Top Ten Tuesday - Books That Made Me Feel

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I don't cry for fiction. When the two ladies behind my row were balling and my mom and sister were crying during Up, my eyes were embarrassingly dry. During the heart-wrenching scene in Toy Story 3, I felt moisture prickling at my eyes, but it never appeared on my face. I never cried during The Hunger Games series UNTIL I read it for the sixth time, emotional music was playing, and I looked at my younger sister during that part in Mockingjay...then, and only then, did the tears fall. I am, however, an emotional person. Any gifs used or exclamations used are representations of my inner heartbreaking feels. So this list may or may not make you cry, but they did make me feel.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The gif says it all.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Another cancer book, another book that made me weepy inside. 

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
"KISS ME HARDY!" 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
I feel like I mention this book all the time, but there's a valid reason, considering her whole family dies in one accident. And she has to decide if she should stay or go. I can't even imagine. 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

WHY, SUZANNE, WHY?

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
This brought on feelings of sadness and anger and even disbelief. It was pretty emotional for me.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
WWII Nazi Germany and narrated by Death. Rainbows and sunshine obviously won't be involved.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

That one part almost made me throw the book against the wall.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Heartbreaking.

Out of Sight Out of Time by Ally Carter

You wanted to hug Cammie throughout, but my insides especially started teary near the end. 

What books make you feel emotional?

Review: ALIENATED by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated 

Author: Melissa Landers

Publication date: February 4, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Source: an e-galley provided by the publisher for an honest review

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

Review:

First line: Winning.

Warning: If you decide to read this book (which I force recommend you do), you may be surprised at the amount of smiling you will do while reading. 

At least, that's how it was for me. I kept going back and forth about if I should read this and then the publisher gave me a Netgalley link, so I thought, why not? It wasn't a life-changing, realistic book. It was a cute, smiling, wonderful book that kickstarted my reading again. I am still in awe of how Melissa Landers did it. It went from careful, I may have to start saying "whatever" to I can't stop reading in an impressive transition. 

First thing you need to know: Cara is competitive. We're told that right from the beginning, from the very first line actually. Because of that, she snags the valedictorian slot in her school and then is surprised with a prestigious scholarship. The catch is that it involves a student exchange with a L'eihr, a.k.a. an alien. Her parents and principal are all gung-ho about it, but she has doubts, especially since her jerky boyfriend is anti-alien. Nevertheless, she agrees.

When we were first introduced to Cara and her social life, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Oh no, not another controlling, jerky boyfriend, who she'll be conflicted in whether or not she should break up with him or not, but we all know that she should...that kind of feeling. Thankfully, Landers knew what she was doing and fixed that problem very quickly. I won't even touch on that pesky best friend business she had going on though. 

Another plus in Landers' favor? Providing pronunciation for the aliens' names! Hurray! She does it in a smooth way that made me sigh with relief because I can barely pronounce normal English words, don't make me try to pronounce names that are spelled weird. Not only that, but she also makes us feel the differences between aliens and humans. They aren't just people who were born on a different planet, they had a completely different culture, attitude, upbringing, and complexities. They felt foreign and I always looked forward to learning more. 

But let's be honest. The building romance and feels between Aelyx and Cara was like a flutter-fest for me. My heart fluttered, my hands fluttered, and I wouldn't doubt that my eyelashes fluttered because I was a fluttering mess. I don't do well in embarrassing situations, even fictional ones, but Landers pulled this off excellently. There were awkward scenes that made me adore the story more. Then not-so-awkward ones that got me fluttering again. Things did get heated, but not too far, and once again, Landers pulled it off well. Standing ovation for her, yes?

While she was still toying my emotions, Landers then decided to heat up the other side of my brain: anger. I was angry. Not at the writing or the story, but the characters. Then it wasn't even the characters themselves, but how realistic they are to our society. Aliens and other scary things are happening. So of course, humans will start to overreact and become hurtful and violent. They turn on their neighbor, they become insistent that they are right and they basically make everything 100x worse. Cara's situation goes from being a great experience for her and Earth to needing guards and being shunned from everyone. It was awful because I could see that happening. Hey, it probably has happened many times throughout history. Something scary happens and we all panic and create hurtful groups like Alienated's HALO. But let's not forget the other side, shall we? The aliens weren't completely blameless either. Aelyx and the other two exchange students, especially the girl, decided to do something that they thought was in the best interest of their planet, but ultimately, they were teenagers thinking that they knew best (of course, adults have many of those moments as well). This story was all kinds of laughs, smiles, flirting, blushing, and fluff. But then Landers sticks in this aspect that actually added depth into the silliness, making me appreciate the novel so much more. 

Since this book was such a win for me, I hate to touch on anything negative because I felt like the positives blew everything out of the water. Alas, I have to. That ending. There was one part with her parents that felt wrong to me, but I reminded myself that this was a fun book, I shouldn't focus on it. Then we get to the actual ending and hello, sinking feeling. I really can't say much (since it is the ending), but I dread the direction it seems to be taking. I'll be one of the first to request the sequel, but I hate the implication that started forming in the last few pages. 

