WITH A LITTLE LUCK By Marissa Meyer

March 22, 2024 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WITH A LITTLE LUCK By Marissa MeyerWith a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer
Series: Fortuna Beach #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 2/13/24
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 363
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Jude is determined to fly under the radar. He just wants to draw comics, host D&D night with his friends, work at his parents’ vinyl record store, and escape high school as unscathed as possible. That is, until the night he finds himself inexplicably gifted with a bout of supernatural good luck.

Suddenly, everything Jude has ever wanted is within reach. His art is being published. He helps his friend’s song become a finalist in a songwriting competition. And he wins a pair of coveted concert tickets, which he can use to ask out the popular girl he’s been crushing on since elementary school.

But how long can Jude’s good fortune last? And why does he find himself thinking about Ari, his best friend since forever? If Jude has been dreaming of the wrong girl this whole time, does that mean he's doomed to be unlucky in love forever?

Short and Sweet Review

Jude is okay with staying low-key, he wants to play dungeon and dragons with his friends and draw comics when he has the time, and work at his parents record shop. One day Jude finds a 20 sided dice and he finds himself with a lot of luck. Almost everything Jude has wanted is now in reach and he uses his new found luck to the best of his ability but he doesn’t think about what will happen when his luck runs out.

With a Little Luck is a companion novel to Instant Karma. I didn’t read Instant Karma before reading this book and I don’t think you have to for this one to make sense, but I did realize characters from that book are in this one. Jude is our main character and I feel like he likes to keep a low profile one of those people who’s super nice but likes to stay within his friend group. Judes best friend is Ari and she’s a musician and they spend a lot of time together. When Jude begins to get lucky he decides to ask out Maya a girl he’s had a crush on for a while and it was okay but from the start you could tell that these two were better off as friends. I do think that Jude went for Maya instead of going with his gut and asking out Ari. Anyway we see Jude use his luck to get his artwork published, win concert tickets, and get Ari into a songwriting competition. There’s a lot of things I liked about this book, like seeing Ari’s song lyrics, the D&D game nights, and also seeing Judes artwork.

With a Little Luck, was a cute book and I enjoyed it. I did like Jude as a character and seeing him with all the luck, he didn’t always use it for himself he did think of others. I also liked seeing the romance between Jude and Ari even if it took a while for both of them to realize that they were meant for each other. Overall, this was a fun contemporary romance and I would recommend it!

Filed Under: Reviews

CRESS By Marissa Meyer

July 7, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

CRESS By Marissa MeyerCress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/14
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 560
Format: Ebook, Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she's just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she'd ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Short and Sweet Review

Cinder and Thorne are still fugitives and on the run but now they have Scarlet and Wolf with them. The group is still trying to figure out how to stop Levana and the wedding. They also end up taking a detour to get Cress from her Satellite. Cress is a lunar shell and she’s been on the Satellite for a while, she works as Levanas hacker, she’s very tech savvy and as of lately has been helping Cinder and her crew. The group gets to the satellite and are ambushed and they’re separated and we’re also introduced to Jacin Clay a lunar guard who’s there to serve his princess. Cinder takes this time to go to Africa to meet up with Dr. Erland and try to regroup while most of the group is split up. Cinder is still willing to put a stop to the wedding in hopes that it will delay Levana’s reign of terror.

Cress is just as good a book as the last two. We’re introduced to more characters mainly Cress, Jacin, and a little bit of Winter. Jacin is guarded and the glimpse of Winter that we do see we learn she’s not well. Obviously this book is about Cress and she’s been alone most of her life except for visits from Sybil Mira, Levana’s right hand. Cress has been tasked with finding Cinder for Levana, but instead has been helping the group. I did like seeing the group being split up because they all have to find a way to get back to each other. Cress and Thorne are together and unfortunately he’s temporarily blinded so he has to rely on Cress to lead the way. Scarlet is being taken to Luna, and Cinder is in Africa with wolf and Jacin.

Cress is full of diverse characters and I love how they all come together. Cinder is still her sarcastic self but she’s also still determined to make things right. None of these characters wanted or ever thought they would be heroes or even start a revolution but they know they need to in order to make things right and stop Levana from getting what she wants. The next book Winter is when everything comes to a head and I’m ready to see how everything ends!

