Book Series Review: Bajo el Cielo Púrpura de Roma (Alessandra Neymar)

Hello everybody! So today I bring something new to this blog - a Book Series Review (yay!). As you may already know, I am participating in the 2016 Finishing the Series Challenge, and Bajo el Cielo Púrpura de Roma by Alessandra Neymar is one of the series I was aiming to finish throughout this year. Surprisingly enough, I got to do it during the first month of the year! (yep, sorry I couldn't upload the review until now :S)

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

I was lucky enough to win Amanda's Back to School giveaway at her blog Orandi et Legendi, from which I got this book which I really wanted to read. I am very grateful to her for that :) 

Cinder is a Young Adult, fantasy novel inspired in the classic Cinderella - the first of The Lunar Chronicles' trilogy by Marissa Meyer. 

"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." (Goodreads)

Mírame y Dispara (Alessandra Neymar)

Mírame y Dispara is, again, a book that has only been published in Spanish (sorry!); but, as always, if you are not so confident with your Spanish, you can use the bog's translating function that you'll find on the right sidebar to read the following review :) 

Mírame y Dispara was written by Alessandra Neymar, and won the first edition of the award for YA, romantic literature Premio Ellas Juvenil Romántica in 2012. It is the first of the series Bajo el Cielo Púrpura de Roma, one of the series of my 2016 Finishing the Series Challenge, which I posted about a couple of weeks back. As I am planning on reading the rest of the books of the series, I thought I would re-read the first one for the third time to have the story fresh in my head and not miss out on any little detail! So, without further adieu, let's see what it has to offer... (intro Google Translate ;D)

"Kathia Carusso, una joven adolescente de la alta aristocracia italiana, regresa a Roma tras pasar muchos años en un internado. Allí se reencuentra con Cristianno Gabbana, un conocido de la familia con quien nunca ha tenido muy buena relación. Cristianno es terriblemente atractivo, impulsivo, y no parece tener más preocupaciones que las peleas con otras bandas y el flirteo con chicas de piernas largas. Al empezar el curso, Kathia y Cristianno verán que comparten no solo la misma clase sino también el mismo grupo de amigos. Lo que empezará como odio irá desembocando en una tensión cada vez más fuerte... Y, cuando finalmente ambos se atrevan a aceptar sus verdaderos sentimientos, deberán sortear obstáculos que nunca habrían imaginado..." (Goodreads)

2016 Audiobook Challenge

As you might have read in a previous post, I first listened to an audiobook last year. My first ever audiobook was for the book Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. I found it to be an extremely pleasant experience, you I've decided to give it a go and I've gone for the 2016 Audiobook Challenge, hosted by The Book Nympho and Hot Listens. 

(Click the button for more info)

As I am pretty new at this, I've not been too harsh on myself and I've chosen the easiest level to begin with - the Newbie (I'll give it a try) level, which means that I have to listen to between 1 and 5 audiobooks between January 1st 2016 and December 31st 2016. I've set my goal on 4 audiobooks. Let's see how it goes!

Happy Reading!

wonderful literature.

Related posts...

2016 Finishing the Series Challenge

Heima es hogar en islandés (Laila Soler)

Hello everyone! So this review will be in Spanish, as this book by Laila Soler has only been published in this language. Regardless, you can use the blog's translating widget that you will find on the right sidebar to have a look at it in case the novel ever gets translated into English or maybe just to satisfy your curiosity :)

Heima es Hogar en Islandés es una novela young adult de ficción y fantasía inspirada en un viaje a Islandia que la propia autora realizó con su familia. 

