Top Ten Tuesday (3): Top Ten Favorite Quotes from Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This week's topic is:

Top Ten Favorite Quotes from Books
Another hard list to make because we have so many favorites! Being the book nerds that we are, we love tossing random quotes from books into conversations with our family members. They usually just give us stares which say, "You two are completely insane." Anyway, here's our list, in no particular order:

1. "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."
   -Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. "I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you. That you were the center of everything I did and felt and thought."
   -Jem Carstairs, Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
3. "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
   -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
4. "But my father would warn, 'Be prepared for the worst, my love, for it lives next door to the best.' And for that I thank him each day of my life."
   -Evanjalin, Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
5. "There are no men like me. There's only me."
   -Jaime Lannister, A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
6. "He has no right to threaten my boyfriends. I'm eighteen. An adult. I don't need his help. I can threaten my boyfriends myself."
   -Rose Hathaway, Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
7. "How rude. Many who have gazed upon me have compared the experience to gazing at the radiance of the sun."
   -Will Herondale, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
8. "It means Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than the Widows of Our Enemies Since 1234."
   -Jace Wayland, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
9. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"
   -Fred Weasley, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
10. "Yeah? Can you draw a skeleton riding a motorcycle with flames coming out of it? And I want a pirate hat on the skeleton. And a parrot on his shoulder. A skeleton parrot. Or maybe a ninja skeleton parrot? No, that would be overkill. But it’d be cool if the biker skeleton could be shooting some ninja throwing stars. That are on fire."
    -Adrian Ivashkov, Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Which book quotes do you find most memorable? We love comparing lists, so be sure to leave your link!

Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1)
By Becca Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

To Sum It Up: High school student Nora Grey never could have predicted that a simple Biology class assignment would turn her life upside down. Once she is partnered with a mysterious classmate named Patch, strange and disturbing things begin happening to Nora. Not only does Patch seem to know everything about her, but he also displays a knack for showing up wherever she goes. While Nora senses an element of danger surrounding Patch, she finds herself unable to turn away from him, either. Nora’s efforts to uncover Patch’s secrets lead her to a shocking truth about herself- one that explains why she is the target of fallen angels.

Review: I know that you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I frequently do so anyway. When a book sports an amazing cover like the one that Hush, Hush does, I can’t resist picking it up and at least checking out the jacket summary. The story sounded promising; in the end, though, I found it disappointing.

Some parts of the plot gave my brain a good boggle. At the beginning of the book, we learn that Nora’s father was murdered. How can Nora’s mother allow her daughter to stay by herself at night when she’s away on one of her frequent business trips? Then there's Nora's friend, Vee, whose endless supply of crazy schemes comes in handy, say, to give Nora a diversion so that she can rifle through confidential school records in search of info on Patch. It's too bad that Vee can't channel some of that cleverness towards realizing that she's frequently in the company of two very, very sketchy guys. At one point, Vee texts Nora that she's at a party with said sketchy guys, Elliot and Jules. This concerns Nora greatly, but it's not until about fifty pages (and one motel stop with Patch) later that she gives Vee a ring to make sure that the latter got home safely from the party. The best What-Is-Going-On-Here Moment, though, was when Elliot turned up at Nora's front door demanding that she accompany him, Jules, and Vee (who of course thought that this was the greatest idea ever) on a camping trip. Huh? By the end of the book everything makes sense, but better transitions between preceding events would have made this a smoother read, at least for me.

Like the majority of Hush, Hush itself, I have mixed feelings about Nora. She’s astute enough to spot danger in the air; then she makes a beeline towards it. Exhibit A: her relationship with Patch. In Chapter 2, she observes: “I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something about Patch wasn’t right. Something about him wasn’t normal. Something wasn’t . . . safe.” Good work so far, Nora. Maybe you should make a run for the opposite direction right now. By Chapter 26, however, she hasn’t made much progress with her opinion of Patch, noting that, “He was the worst kind of wrong. He was so wrong it felt right.” This is going to sound blasphemous to those who loved the book, but I just don’t understand why Nora falls for Patch in the first place, especially since she suspects that he’s 1.) stalking her and 2.) means her bodily harm. Normally, I’m very sweet on sarcastic male characters. If Patch’s snark was meant to be charming, I failed to find it so most of the time. In fact, some of his comments to Nora are downright creepy.

So how did I manage to finish reading this book? The writing itself was solid and engaging enough that I still wanted to find out what happened next. If the plotting hadn’t been so haphazard, I probably would have enjoyed Hush, Hush more.