Filed Under: Reviews

SCARLET By Marissa Meyer

May 8, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SCARLET By Marissa MeyerScarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/13
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Short and Sweet Review

In France we meet Scarlet Benoit whose grandmother has disappeared. Scarlet is looking for any clue that could lead to where she is but she doesn’t realize the kind of danger her grandmother could be in until she meets wolf. Wolf is from Luna and has been modified and is in Queen Levana’s army. Scarlet reluctantly teams up with Wolf to try to find her grandmother and ends up running into members of wolf’s pack who are looking for information about Princess Selene that Scarlets grandmother would have. Cinder on the other hand is breaking out of prison and that’s where she meets Captain Carswell Thorne. Together Cinder and Thorne escape and make it to his ship and they end up going to France because Cinder is also trying to find Michelle Benoit for information about her past.

Every book in this series just gets better and in this sequel we meet Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne. Scarlet just has a fire about her she’s not afraid to do what’s right and she’s not going to back down. We learn that there’s things that even Scarlet didn’t know about her grandmothers past so she’s surprised but she’s still determined to save her. Wolf is an interesting character he was made to serve the queen but he wants to break away, which is why he helps Scarlet. I think the bond that Scarlet and Wolf form is cute, they really look out for each other. Carswell Thorne is like comedic relief. Thorne is a serial flirter and it’s funny because not everyone is trying to be wooed by him and sometimes he doesn’t get it. We see Scarlet and Wolf go around France looking for her grandmother and fighting off others who have been modified like Wolf. Cinder and Thorne on the other hand are fugitives who are trying to evade capture. I love that we also get to see more of Iko but this time she’s the ship that Cinder and Thorne are in.

Now we have a few more characters joining Cinder and each character is important to helping Cinder take down Levana. I’m just excited to read Cress next and see where our characters will end up!

Filed Under: Reviews

CINDER By Marissa Meyer

May 5, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

CINDER By Marissa MeyerCinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/12
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

Short and Sweet Review

Cinder is a futuristic retelling of Cinderella. We follow our main character Cinder who is also part cyborg and lives in the commonwealth of China. Cinder lives with her stepmother Adri and two stepsisters Pearl and Peony. Cinder also has a super cool android named Iko. Anyway Cinder works at the market as a mechanic and is basically the breadwinner for the family and is treated like dirt by everyone except for Peony. One day Prince Kai comes to Cinders market stand to ask for help fixing his android. The sparks between Cinder and Kai fly and Cinder knows that she doesn’t really have a chance with a Prince so she tries to fight off her feelings but he does ask her to go to the ball with him. Cinder is obviously told she can’t go to the ball and unfortunately her sister Peony ends up getting Letumosis a disease that has killed millions. Cinder is blamed for this and Adri signs Cinder up for the cyborg draft which subjects cyborgs to be tested on to find an antidote. It’s there that the head scientist realizes that Cinder is not only a cyborg but Lunar and she needs to keep a low profile because Queen Levana of the Lunars is coming to the Commonwealth and she won’t want Cinder alive, because Cinder may be the only one who can stop her. It’s interesting to see how some Lunars have powers and others don’t. Cinder never knew she was a Lunar until she met Dr. Erland who was able to tell her things about her past that she didn’t know, like she’s the lost Princess of Lunar!

Cinder is such a fun and different take on Cinderella. I loved the futuristic elements and that Cinder is a mechanic and a cyborg. Iko is a great sidekick to Cinder. There was a lot of world building and it’s great. We’re introduced to some characters that are going to be paramount in the next three books in the series and just rereading this book I see a lot of things that I may have missed the first time around. The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite series and Cinder is just setting everything up for what’s to come in the next installments. This series is a lot of fun and I love retellings and it’s going to be fun rereading this series and seeing where Cinder will end up and who she’ll meet.

Filed Under: Reviews

HEARTLESS By Marissa Meyer

March 23, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

HEARTLESS By Marissa MeyerHeartless by Marissa Meyer
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 11/8/16
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Short and Sweet Review

Before Catherine became the Queen of Hearts she was just a girl who wanted to love and bake. Catherine has grand ideas of opening up a bakery in Hearts with her best friend who is also her maid Mary Ann, unfortunately Catherine’s parents won’t allow this they want bigger things for her. Catherine has also caught the eye of the King of Hearts and she knows she’ll have to accept his proposal to make those around her happy. But then Catherine meets Jest the King’s Joker and she starts to fall for him even though she knows that she shouldn’t.