"¿Puede estar tu hogar a miles de kilómetros de casa?Ver la vida en blanco y negro no es divertido.Laura padece una extraña enfermedad que le impide apreciar los colores, pero si últimamente su vida es gris no es solo porque sufre acromatopsia. Acaba de romper con su novio y sus padres no dejan de pelearse tras el divorcio. Por eso, decide alejarse de todo y toma el primer avión que sale del aeropuerto.El destino la lleva hasta Reikiavik, Islandia. Allí conoce al simpático Orri, quien le propone emprender un viaje para recorrer el país con él y su no tan simpático amigo Guðjon. Quizá no sea una idea sensata, pero no es que Islandia ofrezca muchas opciones a una chica que se ha escapado de casa.Lo que Laura nunca podría sospechar es que los dos islandeses esconden un secreto imposible de creer, incluso para alguien como ella, y que ese viaje la cambiará para siempre." (Goodreads)

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why is a Young Adult, fiction novel which tells us the story about a guy, Clay Jensen, who randomly receives a box with his name on it in which he finds seven double-sided tapes recorded by his deceased friend Hannah Baker, explaining the 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide. Only those people who made the list will ever listen to the tapes, which leaves us with one single question - what did Clay do to be in the list?

I found this book absolutely refreshing. The story is just so original and creative, and the flow of the story is very good. This is the first book I ever decided to listen to on audiobook, and I think I made such a good choice! I wasn't really sure about listening to something you are meant to read, but if you ever think about trying it out, this book definitely is the right one to do so because the story is mainly the tapes of Hannah Baker explaining her story, so I literally felt as if I was listening to the tapes. Moreover this audiobook has two different voices - a male one for the part narrated by Clay and a female one for Hannah Baker's tapes, which I think is a brilliant idea. The audiobook definitely got a 5/5 from me. If you ever have the chance, please try it out. 

2016 Finishing the Series Challenge

Hello everyone!

I have found this challenge hosted by Bea from Bea's Book Nook, and I think it's a wonderful idea! I have been thinking lately about all the series I have left unfinished over the years for one reason or another which I should definitely go back to, and then suddenly... Boom! The perfect challenge for my purpose! :D  2016 Finishing the Series Challenge is precisely all about finishing the series which you have not finished yet, but you'd like to; and so I think this is a great opportunity to join the blog's first challenge!

Click the banner for more info on the challenge or follow the link: 

http://beasbooknook.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/2016-finishing-series-reading-challenge.html 

I have chosen to do Level 3, which means that I have to finish between 3 and 6 series by the end of 2016. The following are the series I have chosen to finish, which I will make a post of whenever I do:

• Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin: 2 books to finish - The Evolution of Mara Dyer, The Retribution of Mara Dyer
• The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss: 1 book to finish - The Wise Man's Fear (the third part hasn't been assigned a release date yet, but if it comes out soon enough, it will be part of the challenge too)
• The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare: 3 books to finish - City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
• Saga Bajo el Cielo Púrpura de Roma by Alessandra Neymar: 3 books to finish - Traición, Colapso, Desafío
• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: 3 books to finish - Scarlet, Cress, Winter
• Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Series by Ransom Riggs: 2 books to finish - Hollow City, Library of Souls

Wish me luck!

wonderful literature.

Related posts...

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1)


Bajo el Cielo Púrpura de Roma Series

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)

Follow with Bloglovin'!

Hello everyone!

Just thought I'd make it easier for people to follow my blog whatever platform they come from :) You can follow WL with your Blogger account (wonderfulliterature.blogspot.com), or if you prefer, you can clic the link below to follow with Bloglovin':

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It'd make me so happy! :D

Happy reading!

wonderful literature.

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard is the first book of a young adult, fantasy series with the same name about a world in which there are two kinds of people - those whose blood has a red colour and those whose blood has a silver colour. The Silvers have special abilities which enables them overpower the Reds, who live in very bad conditions and tend to hate the Silvers. Our main character, Mare, is a Red, destined to serve the military in her next birthday, but her story is much more complicated than that...

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

When I first heard of this book, I was a bit cautious with it because I thought the title implied it being a middle-school read which I wouldn't enjoy as much. However, I heard and read so many good reviews on it that I changed my mind about it, and decided to buy it. Here's what I thought about it.

