Autumn: September 1st-November 30th 2014
Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2)
This was my second visit to Blackfriars and it was really bittersweet to meet the neighbors once more. I had vague memories of dissatisfaction from the first time I read it, so I was a bit stubborn this time and less forgiving. I definitely shifted my loyalty from the main characters to side characters, and I think my not holding the main characters up so highly in my expectations allowed them more room to do what they needed to do. By the end of the book, I think we reached an agreement and I found I no longer had any feelings of dissatisfaction over any of it.
Cast in Ruin (Chronicles of Elantra #7)
I think I actually started reading this book right after I finished the previous one months ago, because the beginning felt vaguely familiar (for about 20 pages haha). Since Katie started re-reading the series and we have been comparing notes, getting back into Elantra wasn't too difficult. I find I'm far to fond of screen-printing when I read eBooks I want to talk about, because practically every conversation Kaylin had between Severn or Nightshade was cataloged...
The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #3)
Since I could start out this final installment with a better perspective than when I started the second, I definitely enjoyed this book more. I felt that there was a multitude of engaging secondary characters to look out for and as always the sass-backs were strong. It's exactly the kind of fulfilled feeling I needed at the end of this trilogy. There was much weeping, but in a good, cathartic way that left me in a bewildered book-hangover afterwards.
Hyperbole and a Half (recommended and borrowed from Courtney)
I don't actively read Allie Brosh's website, but I've always enjoyed the posts I was linked to. This is definitely a quick read, but I ended up spacing it out over nearly three months. I used it as my Book-Hangover book, to get me through my feelings after Mirror Sight and The Book of Life (both completely different types of "hangovers" haha). Her stories are ridiculous in the way only true stories can be, and her insecurity-baring-honesty is actually quite empowering, as of course I can relate to some of her logic.
Cast in Peril (Chronicles of Elantra #8)
This book was SO THOROUGHLY DOCUMENTED in my notes of it that I'm not even sure what to say. I loved when the scene for the final confrontation was being set because it felt like a video game where you think you're fighting the final stage of a boss only to find out you must go further up and further in, solve a puzzle to defeat his minions, and then face the "Main Boss"; only to have the battle stop and switch to a cut-scene where you defeat him with your humanity. It was pretty great (and there has been a lot of character development for Teela, Severn, and the Consort, so that's always fun).
Insurgent (Divergent Trilogy #2)
To be honest, I was quite close to quitting this book. I loved Divergent the first time I read it a few years ago but was a bit of a let-down this read-through. And now with Insurgent it felt as if all the things I was wary of in this re-read of Divergent were made even more unbearable in Insurgent. I find the concepts in this book fascinating, but I become too engrossed in stories and their characters to not be affected when people are killed left and right and main characters are thrown into self-loathing despair and no longer want to live. I was mollified enough by the end to still want to read the final installment, but I feel like I should prepare myself for the worst. I wouldn't recommend these to anyone because I wouldn't want to be the cause of added sorrow in their life.