Catherine was a good character, she was ambitious and she cared for those around her, she knew what she did and didn’t want. The King of Hearts though nice wasn’t what she wanted. When she meets Jest, Catherine is genuinely happy and ready to risk it all. In the land of Hearts we see characters for Alice in Wonderland like Hatta and the Cheshire Cat. The story progressed at a decent pace, there were balls, a beast attacking the people of Hearts, and we see Catherine struggle with her love life and trying to follow her dreams of baking. In the end we obviously see how Catherine becomes the terror of Wonderland, and even though I knew it was going to happen I hated it. The girl that I followed for 90% of the book who dreamed big and was sweet and loved her friends did a 180 degree change. I think that’s why my rating of the book went down. Overall its a good book it was just hard to see how all the pressure and expectations of Catherine eventually changed her and not for the better.

Filed Under: Reviews

SUPERNOVA By Marissa Meyer

March 19, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SUPERNOVA By Marissa MeyerSupernova by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #3
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 11/5/19
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 560
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Nova and Adrian struggle to keep their secret identities concealed while the battle rages on between their alter egos, their allies, and their greatest fears come to life. Secrets, lies, and betrayals are revealed as anarchy once again threatens to reclaim Gatlon City.

Short and Sweet Review

Everything has come to this, the end. The real battle is about to begin and Nova and Adrian will have to fight what they believe is right in their hearts.

Adrian is a renegade all he knows is being a hero. Nova is an anarchist disguising herself as a renegade but after all the time she’s spent with the renegades she’s trying to decide if taking down the renegades is really what she wants. Nova has conflicting feelings about everything going on, she doesn’t fully agree with either side, but with the anarchist she’s like their leader and even if she doesn’t agree they’ll go on with their plans.

This was an amazing conclusion to this series. I remember starting this series and thinking that I wouldn’t finish because I thought the first book was so slow but I’m glad I continued on. There’s a lot going on in this book, but in a good way. I think my favorite part was seeing the characters especially Nova and Adrian struggle with what people wanted them to do but knowing in their heart what they really wanted. The both of them grew a lot and I did like their relationship, the enemies into lovers trope except he doesn’t really know that she’s his enemy. There’s a lot of things that were revealed, twists and turns, and things that just keep me turning the pages. I love all of these characters and it was kind of intense to see how everything would turn out. I don’t want to spoil anything but just know that the battle and ending of this book was perfect.

I loved this series and would definitely recommend it!

Filed Under: Reviews

ARCHENEMIES By Marissa Meyer

November 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ARCHENEMIES By Marissa MeyerArchenemies by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 11/6/18
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 487
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Nova’s double life is about to get a lot more complicated:

As Insomnia, she is a full-fledged member of the Renegades, a syndicate of powerful and beloved superheroes. She works with Adrian’s patrol unit to protect the weak and maintain order in Gatlon City.

As Nightmare, she is an Anarchist - a group of of villains who are determined to destroy the Renegades. Nova wants vengeance against the so-called heroes who once failed her when she needed them most.

But as Nova, her feelings for Adrian are deepening, despite the fact that he is the son of her sworn enemies and, unbeknownst to Nova, he has some dangerous secrets of his own.

In this second installment of the Renegades trilogy, Nova, Adrian, and the rest of their crew – Ruby, Oscar, and Danna -- are faced with escalating crime in Gatlon City, while covert weapons and conflicting missions have Nova and Adrian questioning not only their beliefs about justice, but also the feelings they have for each other.

The line between good and evil has been blurred, but what's clear to them both is that too much power could mean the end of their city – and the world – as they know it.

Short and Sweet Review

After the battle with the Detonator, Adrian and Nova are thrown back to work after their victory. The Anarchists are still depending on Nova to be successful in her infiltration of the renegades, and the renegades now have a new weapon they believe will take care of their enemies forever.

Nova is living in a web of lies that she created and now she has to keep everything straight. After the events of the last book everyone thinks that Nova’s alias Nightmare is dead and now Nova is just working as a renegade without the worry that the renegades are still looking for Nightmare. Not much is new with Adrian, he still hides the fact that he’s the sentinel. Thinking back on it I don’t think Adrian did much in this book it mostly felt like Nova taking the lead in this book. 