First of all, let me please tell you that if you are thinking that maybe you'd like to read it, don't rely on the back-cover insight to the story. It's pretty poor, and it will make you think of it as a boring on, which is not.

It is about two 15-year-old boys, Ari and Dante, who don't really have many friends, and find each other at the town's swimming pool. From that moment on, they become really good friends, and you'll start knowing more about the two of them as the story goes on - as will them, really.

100 followers on Twitter & Thoughts on the Fifty Shades Trilogy - E.L. James

WE'VE REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER!!

I just checked the page's Twitter account and discovered that there is already 100 of you following @W_Literature!! I am so grateful to you all, and to celebrate this fantastic achievement, I've decided to do a post of some very famous pieces of literature. 

Here's to reading!

So I read this ultimately famous erotic series at the very start of the summer, and as I recently saw someone's review of the books, I figured I would do the same, just to let you know what my thoughts were. It is a very polemic series, and without further ado, let's get started!

First of all, I will admit that I had no idea what the books were about before I started reading the first one, Fifty Shades of Grey. I just wanted to know what was it that attracted millions and millions of readers, and if the books were actually any good. So let me start by explaining a bit what the story behind the whole erotic thing is about. 

Senior college student Anastasia Steele steps in for her sick roommate to interview the owner of one of the most successful companies in the world, Christian Grey, for an article for the college newspaper. She is clumsy and shy, and hardly had any relationships in her whole life, but still something makes the billionaire feel surprisingly attracted to her, and soon she sees him everywhere. What she doesn't know is that the mysterious, utterly handsome businessman has some quite difficult and unusual habits with the girls he meets. 

Before I Go to Sleep - S.J. Watson

I did not know of this book before I found it in a bookstore at Dubai's airport, and I chose it because the story really intrigued me - I thought "how is it possible to write a story where the protagonists does not remember what has been written before?", and I have to say S.J. Watson completely nailed it. She does it in such a smooth manner that you don't even realise what she's doing to you until she's already done it, and it's too late and you're dead right there with the book in your hands. This book completely blew my mind! 

I will just write what comes on the back cover of the book, because it is what I read before I started reading the whole book, which worked just fine for me:

Memories define us

What if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?

Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten over night.

And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

Welcome to Christine's life.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

I read this book a couple of months ago and I really, really enjoyed it. It was, indeed, quite peculiar  itself. 

It is about a boy, Jacob Portman, who convinces his parents to let him travel to Wales (The UK) in order to learn about the truthfulness of his grandfather's stories -- who has recently died in what seems to Jacob some very strange circumstances. The old man used to tell him stories about his notoriously exceptional adventures with some really strange friends of his in an orphanage for war refugee children when he was little. At some point he stopped believing them, but he's not so sure they're not true anymore...

I have to say I bought this book for its appealing title and wonderful cover, but it definitely did not let me down. I found the story very new and original, and I surely did not expect what was coming. I think the characters are very interesting -- the main one is quite strongly developed while the rest are not a much, though I believe it was made on purpose, so nicely done (no spoilers, you'll see!). 

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller set in London and its outskirts. It is bestseller book, so I thought I would give it a try and see what I thought myself.

It is narrated from three different perspectives, thought only one of them belongs to the protagonist - Rachel. She got divorced some years back because of a drinking problem that she developed, which she still has not overcome. Everyday, she takes the same train to go to London and back, even though she also lost her job a couple of months ago because of the same problem. While in the train, every time she observes the houses she passes by, though there's two in particular that she is interested in: her old house, where she used to live with Tom (her ex-husband) and where the latter still lives with her new wife; and one on the same street where a couple that seems perfect to Rachel lives. One day, the woman in the perfect couple disappears. 

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - Lesley Walton

Simply wonderful.

To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel

I am completely destroyed by the effect this book had on me. As a quick description, I will just say it is such a beautiful story, so beautifully written. 

"Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.
Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.
In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.
That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human." (Goodreads)