Lux Series: Obsidian and Onyx Review

Lux Beginnings 
by Jenner L. Armentrout

Yesterday I finished reading the Lux Beginnings book, which contains the first two novels from the series, and oh my gosh I loved it. 

The first book in the series, Obsidian, is about a girl names Katy Black who moves from Florida to West Virginia with her mom, and moves into a house next to a boy named Daemon. Then all sorts of crazy goes down. Spoiler. He's an alien.

The second book, Onyx, continues to follow Katy and Daemon's story.

There's not really anything I didn't enjoy about this book. I liked the writing, and despite all the aliens, the characters seemed real. In most YA novels where boy meets girl, the girl can be a pushover and written to seem all weak-kneed as soon as she sees the boy. Granted that happens in real life, but I just found Katy to be much more real about it and the way she acts doesn't seem very far-fetched. 

Some people think this book is pretty similar to the Twilight Series, probably because its about a girl meeting a supernatural boy, but really that's where the similarities end. Lux has much more action, and the storyline follows more than the two main characters romance. But if you did like the Twilight books, or The Mortal Instruments, or anything like that, then definitely read this series. 

Today I started reading Lux Consequences, which contains books three and four of the series Opal and Origin. Make sure to follow my Goodreads to hear my thoughts as I read! My links are below.

Jennifer L. Armentrout's website

Buy Lux Beginnings here (free shipping)

Goodreads: maevereads
Pinterest: theparabatai
Twitter: maevereads

The Maze Runner Book Review

Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I decided to read this book after my younger brother read the book, loved it, then forced me to see the movie with him. I absolutely loved the first and second movies, so I gave the book a shot. 

I really enjoyed reading this, and I can't wait to read the next books in the series. I was nervous going in that because I saw the movie before I read the book, I might find the book boring and predictable. The Maze Runner was not boring at all, and I couldn't put it down! The second half of the book was high speed and intense, which was a good change after the slightly slower paced first half.  

I thought that the boys' reactions and attitudes to being stuck in such a situation was very accurate. It was also very interesting for me to see how a large group of boys would function together. As a female, I can kind of picture how a large group of women and girls trying to work together would be, so it was interesting to see how the boys worked through the situation and dealt with each other. 

I also enjoyed Dashner's writing style, even though he did repeat some things a few too many times. This was probably to emphasis certain points, and ultimately it did not really impact my reading of the book. 

I would highly recommend this book to people who are fans of The Hunger Games, and books set in a dystopian, dangerous world.

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Buy the book with free shipping through Book Depository.
Check out James Dashner's website.

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Goodreads: maevereads
Pinterest: theparabatai
Twitter: maevereads

OwlCrate November Unboxing

Since joining the bookstagram community, I've discovered the magic that is book subscription boxes! I had no idea they even existed until early this year, so I decided to try some of them out.

First, as I was researching book subscription boxes, I came across one called Bookcase. They were very obviously a new company, and I was drawn to their cheap prices. I decided to get the bookworm package, which comes with three books. When you sign up, you fill out a form about what genres you like, what your favorite books are, etc., so they can find the right books for you. When I received the product, I was not too impressed by it. The books are used, probably from an old used bookstore. It would make more sense to just go to a used bookstore and buy three books. Also, the books were published quite a while ago. Also, I did not find the customer service to be very helpful. They didn't respond to my questions, and they have a very long response time. When browsing through the comments on their Instagram account, I see that I'm not the only one with complaints. However, I know they are a start up so I'm not judging them too harshly.

Links:
instagram @bookcase_co
http://www.mybookcase.co

Overall I give this subscription box: ★★/☆☆☆

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 The second subscription box I tried was OwlCrate! I just received the November box in the mail, and I am loving it! For the price, it has great products for the price, including a highly anticipated new YA novel release! It also contains other fun bookish items, including jewelry and little treats. Each month has a different theme, and this month's theme was Myths and Legends. The customer service was great, I got an email back within the day answering my question. I'll include the links and some pictures from my unboxing.

Items in Box:
Fairytale Tea by Adagio Teas (I got the Cinderella tea)
Castle Locket Necklace by The Geeky Cauldron (currently sold out but check out their other awesome products!)
Camp Half-Blood bracelet by The Colorful Geek
Pocket Mirror by My Clockwork Castle (other designs available)
Soundless by Richelle Mead

Links:
instagram @owlcrate
https://owlcrate.com

Overall I give this subscription box: ★★★★★
Thank you OwlCrate for a fun box!

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I can't wait to try OwlCrate again in the future, and I'm also looking forward to trying other book subscription boxes! Let me know in the comments what subscription boxes you've tried and what you thought of them!