Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward

  BOOK FOUR OF "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

  The fourth book in the BDB series is about Butch. I liked it a lot actually. That cover... okay, I don't like orange, at all. But wait 'til you see the BG one, it's awesome. The woman from behind is a brilliant idea and it's so beautiful. Oh, and the cover is purple! Yeah, you can say I like purple(*cough* my whole blog design is so purple haha). Only the man looks a bit too humane but... wait, did I mention Butch is a human? So the cover fits all the way.

  As I said, this is another one of my favourite books in the series. Honestly, I liked the storyline with Butch and his development and not that much their love story with Marissa. At some point, I was getting really annoyed at her and I don't know what would I've done to her if she hadn't come to her senses.

  I like that JR Ward thinks that every character should have its own story and a happy ending(well, most of the time). But it'd be very awful if someone doesn't have one and the others are simply continuing with their lives and he/she is miserable.

  Butch became a very important figure in the war with the Lessening Society and I'm happy about it because he was feeling so useless in this vampire world. I haven't mentioned that but I like how the names of the characters are some specific words, like The Destroyer. Or Wrath, or Vishous... 

  Butch is always a funny character; some of the funniest moments in the series are with him. I didn't like that at some point his friendship with Vishous turned out in another direction. I just... I'm not into this kind of things, okay? I'm not insulting anyone but I'm not supposed to like it either.

  I like the ending, it was so intriguing. I wish there was some more. Butch's story... I don't think it's finished, no, there's a lot more to it. Having in mind his origins... oh, yes, I think it's going to be interesting and I really hope Ward has included something more for him in the future. Because Lover Revealed is hardly enough to satisfy my never-ending curiosity and hunger for knowledge.

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

   BOOK THREE OF "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

  This is my most favourite book in the entire series! It's about my favourite Brother - Zsadist. He's the bad one, the dangerous one and everything to put off a woman, yet that's why I like him. I like danger and everything that's forbidden because I'm stubborn. He doesn't feel anything because of what happened in his past. Despite that, I was intrigued by him from the very beginning. I can't explain why but if I had to choose one of the brothers I would say Z without a doubt because he's just... perfect for me.

  I like adding the cover of the Bulgarian edition to my reviews so I'll stick to it. And again, the Bulgarian publishers have great designers, no offence to the English ones but they're simply a several times better.

  Due to his past, Zsadist is treating everyone badly and is so closed in himself. Until he meets Bella - a female vampire who's able to save him and... awake him. I liked everything in that book and I was anticipating every moment of it. Just like Bella, I was attracted to his fierce power. He personifies maybe everything I like in a guy, well, except for the hair which he lacks but I can make an exception for him.

  I really like Bella and she's so perfect for Z. She's beautiful and charming but I was fascinated by the fact she was never afraid of the fearsome warrior and even opposed him without trembling. I like strong female characters who are equal to men because there're too many cliches out there and so many ridiculous heroines who drive me crazy.

  The ending was more than perfect! I couldn't wish for a more awesome ending of my favourite book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. If I had to recommend any book in the series it would be definitely Lover Awakened. At least, that was my favourite but I believe that there's plenty of handsome characters to fall for so you have a great choice. Personally, I'm in love with this book!

Book Blogger Hop: 4 June 2018

  Yeah, I like making my own post covers and I find it really hard to make them simple when I can make it as complicated as possible. #Problems Never mind, I decided to introduce another theme to my blog called Book Blogger Hop(I'll include a link at the end of the post). Actually, unlike Top Ten Tuesday or Top 5 Wednesday, you answer a question and you have a deadline of one week to do so. Again, unlike TTT or T5W when you should do it on Tuesday or Wednesday, you can choose whichever day in the week you like in the given period to make this post. I chose to do BBH(Book Blogger Hop) on Monday, I don't know why I simply decided on Monday just because. So, let's begin with this week's question.

      What do you think your blog says about you?