The renegades develop a chemical called Agent N which will remove a prodigy’s powers when they’re injected with it. Though Nova feels it’s wrong to use it she decides that it’ll come in handy during her take down of the renegades. Nova’s main goal in the book is to get Ace Anarchy’s helmet and finally be done posing as a renegade. Adrian on the other hand feels like his pursuit of Nightmare isn’t over he has a feeling that she’s still around so he spends most of the book chasing leads. 

The romance between these two I’ve decided is horrible. Adrian likes Nova, but Nova on the other hand may have feelings for him but she has the other anarchist reminding her that she needs to use Adrian to get what she wants and that’s exactly what she does. It feels like the romance is one sided and that is unfortunate and makes me feel bad for Adrian because he doesn’t know what’s up. 

The ending was exciting and full of action it was interesting to see the big battle and Nova execute her plan. It’ll be interesting to see what’ll happen next especially with the world knowing that Ace Anarchy isn’t as dead as they once thought he was.



Filed Under: Reviews

RENEGADES By Marissa Meyer

October 26, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

RENEGADES By Marissa MeyerRenegades by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 11/7/17
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 576
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies―humans with extraordinary abilities―who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice―and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to the villains who have the power to end them both.

Short and Sweet Review 

Renegades are prodigies – humans with special abilities. Renegades emerged when chaos seemed to be taking over and Renegades brought peace and order. Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, they never came when she needed them the most, instead the Anarchists saved her. Now as a teenager Nova decides she’s going to take the Renegades down from the inside which means becoming one of them but things become difficult when the lines of what’s right and wrong begin to blur.

When Nova was a child a gang murdered her whole family and she thought that the renegades would come in time to save them but they didn’t, instead her uncle Ace came. Ace was an infamous anarchists and taught Nova everything she knows. Now as a teen Nova resents the Renegades and wants vengeance and goes by her persona Nightmare, Nova has the ability to put people to sleep by touching them and she’s also great at building things. After her uncles death Nova was basically raised by the other anarchist. After a public display of trying to kill a council member Nightmare becomes target number one, which is also when Nova gets the idea to try out for the renegades and get insider information to take them down.

Adrian Everhart is a Renegade he goes by Sketch because his drawings come to life. After the death of his mother he was raised by two council members. Adrian is the leader of his own Renegade team but nobody knows that he’s been going around as another hero the Sentinel. No one knows who the Sentinel is but he’s kind of like a vigilante. Adrian is determined to prove that he’s capable of handling more difficult tasks. Adrian cares about the people on his team and I did like his character.

Renegades started off slow really slow, it didn’t pick up until halfway through which took a long time because this is a 563 page book. It was interesting to see Nova juggle being a renegade and an anarchist and hide who she really was it was also interesting to see how her ideals kind of shifted but she was kind of wishy washy. I think both characters could use some more character development. The powers that some of the characters had were some that I thought were pretty cool, I liked Adrian’s. I think it would be nice to get an origin story on some of the anarchist maybe a novella or something. The ending was okay there’s two more books so curious to see what will happen next.

Filed Under: Reviews

FAIREST By Marissa Meyer

March 19, 2021 by

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FAIREST By Marissa MeyerFairest by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5
Published by Macmillan on 2015-01-27
Genres: Fairy Tales & Folklore, Young Adult
Pages: 272
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

Pure evil has a name, hides behind a mask of deceit, and uses her "glamour" to gain power. But who is Queen Levana? Long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress in The Lunar Chronicles, Levana lived a very different story―a story that has never been told . . . until now.


Short and Sweet Review

I love the Lunar Chronicles so of course I wasn’t going to miss out on getting Fairest a story all about Queen Levana! It explained everything that happened before Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress came into her life. This book was crazy but it was good. Just learning about Levana was eye opening! The struggles she went through when she was younger helped explain her motives. We experience her childhood, teenage years, and some part of her adult life. I did feel bad for some of the things Levana experienced in life it seemed like things just wouldn’t get easier for her. I really liked reading from her point of view it really explains her motives in the other books. I loved this book and would recommend the whole Lunar Chronicles series to everyone.

SmileRatingsSmileRatingsSmileRatingsSmileRatingsHalf

Filed Under: Reviews