Welcome back to Top 5 Wednesday! This meme was created by gingerreadslainey and is hosted by Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes and you can check out the Goodreads group here. This week’s theme is Favorite SFF Cover Art *Booktube SFF Awards Crossover Topic*.
Show off some of your favorite science fiction and fantasy cover art!
Welcome back to Top 5 Wednesday! This meme was created by gingerreadslainey and is hosted by Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes and you can check out the Goodreads group here. This week’s theme is Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books .
In collaboration with the BooktubeSFF Awards, talk about your favorite science fiction and fantasy books of all time!
I don’t read a lot of SciFi and I also haven’t read Fantasy in a little while, so my T5W will be kind of shitty… eheh
It’s the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We’re out of oil. We’ve wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS – and his massive fortune – will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions – and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.
I’ve had this book for ages on my shelf, basically since I started book blogging back in 2015, but I just now decided that I truly needed to read it, and I’m so glad I did. I absolutely loved this book, and I can’t wait to see it’s movie adaptation.
I honestly don’t truly know how to review this book without spoiling it, so I’ll keep it short and on point.
I’ve seen a lot of reviews saying that their biggest issues with the book were the info dumps and the slow plot, and the expectations of lots of action, only to be disappointed with the type of “action” that actually happens. I had no issues with any of these things. I thought the setting was incredible, and to be honest, quite realistic, in a sad way. There’s just something that speaks to the human nature and the instincts of the current generations.
Furthermore, I really liked the amount of information dumped on the reader – in this case, me! I’m an 80’s and 90’s kid, so I got most references, and even those who weren’t from my time, I remember my siblings playing/listening or watching them. But in this kind of setting, these clues and tidbits had to be properly explained, in my opinion, because they’re not part of the actual reality of the characters. And there was also the way this info was given… Wade is an extremely good narrator, and funny as hell!
And then, I actually really liked the slow pacing and plot. for a moment there after the first key is found, I was actually scared that things would start going too fast, and I didn’t think that was the best thing for the story. I’m glad that the author didn’t go that route, and instead took his time to tell the story.
I liked the story, the pacing, the plot and I loved the characters! Even though they only know each other online, the connections and feelings are real, and I loved the way they were dealt with. I loved Wade, Art3mis and especially Aech :D. They were all awesome.
I just… I loved this book! If by some miracle you haven’t read it yet, do it! I did read Cline’s second book, Armada, and I have to say that I liked RPO way more…
Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father’s killer through multiple dimensions.
Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite’s father is murdered, and the killer — her parent’s handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul — escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows — including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul’s guilt — as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is far more sinister than she expected.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.
After a little pressure from some people… yeah, you, Kat and Cátia, I finally FINALLY read the first book of the Firebird trilogy.
I already understood a bit about what I was gonna read about, but still, A Thousand Pieces of You took me a bit by surprise and I ended up enjoying it a little more than I thought I would at first. I absolutely enjoyed the writing of this book, and the plot was awesome. Being a science girl myself, I really liked all the science stuff in the book, the physics elements, the multi-verses, everything. I loved the theory and the explanations. Honestly, I don’t know what took me so long to pick this one up.
The characters were a bit harder to love, mostly because the situations and worlds change them a bit. Marguerite is a bit of a conundrum… see, I kind of like her, but she does some shitty things during the book. I did like Theo and Paul, though I have to say that I saw what was happening and it changed a bit the way I see each of them. Most of all, I really liked her family!
Disclaimer: There is one particularly wrong scene in this book, if you’ve read it, you know what it is. The fact that Marguerite makes a decision that will change the Russia-verse Marguerite’s life considerably and is irreversible, is all kinds of wrong.
The plot was really awesome and entertaining, though I did guess some plot points! – I’m so freaking proud that I guessed 3 major things! Though it frustrated Kat and Cátia a little tiny bit :P.
I’m super excited about this series, and I can’t wait to read book 2 :D.