All in All: I borrowed this from the library. I’m glad that I didn’t allow my admiration of the cover to persuade me to buy it. At some point, I might borrow Crescendo just to see if it’s an improvement over its predecessor. I hope so, because I thought that Hush, Hush had a lot of potential that wasn’t fully realized.

Stacking the Shelves (1)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It's an opportunity for everyone to share the books which we've added to our shelves. We're excited to participate in this meme for the first time!
Most of our book hauls come from our awesome local library. We always tell ourselves that we're only going to borrow a few books and then inevitably leave with teetering stacks. Here are the results from our most recent spree:

Ally's Books:

Borrowed:
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Lee's Books:

Borrowed:
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
White Cat by Holly Black
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
Matched by Ally Condie
Embrace by Jessica Shirvington
A Tempation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Bought:
The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

(Yeah, I went on a bit of a buying binge with Melina Marchetta's books. They're amazing! I forgot to tell Ally that I now owned a copy of Finnikin of the Rock before she borrowed one from the library. Oops. At least I'll be able to lend her Froi of the Exiles.)

Which books have you added to your shelves recently? Leave us your link and we'll check them out!

Feature & Follow Friday (1)

Feature & Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and
Alison Can Read. This is our first time participating, and we're looking forward to meeting other book bloggers!

This week's question is:
What is one thing you wish you could tell your favorite author?
We'd love to tell J. K. Rowling that we'll never be able to read enough about the four Marauders. Based on the glimpses of their years at Hogwarts which we get in the books, their back story seems so intriguing. We'd beg for a prequel series featuring Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and, yes, even Wormtail.

What would you like to say to your favorite author? Be sure to leave your link so that we can visit you, too! Thanks for stopping by!

Review: The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

The Unidentified
By Rae Mariz
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

To Sum It Up: Katey “Kid” Dade has always been skeptical of the mindless following that is the Game, but rules are rules, and questioning the sponsors is unheard of. The Game is a design that is supposed to allow teenagers to learn and develop in a safe, interactive environment. Players gain points and progress through the levels, all while being closely monitored. Those with exceptional qualities are branded by sponsors. The branded are like the popular; they are given special opportunities and privileges. Players who are branded are given free stuff and are expected to “sell it” for their sponsors. Kid has never been interested in being branded. She is perfectly content with her two best friends and simple life. But when sponsors try to sell the idea of suicide, Kid becomes curious. Kid’s investigation leads her straight into the life she has tried to avoid.

Review: The whole world Mariz creates in The Unidentified is definitely unique. The only problem I had with the setting of the book was that the author told you things in pieces, making understanding the world a little harder than it should have been. I think it would have been a more enjoyable read if Mariz had told you everything from the start. Obviously, I don’t want the whole entire plot lined up front and center, but it would have been nice to have a little background knowledge on how things work in the Game. 

I was indifferent to the main character, Kid. I didn’t find anything that stood out about her. I know that she was supposed to be average, but even after Kid evolved as a character, she was still boring. I felt myself being more attracted to the more minor characters. I especially like Mikey and Jeremy Swift. Mikey plays the “wants to be more than best friends” role perfectly. I felt myself sympathizing with him and looking forward to the chapters in which he had a big role. And Swift! I really, really liked the premise of what the character was supposed to be and found myself wishing for more. I mean, Swift is supposed to be the bad boy, so make him bad! To me, Jeremy was supposed to be a rebel who happened to be branded. But no, Jeremy was just a branded guy who played the rebel to gain more sponsors. The string just fell short with him.

But let’s get to the namesake of the book, the Unidentified! Their little group was really interesting. Unsuspectingly, a lot of the Unidentified were actually popular kids in the Game. I found that interesting because the Unidentified stand for being yourself and breaking away from the system, even if it means that you have to be a nobody.

The ending of the book was surprising, yet disappointing. The ending, as in the last thirty something pages, was good. The mystery was solved with a few twists. I’m pretty good at coming up with theories which tend to be true and figuring out mysteries, but alas, even I couldn’t figure everything out. The ending, as in the last two pages, was upsetting. I expected a great cliffhanger or a dramatic ending, but instead it felt like the transition from one chapter to the other. If there is a sequel to this book, I’m not sure if I would read it or not.

All in All: Well, if you happen to be a computer or techno nerd, like Lee, then chances are you will love it. Personally, this is the kind of book that I would pass on. The Unidentified had so much potential but just didn’t cut it for me.