Me.

Verdict: DISNEY-HYPERION FOR THE WIN! 

Review: SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publication date: June 5, 2012

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (Macmillan)

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

Review:

See that last line in the synopsis? Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance. You might think, "So? They are producing hype. Glorious? Epic? Irresistible? Of course there's romance!" 

I laugh in your faces.

This book was more than I ever expected. When I realized that I had not read it before, I put it off. My sister Shelver even gave me a duplicate copy (hardcover!) if I read it and like it. Finally, I read it...and finished it very soon after I began.

Alina is an orphan from the Border Wars and added to that, she is described as ugly. The only bright spot is her fellow orphan, refugee, and best friend. Mal and Alina have been together since childhood and when they grow up, they still remain close. However, the past few years, Alina has felt them drift apart. She has been crushing on Mal, he has become very talented and handsome which is attracting the eyes of many beautiful girls...including a Grisha. When they cross the Shadow Fold, a place where not many people come out alive, they are under attack. Alina suddenly saves them all with a power she didn't even know existed inside of her...and still denies that she has it when she is told that she was the one who saved them all.

Basically, I tried to just do a rundown of the beginning. The funnest part is, of course, telling you all my opinions on things. When I read a book as good as this one, I get giddy at the prospect of squealing over it.

I can see how Alina falls in love with her best friend. From day one (specifically page two), I even fell in love with Mal.

A moment later the boy whispered, "I don't think you're ugly."

"Shhhh!" The girl hissed. But hidden by the deep shadows of the cupboard, she smiled.

I know these kind of relationships can quickly grow stale since it always seems as if the girl likes her best friend. However, Leigh Bardugo makes the dynamic between Mal and Alina so wonderful and great, I felt as if it was unique. Even though we are plainly told that there is nothing mutually known between them, I played with the words in my head, thinking that everything means SOMETHING...right?

Mal suddenly seemed to realize that he had his arms around me. He let go and hastily stepped back. I brushed the dust from my coat, hoping he wouldn't notice the flush on my cheeks.

The little descriptions or imagery that we are given, even in the beginning, of Mal made me inch closer to him. I knew we were supposed to like him...but also feel a bit warned since he seemed like a ladies' man. I also loved (but not in the same way) Alina from day one. She was tough and strong, but you still saw the wishful, scared girl inside of her. She also kept herself in check. Instead of playing the woe me girl who thinks she's entitled to the boy of her dreams I'm looking at you Taylor Swift, she told herself that they don't belong together. Although that's not what I was looking for (hello, they would be perfect for each other), I liked that she had no self-entitlement to him just because she knew him the best. Of course, as a reader, I wished she had more self-confidence too.

You were just mooning over him, I chided myself. Why shouldn't some gorgeous Grisha girl do the same?

Not that kind of mooning, you sicko.

After the Shadow Fold incident, we immediately meet the Darkling. When I read that name, I went "Ooooh" like kids do when someone else is in trouble. The Darkling. How menacing, dangerous, and mysterious that sounds. At the same time, I had already heard a few things about this Darkling and I already formed some conclusions about him (this time I'm looking at Gillian and some other bloggers). It's not a spoiler in any way considering you get the feel about him in about the first five chapters. 

Leigh Bardugo pinned him on Pinterest.
I think the Darkling, of course.

While I kept going back and forth between who I'm supposed to like, I knew who I did like. I do think for myself, don't get me wrong, but I like to try to figure out who the author wants us to like. She gives us no satisfaction in that regard. 

Which is another thing. Leigh Bardugo is a GREAT writer. My gosh, that woman had me whimpering out loud in my seat. She made me so confused (in a good way!) as to who I should trust and who I should like or shouldn't. For me, she wove such great twists inside the story that I really didn't care if I had school the next morning and needed my eight to nine hours of sleep, I was going to finish! I mean, how could I stop and sleep anyways when she gave me new information all the time? It would be impossible. Because the feels? They were powerful. I was pulled around by all the shock and there were moments when I wanted to scream, "WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING, MS. BARDUGO?" At one point, I told my sister that if it ended in the way the author was at the present time setting it up to be, I would be a very tearful and angry and emotionally wrecked reader.

This pretty much sums up my experience with all the feels.
Source

The secondary characters weren't that noticeable for me except for maybe one or two, but I did adore Genya. We were first quickly introduced to her in Alina's confusion, but I instantly knew she was best friend material. She was tough and actually reminded me of Macey from my favorite series, the Gallagher Girls. 

This book had officially made my "WHY didn't I read this sooner?!" list. But really, the good thing about waiting so long to read this book is that I don't have to wait too much longer for the sequel. Hint, hint to the publisher.

As I told my good friend, Emily, there is a reason FANTASy is so similar to FANTAStic.

Verdict: A FANTAStic novel that made me emotional with feels and gave me all sorts of pleasure after reading previous novels that felt like busts.

How do you feel about fantasy novels? Are you excited for this sequel?