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive — & even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — & a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Kat @Life and Other Disasters had loved The Martian a long while ago, and she had been telling me to read it since then. I got the ebook (don’t remember when to be honest), but I just wasn’t in the mood, and I kept putting it off… maybe I thought that because it was Sci-Fi, it would take me a long time to get through it? I don’t know! But then I got the audiobook, because I thought that this one would be amazing as audio, and I started it on my first day off of work, and I listened to nothing else for a whole day! I was cooking and listening. At the gym? Listening! Riding in a car with the family? Listening… to my sister’s dismay. Long story short: I’M IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!
On to the review now. The writing is genius! I loved how funny it was, even though the majority of the book is written in logs – and monologues can be boring sometimes – this one is anything but. Mark Watney is a funny SOB. The humour is on point! I also loved how different the narration is, depending on the POV we’re on. Mark’s POV is mostly told by logs, or emails, messages, but when the book focus on other characters, the narration changes to the third person. It’s a very smart way to write a book. I approve :D.
Mark is amazing! Seriously, he’s amazing! I love how he doesn’t panic at all. EVER! He gets a problem, he thinks about it – in a very funny way – and then he solves it. He’s awesome! 😀
I really liked the supporting characters and the various interactions between the different characters, as well as how representative this team was. The collaboration between the various teams and members was great, and it was a pleasure to read about. I might have teared up a bit when the chinese get involved, to be honest.
The plot flows supper nicely, and it didn’t feel nearly as long as the book actually is. I didn’t find this book predictable at all, and mind you, the movie has been out for awhile, I hadn’t seen it yet, but I still didn’t know where this was all going. I was just really hoping that he would be able to get out of Mars somehow, because come on… that was logical, right? I loved all the science stuff, loved it. The scientist in me was like: YES! (even though I’m not that kind of scientist, and astrophysics is not my thing at all).
Overall, I really really loved this book, so I HAVE TO recommend it to you guys. You need to read The Martian. NOW! If you don’t want to pick up the book, listen to the audiobook, because you won’t be sorry!
Hello, welcome back to another Book Traveling 
Thursdays, which a weekly meme created by Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Danielle @Danielle’s Book Blog. The goal is to share the covers of a book related to that week’s theme, which you can see at the Goodreads group, indicating the original cover, the one of your country, your favorite and least favorite.
This week’s theme is “Tomorrow is World Smile Day! Choose a book that made you smile recently“. I have to say The Martian by Andy Weir, because I laughed so much during the book, and I cried a bit too. It’s amazing! By the way, I listened to the audiobook, and it was awesome!
Did you know that this book was originally self-published? Yeah, it was, and this was its cover.
Both countries edited their covers when the movie was about to come out, and now we can only find the movie tie-in in both Portugal and Spain. I don’t dislike them, because it’s Matt Damon and he looks good, but it’s not my favorite.
I love the US cover. It’s my favorite for sure :D.
I don’t like these covers at all: Serbian, Georgian, Hebrew, Persian and Japanese.
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
I’ve been trying to write this review for over a month… but today is the day! I read this book with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much, and we had a blast with this one (as always!). Actually, this book started over a month full of buddy reads!! Eheh. Go check out her review of Illuminae here.
This is a very difficult book to review without spoiling anything, so I’ll give you guys a shortlist of my reasons why you should pick up this book NOW. OK?!
1. The format is fantastic. I wasn’t sure how this book would work, but it does! From interviews, to emails, to security cameras reports, etc, everything clicked and it was fantastic and fun and amazing.
2. This book is gorgeous. Somewhat related to the point above, but not really… This book is visually stunning, and it makes the experience of reading it all the more amazing. By the way, this book totally deserves the hardcover.
3. The characters. I never thought that I would get as attached to the characters as I did. At some point I realized that my heart was breaking for a character that had only appeared a couple of times, or another that I didn’t even think I liked. The format of the book shows the personalities and the characters instead of describing them to you, and in the process it’s impossible not to get attached.
4. It’s action packed and unpredictable. Again, it’s incredible how much action this book really has, and how you feel you’re living in the smack center of it.
5. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. I can’t even. I laughed and cried, and sobbed, and then laughed some more. Well done!
So, are you convinced yet? You need to pick up this masterpiece soon. It’s one of my favorite books ever. Reading it’s an experience. And don’t get intimidated by the size, because we flew through this book.
Have you read Illuminae? What are your thoughts on it? Are you as excited as me about Gemina?
My Tiny Obsessions 