  Well, I think all my websites show that I love designing. I really do my best with each of my designs. I love it being beautiful and... perfect. So yeah, they'll see I did a lot of work on my blog. But I'm sure the first thing everyone to notice would be the purple everywhere. I like purple, it's one of my favourite colours and I think my blog looks awesome(yeah, I'm so modest).

  The content of my blog will also say that I'm very inactive. I'm really persistent in my inconsistency. No matter how much I want to be socially active and so on, life has other plans, unfortunately.

  If you read a review of mine probably you'll notice how honest I am and that's not always a positive trait. I say exactly what I think and trust me, it isn't usually nice. However, you'll notice that when I'm angry and say what's on my mind it's quite funny.

  You know, it's hard to assess yourself. I really hope people like what they see. I really do try to do my best with everything I do, I try being myself no matter what and getting positive results is what makes me enormously happy.

  So, I don't know what else to say. Probably, you should tell me what does my blog say about me? I'd like to know actually, so please leave your answers in the comments!

And the credits as promised:

Book Blogger Hop

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

  BOOK TWO OF "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

  This is not only a story about the beautiful shell, but also about what lies beyond it.

  Lover Eternal is the second book of Black Dagger Brotherhood and is about Rhage, who is so handsome and has the appearance of an actor, and that's why they call him Hollywood. However, in the first book, he was more pleasant because he was funny and humorous, and his disputes with Vishous are like no other! That's why I like him very much, but still, do not overlook his incredible beauty because it's of great importance. But when I saw his real story, I felt a little bit bad. I liked the funny Rhage, and all this with the curse of the monster that comes up when he loses control changes somewhat your view of him and it's obvious that he's what he is because he likes it very much. Apparently a womanizer, a nice self-loving person, but in fact, he also has his own problems which makes you look from another point of view.

  To be honest, the story of Mary and Rhage isn't one of my favourites, maybe it was too sweetish for my taste. He's a symbol of sex appeal and power, and that tenderness was a little bit too much to me, anyway I prefer something rougher and stronger, it's not a coincidence that Zsadist is grabbed my attention from the beginning at Dark Lover.

   Mery, on the other hand, is a human girl who has suffered a lot and her story is so touching due to her illness, which in my opinion, it's very unfair to have. I don't see what has she done to deserve this - she isn't healed and she has to go through everything again.

  In the end, I thought there might be a very sad ending because it was so obviously going to be! The events themselves were awful and I was convinced Scribe Virgin has a lot of authority and power which isn't so good considering how she commands all her warrior to do this and that. As if she's playing a game and no one matters. They're living beings and have feelings and lives as well and she's acting like a b.itch.

   I like the way Rhage jokes and pecks with everyone, I love laughing and funny moments are like a pinch of salt to a dish. Overall, the book is nice but I won't deny, it's not my cup of tea.

  I find it interesting to share the cover edition in my native language so you can see what's like. Personally, I prefer the covers of the translated edition because the publishers make a really good work and are far better than the original(sorry). Honestly, I'm not into that green shade(green isn't my favourite colour) but the girl is beautiful and her eyes are awesome.

  Anyway, the book is perfectly fine. I can say that the series seems to be very promising and I think it's worth it. Maybe one of the best vampire series out there. I like JR Ward's vampires - they're sexy, strong, rough and simply amazing! After all, they're supernatural creatures, they should be extraordinary and badass. And her writing style is great. Really recommend these books for vampire lovers!

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Character Names

Hey, I decided to try some of these topics. Today, I'm doing the Top Ten Tuesday topic for May 22nd - Best Character Names. Above is my TTT cover(God, I love making edits, I've made for the other articles I'll be doing as well) and I find it cute, it's purple because... purple blog! Yeah, I wanted everything to go well with everything. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I like it to be pretty and well-done.

