Stories Are Perfect

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance   - https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/8492825-where-she-went

The second book that I read in June was "Black City" by Elizabeth Richards! This was actually the book that I chose to write a review on for this month, so go check that out to see my thoughts! My rating was 3.5 out of 5 stars! REVIEW - http://ourstoriesareperfect.blogspot.com/2015/06/review-black-city-by-elizabeth-richards.html

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-old Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths. - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12568505-black-city

The third book I read this month was "An Ember In The Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir. I actually listened to this book as an audio book(MY FIRST AUDIO BOOK YAY)! Unfortunately, since I didn't have to actually read the words myself, I was able to become very distracted. I feel like maybe if I read an e-book or a physical copy, it would've been much easier for me to understand and comprehend the book. Even if I wasn't giving the book my full attention 100% of the time, I could still tell that it was a really great book! I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself. - https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/20560137-an-ember-in-the-ashes

The fourth book that I read this month was "The Demigod Diaries" by Rick Riordan! I've been putting off reading this collection of stories for one reason only. The first story is told from Luke's point of view. I just couldn't get into it! I knew that the other ones would be great..... and of course they were! All of the stories were actually really nice! I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

What dangers do runaway demigods Luke and Thalia face on their way to Camp Half-Blood? Are Percy and Annabeth up to the task of rescuing stolen goods from a fire-breathing giant who doesn't take kindly to intruders? How exactly are Leo, Piper, and Jason supposed to find a runaway table, dodge a band of party-loving Maenads (who just might be a little psychotic), and stave off a massive explosion...all in one hour or less? With his trademark wit and creativity, Rick Riordan answers these questions and more in three never-before-seen short stories that provide vital back-story to the Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson books. Original art, enlightening character interviews and profiles, puzzles, and a quiz add to the fun in this action-packed collection. - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12959086-the-demigod-diaries

The final book that I read this month was "These Broken Stars" by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. This book is described as 'Titanic in space', which is why I was so interested in this book(besides the gorgeous cover). It does have similarities to Titanic, but after the first 50 or so pages, it develops a story all its own! I really enjoyed this book despite some major plot holes! I gave it a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating!

Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth. 
The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.                                             -https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20873160-these-broken-stars

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing what I read this month! Check back tomorrow for my July TBR! All books were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own! 

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-old Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                         -  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12568505-black-city                













Non-Spoiler: I gave Black City a 3.5 out of 5 stars because it wasn't a terrible book by any means, but it certainly had its problems. The beginning of the book is really intriguing, and it lays the ground work for a lot of mysteries and secrets that are revealed throughout the novel. Although the first 70 pages or so are very promising, the book starts to become cheesier and more predictable. Characters lose their wit and sense, and are just completely eye-roll worthy. Around the last fourth of the book, things start to really happen! You realize why you liked the characters in the first place, and you really begin to see all the puzzle pieces come together. Shocking information is revealed, and the events that occur left me at a loss for words. I hope that Elizabeth Richards carries this momentum into the next two books, so that my experience with them can be just as fantastic as the last 100 pages of Black City. I would recommend this book to fans of dystopian novels because I think that this world is really different from a lot of other books out there. It may just be me, but I haven't read a book set up like this before! 

Ash was definitely a favorite of mine for the first 50 pages, but has soon as he accepted that he had the slightest feelings for Natalie, he became a love-struck idiot, which is not something that suited him very well. I had a completely different opinion of Natalie. She was just a 'Sentry brat' as Beetle and Ash would say. Through out the book, she gained some more common sense and even attempted to sacrifice her life to save Ash at the end of the book(definitely a mark in the plus column). Even though I was totally supportive of the relationship between Ash and Natalie, this book had a serious case of insta-love. This whole book took place over the course of about three or four weeks. That is not a realistic time span for a romantic relationship or even a friendship, like Day and Natalie. That was another relationship that I didn't initially have a problem with, but I did start to seem some flaws in towards the middle of the book. When Day and Beetle caught Ash and Natalie kissing, I thought the fight between Day and Natalie was extremely dramatic. My opinion was only strengthened when Natalie mentioned that she had only met Ash under the bridge a few weeks prior, which means she had known Day for an even shorter amount of time! Beetle and Ash's friendship however, seemed to be very well developed and provided some pretty witty banter at times. The two definitely had some reoccurring arguments that I thought would eventually have larger consequences, but by the end of Black City, the longest they had gone without speaking to each other seemed to only be a couple of days. In this first book, we also learned a lot about the politics of Black City and the other 8 towns. Especially they're leader, Purian Rose. Purian Rose is essentially a dictator. He easily controls the nine Emissaries, and now he even has his own religion. He reminds me a lot of President Snow from the Hunger Games actually, even if it's only cause his last name is Rose. Natalie's sister, Polly, is another character with a very interesting back story. She was tortured by Purian Rose because her father had chosen to help the Darklings after he learned where Purian Rose was sending them. Natalie's mother had chosen to let Rose torture Polly instead of Natalie because she hoped to blackmail Rose by revealing that Polly was actually his daughter, which I thought was a very risky, yet very political, move of her to make. Natalie's mother's relationship with Rose opens a whole new door to more twisted secrets that we, hopefully, get to explore in Phoenix, the next book. Moving on from characters and into the actual plot. 
It's impossible to deny that the idea of Ash and Natalie being Blood Mates is exceptionally cheesy. It definitely had a few plot holes as well. For one thing, Natalie was a human. That alone made the whole thing very unbelievable. Although Ash did think that it was surprising that she was human and his Blood Mate, he didn't think anything else about it. Also, the way that Ash explained the whole myth behind Blood Mates to Natalie seemed very sudden and random. He didn't seem to have any thought process behind it. Natalie's acceptance of the whole thing was also a little weird to me. If some half-demon boy told me that we were Blood Mates, I would be quite startled. Later on in the story, we do of course learn that the heart that Natalie received for her heart transplant came from another twin-blood named Evangeline. When we were first introduced to Evangeline I thought she was very cool, and I actually preferred her and Ash as a couple versus Ash and Natalie, but as soon as it is revealed that she is Ash's TRUE Blood Mate, Evangeline's character turns out to be more of a villain than we thought. She tells Natalie that she was the one who killed Malcolm and Truffles. Evangeline also threatens to kill Polly, but Natalie persuades her not to. It was also a huge coincidence that Ash's mom acted as a mother figure for Evangeline, and Evangeline was actually there when his mom was originally infected by the Wrath. 
Since this section of my review was more of a discussion, I would like to wrap it up by sharing some of my theories for the next books with you guys. Of course, they are already released, so I would prefer it if nobody left spoilers in the comments of this post.