading wise, and even life overall weren't too overwhelming even if I had exams, volunteered and went to gym a lot.

I usually don't get a lot of books for Christmas, and this year wasn't any different. I got three physical books, so at least my TBR didn't grow too much. I got some ebooks that I read immediately, too.

December's reviews:

Tin Man (4 stars)

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Original Screenplay (5 stars)

Half Wild (5 stars)

Half Lost (5 stars)

Pickup Men (5 stars)

You Know Me Well (3 stars)

Six of Crows (3 stars)

Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes (5 stars)

A Darker Shade of Magic (4 stars)

I'm delighted that I managed to read eight books in December - especially since I had exams, I travelled, and then there were Christmas. I still found time to read enough to meet my 2016 reading goal.

 

  

 

It's a new year so I'll try to keep a steady pace with my reading, and it shouldn't be too hard in January when most of the month is free from university.

Hugs,

Henna

(I got inspiration from Saruuh @ Dust Jacket Reviews to display the covers of books I read instead of listing them. So all the credit for her for inspiring me.

2016 End of Year Reading Survey

Annual book year survey that's created and hosted by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner.

2016 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 61 (17,392 pages)

Number of Re-Reads: 1

Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy & Romance

Best In Books

1. Best Books You Read In 2016?

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Mad About the Hatter by Dakota Chase. While I liked the story, I didn't fell in love with it and it was a bit disappointing even if I still liked it.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Half Lost by Sally Green. I was sure I was going to love it - and I did, with all my heart - but it also shattered my heart with a twist I didn't see coming.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Well, I got my friend to read the Half Life trilogy by Sally Green, and another one to read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

 

5. Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016?

Best series I started: Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat; I read the whole trilogy (Captive Prince, Prince's Gambit & Kings Rising)

Best sequel: The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Best series ender: Winter by Marissa Meyer; I got everything I wanted (although I could always wish for more Scarlet & Wolf but I'm insatiable when it comes to them)

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?

In 2016, I tried to finish series and read more from familiar authors, but I managed to discover some new authors that I just fell in love with. Namely, C.S. Pacat and V.E. Schwab.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Sadly, I didn't read anything that differs much from what I typically read.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

 

9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?

11. Most memorable character of 2016?

There were plenty of characters that I fell in love, and who I'll remember for a long time, but Victor Vale from Vicious by V.E. Schwab was someone who I'll never forget.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016?

The Night Is Darkening Round Me by Emily Bronte, because the poems were so incredibly beautiful and touching.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?

Maybe not life-changing but definitely thought-provoking: The Prince by Machiavelli.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?

Definitely Vicious by V.E. Schwab. I knew I was going to love it when I bought it, so I can't believe it took me almost two years to actually read it - especially when it was everything I have been hoping a book to be.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?

"I mean, most people want to escape. Get out of their heads. Out of their lives. Stories are easiest way to do that." This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

"Plenty of human were monstrous, and plenty of monster knew how to play at being human." Vicious by V.E. Schwab

"To get what you want, you have to know exactly how much you are willing to give up." Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat

 16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?

Shortest: Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast by Oscar Wilde (52 pages)

Longest: Winter by Marissa Meyer (823 pages)

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Because you simply cannot do stuff like that, to write such perfection and then shatter my heart, and make me love every moment of it!

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Laurent & Damen from Captive Prince are the new ship of this year that I totally fell in love with. I'll sail with this ship forever.

I still have to mention two ships from previous years that I continued to love this year: Nathan & Gabriel from Half Bad, and Scarlet & Wolf from the Lunar Chronicles.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

I'd answer Al and Scorpius from the Cursed Child but sadly I'm convinced that they'd make the perfect couple so for non-romantic relationship of the year title goes for Jason and Nico, especially from the House of Hades!

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

That title definitely goes for the two Cyberlove books I read this year. I had read one book from Megan Erickson and nothing from Santino Hassell but I'll still count it for this.

21. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

It seems that this time I avoided all possible per pressure as I only read books I chose.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?
There were way too many but a bunch of them were old crushes so I'm going to answer Damen from Captive Prince. He was great in every possible way, and I'll forever remember the sword throwing in Prince's Gambit.

23. Best 2016 debut you read?

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Rick Riordan and Marissa Meyer are always valid answers because both of them masters the world-building and vivid settings. But I have to say V.E. Schwab in A Darker Shade of Magic, because that world-building and magic system was so brilliantly detailed that she's definitely a master in vivid world-building.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Every Rick Riordan book that I read, especially Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods and Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?

For various different reasons, these:

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Nothing crushed my soul like Half Lost by Sally Green.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?

Because it was the first screenplay I've ever read;

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - I was so incredibly mad for Inej, because of how hypocrite, holier than thou, and annoying she was.

Blogging / Bookish Life

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2016?

I was a bad blogger and even though I discovered a few new book blogs, I can't or don't want to name anyone over others.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2016?

It's a tie between my review of The Song of Achilles and Strong Signal.

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

I was pretty bad doing discussions this year - mostly just really conscious and a bit scared - so I didn't really do those.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I had a chance to attend YALC in London the past summer. It was absolutely brilliant - three days of events, authors, books, fellow booknerds. Especially since I went to the Cursed Child Midnight Launch at the same trip to London, so overall it was fabulous!

The best in YALC was to meet some amazing authors, and especially Sally Green whose huge fan I am. Also, V.E. Schwab is an enigma!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?

YALC related but I met one of my favourite authors, Sally Green, and V.E. Schwab who became one of my favourites this year.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

The balance between studies, sports, reading, blogging and the little social life that I have. Especially blogging tends to suffer when I'm busy, so I hope to learn to schedule posts better so that when I'm really busy, I'd still have something to go up.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

By views: Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Quest Post: Three Types of Research by Saruuh Kelsey

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

That has to be the Blackwell's store in Edinburgh. Oh, all the deals and beautiful books.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I participated only one reading challenge and that was the Goodreads Reading Challenge, which I completed by reading 61 of 60 books.

Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?

For a book that I've started, it's The Fever Code by James Dashner. I really want to finish it!

For a book that I haven't even started yet, it's Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan.

 

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?

3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?

For a series ending, I'm waiting for Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab that'll come out in the summer of 2017. For kind of sequel, I'm anticipating the next Cyberlove book, Hard Wired by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

I want to write and post more reviews. December was good last year and I managed to post over ten reviews but during a typical month I write only three to five reviews. I'm so behind on my reviews! So in a way, I'll try to be more active in the blog for all over the year. 

6. A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone?

I'm actually been a pretty bad at reading ARCs the whole last year, so I actually haven't read any 2017 releases yet.