So, that was kind of an introduction but now to the post. I saw on the original website the author says to make it as narrow/broad as you wish. Therefore, I've no idea how many names I might say but let's see. Personally, I'm a writer myself so choosing a name is something I'm slightly familiar with. Maybe I'll add some of the names I've used because I don't remember if I've seen any of them in a book or not.

      Best Character Names

1. Sebastian

Bulgarian edition of the first book,
I absolutely love it!

Okay, I like that name - I like it in any language and versions: Sébastien(French), Sebastiano(Spanish I think?) etc. Originally, I saw it in the Die magische Gondel, aka The Gondola of Time (I'm really glad I could read this trilogy translated into Bulgarian, I speak no German at all!). The main character is called Sebastiano but as I said, I don't mind at all the form. 

2. Louis

A very popular name I think - most of the French kings are called Louis. I like its Italian version as well - Luigi, it sounds cool to me. I think there was a character in The Count of Monte Cristo Luigi Vampa and I liked the name so much I can't take it out of my mind.

3. Scarlett

Scarlett because... scarlet red, its a passionate, vivid colour. It reminds me of anger, power, blood... Yeah, did I mention I have strange preferences? Scarlet was actually the title of the second book of the Lunar Chronicles. I like the heroine as well, she has curly red hair - very appropriate.

4. Chris

I like anything with Chris in it, no joke. I like that name and no, NOT because of the super famous Christian Gray (I hate these books, I do not wish to degrade as the author herself has). 

5. Rafael

I remember seeing Rafael in The Mortal Instruments series, he was the leader of the New York vampires. But it sounds cool, I like the name, Rafael. Well, I am a fan of Rafael Nadal and maaybe that has something to do with it.

6. Calypso

I've used this name in a book of mine. I like its untypical sounding. I think I first saw it in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. Anyway, Calypso is a perfect name for some adventure books(like mine, it was about pirates as well, oops but nothing to do with Pirates of the Caribbean, it was the story of a prince who had become a pirate, Calypso was the name of the female character who was a Spanish aristocrate, I really wanted her to stand out from the crowd xd).

7. Alexander

Like Alexander the Great? Yep. I've seen other version in different languages such as Alejandro(Spanish), Alessandro(Italian) and they all seem beautiful to me. The nickname Alex is also cool.

   -I don't know how much related to the topic it is but I really like surnames which are a combination of some words, I'll show you.

8. Blackthorn

We all can see the name's origins but that's not what matters. I like this kind of surnames with hidden meaning. Blackthorn is a surname of a family in the Shadowhunters world again. But I've seen it in another series called The Blackthorn Key.

9. Lannister

House Lannister in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Okay, Lannister reminds of Lancaster and I always mistake them. I like the sound of Lancaster, I know it's a city in England, maybe I should visit it sometime since I'm reminded so much of it.

Well, looks like I can't think of another name. I'm so bad at thinking of something on purpose. I'm sure when I don't have to I'll think of a bunch more names but... never mind, these nine will work. So, what are your favourite character names?

The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

     BOOK ONE OF "MAGISTERIUM"

  The Iron Trial is the first book of a series of five books called the Magisterium. First of all, I will say that I had absolutely no intention of buying it. I did not even know about it before seeing Egmont's bookish deal, and then I said, "Well, so I'm going to get The Storybook of Legends, why don't get another book as a gift as soon as they give it? It's a book, and I love books, I'm not paying for it so I see no reason not to go to the bookshop and get it." I also feel obliged to mention that for the first time I read a collaborative work among authors in this case two. I just can't understand how two people can write a book and no matter how much I try to understand it doesn't work out. Maybe because I am always a solo and teamwork is definitely not for me, this is the main reason I can't explain how this collaboration works.

  I think the book is wrongly defined as '7+'. Just because the cover is animated and the heroes are twelve-years-old doesn't mean it has to be a little bit childish. This is about the magic of the elements, and those children who have the potential, go to study in the Magisterium so they can learn to control their abilities and not hurt those around them. I love things related to the four elements (there are five because there is one more).

