DNF time and Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in Oct 3 2014

This challenge is organized by Felicia over at the Geeky Blogger's Book Blog

Saturday 5 km bike and 30 min walk
Sunday 1 hour walk
Monday 10 km bike and 45 min zumba
Tuesday 5 km bike, 1 hour yoga, 30 min walk
Wednesday 5 km bike, and 1 hour zumba
Thursday 5 km bike and 30 min walk
Friday 5 km bike and 30 min walk

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DNF Time

Highland Velvet

Feisty Highland Lady must marry an Englishman, they will argue and have smexy times.

I remember getting this one and being all, it will rock! Damn it girl, why did you not read it then! When I was a teen, when I did not realize that the language is stilted, no flow and I just can't bother with crap like this.

Note to self, my old books obviously does not work for me anymore. If I was to read in my own language, better try something like translated yesterday.

The Velvet Promise

Feisty English Lady must marry, they will argue and have smexy times.

Maybe it could be good, maybe not. After having tried the other book I tried this one too. Horrid writing again. Yes, this is why I left translations to their bitter faith. I wish I had read this one 10 years ago. But now, omg, bad bad translation.

Velvet Angel

Feisty Woman gets kidnapped and given to enemy. They argue and have smexy times.

Omg seriously, seriously!!! Ok I am sure the book can be good, but I had this translation. I have been sitting on it for over 10 years. Always thinking I would read it, but then I stopped reading in my own language. The reason why, OMG translations suck! This was horrid. My eyes were bleeding and I had to give up.

Spoiled Engaged Girl flirts with sexy guy and later become his housekeeper.

Arghhhh I can't!! The heroine is a stupid spoiled girl. The hero is an idiot. The plot that will happen is wtf!? I mean COME ON!!!!

So I am not gonna read any more. Enough is enough. Not the historical romance for me.

Woman goes back in time and sees through the eyes of relative. Meets sexy guy back home.

I give up so easy now, it's awesome.

I just never got into it, and then when I started skimming I decided to stop reading. Just not the variation for me this time around.

Lizzy and Jane gets married.

Eh, made it to 40 and gave up, realised I had NO idea what had happened in those 40 pages.

I can't love them all.

I do not care what the book is about.

I hated book 1, but I already had book 2 (damn it!) and it has been on my shelf for years now, knowing I would never read it. So I gave it a try, a really short try, and no I just do NOT like this series.

Mermaid meets angel and has smexy times.

This is one I have tried to read a few times, and always given up, so gonna be strong now and DNF this time. Yes this has been a day of just reading books I know I wont like. Tomorrow I will get back to my normal books ;)

Anyway, checked the weirdest smex scene in the universe again, I just can't take this seriously.

 

Two DNFs from a publisher I wont mention.

Percy has a mythical past and  future.

I read book 1 4 years ago, I did not really like it. So today I picked up this book, as I had it, sigh. And tried to read it, bleh, I gave up, I was confused and bored.

Novella. Two peeps hunting down rogues.

This was dreadfully boring, and it was only 100 pages! Did I read those 100 pages? Omg, I just could not, it was boring. I did not care for the heroine, the hero and whatever shit they did.

Steampunk lad wants to find his clockwork girlfriend.

Omg this was terrible.

First impression

*Boring

Second impression

*Confusion

Third impression

* Oh Sweet Tor and Loki! Let me DNF this crap now.

Nothing worked. Not the world, not the characters (the one million of them) and not the plot..eh what plot?

Stuff happening in Ireland.

Yawn, why even bother. I gave up before I got to any good part. But like I said, why even bother.

Boring.

Assassin does stuff.

I could not do it, yes I am fast with DNF sometimes. But I understood nothing, I cared for nothing. I just did not want to read more.

Boring.

Romance Friday: It happened one wedding - Julie James

After a humiliating end to her engagement, investment banker Sidney Sinclair is done with commitment-phobic men. But when her sister winds up engaged after a whirlwind courtship, she’s thrown in to close contact with exactly the kind of sexy playboy she wants to avoid—the gorgeous best man. She’s stuck with him, for better or worse, until her sister walks down the aisle, but that doesn’t mean she has to give in to his smooth advances, no matter how tempting they are…

Special Agent Vaughn Roberts always gets his man on the job and his woman in bed. So Sidney’s refusal to fall for his charms only makes him more determined to win over the cool and confident redhead. Only what starts out as a battle of wills ends up as a serious play for her heart. Because the one woman who refuses to be caught may be the only one Vaughn can’t live without…

My thoughts:

Step 1

Find a good man

Step

Avoid brother in law's brother, he is not a good man.

Yup Sydney wants a man who can settle down, she has quite the list to prove it. How a man should be, so she does not get stuck with someone who is out of the door in a week. But hey I can understand that, she does not want to date around. She wants to be in a relationship. A screening process is good.

Then there is Vaughn, he does want to play around, and she annoys him so much. But he also wants her. And hey we all know how this will turn out. They will get it on, fall in love and live happily ever after. They just have to get their heads straight. Sydney has to see that there is more to him, and he has to see that maybe change could be good.

Conclusion:

Enjoyable. Cute, passionate. Nice. It even had me laughing.

PS. yes it works as a standalone, I have only read book 2 before

Cover

cute

Mass Market Paperback, 292 pages
Published May 6th 2014 by Jove
FBI/US Attorney #5
Contemporary romance
Own

City of Stairs - Robert Jackson Bennett

You've got to be careful when you're chasing a murderer through Bulikov, for the world is not as it should be in that city. When the gods were destroyed and all worship of them banned by the Polis, reality folded; now stairs lead to nowhere, alleyways have become portals to the past, and criminals disappear into thin air.