  I'm not adding this picture just because. The left part is the combination of these five elements which is their merging, a sign that also exists at the entrance of the building of the Magisterium. The right part is all individual elements and above the line, the five symbols are used in the book as a transition instead of "***", for example. The extra element, obviously, is chaos.

  The very story of the book is very exciting, and it's just so funny to me. I started reading it in the evenings, I did not have enough time to finish it, and I was really impatient to know the ending of the book. Obviously, I was totally captivated by The Iron Trial.

  The story is as follows - Calum did not even foresee that he would ever enter this place and do his best to fail in this so-called admission exam - The Iron Trial, as the book title. That is exactly the biggest contrast - despite all his attempts to fail, he is still accepted by one of the best Masters, no actually, he is the best.

Sorry, I have the Bulgarian edition but they're
all the same except for the language.

  Another thing that impressed me in the book itself is that there is a picture above each chapter (as shown in the picture). I love the illustrations and I like all the books that have such things. Its size, otherwise, is quite decent - just over 300 pages. I personally think it's worth reading. The three main characters on the cover are Calum, Aaron and Tamara. And the chief antagonist, the Enemy of Death, we'll learn a lot about him in the process, and perhaps he's the most intriguing character in the whole first book. And definitely has something to surprise you.

  I think the whole series is very intriguing and I'm already determined to read them all. I can't wait to continue with the second book, The Copper Gauntlet. For fans of fantasy it's a great opportunity to read something so intriguing and different. I'll be looking forward to the next books of the Magisterium series.

I really want to share my favourite quote of the series with you. Actually, it's the kind of poem about the elements, it just sounds cool.

“Fire wants to burn. 

Water wants to flow. 

Air wants to rise. 

Earth wants to bind.

Chaos wants to devour.” 

***

By the way, I love the UK covers, they're awesome!

The Heir by Kiera Cass

   BOOK  FOUR OF "THE SELECTION"

  The fourth book of one of my most favourite series... I didn't expect to have a fourth and a fifth one, I admit. It was so strange at first to think about this series not as a trilogy but as a short series of five novels. The first three were better, however. The last two tell the story of America’s daughter Eadlyn.

 I'm a little disappointed with the cover. Yes, it's nice, but not like the previous ones. It's not my piece of cake, and I don’t like it. Grey is too impersonal and monotonous colour, which I do not like. And the dress doesn't look as sumptuous and gorgeous as the others, but it's more like simple. This reminds me of the Italian TV series Elisa di Rivombrosa and how in the third season with Elisa’s daughter she wore some dresses that were completely different from those of her mother’s and that ruined everything.

  I think I've paid too much attention to the cover. Let's switch to the content. Princess Eadlyn really is a little arrogant and slightly pretentious. Her history differs light years from that of her mother’s and maybe it’s a little frustrating. I expect something else actually… Her Selection is well... quite different, first of all, because it’s the first one made for a princess and not a prince and she has to choose among boys, not girls. All these contrasts turned out to have an influence, and in the beginning, it was difficult to accept the situation, I admit. And for Eadlyn… There's nothing to talk about at all. She had never wanted anything like this and was convinced that eventually, she would complete this circus as she set describes it, without getting married, but I think she's mistaken. I bet she's going to fall in love if she's not already in Kyle. They're just like made for each other. And no, it's not a spoiler, it's a pure assumption that I'm not going to be mistaken for.

  Twenty years later, although the caste system has been removed it still has its invisible shackles over the people and it is a huge obstacle. Before as if with those rebels, it was better because it was clear who were the enemies of the crown, but now… They're not. It's better to be clear than to wonder and worry who they might be.

  Overall, I liked the book and the end... I just don't have words for it. It just made me look forward to reading the last fifth book and I sincerely hope the author doesn't make us sad with some nasty development, but really!

  Maybe I’ll repeat myself, but I definitely recommend the series The Selection and I don't know if and how much negative criticism there is, but I like it and it's worth reading.