The murder of Dr Efrem Pangyui, the Polis diplomat researching the Continent's past, has begun something and now whispers of an uprising flutter out from invisible corners. Only one woman may be willing to pursue the truth - but it is likely to cost her everything.

My thoughts:

There once was a glorious empire where Gods rules different states. The Gods were all different, one was really really harsh and had a thousand rules to follow. To the south there was a slave colony, they had no Gods and they were angry and overthrew the empire and killed the Gods and all beings created or birthed by the Gods.

And now it's decades later. The colony is now the glorious one, and the empire fell asunder when the Gods died. The fabric of reality fell apart, whole cities disappeared. Plague decimated the states. Now they are poor and forgotten.

I felt for the conquerors, they had been used badly. But they destroyed a civilization. So f you guys. But then the former empire had been idiots too. Still now they were not even allowed to learn their own history, mention the Gods names or do anything that was "bad". And they really needed to be able to move on, but were held back.

I have not even talked about the plot yet! Ok, so this professor is murdered and Shara (who has her secrets) comes to investigate. There is something going on in the former holy city of Bulikov, but can she find out what? Bulikov is also a city that half disappeared when a God was killed there. And there are staircases leading into nothing and people going missing. A strange strange world.

I think I could go on and on about the world, it was just fascinating, and even more so when I learn more about the Gods of the world. A very cool world. It was a different sort of fantasy too. Set later in time, making it more modern, yet not.

Conclusion:

Politics, a mystery, set in a sort of Russian city. A cool heroine, a viking sidekick and all in all truly strong women characters. It was the women that ruled this book. I approve of that ;)

Cover

ok

Library Binding, 420 pages
Published October 2nd 2014 by Jo Fletcher Books
Fantasy
For review

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Psssst. I also want to mention that the publisher is holding a contest:

"We have five copies of the book to give away, plus one lucky winner will receive a £100 Red Letter Day experience.

All people have to do for a chance to win is let us know on our blog, Facebook page or Twitter - with #CityOfStairs - what tangible miraculous object they would create if you were a god of Bulikov.  A door which takes you to the past and a knotted cord that brings rain when untied are just some of the miracles the gods brought to Bulikov, but we want to know what other people would add to them. The competition is open until October 30th for your chance to win."

Throne of Glass 0.1-0.5 and 1 - Sarah J Maas

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

My thoughts:

The assassin and the pirate lord.

Assassin with attitude is send to deal with a pirate. Lots of attitude, little display of gifts so far. At this moment she is too cocky for me.

The assassin and the healer

Still cocky assassin made a mistake and is paying for it. The Healer was interesting though. I'd like to see more of her

The Assassin and the Desert

Meeting desert assassins at a school, meeting a cute guy too. And I must say, for an assassin she does not assassinate a lot of people...make that zero. I know it's YA, but come on, KILL someone!

The assassin and the underworld

I should write these before moving to the next one and forgetting the story...

Eh...right. For an assassin she kind of sucks. I would think she would be better at it.

I can't remember the title. edit. and the empire

Silly little girl. You learned nothing.

Also, just cos you say you killed liked a billion people, I will not feel that you are strong, scary or anything before you actually show me that. I know this is YA, but this girl is a bad BAD assassin. She keeps getting caught. She should be dead by now.

And should that part of the story have made me sad? Who gives a F. I never felt it. I never believed it. So when it happened I did not care.

Conclusion:

Still it was not badly written, so it was good. But I do not believe her to be a badass. So I liked to imagine these stories about a girl learning to be an assassin and failing a lot...then it worked.

Cover

Cool

ebook, 448 pages
Published March 4th 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
Fantasy, YA
Own

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My thoughts:

I was told by EVERYONE to read this book. And no I did not love it like everyone else, but it was amusing. Yes I was amused by the things everyone loved, while I rolled my eyes. So for that it was rather enjoyable to read. It was good, just very very stupid. I think I will do this review in the form of the notes I took while reading.

Notes to self:

*Terrible assassin, has no aim!

* Very preoccupied by her looks and dresses, dirt under nails after having been in a mine for a year. Please bitch

* No assassin skills (like waking up by the sound of the wind and killing the wind..eh no). Instead everyone can come in and wake her and KILL HER, ok no one kills her but they could.

*Most unbelievable assassin ever!!

*Emotions should be kept hidden, first rule of assassins

*Wow, she did manage to be good at something...it contradicts everything else.

*More people manage to come close without her hearing

*She is scared a lot and please kill someone already!

*If you were a real assassin you could have escaped by now

*The "time, era" is all over the place. It's like industrial meets Middle Ages

*More world building please, it sucks.

*If there are lots of wars that has been going on, are going on, and will start then I would expect more soldiers, and less men around. Cos they are all dead. But I guess no one has died in these wars 

*Omg the candy scene!! Sigh. She comes in, there is mysterious candy on her bed, she, wait for it...EATS THE CANDY. Wtf girl? Well now I know how to kill your sorry ass.

Oh oh! And there is a love triangle! *eye roll*

And something about the other characters, ok one. The captain of the guard falls apart at the end..WTF MAN!? For that? You, warrior, captain, whatever

Sucky world, TSTL heroine (I liked to imagine her as been Schizo and her being an awesome assassin was all in her mind).

But hey I still enjoyed it cos it was rather ridiculous. NO idea, how I liked it enough to rate it good, but it was good in all it's silliness.

If you want to read good fantasy, then do NOT read this.

If you want to laugh then read this, even if it's not a funny book. It's just a story about the worst assassin who has ever lived, ahh funny. I was never bored, there was always something new and silly on the horizon that makes no sense.

*note: do not hate me now Marcela! :)

Cover

meh

Kindle Edition, 432 pages
Published August 7th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens (first published August 2nd 2012)
Throne of Glass #1
Fantasy, YA
Own